The Hills are Alive......

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Salzburg


I met up with my friend Miguel from Madrid (saw him earlier in my trip!) he flew out to Slazburg to meet me for a few days. I was couchsurfing and he stayed in a hotel. We met at the station and went for a walk along the river into town, having a catch up! As we were walking I got a message from a couchsurfer who was also staying with my host, an English guy called Sam, so we met up with him. We walked around the town a bit, got a beer, and went for some food. Austrian food is really good, like German, I had schweinbruter - pork and potato dumplings, yum!

Our hosts work at a hostel in Slazburg, so after eating we went to see them and get the key for the flat so we could put our bags in there. The hostel was called ''Muffin hostel'' it was a bit wierd! We had a quick chat to Gini and Tom and took our bags back to the flat. Miguel decided not to come with us but we arranged to meet the next day. Gini and Tom didn't come back that night so Sam and I went to sleep in their room.

Next morning Sam and I went to meet up with Miguel. We walked around the palace gardens, very pretty but not huge. There were a group of people stood on the steps, some kind of tour group I think, all singing ''do a deer, a female deer'' actually they were humming it, they obviously didn't know the words. But they were enjoying it! And there was also a newly-wed couple having their pictures taked by the fountain, he picked her up at one point and I was convinced they were going to fall in the fountain!

We headed into town again to see more of the cathedral and things, but it started raining as we were walking down the main street. We dashed for the cathedral but it was closed, and a lot of people had had the same idea so there were a lot of wet people crammed into a small space. We decided to brave the rain and dash for a cafe, where a hot chocolate was greatly appreciated! Unfortunately I was in a skirt and flipflops so pretty uncomfortable and it was pouring, so we went back to the flat.

We stayed there all afternoon, Gini and Tom came home and we cooked mushroom soup, pasta and apple strudel, all sat round a tiny table, great fun! And in the evening we drank some drinks and watched family guy in the bedroom, then we went to a drum and bass type club and danced the night away. Gini lent me a gorgous green dress to wear and we all had a great night! Gini does fire poi so she took them in the club, that was really cool to see.

The next morning Miguel and I headed up to the castle for a look around. We had to go up on the funicular which was fun! It was pretty big there was loads to see. There were great views of the city from up there. It was pretty rainy again so we went inside. There were loads of museumy things and a audio tour around some of the rooms, like the ''torture chamber'' and the roof. It was pouring by the time we got on the roof so didn't stay up there long! We also got a photo taken, one of those touristy ones with the background of the castle. It came as a postcard which we sent to Megan!

After that we walked around the town a bit, went down some streets we hadn't explored before. The town is pretty but not huge. We went to the same Austrian restaurant as before and I had beautiful meal, forget what it was called sorry! And apple strudel yum! We went for a few drinks and had to say goodbye to Miguel, he flew home the next morning.

When I got back to Gini's flat Sam was still there and his friend Eddie had turned up. They both go to Lancaster uni! The others all wanted to go out to a club but me, Sam and Eddie decided to stay in. We stayed up til 6am talking and drinking vodka, then went to sleep in the tent they put up in the garden! The others weren't back yet and we didn't want to be woken up by them when they got in so we decided to sleep outside! In the afternoon we all went to the train station together. Sam and Eddie were continuing on to Zell am See and me to Vienna!


Vienna


In Vienna I met Astrid, my dear friend from Peru who I also saw earlier on my trip in Konstanz, and Adrienne who also couchsurfed with Patrik in Bern. We went to put my stuff at Astid's house where I stayed and went out for a walk. We walked to the Danube and had a meal near there, Weiner schnitzel of course! It was very good! Astrid and I stayed up very late chatting and catching up. Astrid lives with her boyfriend Christian so we had a chat with him as well.

In the morning I met Adrienne and it was pouring so we decided to go to Belvedere palace on the tram. The building itself is beautiful and we saw loads of Klimt paintings and other art works. They had the original ''the Kiss'' in there, so beautiful it was shimmering with real gold! We walked outside a bit in the gardens and down to the other building at the bottom. We decided to go back the next day to look at the other building properly, as we wanted to go to St. Stephen's cathedral and have a tour of the catacombs. They were pretty spooky, some rooms had just piles of bones, of people who had died in the plague and they had no where to bury them. They just piled up the bones to make space. They also had the hearts of the Habsburg family, who when they died were buried in 3 different places; their hearts, organs, and bodies in 3 different places.

After that we walked around a bit and met up with Astrid for an ice cream. She took us to the best ice cream place in town, very good! By this time it was dark so we walked around the town centre, which Astrid says looks better at night. I agree, it was very pretty, we went to the museum area and the parks, we saw loads! Adrienne stayed at Astrid's place as well that night, so we went back, had a chat as usual! And went to bed.

Adrienne and I went back to Belvedere in the morning to see the orangerie, which had a load of wierd sculptures in it, and the other rooms, very ornate! They had lots more paintings and one of the guides in the rooms gave us some challenges to do with the paintings, we had to find a horse in one, and in one room was loads of paintings of ladies and we had to find 3 men! In one painting there is a woman and you can see a man's head in the bushes watching her, creepy!

Adrienne was leaving for Budapest after that so we had a quick meal and she got on the train, promising to see each other again in Budapest! I went back to Astrids house as it was still raining and not much to do. We had brought some horse steak from the market, a speciality in Austria, so we cooked it in the evening, it was pretty good!

In the morning I went for a walk to the Parliament building and Rathaus, and around an area of the city Astrid had told me about which was great for cute little shops and streets. I enjoyed walking around there, so pretty! Astrid managed to get off work early so she met me and we went to the aquarium. On the way we passed through a gorgeous little market, full of every kind of exotic food you could want, and of course I wanted everything! We tried a fruit that Astrid had some kind of allergic reaction to, but it tasted good! And Astrid brought some wasabi peas!

The aquarium was great it had every kind of exotic fish, lizard, turtles, including a giant sea turtle, monkeys, birds, spiders, snakes, and a huge ant farm. They had see through tubes going all the way around the room where the ants collect the leaves from one end and carry it to the nest at the other end, it was great to see! Unfortunately we got there pretty late so didn't have too much time.

On the way back we picked up some falafels from the market to eat when we got home. And we went out to some bars in the evening. We wanted to find some beach bars on the river but they were all closed, too cold! So we sat outside another bar in the town and had some cocktails, walked around the town for a bit, found another bar and had more drinks. I love talking with Astid she is such a great person! She is hoping to visit me in the winter so hope she can make it!

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