Lauren goes to Austria

Having friends come to visit always gives me a renewed perspective on things. It was so nice to go to Salzburg without working and simply to follow our own schedule. It's also nice to get off the normal route that I take my groups on and explore more of what the city has to offer.

Salzburg is any easy place to take people to impress them. It's so quaint and charming. I was also happy to take Lauren there because when we were roommates she always said how she wanted to visit Austria.

Lately there has been quite a lot going on in Salzburg - a movie shoot about an Austrian actress and an excavation. I never know what we are going to encounter.

We had fantastic weather and packed in a lot of shopping and delicious food. Lunch at Carpe Diem was quite good, but definitely for skinny people - the portions are small, but the presentation is interesting. I tried three cones (salmon potato, cheese truffle, and chicken wing) followed by homemade granny smith apple with coriander and plum sherbets. I really like the idea of having small dishes so you can eat a variety of things and the sherbets really made me want to get an ice cream maker.

We didn't spend all of our time shopping and I managed to give Lauren a short tour of the old town. It made me feel like I was taking a friend to work. Sometimes Salzburg seems really small town as each place has it's claim to fame: the oldest bakery, original frescoes, the oldest restaurant, the biggest North of the Alps... and on and on. It's really quite sweet.

I didn't want Stefan to miss out on all of the fun so I brought him a rose macaroon from Demel. They have some really beautiful (and delicious!) pastries.