Merry Christmas everyone! Several months ago, I offered Suzanne the vision of spending Christmas in Salzburg this year, and as circumstances would have it, here we are.
It's Christmas Eve, I am writing this from our hotel room in the heart of downtown Salzburg while the kids rest a little and Suzanne has some time shopping before the Christmas markets close for the day. The grandiose chimes of the city's main bell tower are permeating the stillness of our hotel room, as I write in the dark trying not to wake the kids.
We are debating our itinerary for the next 48 hours, and the options include church service tonight in the main cathedral, opening presents tomorrow morning (we brought a suitcase full of presents for the kids to open on Christmas morning), taking the "Sound of Music Tour", riding the mountain-tramcar up to the castle that looks over the town, and/or just walking around Old Town and exploring on our own. I don't know if we'll do any of that, but the fact that those are our options is pretty damn cool.
We spent last night in a town about 1.5 South of here called Villach. What an amazing night. Picture what you would think of as a prototypical Austrian village, with all of the streets and churches lit up with Christmas lights and decorations, cobblestone pedestrian-only zones, big Christmas trees in the squares, an outdoor skating rink, little huts forming a small market of ornaments, wool scarves, and gluvein. The town has the ever-present river running through it with several bridges separating the newer areas of town with the older areas, all beautifully lit for Chrismas. Our hotel was within walking distance to the old town and to everything else, just like where we are staying tonight in Salzburg.
The drive to Villach, then again from Villach to Salzburg, was pretty amazing too. So far, our "new" 15-year old BMW, newly dubbed "The Millenium Falcon", has held up well and has been fun to drive. So there you are driving along very smoothly and comfortably at 90 or 100 mph, with snowy and rocky Alpine mountains in every direction, the occasional storybook castle perched on some snowy precipice, and Tchaicovski's "The Nutcracker" trying to overcome the beeps and bloops from the kids' Leapsters in the backseat. We certainly miss spending the holidays with our family, but we'll trade driving I95 and the NJ Turnpike for that drive through the Alps anyday.
It certainly is a different Christmas for us. I am quite certain that we will look forward to spending many, many years/decades celebrating Christmas with all of our family, with all of the wonderful traditions, back home, in a short few years. But for now, we are going to enjoy spending this time with just the four of us, in new and wonderful places, with new and wonderful sights and sounds, hopefully making family memories that will last a lifetime.
We want you all to know that we are thinking of you and wishing you all a wonderful Christmas. We love you all very much.
I would also like to say a couple of special prayers: for the men and women in our Armed Forces who are away from home and not necessarily because of their own doing, and for all of those less fortunate than ourselves who may not have the luxury of family or home. May God watch over and protect all of us during this Christmas Season.
...and to all a good night.
ct
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