Phase 2 - marathon time

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Salzburg May 2 to May 9



Friday - Since we had a choice of trains going every half hour to Salzburg I didn’t worry about timing. We arrived at the station and found the right track and the train arrived 10 min. later. Our paper tickets I had printed were scanned with the conductor muttering a lot of German with a neutral face. They were good. Fast, quiet ride with beautiful scenery. Room wasn’t ready at noon so we left our bags and went bus riding and walking in the old town. Picked up Ross’ marathon info and tag. Had a picnic dinner in the room at 9 pm. 11,354 steps





Saturday – wow – slept in until 12:16. I checked every watch and clock to be sure of the time. But we had really slept in. We bussed and then walked in the rain in the Old Town and found a nice place for lunch (by this time 3:30 pm). Huge meat portions. Took a good pic of umbrellas out the window. Ross went off to check his marathon info and I went shopping on my own – yeah! Must have tried on a zillion outfits for the beach wedding in Hawaii in June but nothing looked good. I think I’m actually 5’10” and somebody just squashed me down to 5’4” and that’s why my middle is so lumpy. Makes trying on dresses rather tricky when my mind doesn’t match reality. I have ended up with a skirt and top and then for some reason a rather wild pair of pants. Maybe I’ll find something a bit better on the trip. Bussed back to the hotel after 2 wrong bus rides and a walk through a rather sleazy part of town (erotica and casino combos every few doors). Ross was napping when I got in and then I finally convinced him we needed to have dinner since he was going to run the next day. Hs meal was awful – mine was a very good Carpaccio. So far no food surprises ordering from a German menu but I am now carrying a cheat sheet in my wallet just in case. Early bed and alarm set for the race. 10,500 steps



Sunday May 4



Ross up at 7 – all geared up in water bottles and watches and he was out the door by 7:30. I poked around and finally headed out about 9:30 and very righteously walked down to the marathon area instead of taking the bus. I waited an hour at one spot just out of the rain waiting for Ross to come by. I had accidently found I was on part of the route when I saw police motorcycles slowly coming by followed by 3 fleet footed Kenyans. I should have gone and had a couple of cappuccinos but weirdly I thought I’d miss him if I did. Then of course when I finally saw his blue shirt (it’s amazing how many people out of 5000 will wear bright blue shirts to run in) I was caught by surprise and have a pic of his feet and then one of the top of his head. Oh well they go around the route twice so I had a second chance. So this time coffee and pastry for an hour, shopping for a nice new pen and some postcards, do a sketch and then stand guard near the bridge to catch him on the last leg (hopefully not figuratively). Rain stopped and the sun came out.



Got him. He did very well – 4 hours 31 minutes and 17 seconds. Then we had to walk home since most busses were rerouted due to the marathon. Ross spent the rest of the day in the tub and then the bed. At dinner we went 2 blocks to an Indian food restaurant – excellent food even though the waitress would not let me have milk for my tea – it would absolutely ruin it she said. She was too nice and too convincing to keep arguing with – admittedly it was not bad. 9,585 steps –way more for Ross!



Monday May 5



Woke late – 9:30 and made it down for the breakfast buffet. Only ones there at 10:00. Took the bus to the river, sketched the castle (somehow I’m missing one turret and a church steeple seems to be a few blocks away from where it really is plus I added a few extra trees so I didn’t have to do all the intricate windows – it’s really about getting the essence of the place not the accuracy). Rented bikes so we could ride the marathon route. Now this could have been a movie piece. Sun shining, easy biking, baskets on the front of the bike – maybe a little like Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant going on a ride through newly leafed woods, mountain vistas in the background and stopping by the lake for a divine cheese plate and Prosecco rose. Trouble is they would have to cast Roseanne Barr for me and Mr. Bean for Ross. Anyway it was pretty idyllic until my bike decided it would change gears whenever it felt like it and do it in extremes - from gear 21 where I could hardly pedal and then instantly drop to gear 2 even though I had not touched the shift handles. Then when we were in a bit of traffic the chain came off. After some grease stained hands (family take note- Ross put the chain back on) we continued on and soon the chain was off again. Walked it back to the rental area (thank goodness we were near the end) and she didn’t charge us for the extra hour. The marathon route was very beautiful and I was impressed that Ross noticed as he usually runs with his head down. Walked and shopped back to the hotel (Mercure City Hotel) and then had a picnic dinner in the park but it was rather chilly so finished eating in the room (Audrey and Cary would have persevered) .

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