The story takes place in Salzburg, Austria. Dad has been there and says it’s the most beautiful city in the world. Hmm, maybe we’ll use the magic suitcase for a trip!

One of the scenes from the movie and the play shows an old Austrian folk dance called the Ländler. Those two dots above the ‘a’ mean you say it sort of like “layned-ler.” The dots are called an umlaut.

Anyway, the dance is pretty short so I wanted to see more of it and find out more about it. Videos of the dance are easy to find. What I learned was the Ländler is a dance that no one is sure how old it is, but a lot of famous composers wrote Ländler music, including Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach. Dancing became very popular in Austria in the 1800’s and the Ländler was part of it. There are some other related dances: the Steyrischer and the Schuhplattler. Check it out with your parents!

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These mountains were once part of an ancient volcano!

The old sides of the volcano come up on every side of the town and look like mountains!

We had an amazing time in Valle de Anton and started out at a butterfly sanctuary. There were some of the biggest and most colorful butterflies I’ve ever seen! Later, we had some yummy pizza at a local restaurant. I think the owner was Italian, his accent was different from everyone else’s.

After that, we rode horses and then explored the Nispero Zoo. We saw ostriches, spider monkeys, an ocelot, and even an American Crocodile!

Valle de Anton was a highlight of our trip. You’ll be able to read more about it soon!

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The statue is called “La Rogativa.” A rogativa is a special religious walk made by a large group of people where they ask for help.

The story of this statue goes back to a time when San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, was surrounded by enemy forces. The Bishop led a rogativa that was mostly women and children, but the enemy thought it was more troops arriving and decided to leave! The city was saved by the march!

The post Local Legends appeared first on Molly and the Magic Suitcase.

Yung, Molly, and Michael at a floating market.

Mangoes with sticky rice is just what it says. The “sticky” part of the rice comes from coconut milk and some sugar. A friend of Yung’s Dad always says it “melts in your mouth,” especially with the fresh mangoes in Thailand.

Get your parents to try one of these recipes!

Thai Table

Epicurious

[Author note: When our contributor described this dish, he repeated a few times how good it was. The “melts in your mouth” quote is direct from him, but we can’t reproduce how he said it: lips smacking, eyes closed, arms raised, and the look of relish on his face would convince anyone this is a dish to try.]

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