Looking Ahead to Past Glory

The drive-in movie brings back many memories for me as a child. My parents would make a large bag of popcorn, load me and my two brothers into the station wagon and head to see the latest cinematic offering. One film in particular that stands out is The Sound of Music. What intrigued me most were the sights of this old European town with its castle sitting high above the village below, the surrounding Alps and the vast von Trapp estate with that cool gazebo in the backyard!

I have had the opportunity to visit Austria on two occassions (there goes that travel thing again); the first time on a senior-year college trip and again as the host of a ski trip to Innsbruck as a travel agent. Each time brought excursions to Salzburg, the home of Mozart's birth and the von Trapp family. Interestingly, the von Trapp estate in the film is actually two large residences; one for the scenes showing the front and another for the scenes in the back. Since the filming of the movie which premiered in 1965, the gazebo had been purchased by American Express and moved to a small park for the benefit of access for American Tourists (I have a picture somewhere. . .). The familiar cobble stone walkways in the "Old Town" of Salzburg returned to my memory in scenes from the current film "Knight and Day". Incidentally, while being the 4th largest city in Austria, Salzburg is known as one of the best preserved cities in Europe. It remains an alluring combination of modern shops and restaurants in the quaint setting of old world charm.

On my first trip to Austria I was given the responsibility of coordinating ski rentals at a local shop in Innsbruck for my travel mates. We were picked up at our hotel by the owner of the shop and taken to his store to be fitted with gear for our next days' alpine adventure. I would like to think that we were taken to a centuries' old tyrolean shop with thick glass windows illuminated by candlelight, but that would truly be a stretch. With skis, boots and poles in tow, the driver took us back to our hotel. Riding "shotgun", I had the opportunity to tell him of my intrigue with his country and the charm of his city; I thought I would love to live there. He quickly said, 'you know, you truly have it better in America. While our country is beautiful, our taxes are too high. It is difficult to live here.' As a college student, I could not fully appreciate what he was saying, though I have never forgotten what he said.

Lately, with the changes taking place in America and the looming increases in taxation, I wonder if over the next few years I, too, if given the opportunity to talk with a visitor from somewhere "across the pond" might respond to a comment about my home in the past tense; that ours is a beautiful nation but is a much too expensive place to live. It would truly be a shame to see our country, this nation of ignenuity, creativity and strength reduced to a place for curious tourists to observe a few icons reflecting greatness of days now past.