Traveling through Europe to find trendy cities
Elizabeth Knapp
Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Opinion
Though I had much lower expectations for the next three cities on our itinerary, I seemed to enjoy them more. As soon as we stepped off the train in Zurich, we smelled the clean mountain air, and immediately adopted the laid back attitude the Swiss seem to have. Vienna and Salzburg were not only incredible to look at, with views of the Alps from every angle, but there were also things to keep us busy. We were able to see firsthand Vienna's renowned art and music culture at the Opera and walk through Sigmund Freud's former office, now transformed into an eerie museum. Salzburg takes pride in being "the birth of Mozart," providing many musically inspired events and activities.
Many European cities boast their artistic histories, claiming it was the location that inspired great minds to produce novels, paintings, or four movement symphonies. I decided to venture into a small coffee shop while in Salzburg that seemed to be slightly off the beaten path, hoping to catch some of the imaginative air these people once breathed.
As I had suspected, there were far more tourists casually sipping on lattes than tortured intellectuals fiercely scribbling on notepads. This is precisely the reason for travelers that are on the cutting edge to avoid such places; they don't want to be bothered with tourists-or worse, considered one of them. So now that I have checked off the more commercial European cities, it seems only natural to venture further east, and if I'm lucky, I'll even make it to Budapest or Krakow.
Many European cities boast their artistic histories, claiming it was the location that inspired great minds to produce novels, paintings, or four movement symphonies. I decided to venture into a small coffee shop while in Salzburg that seemed to be slightly off the beaten path, hoping to catch some of the imaginative air these people once breathed.
As I had suspected, there were far more tourists casually sipping on lattes than tortured intellectuals fiercely scribbling on notepads. This is precisely the reason for travelers that are on the cutting edge to avoid such places; they don't want to be bothered with tourists-or worse, considered one of them. So now that I have checked off the more commercial European cities, it seems only natural to venture further east, and if I'm lucky, I'll even make it to Budapest or Krakow.
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