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Published: September 19th 2009
Yes, you are reading that right...i'm in central europe...Salzburg currentlz and will be traveling for the next 10 days. I'm very excited to be out on the road again and so far I'm in love with Salzburg. I will be exploring Salzburg and Innsbruck on my own before meeting up with friends in Munich for Oktoberfest. I hope to blog a couple of times during the trip...though I'm not sure all the stories from Oktoberfest will get published...I may have to protect the identity of those involved.
A few things to note...spelling in this could be dicey. The key board has a weid placement for the shift button, the y and z are in each others places and the ' is just plain too hard to get to. In order to keep the amount of time i spend typing to a minimum, you may see some strange things...just go with it :-)
i arrived in paris on the 18 verz tired from mz overnight flight. it was mz first time in france and or paris and i have to saz i was excited just to be in the airport. it was rather uneventful. i was there about 2 hours. i did speak some french which surpisinglz came back rather easilz. i took french mz freshman and sophmore year in high school. but those basic phrases were back in mz brain and firing off almost perfectly. it was quite fun. the connecting flight was quick and arriving in munich was also uneventful. the best part about the flight was that i flew air france and they served chocolate croissants as the snack. oh how delicious! both cities were cloudy so no seeing of sites upon the approach. i took the train from the airport into munich's central stantion. Now this was an adventure. who know it would be so thrilling and challenging. most of the places i have traveled have been english or most english speaking countries. the time i was in panama, i had several people who spoke spanish with me. this was the first time i was in a country where the foreign language was frankly, so foreign. i stood at the ticket machine for at least 15 mins. i kept pushing buttons and getting what may or may not have been error messages. i only knew the amount that i needed to pay to get me to central station. i quickly learned where the cancel button was...after about 8 incorrect choices, i asked a man if he could help me. and there it was, one of the few buttons i didnt push. now armed wiht my ticket, i made my way to the gate area. this is when i see that i could have also purchased my ticket at a counter...from a person...who speaks english. ah well, my way was more adventurous! down the stairs and onto the train i went. it was quite a prettz ride into the city. upon arriving in the central station, im feeling more confident. as i exit the train, im feeling less confident again. many of the directional signs were in german and english, but then other things were not. so much for me trying to look like i know what im doing. im pretty sure i walked around puzzled for a bit until i found the signs leading me up to the main train terminal. i tried reading a map that was in english, but it was prettz much useless since all the signs were in german. ah well...after some more wondering i found the db or german train terminals with regional trains. i generallz knew that this was where i needed to buy my ticket to austria. until the moment i went up to the counter i was not sure where i was going first...salzburg or innsbruck. it was a 4th and goal decision. i asked the man, which train leaves first? and salzburg it was! at this point i was starving. i found an area with several food stands. and...could it be...one of them was selling sausages! im going to love the food here! i had my first bratwurst of the trip and it was tasty. i quite easily found my train. i had a second class ticket which translates to...find your own seat. when the train arrived, i got on one of the cars that said 2. i thought this had something to do with the class of car it was. im reasonably sure that it had nothing to do with that now. i am looking for a seat but all of the seats are numbered. im thinking this means i cant sit here, however, others are grabbing at seats like theyll the only ones on the train. i panick and think, if i dont just sit down i may have to stand for the next two hours. so i take one of the last ones. i figure the worst thing that will happen is ill get kicked out. when the ticket lady comes around, my palms get a little sweaty...she takes my ticket, stamps it and says thank you. look at that...im a train pro and i didnt even know it.
as the train leaves the station i begin to fall alseep. i didnt sleep much on my flights and the gentle rocking is getting to me. i try to stay awake to see the country side. as we travel through some small towns i giggle as i see sheep (many black) and it takes me back to my memories of new zealand. small homes that are white with rust or brown tile roofs line the countryside. they are beautiful and remind me of a ski village. some have the flower baskets hanging off windowsills. the rolling hills are quite tranquill. and then i start noticing a trend...many of the fields are filled with corn. corn? wait a minute, am i in germany or iowa? its one of those traveling moments when you realize the world is not so large. you expect to see something exotic in other countries but forget that sometimes you see something so common...in this case corn.
pulling into salzburg took my breath away. its one of the cities i have wanted to see most in europe and now here i am. for the first time i can reallz see the mountains which are part of the alps. and you can see the fortress castle built up on the ridge. and you can see the church steeples and history all over. i quickly found my barrings and was off. the smartest thing i did was rip my salzburg map out of my book. i quickly found the street i needed to walk along and began the stroll to my hostel of choice. it was about a 20 min walk but i loved it. i have seen travel shows and photos of the city, but to experience it was so special. the narrow streets and low buildings with their simple yet elegant architecture. what fun! the hostel i am staying in is very old and is connected to a church. i dont have my book with me so i cant give the dates, but the bell at the church rings every 15 mins and that included through the night. its on a very narrow street lined withs shops, cafes, pubs, ect. what a perfect atmosphere for me! its just a few min walk across the bridge to the old town area. the room is nice and the location is perfect! i ended up in bed really early and slept almost straight through the night. the other two girls staying in the room came in prettz late and thez did not sound sober. they turned on the light and were giggling and then one of them gasp...i think thats when they realized someone else was now stayzing in the room. they tried to be quiet after that but werent too successful. if they were speaking english, i would have told them not to worry, but they were not. so i smiled, rolled over and went back to sleep. they were still alseep this morning when i left at 9:15.
the hostel includes breakfast...this translates to tea-coffee-bread. i tried the liver patette with the bread and didnt like it. whatever the jam was, it was fantastic! then i set out for my adventure day of walking the city. there is a beautiful river that seems to divide the city. as i crossed over to old town my excitment grew. this area is mainly pedestrian only with extremely narrow streets. the buildings are awesome. about 4 to 5 stories tall and painted in all sorts of colors. the streets are cobblestone. the area some hints of the modern world, but everything else breaths old. i pass the mozart status - salzburg is his birthplace - a museum, i see several horse drawn carriage about, and then make mz way over to the main church. there is some sort of mass or ceremony going on and i decide to join in. this is the church that was used in sound of music for the wedding scene. as i walk in, im breathless. the original church was built in 774. to be standing in something that old and then to be able to hear the organ playzing and watch the priest and experience a modern day mass in a building thats centuries old gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. i stood for a moment and even though the mass was in german, i followed along. the pews were made of solid wood, the floors where uneven and some sort of stone. the pilars flew high into the ceiling that displayed beautiful painted scenes from the bible. breath taking is the only way to describe it.
from here i made my way to the lift that took me up to festung hohensalzburg. this is the original castle that was built in 1077. again, what a treat! it is a walled fortress with several rooms and buildings that were added over the years. many of the early nobles/aristocrates of the time lived here. how these structures were built in those times never ceases to amaze me. they had a museam where you could see the items used in bedrooms, kitchens, the arsenal, weapons, ect. the fortress sits high on the hill and looks out over the city. what views! these are some of my favorite photos. out of one side you see the citz, and out of the other, you see the rolling foothils and alps! people were not kidding when they said this city is beautiful!
from here i headed into the st peterskirche area and strolled through a graveyard. there was a woman dressed in a traditional dress with apron and all tending to the graves. some of them are very old, 1700s, 1800s, some of them are very new 2002, 2007. some seemed to be family graves with those burried hundreds of years ago and those burried last year. there was a small chapel in the middle of the grounds and it almost seemed to be looking over many of the graves.
and that brings me to now...and im starving. time for lunch! hopefully ill get some photos loaded on the next blog. i dont have the cord with me now. more later...cj
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Mom
non-member comment
To my girl
So good to hear from you! I knew you would love Salzburg! You're bringing back old memories for me. Enjoy it, Honey. Love, Mom