If Austria is a nice creamy cake, then Salzburg is definitely a bright fat red cherry on top. As the train was whizzing through the Austrian countryside I couldn't help but wonder why I haven't visited this beautiful country earlier. Mountains everywhere, hikers - young and old, beards:) (had to mention them again), cool lakes (like Zell am See) and all sorts of other really really cool stuff. Like the bacon and cheese pretzel that I had on one of the squares of Salzburg. It was as big as my head. And chocolate pretzels….drool…Posh looking Austrians walking around with great danes on leads, I've even seen a Saint Bernard. I had to stop in front of the Till Eulenspiegel restaurant, which reminded me of the Eulenspiegel fairy tales. Those were my favourites together with Nassredin, Munchausen, Sinbad and Wilhelm Hauff fairy tales (especially the story of the caliph stork, the little Muck and the little glass man - a story from Schwarzwald…oh I used to be so terrified of Dutch Michel). Eulenspiegel, the trickster…had a few laughs reading the tales as a kid…when one day I came across a book written by the Belgian author Charles de Coster who wrote the book "the glorious adventures of Tyl Ulenspiegl". It's a lengthy book. And it's not for children. Somehow the fairy tale was over. Coster sets his story in the 16th century, at the height of the Inquisition; Ulenspiegel’s father is burned at the stake as a heretic, and Ulenspiegel swears an oath to avenge his death. what follows is a series of gruesome deaths and torture scenes. The merry prankster transforms into a freedom fighter against religious oppression. Again a bit later on, I looked into fairy tales at a greater length and realised that many of the archetypal patterns and fairy tale elements are a contrasting series of evil and good, but where the good is also suffering. Basically a lot of suffering. I guess it's a relief that most of the stories have a happy end at least. But I'm suspecting now, that a story is never really finished and that it perpetuates into new ups and downs, highs and lows, more culminations of suffering, martyrdom and brief relief. Anyway…enough about fairy tales. Salzburg is a fairy tale…sort of. But I probably would have a different opinion if I would live there. So, at the start of a lovely sunny afternoon I was strolling on the streets of yet another most exquisite Austrian town, with every corner presenting a feast for my eyes…or camera shutter…:)
