“What’s there?” I asked. “I feel like we still have so much to see here in Vienna.”
“Oh we could be here a month and never see all there is to see in this beautiful country,” Dad said as he sipped his coffee. “But we have such little time, so for this trip, we’re hitting my favorite places. And one day we’ll come back and explore Vienna even more. I promise.”
I smiled. I loved knowing there was more to look forward to in the future.
“Okay,” I said. “Sounds good to me.”
“Salzburg is a beautiful place,” he said. “I have someone there I need to meet with briefly, but you can come with me. It’s one of our new partners at the firm. He happens to be staying in Salzburg this week, so I thought I would multitask.”
“Alright,” I said. “But only a short meet up. I’m pulling the daughter card on you. I get dibs!”
He laughed, “Always, Camilla. You’ll always be first in my heart.”
********
My father wasn’t kidding. Salzburg was the most beautiful city I had ever seen. We took a train there from Vienna, and the Alps had whirled by my window, making my jaw drop at their beauty. I still couldn’t believe I was in a land that looked like the setting of every fairy tale I’d ever read as a kid. And I was with my father. It was like one of my best dreams, the kind I never wanted to wake up from.
Our first day was spent walking around the city. It had been the setting for The Sound of Music, my favorite movie as a kid, so I pretended to be one of the Von Trapp kids, marching around town, singing out of tune as my father laughed at my silliness.
There were castles! Stunning cathedrals. And the backdrop of breath-taking mountains. I never wanted to leave. Ever.
On our last day in town before taking the plane back to the US and the dreariness that was Choate, my father had the meeting he’d been talking about.
“It won’t be long,” he said. “And it ties into the little tour I want to take you on.”
“Where to now?” I asked, yawning. I was tired. I also still felt like I hadn’t broken through the fortress that was my father; I hadn’t learned enough about him. He kept us busy, and part of me felt that was purposeful. It didn’t leave me much time to ask questions.
Dad smiled, “Mozart. You’ve heard of him?”
I laughed, “Uh, yeah, Dad. I’ve definitely heard of him.”
He winked, “Just making sure your tuition isn’t a complete waste of money. Well, we’re going to visit his birthplace. He was born here in Salzburg. He’s buried in Vienna, but he spent much of his life here. All the beauty you’ve been surrounded by the last couple days is what inspired him to make the genius that is his music.”
I sighed. Not that I didn’t appreciate the brilliance and virtuosity of Mozart, but it felt like I was on a school field trip. I didn’t want to learn more about Mozart. I wanted to learn more about my dad.
But my father wasn’t someone I felt comfortable whining to. That sort of behavior was beneath him, something I was sure he’d look down upon. And I didn’t want to disappoint him. I suppose I can look back now and realize I was just afraid to displease him; afraid he’d stop visiting me if I wasn’t pleasant to be around at all times.
So to Mozart’s home we went.
“Who are you meeting today?” I asked as we drove across town in a limo provided by the hotel. “Someone from work?”
“Yes,” my father said. “He’s new to the firm. He’s in Salzburg visiting a client, but he’ll be on a new assignment soon and I need to touch base with him.”
“What kind of an assignment would an attorney have?” I said. “Don’t you guys just write briefs all day and bark into your cell phone?” I grinned at him.
He laughed, “Well, we do those things, too. But my firm is global, so we have clients all over the world. So sometimes we have to visit them. And as the founder of the firm, I like to get to know our new attorneys.”
“I see,” I said, already bored. “Sounds great.”
Dad looked at me, sensing I was agitated, “It won’t be long, sweetheart. I promise.”
********