Note – welcome to my two new readers, one in Europe and another in North America! I hope you will stick with me long enough to read something interesting. This post is another one that may not be all that stimulating…

I’m not sure why this happens each time I travel to Europe, but once again I’m scrambling to get ready for my trip in the last week prior to departure. I’ve made some progress since my last post (airport parking reserved, travel documents in hand, euros ordered and paid for, sizable camera card purchased) but certainly not enough to make me feel “ready” for my trip. Thankfully my flight departs in the evening on Saturday so I will have most of the day for the truly last-minute items.

The largest open item is the hunt for comfortable, appropriate, able-to-be-worn-all-day for-six-days-without-causing-major-foot-trauma shoes. As noted in my previous post, I’ve been trying to address this but without success. I made another purchase tonight from Rockport and have one final stop planned for tomorrow, at REI, for a comfortable hiking shoe. Hopefully these purchases will do the trick. I hate to donate so much time to something so mundane as shoe purchases but I know from my experience in Warsaw that foot problems can severely impact a happy, carefree vacation.

In doing some additional research on the web, I have no fears about running out of things to do in Salzburg – just the opposite, in fact – not enough time to do everything I want. And to those of you who think I “must” visit Vienna, the answer is still “no!”

Salzburg does have a zoo! I’m looking forward to adding another European zoo to my list. It remains to be seen if my experience at Salzburg will top the one at Warsaw – certainly a tough act to follow with those three adorable tiger babies. I’m sure I’ll enjoy my zoo visit either way – European zoos are so awesome! (Just like most things in Europe, with the [lack of sufficient air conditioning] being a significant exception.)

That’s all for now – look for daily blog and Facebook updates while I’m across the pond IN ONLY SIX MORE DAYS!

PS – If you notice typos, you can blame Smucker, who is insisting on sitting in my lap even with the computer there and who keeps re-positioning herself and brushing up against  or plopping down on the mouse pad, thereby making changes on my post…