“These Are A Few of My Favourite Things”…in and around Salzburg

(For those of you who have never been touched by the movie “The Sound of Music” set in Salzburg, today’s title is from one of its songs).

1) Morning Routines: Yoga/Meditation

What a wonderful way to transition from life at Ananda! On Monday morning, I woke up late (for me) to the song of cows and walked downstairs to find candles and a meditation space set up. I started with a bit of meditation of the feline variety – a love-in session with the cat on my lap. Perfect start to the day! I then did the energizing exercises I learned last week, thanks to Regine’s gift of a poster that describes the full sequence of 39 exercises.  I did pretty well with the Italian. It was only after that I realized the other side was in English… oops.

2) Feasting, Driving, Playing

Regine, Helmut and I then headed out to get baked goods and groceries for a breakfast feast before he hit the road. Ainring is such a lovely village! It’s in Germany, 10 minutes from Salzburg in Austria – I took pictures out the car window of course.

Oh, how could I forget?! We had a bit of fun on the trampoline before breakfast (wouldn’t have been so much fun after breakfast…). Having all this nature around has once again reminded me of its importance in my daily life.

3) Walking in New Places:  Salzburg

Regine and I then walked around Salzburg for 5-6 hours – a huge circle that involved both sides of the river, a bridge decorated with a rainbow of locks placed there by lovers, the breathtaking (literally) Mirabel Garden, the historic downtown with its gazillion churches, the old cemetery at the base of the castle, the steep alley up the hill to the walking paths through the park on the cliff that arches around the downtown core and eventually back to our parking across a different bridge. After a phone call, however, we crossed the river on yet another bridge to join Regine’s daughter Kira and Kira’s father Thomas at a small restaurant for a delicious vegetarian curry. Great idea and I didn’t mind walking longer – I got to see more of Salzburg and I love to walk.  Interestingly, I had been here in 1992 and also as a child, but I don’t remember.  I got to experience it again as if it was the first time (a great gift for movie-watching too).

4) New Friendships 

I’ll let my photos do most of the talking this time. All I want to add is that I really enjoy Regine’s company, making our walk through this glorious setting even more of a blessing. I was thinking of leaving for Vienna Monday night, but she convinced me to stay longer – I’m so glad. I had a great day on Tuesday too, but I’ll save that for my next post.