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Published: July 23rd 2010
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and my alarm went off at 8. A good solid night's sleep was definitely a blessing, as I am feeling much better today. In Gorizia I found som vitamin C tablets that fizz in water, and have tried to pound back at least one of those each day. I'm still a bit snuffly, but the Italian version of Sudafed is keeping me sane and helping to prevent my having to blow my nose every ten minutes (which is also how I got through the competition, in case you were wondering). Running out, though, and may soon have to find an Austrian version.
This morning I skipped the hostel's €3.90 breakfast in favor of breakfast at ... McDonald's. It's not as bad as it sounds. They have a McDonald's Café here, where I had a giant cappuccino, a croissant, and all the free wifi I could handle for only €0.50 more than hostel breakfast. I've realized that due to the competition I'm now about 5 days behind in my blogging, which is sort of not cool. And photo uploading has been hopeless... Internet cafés here are the most expensive I've yet seen, while the free computers at the hotel are
so slow it's almost impossible.
This morning I visited the Festung Hohensalzburg, the fortress on the top of the hill in the middle of the city. Primarily dedicated to the first world war, and also primarily in German, most of the museum exhibits were a little in the boring side for me, but nevertheless there was certainly enough to keep me amused, not least the fabulous views from the top. I don't even know where to begin. The fortress has been there in various stages since the 11th century and the audio guide for the bits that weren't specifically WWI ish were quite good.
The pm was filled with the cheesiness of a Sound of Music tour. Which actually wasn't all that cheesy as I got out of the city and got to see some fabulous views of small town and lakes in the Alps that I would never have seen otherwise. Highlights included seeing Red Bull headquarters (RB now being Austria's biggest export, followed by Swarovski crystal), St. Gilgen, the village where Mozart's mother was born, along with the adjoining Wolfgang lake (named after a saint, not Mozart), a snazzy little castle on the border with Bavaria,
and a stop in Monsee (moon sea), which was fabulous - an alpine village on the edge of a beautiful lake. Second to Tuscany, I think this is the area I'd need to come back to... Rent a chalet or something and just spend a week basking. Sadly I think that for both destinations I would prefer to have someone to bask with... Ah well.
The Rockies have never really done it for me, I'm afraid (yes, I'm a horrible Canadian!) but the Alps just seem... cozy. I know that's totally wrong and that they can be just as dangerous, deadly, etc. as the Rockies... but there are little villages in every valley and they're less... rocky. At least near Salzburg. Which I realise is kinda more in their equivalent of the foothills. But still.
On my way to find dinner, I stumbled upon a cemetery. Ok, I didn't quite stumble, I knew it was there. And catacombs (which were sadly closed). I don't think words can do justice to this cemetery - hopefully pics can get posted soon! The best part - it's still in use and the magnificent monuments are actually quite modern! Yes, I'm aware that I'm probably the only person finding that exciting.
I wandered back into the hostel lobby to find a showing of The Sound of Music (the Von Trapps were already hiding in the cemetery when I got back, so didn't see much of it). Currently waiting for a computer to free up to see if I can upload some of the entries I've made the last few days.
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i appreciate your dedication to post regular updates :)