Here goes nothing...

I am David. And I'd like to share with you some little things that I have witnessed that have brought a smile to my face. For reasons related to family and study I have had the opportunity to travel through much of Western and central Europe. Along the Danube lies Salzburg, the gorgeous Austrian town whose hills are indeed alive. Yes, this is where The Sound of Music was filmed and no guesses to which movie played every afternoon in the hostel I was staying in. I would consider Switzerland the most beautiful country in the world. But distill the awesomeness of Europe into a town where all the good stuff is in walking distance and you get Salzburg. Anyone who knows me knows that I love walking and there's really no better way to absorb a new microcosm, especially a bite-size one like this cobble stone-paved Austrian town. If you want to know the sights to see, well wikitravel is for you. One thing that you won't read about there is the Louis Vuitton store in the centre of the city. I was talking past there one afternoon and there was a small gathering of people outside. Even taking into account that women consider nice handbags worth making a fuss about, the crowd seemed large. And there were a lot of serious-looking men dressed in black. I approached one of them and asked him what was going on. The man turned out to be, in his words, Her Majesty's personal physician. Of course Austria long ago ceased to be a monarchy. The man was the Queen of Thailands doctor. And sure enough, five minutes later, Her Majesty appeared from the store, with half a dozen handmaidens at her side, each carrying one of her latest purchases. A friend of a friend of mine works for LV and would criticize my line of work as esoteric and unhelpful. And he'd say that he sold leather and bags made people happy. Well the Queen, decked out in her smart cobalt blue suit, was certainly looking happy. No other customers had been in the store - she and her assistants had had the place to themselves. But it was time to go and she deftly snuck into one of three black Rolls Royces, bodyguards (and doctor) in tow. The bodyguards had been patiently waiting outside - one had two thin brown boxes in his arms. It turns out after a long day the Queen (who definitely looked a little rotund) loves nothing more than a slice of pizza to recharge her batteries. She could easily have got someone to whip up the best Pad Thai that the world has to offer. She could have dined at any one of several nearby restaurants and enjoyed the local fare. But, in the end, we're all human beings and I don't know a soul who hasn't craved a slice of pizza pie.