More observations from Austria: There are no fat people here. I have seen two fat guys in four days. Some pleasingly plump, but no real obese folks. The reasons are lots of walking and bicycling. You see guys and gals in business suits pedaling their way to work. The spartan diet is another reason. Not all is healthy here, there are tons of smokers. This is one of the last refuges of smoking in bars and restaurants. People don't just smoke here, they CHAIN smoke.
There are no malls here, no big box stores, very few franchise restaurants. The chains are the usual suspects, McDonalds and Burger King. They have great restaurants, awesome candy stores, great clothing and jewelry stores, but bring your checkbook. Lots of tradition and old buildings here inSalzburg especially old churches, some dating back to the sixth century. There Are 51 churches in Salzburg, 50 of them catholic.
I have seen two pickup trucks in four days, they are too big for the streets here. The television is terrible, two English channels CNN, and the BBC. Right now I am watching Malcolm in the Middle , in German, while typing this. I have learned to communicate by pointing and nodding.
The pace of life is very slow here, which is nice. I asked for a glass of tap water on my first day here, and it cost me 1.7 euros, about two bucks.
