e love Salzburg! This cute town is so inviting and beautiful we couldn't afford enough time to soak it all in. A favorite memory is accidentally finding ourselves at a rehearsal of Mozart's Requiem in the Salzburg Cathedral. I think those in charge thought we were family members of the choir or orchestra. It was beautiful music in a beautiful place. The acoustics created a six second echo that made us and the artists' smile and momentarily brought us both to tears. We left Salzburg with musical memories in our minds as we headed to the high country in search of heat relief!

led, Slovenia is a resort-y town in the Julian Alps (found in the northwest corner of this small European country). The town curves itself around one end of a beautifully clear lake, seemingly chock full of trout! The surrounding area is underdeveloped, full of forests and green hills that keep this hideaway as true to a hideaway as possible. We happened to be there when the local folk festival was in full swing. It gave us opportunity to experience food and music traditional to Slovenia as well as new culture too. We were chagrined to see the Slovene rendition of the Spice Girls followed by a parade led by the local oompah band in full costume.

he friendly people, flowers in full bloom and hot weather made us happy to just relax in shady parks, stick our feet in the temperate water while looking for fish, and refresh ourselves to stay cool. Slovenes, (and other Europeans) stay refreshed by consuming skadoled and pivo, ice cream and beer respectively. They are available everywhere, are cheaper than anything else, and seemed to be consumed at all hours of the day. It made me smile to see Golden Ager's enjoying a nice ice cream cone at 10:30 in the morning.

led led us to Bohinj, (say BAW-heen), a more remote region tucked away in the Alps. We camped on an alpine lake nestled at the end of the valley and surrounded by mountains and blue sky. Cooler temps and picturesque settings more than compensated for two more days of the European camping experience.

oth of us love the outdoors so we looked forward to sleeping outside on warm nights, but we hadn't done a lot of investigation into the differences between US and European camping. We were surprised to find out that once you check in, you can camp anywhere you want, no designated spots around, and the more the merrier! We arrived at our first camp in the evening, so we hunted for a space away from noise, lighted buildings, and with a clearance of as much space as possible from other campers. No sooner had we set up our tent when our neighbors came home and turned on their string of five 100 watt lightbulbs. We tend to prefer starlight to stadium lighting so we moved.