Sunday / Sonntag

Sunday in Austria (and much of Europe) is Tote Hose Tag (literally 'Dead Pants Day'). Stores close down on Saturday afternoon and stay closed until Monday. When we've travelled in Europe before, Sunday can be a real drag. Of course, restaurants tend to be open and real touristy shops are open, but grocery stores and any other 'real life' stores are closed. Sunday is meant for family and visiting and relaxing.

After a busy few days of taking care of official business (registering for this and that at this office and that office around the city) and working on sorting out our apartment (which is almost sorted except for a disaster of a supply closet and an illogical kitchen and absolutely no artwork of any kind on any wall anywhere except for the toilet room), Sunday came as a relief. Dead Pants Day, indeed.

We decided to explore our neighborhood and find the local park that we had heard about from the family who was in our place last year (more on parks in the next entry). While we were at the park, a number of other families came with their children and I was struck by the fact that children came with both parents. It wasn't the case of one parent taking the child to the park while the other parent got something done at home or at a store. It was simply family time.

Later in the day, we took a bus out toward the international school where Peter and I worked in the '90s. It is a beautiful area with wide open fields and amazing views of the mountains, and again, people were out enjoying the day - walking together or riding bikes and taking in the beauty of a summer day in Salzburg.

There is something refreshing about having a day that is meant for people just to enjoy - to enjoy each other, to enjoy the day, to enjoy just being instead of being busy all the time.