A late night "jam session" a a local gastro pub where a friend of mine's uncle was playing. A bunch of local musicians play here every Thursday night and on this particular night, there were only a couple of us listening. This is as local as it gets, and Rick Steve's has nothing on me!! *Rick Steve's is a European travel guru who spends about four months a year traveling, writing articles, publishing books, and making video's of Europe. One major distinction between he and I is the fact that he gets paid to do it! Check out his website at: www.ricksteves.com
This is Maxy, short for Maximillion. He's is 87 years young and plays the base at this local pub every Thursday with a group of men. His wife Kati was there with him drinking red wine and they were a complete joy to meet and hang out with. She is 75 years young, but acts 25 years old! Maxy was captured during WWII and taken to work as a laborer in England. The farm was looked after by American soldiers and he said he was so thankful to work on an "American ran farm" as opposed to one of the other Ally forces, otherwise he would not have been treated so well. He and Kati have now resided in Austria since the War ended for over 50 years now and have two grown children and both of them are retired and enjoy the typical Austrian lifestyle known to the Salzburg area. You sometimes can't put a price tag on your travel when you meet people like this and hear a story such as this.
The hills may be alive with the Sound of Music, but the streets are filled with tourists. Bad economy, what bad economy!! *Salzburg is the home of where most of the movie The Sound of Music was filmed. The town is only about 250,000 people, but consistently swells to over a million people in the height of the Summer--a lot of whom want to get a glimpse of some of the scenery captured in this iconic film.





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9 months ago by Mike
The secret to the "floating" man is hidden in my drawer with the rest of my tricks! Looks like you're having a blast and getting to meet some interesting locals as usual. Can't wait to see more pics and hear more stories.
9 months ago by Sabita
If Rick Steves can make it, you definitely can! Those TV shows are nice, but I think he lacks a certain passion in his voice and appearance on the show sometimes.
9 months ago by Kelley
Doug, these stories and pictures are awesome! This takes me back there. What a sweet spirit this young couple have. Meeting people like this, make any trip a memorable gift. Thanks for sharing with us : )
9 months ago by Corky
Love the stories behind the pics! Looks like such a great time, wish I was there!! Keep em' coming
9 months ago by Chris Bishop
I must admit, this travel blog is considerably cooler than I expected... look forward to the daily posts! So here's my challenge, we know you thrive in the pub setting. Try attending an old church (European's barely go to church anymore) and have lunch with the pastor / priest. Sleep in a hostel one night and let us Marriott platinum members know what it's like. Can't wait to see the reports.