Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Salzburg Postcard Montage

                                                      Salzburg Postcard Montage
                                                      -Postcards from the 1970s            
                  
Salzburg... The Festival City, Mozart's hometown, and locale of The Sound of Music.

The Salzburger Festspiele starts on July 27, 2011... don't put off a visit for another
year!  The festival runs until August 30, 2011.

www.salzburg.info/en/art_culture/salzburg_festival/events      

Pat recommends two restaurants in Salzburg:

1)  St. Peter Stiftskeller, the oldest restaurant in Central Europe, was established
in 803.  Outdoor eating areas are amongst the ruins of the old monastery.
Full-course meals.  Classy!  Try a Salzburger Nockerl for dessert.

www.salzburg.info/en/gastronomy/restaurants.htm

For a Mozart Dinner Concert, the Salzburger Konzertgesellschaft performs
right at St. Peter Stiftskeller.  Click on this link to their utterly charming website
for more information.

www.salzburg-concerts.com/en/salzburg/mozart-dinner-concert/home

2)  Part beer garden, part food court, visit the Augustiner Braüstüberl Mülln.
Grab a beer stein, and put it under the spiggot at the beer fountain!  Take your
brew and a plate of food and sit out under the trees in the Gastgarten.

The beer-related website, Prost, Mahlkeit!, "In Austria's pubs and distant lands..."
has an English translation option that can be accessed from the Google search page.

                                        www.prostmahlzeit.at

-The Photo Gallery is on both the English and German versions of their website.
Scroll down to find the Photo Gallery on the left hand side, in either language.

                                     Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit!    -Pat

Here is another useful website for Salzburg events:

Salzburg World Guides:  Salzburg Events, Festivals in 2011/2012, Things to Do:
Events in Salzburg Area, Austria.

www.salzburg.world-guides.com/salzburg_events.html

                          

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Kansas Flint Hills

      The Konza Prairie Research Natural Area, sometimes called the bluestem
      prairie, provides a unique outdoor laboratory of native tall grass prairie.
      The Konza is part of the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas.
                      
                     -Postcard photo copyright Kansas State University Photo Services
                      Kansas Postcard Company, Minneapolis, Kansas
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"When the first European explorers emerged from the dense northern forests of
America, they could scarcely believe their eyes.  A "fruitful champayne countrie",
a treeless ocean of wildflowers, birds and animals, and grasses nine feet high,
stretched unbroken to the distant horizon.  The explorers named it "prérie,"
meaning "grassland" or "grassy orchard"."

    -From the dust cover flap of the book Tallgrass Prairie by John Madson,
      Photos by Frank Oberle, Published in cooperation with The Nature
      Conservancy, Falcon Press Publishing Co., Inc., Helena and Billings,
      Montana, copyright 1993.      An exquisite coffee table book.  -Pat

Thanks to the joint efforts of Kansas State University in Manhattan, and the
Nature Conservancy, we can see the Konza Prairie as our forefathers saw it.

The Konza Prairie Biological Station website gives current weather conditions
and Twitter updates from people in the field.      kpbs.konza.ksu.edu

The Kansas Flint Hills defy description, and must be experienced in person.
Drive down to Cottonwood Falls in the heart of this region.  Have lunch at
the Grand Central Hotel, or have dinner and stay the night!

                                    www.grandcentralhotel.com

While in Cottonwood Falls, visit the historic Chase County Court House,
made of native limestone.