Last night when we got back into Salzburg, we took some time to do laundry and eat some dinner at the hostel. We made chicken risotto in a little pouch by adding water and heating it up, so now we really feel like we are backpacking, because that is the type of meal we eat in the woods! Once our sporks were cleaned and our clothes packed back into our packs, we decided to walk back into old town. The nice thing about the weather getting progressively nicer is that the views just keep getting better. The bad thing is I think I have taken the same shot three different times in different light because of it. Oh well. :)

In any case, we were going to try and hit that sausage stand again (call it "second dinner" if you like, or consider us fancy and think of it as our second course) but the entire platz where the market and sausage vendors had been was empty . So we went over to where we had tried the schnapps before (now that it was a more reasonable time for a drink) but they were closed. We ended up in a Beir Garten where we split a frankfurter and roll. The ketchup here was marked "mild" and tasted more like what we are accustomed to than the ketchup we have had previously.

At this point, I wasn't feeling too well. Either the spicy sausage (so delicious!) didn't agree with me, or one of the many unmarked rolls I had eaten had butter on it, but my stomach was upset, and so we decided to just stroll back to the hostel where I could lie down on my bunk and relax. On our way, we got a bit of gelato (I was pretty sure that wasn't going to make it any worse - lol) and got our picture taken on the bridge with the setting sun illuminating the fortress behind us. When we returned to the hostel, I laid down and didn't finish blogging, which is why you get this little bit from yesterday here. I hope you don't mind. :)

Today has been a day of churches, if not a day of rest . We got up and had breakfast again at the hostel. We FaceTimed Jen Locey, mom & dad, and Jaynie Roberts, while we ate. Then when we were all packed up and ready to go, we checked out and stashed our bags (with their locks on them) downstairs in the luggage area, so we wouldn't have to carry them around yet. Because at our next stop, we didn't want to look quite that touristy.

You see, here we have been in Mozart's birthplace for days but I had yet to hear any of his music. Therefore, we were on our way to Mass. We entered The Dom with our cameras respectfully stowed in my purse, and sat down on a wooden pew. The pews, we found, seem designed to encourage wakefullness during the service. There is a lip on the top of the bench so that each time you sit back down it hits across your back and the pressure there forbids slouching. We waited and watched locals and tourists alike fill the cathedral. There were hundreds of people in attendance. The sermon, when we got to it, was of course in German . It was dull, long and indecipherable. However, the uncomfortable seats and boring orations are not worth mentioning in light of the music we heard this morning. It was simply amazing!

The organ and orchestra played and then the choir began to sing, and the sound filled the cathedral so beautifully. The soprano soloist was first class, and throughout the service there were many songs. As I watched the incense rising upward in front of the alter with the light from the window catching it, and listened to Mozart's compositions played and sung so beautifully, it was clear that this was the purpose of this building. I hope that in the hearts of the people there was true worship and not just the trappings of it. I know that the best we have to offer the Lord is never worthy of Him, but He graciously accepts authentic praise. These were my thoughts as again and again my eyes were drawn upward to the painting of God the Father. We slipped out during communion (we had already been there an hour and fifteen minutes - not counting the half hour we waited before service started) and headed back to the hostel and grabbed our bags. And off to the train station we went...

Not being Catholic, this Mass was a first for both of us I think. There was certainly much more ceremony to the proceedings than either of us are accustomed to. Still the music was fantastic and as Merilee said, just really fit the setting. Gothic and Baroque cathedrals seem ready made for the large sounds of orchestras, organs, and choirs. The Mass was also something of a tourist event as well. We were definitely not the only tourists in attendance and I think both Mer and I were distracted by how disrespectful some of the other tourists were during the service.