Rock Me Amadeus
You gotta love Falco. Hitting #1 on the Billboard charts with a pop song celebrating an eighteenth century composer amidst the Like A Virgins and Thrillers of the 80's, I say, is pretty impressive. Austria would say it was about time.
It is Mozart country here and Mozart and I have become pretty tight. I've visited his birthplace. I go to his concerts (the performers play on instruments from that period- like the harpsichord in the picture below). I eat his chocolates. I spend time in his namesake square. I acknowledge his cardboard cut-outs on the streets. Needless to say, he's quite a staple in my life here.
But aside from my relationship with Mozart, it's pretty easy to be social here. I met a Greek woman on a walking tour (who is in Salzburg under similar pretenses as me) that I hang out with periodically. People ask to use the empty chair at your cafe table- and then proceed to sit at your table. Servers invite you back with a smile when you butcher an attempt at a new local greeting you just heard. I even connect through joyous smiles with the accordion player on the corner when I stand around and listen to him play for awhile. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that I throw all my spare change in his hat.
I'll keep hanging out with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart among others. Trivial Pursuit alert: Austrian Falco is the only artist whose principal language was German to score a number-one hit in the United States. I think his Der Kommissar should have been his second. :)
Bis zum nachsten mal!
Robin
