The average tourist comes to the Austrian province of Salzburg for one of two reasons: Mozart or mountains. In recent times, however, there's been an ever-expanding number of vacationers who are allured neither by music and culture nor by hiking and skiing, but--unbelievable as it is--by rain. With their notorious bad-weather summers, the mountain valleys of Salzburg have become a popular destination for wealthy visitors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, who are seeking refuge from the broiling desert sun in the midst of rain-soaked lederhosen and edelweiss. Funnily enough, these Arabian tourists have picked my home town of Zell am See as their number-one vacation resort. Here's an eyewitness account of a comical clash of cultures.
