Salzburg

Well it seems like ages since I last wrote to you. What's happened since 12 March? Well I've been to visit people at Newcastle University, and had some very enjoyable discussions about information security and economics, and also about formalisation of dynamic coalitions. I've also visited Birminham University, and met some nice people there.

Also, Michael, my co-conspirator from the Bass department back at home is visiting the UK. We managed to synchronise a visit to Worcester Cathedral for a Maundy Thursday "pedilavium" ceremony last night. It was interesting to hear about progress with St John's - the towers are now topped with spires, it seems. And maybe there are even more ambitious plans afoot?

But the main news is undeniably the beginning of our European holiday. We managed to leave home before 4:30am this morning, and to navigate to Coventry airport without any paper map. There were some terribly amicable discussions about how to use the satnav machine, but we got there in the end. The passenger facilities there aren't amazing, but ok for cheap flights. Each piece of hand baggage and the single checked bag were weighed, and although the total weight was ok, we had to do some minor redistribution to meet various requirements. The strong wind, rain, and even lightning observed during the car part of the journey didn't seem to hang around long enough to affect the flight, although the gusty cross-wind on take off caused audible concern amongst several passengers.

But the strong winds pushed us faster and faster towards Salzburg. The snow was falling as we walked to the terminal - a magical beginning. After collecting the hire car, and paying higher insurance for the whole trip because we dared to venture into the Eastern wilds of Hungary and Slovenia, we were off. But we decided to go back to the car park again, and try to set up the car computer to speak to us in English, and set up the GPS to direct us sensibly to Hallein's Salzwelte (Salt World) tourist attraction. After a short intermission, and a misguided tour around some suburbs waiting for the satellite reception to synchronise, we were on our way.

Only one wrong turn marred our journey to Salzwelte. We had some lunch (nice pancake soup - must try this at home one day, plus regular noodle soup and hamburgers) before venturing underground on train rides, a boat ride, and slides. I'll try to upload a photo taken during one of the slides - Helen's face is rather expressive! After that, we checked into our hostel, and went for a walk around the city - seeing a Cathedral, a church, and a market (where we bought bread, ham, cheese, strawberries, and apples for lunch), and then going up the funicular to the castle. We had a rather nice dinner at the top of the mountain, where I also took a few panoramic photos that I plan to stitch together (and post here one day!). The 2004 St Laurent wine, from the Glatzer winery in Carnuntum (near Vienna) proved delicious. I'd never heard of a St Laurent grape, and it was 32 euro, but the waiter commented that it was an extremely wise choice, and that it would improve after 10 minutes of being opened. I couldn't resist that sort of patronisation, so we ordered it, but asked to keep the cork - we would make it last for 2 nights. But the cork wasn't necessary after all...



At the moment, the girls are all off watching The Sound of Music (screens every night here), while I'm going to catch up on sleep before our big drive tomorrow. I had expected to be able to connect to my mobile broadband here, but didn't manage it. Instead, the rather civilized hostel is providing free wireless. Marvellous, really. I don't suppose it will happen too often on the trip, so I'll make the most of it while I'm here. Luckily, I can compose blog entries without being online! Have to let the computer charge now, so that it will be ready to occupy children tomorrow on the long drive. And we want to recharge the camera batteries too.

Happy Easter to all readers!