On to Salzburg, city of salt! The birth city and home of none other than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the greatest composer who ever lived. The city where classical musicians can still, in this day and age, be rock stars.
My strongest impression of the city was that it appears to be an even mix between German influences (being so close to the border) and Italian. You can’t walk more than two blocks without stumbling over a gelato place:
The first thing I noticed about Germany, peering out the window as the plane descended towards Frankfurt, were the myriad of red rooftops and the vast fields of yellow flowers. I would later find out that these are rapp (sp?) plants, cultivated for oil; rapeseed, perhaps? In a strange way, the landscape was kind of like rural Kansas, or rather, one’s idea of what rural Kansas should look like – more quaint and charming, with the gentle glow of the sunlight warming the brilliant yellow and verdant green acres. These shots of the landscape would work really nicely for our “Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner” commercials, with strains of Aaron Copland in the background.
E picked me up from the airport – he had been there for a week before I came, visiting his grandmother. I’d come in the morning, determined to stubbornly ignore any symptoms of jet lag. Knocking myself out with Dramamine on the overseas flight seemed to do the trick, and I was well rested enough for us to immediately set off for Marburg.
Well, just to Europe, that is. I don’t have any plans on going further east or anything.
Leaving on a jet plane this afternoon. Currently losing my mind scrambling to get things together. So far, what I’ve gathered:
1) Passport
2) Bag
3) Clothes
4) Camera
That should be enough to get me through 10 days, right?
See you on the other side!
When I found out that my friend Anna’s mother had an alpaca ranch, I was super excited. Alpaca wool is among one of my favorite yarns to work with, being so soft and buttery. Then, when Anna said that the farm is located just outside of Lindsborg (a.k.a. “Little Sweden”), that settled it: our knitting group was going on a road trip to the heart of Kansas!
What better way to celebrate such a gorgeous day (after a terrible bout of bleak weather) than to muck about outside and pet some fuzzy wuzzies? I certainly can’t think of any:
