Austria - Salzburg, Halstatt, Pram

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8-5-07
After a couple great days in Vienna it was time to move into the countryside of Austria. When I first came to Vienna I was a little disappointed by the landscape quite frankly. I expected all of Austria to be mountainous, but Vienna seemed a little flat.

I headed to the West Bahnhoff station where I was to catch the train to somewhere in Upper Austria. The town is called Pram. It is a very small town and the railroad station is called Pram-Haag the name of the two towns nearby. I have couchsurfing host there. I need to go to a couple train stations to get there one was Linz, the main station in the area, and another called Wels. At Wels I had to get on a different train. The train ride went pretty smoothly as they normally do. I made it to Wels and there I had two options I could take one train from Wels now and wait at one station or wait here at Wels. I decided to get a little closer just in case something went wrong with the train and my host could then possibly pick me up if necessary. I talked to a lady at the next train station who appeared to be potential chain smoker. Whenever I think of chain-smokers I think of the guy on X-Files who Mulder and Skully always referred to as the chain-smoker.

We talked about lots of different things including politics. I got the impression she was not happy about much in her life currently. She seemed to only talk about negative things. We did manage a few smiles. We were going to different locations, but we were both on the same train. The train consisted of one car. It seemed quite funny, but why not only have one car if you are just transporting a few people.

I got off at the Pram-Haag Station and got ready to SMS my host and then Hans, my host, pulled up. He pulled up in a small yellow convertible car. It was his wife Theresa's car actually. I am not sure where to begin with Hans, but he is a very nice man, cheerful, exuberant, engaged etc. He took me to their house. Hans owns the local diner in town but is retired now and leases the place to another person.

Their house is a newer house and really seemed more like a vacation home. Something you might see in a ski resort area. Well this is Austria and there are ski areas everywhere. It is a lot like the type of house I would like to have some day. Lots of knotty wood on the walls, wood beams showing a high pitched roof, sunroof, lots of windows etc. In the center of the house they have this big oven. They burn wood in it and then the ovens concrete walls radiate the heat for long periods of time. It is quite cool except when it is on of course! Also they pay a contractor to send hot water into their house for heating. A local contractor has a tank that he heats water in and then the water is pumped to the homes for hot water heating purposes. The hot water is metered into the homes and then the residents or billed accordingly. It is like what we do for water and sewage service in the states. Be curious to know the type of piping they bury underground and how well it is insulated. Wood is plentiful in Austria and therefore they use it in heating a lot. They even use it to produce electricity. Why not I guess. I wonder how much it pollutes the environment though? Theresa had fixed me a tomato appetizer and a schnitzel entrée with a glass of wine. Man I am being spoiled. Everything is very good. Afterwards Hans suggested we go to this area to ride coal cars. I was a little tired, but said sure lets go. These couchsurfing host always think when you arrive they have to start showing you around. I am glad they are that way but when you are traveling as long as I am it is nice just to sit back and relax sometimes. He said it is an old coal mining area, is now used for recreation. We drove their hurriedly and Hans got lost a couple times, but we found it just in time, as they were just getting ready to take off with their last coal car ride of the day. We got out tickets and hopped on. The cars squeaked a lot and after about 5 minutes of that I was beginning to get a headache. It was fun and we rode about 15 minutes. The driver stopped once for pictures. There was all nature in this area. There is a forest on the hillside and below are a couple small towns with trees along the creeks. In Austria you see lots of deer blinds on the hillsides and in the woods. They are essentially elevated tree houses. They are a little funny looking to me, but I guess they work. Hunting must be quite common in Austria. I saw deer on the train ride here. Hans said a few times they have seen hobbits in this forest, but I was not seeing any on this day. He said something about they were more prevalent when the coal was being mined. It was funny to hear him tell the story. There were about 6 other people riding in the squeaky coal mining cars. We made it back to central station 😊 and unloaded from the cars. They also had bike like cars that you could peddle and Hans and I were talking about doing that earlier and the next thing I knew he was saying lets get on the bikes and ride the rails again, this time powered by pedals. I was peddling hard, but it seems like Hans was always very close. He said it was because he had a better bike, but I think it was because he was in good shape. We took the same course as the engine had done earlier which is the only course. Hans is very cool and we took a couple pictures. We spent a lot of time setting up for a picture under my request and we made it such that it looked like we were peddling past the camera on our bikes. I think it turned out pretty decent and is blog worthy. When we got back, we had a couple beers which tasted fantastic. I was really craving beer like this. It was great.

From there we went down to Han’s brother in-laws and talked to them for awhile. His brother in-law had 250 types of wine in the house. His brother in-law talked about how Austriran’s like the finer things in life. He had a big stove in the middle of the room like Hans has. He has a very new house as well and they fed me some dessert that they had made. Hans brother-in-law has a hauling business and is doing well financially, which I suppose helps a person enjoy the finer things in life. Not necessarily makes a person more happy though. Austrian’s in general seem to be a very wealthy country. They remind me a lot of Norway in that respect. Both groups seem to be doing very well financially. We drank at least at 2 bottles of wine maybe 3. We also had some cheese and bread. It was all very good. I was a little concerned about Hans getting me home after so much to drink, but as so many Europeans say Hans said "No Problem". Hans is a natural born entertainer. Very boisterous, confident and friendly. I really had a good time with Hans.

He did indeed get me home safely and I went to sleep thinking man what a fun day I had in this beautiful place. Couchsurfing is great. I was their first couchsurfer of 2007. They live way out in the Country and I think as a result most people skip these places and instead go to the big city's. I am not sure if they spoil everyone as much as they are me, but I will take it with a smile and a thank you. I fell asleep thinking about this beautiful place and the hospitality they had shown me. Good night from Upper Austria in a small town called Pram!

8-6-06
Man I feel like family here. It is very relaxing and enjoyable staying with Hans and Theresa. I got up and headed upstairs. Hans had to get up at 5:00 and go do something. I hadn't asked what he was doing, because I think it was something illegal and I did not want to be involved. Just kidding! Theresa was there and we talked awhile as she got breakfast together. This was great. Eat, sleep, be merry, and let someone else clean up the mess. This is living. I often wonder if the people I am staying with or getting anything out of me staying with them. I hope I am giving them something?

Theresa asked about eating outside and that sounded good to me so we went outside for breakfast. We had the breads that you see all over Europe being eaten for breakfast and Theresa and Hans's homemade jams. They were very good and I particularly liked the currant jam the best. I decided to have some coffee for breakfast. I like coffee but the caffeine doesn't always sit well with me. I feel great for awhile and then I hit a wall.

I am typing this while in the Munich airport. It is great sitting hear in the Munich airport. Everyone sitting around drinking beer. There is a mom to my left with two young kids drinking a 1/2 liter of beer each. I would like to take a picture of that, but I do not think she would want that, so I will not do it.

Theresa and I took the food and drinks outside and commenced with breakfast. The weather was fantastic. We sat on the eastside of her house in the grass and talked about a myriad of things. The coffee even though it was instant tasted great. You know how during certain times of your life you feel very content with things? I was in one of those states where everything just felt good and seemed right. I was securely planted in my happy place. Hans came back and talked for awhile as well. The breakfast event lasted about an hour and I then decided to hang up my clothes in the area, where we just had breakfast, as there were clothes lines nearby. A lot of people in Europe do not have dryers. I definitely will not be using dryers as much when I get back. I actually enjoyed hanging up my clothes as mundane activities like this I miss a little bit. I for some reason enjoy having daily chores. I guess I enjoy the consistency not sure. I hope someday to have daily activities like feeding some cattle or something like that. Not sure that will happen, but that is a goal. Everyone should have goals I think.

Anyway the clothes were on the line and Hans was ready to take me to the woods for a day of hiking. He had some stuff to do today so he couldn't hike along but he was going to drop me off. Actually, I think he was hungover from the night before. Just kidding Hans had to be tired as he had gotten up at 5 after going to bed around 11ish. He took me back to the place, where we had road the coal cars the day before and I had a rough map of the area, which we had picked up at a nearby town. We had also gotten some groceries on the way there in Pram and I enjoyed watching Hans and the attendant talk. I participated as well as I checked out. We had some laughs. Hans is a people person.

At the woods we tried to understand the maps a little and then I headed out. I didn't really see any real problems should I get turned around as there appeared to be small towns all over this area. Hans took off and I started walking the rails. I thought of Hans singing, Last Train to Clarksville the day before as I walked along the rails. Hans knows a lot of songs.

The hike was going well until I got to my first series of signs. It appeared normally people walk the trail in the other direction as most of the signs I had to look back at. Not sure that it matters what direction you walk so I kept on trucking. In the next couple of turning points I saw signs to nearby towns which jived with my map so I walked with more confidence. I got turned around near an old entrance to a coal mine, but then went back to where I thought I was supposed to be. The total distance was supposed to about 6 miles. I met a couple old gentleman on the trail. The first one I just said Goosgut (sp) which is a typical German greeting meaning something to the effect may God be with you. I like that and it seemed like a really nice saying. I think if I told people in the US that they would think I am a bible thumper kind of guy. I may try that when I get back. To the cash register attendant, "Hello, May God be with you!" I am afraid that would illicit a weird response from most people.

I saw a few beehive boxes in the woods and there were active bees in the hive. I had no idea there would be so many bees in the woods, but there were. Hans had said they make a dark honey as opposed to the lighter honey of bees in a nonwoodsy (is that a word) environment. I made it back to where I thought I should have turned and met a man of about 70 years. I asked the man where we were on the map I had. He broke out in German and was really trying to help me, but I had no idea what he was saying. I let him talk for about a minute as I didn't want him to think I was not interested in what he had to say. I finally shook my head in agreement, dishonestly and pointed up the trail. I think he thought he had helped me, but I had no idea what he had just said. Regardless I was walking again, to where I was not sure, but it didn't really matter on this day as everything was glorious. I got back to a sign that said nordic ski trail, but couldn't really peg where on the map this corresponded to. There were lots of other signs as well, but I still had no idea where I was at. The signs mentioned towns that were not on the map I was looking at. I was wondering if maybe this map was printed in a different language. I knew it wasn't, but I sure was not getting much use out of this trail map.

I kept walking just kind of going with my gut. I was not worried, but it would have been nice to have a little bit of an idea of where I was at. As I walked I came across a deer sneaking through the woods. She was looking away from me the whole time so I think something must have spooked her and she was hurriedly walking from it. The deer did not appear too big, but it may have been a yearling I have no idea.

I came to another post with several signs and again could not make heads or tails out of that trail map. I pulled out another map that had a much larger scale and actually did find some of the cities on this map that were on the sign. I looked at the directions to the cities as shown on the sign and drew imaginary lines on my map and roughly determined where I was probably at. I still had not had lunch so I decided to take five and look at the map again after lunch. I sat on sawn logs, which are quite prevalent in this area. Man wood is plentiful in Austria. After the short break, sardines, banana and chocolate I felt refreshed and ready to push on.

I decided to walk in the direction of the closest town mentioned and that would confirm where I was. After about 30 minutes of walking I came across a few homes below me and it appeared there might be a church steeple. The map I had indicated there was a church in this town so I figured this must be the town. I kind of wondered however why a place with only a couple homes would even have a town name. I bet there were 5 houses at the most and a church. I walked down there and found a man to ask for directions. I ask him if this indeed was the town and he said it was and then ask if the series of homes up the road was the other town on the map and he said it was. I was a pretty long ways off that nordic trail I had planned to walk. To my south you could see the Alps clearly from this location. They are very nice. I told the guy where I was wanting to go and he offered to drive me there. That made me feel really good, but I told him that was not necessary as I wanted to walk. He reiterated he did not mind driving me there and I said no thanks and then he explained in detail where I needed to turn in that town to get to the trail that took me back to where I planned to hike. He was extremely nice and I threw a "Sie Sind Sehr Freundlich" his way which means "You are very kind". He half blushed, but I think he enjoyed the comment. It is amazing what these people in Europe will do for there neighbors and strange looking tourist. I headed up the gravel road to the next town, which again consisted of about 5 homes, which evidently is enough to get your name on the map. A kid passed me on a motorcycle and we exchanged waves. I walked up through the homes and a German Shepherd started coming towards me. I just acted like I couldn't care less that he was there and he then kind of ignored me. There were some livestock in the area and some buildings for livestock. The guy had told me to turn left past the green building and even when he told me I really didn't see a green building. There was a building with green shutters I guess that is what he was referencing not sure, but I saw a hiking trail sign and took that but was unclear again where the trail was. I walked back to the spot where I was about 5 minutes ago and saw another trail sign that did go by the green shuttered building. The path then went up the hill into the woods. All the way to the woods there was a roadway with concrete poured in two strips about 24" wide. I was shocked that such an elaborate road was poured on this hillside planted in alphalfa. Man they must have too much money to be building these kind of roads. Anyway it felt good to back on track and I walked up the hill to the top of the woods. I was becoming a little fatigued as it was a pretty steep grade and the weather was quite hot. I spooked something in the nearby grass which looked like very good deer bedding area so I assumed it was a deer. Although Hans had said the Trolls, that used to be here to protect the miners, also lived in these tall grasses. Who knows as I never saw anything. It is nice knowing in Austria they do not have the venomous snakes, the bears, big cats and people that you have to be afraid of as we do in the US. I kind of like Upper Austria.

I made it back to the trail and soon realized I was very near where I needed to go. Rather than walking directly back I decided to take the long way around and maybe just walk into town. I spent another 30 minutes walking and came out on a road not sure where I was. I had hoped I could see the church steeple or something recognizable, but I couldn't. I just walked along this ditch and tried to figure things out when I saw signs for towns, but was not too successful. After a couple more miles of walking I did figure out where I was at and made it into town. I made it into a bar near the church and ordered a drink. I sms’ed Hans and he arrived soon later. He had a beer as well and I had a second one as I was about done with my first one when he arrived.

Hans wanted to take me to a nearby town to show me the City as he said it is famous for the Baroque style of architecture. We drove to the town and Hans recognized a person in the town and another on a bike when we left the town. Both of which Hans honked at and even talked to the person that was walking in the town. Theresa teaches French in this same town. Theresa usually drives to work and does not like the trains. Austrians for some reason are not that fond of trains I think because a lot of them have money and it is more convenient to drive. They are more like US citizens in that regard. Not sure really.

Back at their place we talked for awhile and I had a little supper. They do not usually eat much for supper as their big meal is lunch. I talked to their daughter Theresia (I think that is the correct spelling) and tried to download some of my pictures to a DVD. She was not sure how to do it and I got concerned she might actually delete them all. I had about 1.5 months of photos there and was a little concerned that she might delete them. I reinforced the idea that there were a lot of memories there and that we needed to be absolutely sure, they do not accidentally get deleted. This was not a situation to learn how to do this. Anyway eventually she figured out how to do it with the program she used.

I stayed up a little longer and used the internet. Their son Paul showed up around 12:00 and we talked for awhile. He had been out fishing and drinking some beer. It sounded like back home. Paul asked if I wanted to download the pictures onto his computer and then for me to email him when I have successfully put them on a computer back home so he could delete them from his computer. That sounded like a great idea. I had done this one other time with my friends computer in Amsterdam. That really gives me a lot of peace of mind knowing the pics are either at home or somewhere else backed up. I was beginning to worry about my journaling as I had about 1.5 months on this phone now as well and that was the only place I had it. That was probably about 90 hours worth of work and I really needed to get that backed up as I was starting to think about it during the day. Whenever I find myself worrying about something I know I have to address the issue and get rid of that worry.

Paul and I talked a long time about all kinds of things. I thanked Paul for helping me back up those pictures and around 1:00 decided to call it a night. Paul had to work at 6 the next morning and was not liking the idea of having to get up in 5 hours. I told him I use to do similar things and knew he could hack it.

Good night from Upper Austria in a small Village named Pram.

8-7-07
This was a moving day. I stayed two nights with Hans and Theresa in Pram, but I have a flight to catch on the 15th of August and I must yet see Salzburg and Munich as well as todays destination of Stainach.

We had a quick breakfast and I was a little nervous about catching the 8:30 train but Hans, the confident boisterous person he is said no worries. It is less than 5 minutes to get there. I sat and talked to them over a breakfast a little longer than I should have, as like the day before, I really enjoyed talking to Theresa as well as Hans. We hurried up and went outside as I wanted to get a picture of them before leaving. Hans put on his Route 66 shirt as I had mentioned the popularity of that road in Europe the previous morning while talking to Theresa. We had discussed this picture the day before and Theresa said he would have Hans wear it for the picture. I had forgotten about it and smiled when Hans wore it out. After a couple quick pictures I said weidersen (goodbye in German) to Theresa and Hans and I jumped in the car. Like Hans said, we had no worries as we probably had a five minute wait when we got to the train station which was just a few minutes from their house. Hans as expected talked to an older gentleman there. I assume Hans knows everyone in town very well since he owns the restaurant in Pram.

I said wiedersen to Hans and jumped on the train a little heavier than when I had arrived as they had given me some of their jam, which they made the day I went hiking, and some schnapps which Hans had made. The Austrians seemed to genuinely believe the schnapps does help settle the stomach as they all say it and they all have schnapps. I had a walnut schnapps that Hans had made and to be quite honest did not like it that much but every thing else I had there I absolutely loved.

On the train there was not much exciting that happened and I was for some reason not in a very social mood. Soon the train entered the Alps. Their beauty blew me away. I could tell already that this trip into the Austrian Alps is going to be a good one. I rode the train to the ferry to the Village of Halstatt. When we got off the train I walked down the sidewalk with everyone else. As we walked down the sidewalk a lady twisted her ankle on this gutter drain like thing built into the sidewalk. I helped carry her bags while her husband or boyfriend carried the rest of the luggage. She was almost crying and I asked her if that was the first time she had turned her ankle or had she done it before. She said that was the first time. I told her that is not good and that we needed to get some ice on it. I am not sure why I was so forthright with that common sense information as I am sure they probably already knew that. We got on the boat and were across in about 3 minutes. The surrounding mountains are indeed beautiful. Once we got to the other side the couple said they were staying very close to where the boat landed and could carry their bags from there and thanked me for helping them. Actually Halstatt is a very small old salt-mining town. It was very pretty and as Rick Steve's says the surrounding mountains selfishly push the City into the lake. Rick is right again.

I went to the tourist information office and got a map. They let me leave my backpack there and I left to take a hike up the mountain. For whatever reason, I really felt like a hike. The tourist information folks said it was a 60 minute hike and as expected it only took 30 minutes. I am not sure what the average age and physical ability is of the person they estimate to hike trails, but I know I always do them a lot quicker than the time the tourist information predict. Maybe I am superman 😊 Not!

At the top I could have hiked on to a salt mine, but I decided to sit at this restaurant and have a beer while overlooking the beautiful lake and surrounding mountains. It was an amazing site. I was mad as this would have been a great place to do some typing, but I had left my keyboard in my backpack. I never leave my PDA or camera as those always stay on my person but everything else I consider expendable.

I took a couple photos from this location and held my beer up in the corner of the one picture. I was amused by it, not sure anyone else will be. I also had a plate of spaghetti, which was the cheapest thing on the menu for around 6 € for the kids portion. The spaghetti hit the spot and I figured I best keep going as I had about two hours before the ferry I wanted to take left to catch the train on the other side. The coordination of the ferries to the train arrivals are very good.

I asked the lady about a different trail and she said it is very nice and goes past a waterfall. I asked her how long does it take to get to Halstatt and she said 60 minutes and I kind of laughed. I mentioned what is the shape of the person doing it. She said it took her that long and she said she was in pretty good shape. I said uhm ok then she did appear to be in good shape and was probably only about 20 years old. I thought, well I think I can still do it in less time than she stated so I started down. I quickly saw the waterfall and thought it was not that great. I saw big fences erected above Halstatt to catch rocks that rolled down the hill before hitting the town. The fence seemed pretty nifty.

I was down in 40 minutes which was about what I expected. I walked back to the tourist information center and saw a couple who I had sat by on the train. I think they were British. The lady just drove me nuts on the train as she was always talking about nothing and making suggestions on what the couple could do. I got the impression the guy involuntarily nodded in agreement with her. She had a goofy hat on as well. Her whole outfit seemed to be right out of the sixtys. As Austin Powers would say, "Swinging sixties Baby. Do I make you Randy? Well do I Baby?" followed by his goofy laugh exposing his Billy Bob Teeth. I like that movie as I thought it was very clever. I did respect the fact though that they were riding there bikes everywhere. That is cool. A lot of people ride their bikes all over Europe. I saw lots of people doing that especially in July and August. Try to avoid traveling in Europe in July and August. You will thank me later.

I walked around the church that has all the skulls. It use to be the church would allow people to be buried for I think 12 years and then they would dig them up and put there bones in a designated building as there was not room enough in the cemetery for all the bodies. I am just not into seeing skulls of these previously buried people. Just not my thing. The people are dead there souls are not there. It is just the remains of their physical self. I just do not get why people want to see these skulls. It is interesting to know that that is what they had don, but seeing them does not do much for me.

After taking a few more pictures I looked for a bite to eat and to drink then headed for the ferry. I was about 20 minutes early and watched some kids playing in the water. Another couple who sounded and acted French got in the water for a swim. The lady got in first and swam way out into the middle of the lake. They appeared to be in their 50's and I was quite impressed as the water was quite cold. The guy quickly got out and kind of undressed only half covered by the towel and put dry clothes on. The lady swam for a total of about 15 minutes during which, about 10 minutes of the time she was way out in the middle of the lake. The lady had just gotten back in, when the ferry showed and I hopped on.

We made the quick trip over and waited a considerable length of time for the train. There were some Asian people there as well and of course they were trying to get some pictures. One lady got down on the tracks and had her picture taken and then she got back up onto the platform and another Asian lady went back down. About the same time when she got there to take the picture I heard the train coming and I thought about how funny it was going to be when she realized the train was coming. For some reason she was not hearing it and I looked and the train was moving faster than I expected. The train blew it's whistle and the lady took off as quickly as she could up off the tracks. I was standing just hoping she did not trip and fall as at times the Asians appear very clumsy but she made it up and onto the platform just a few seconds later the train went by. I started getting a little mad at myself for not yelling at her when I first heard the train coming, but I just assumed she would hear it. The Asian group kind of laughed about it, but that was a very dangerous situation. And they got lucky no one got hurt or killed.

I got on the train and was seeing some beautiful scenery, but man I was tired. I think that beer made me really tired and I just could not keep myself awake and fell asleep a couple times even though the scenery was phenomenal. I made it to Stainach and got a text message from Maria. She must not have gotten my earlier messages so I replied and told her I just arrived. A few minutes later she was there to pick me up. I love couchsurfing. She took me to there office, which is just a minute or two from the train station. She showed me around the office and I felt a little bad as they had patients there, but if they were ok with it then I guess I was ok to. Maria is a very beautiful, athletic woman with expertise in speech pathology. There were a few words she helped me with even, while I sat in her office. I jokingly wondered if I would be receiving and invoice for that help. She told me about some of the programs they have at the office. Her husband Will stopped by and introduced himself. They were both exceptionally nice which it seems most people in the medical field are. Will was just finishing up his day and we left their office for there home, which was just around the corner.

They have a beautiful, new house. You get the feeling they are very outdoorsy people based on the house architecture. Lots of windows very open spaces. It is almost like your outdoors. They showed me the shower, I am not sure if that that was a hint that I stunk or they were just being courteous. I would like to think courteous, but maybe I did smell😊. The shower was more like a stall and they had a sauna right next to it. It was very spacious. After showering I went up to my room, which is their sons, who is currently traveling in Mexico and is studying medicine himself. Will and Maria have traveled extensively, which I think is why they are so open to this couchsurfing concept. They said their son is currently couchsurfing in Mexico and he is who told them about it. When I came back downstairs as my room and theirs for that matter is on the second floor. They have a spiral staircase that leads to a third floor, but I never went up there so I am not sure what that is like.

Downstairs Maria was busy cooking and I heard Will playing some Bruce Springsteen on the stereo. He had the Tunnel of Love album playing, one I do not have, but really enjoyed hearing it on his system. They said they had read where I am a Bruce Sprinsteen fan on my profile and therefore played the music. That was very nice and I was impressed by their effort. Maria fixed some chicken baked in a red wine marinade. It was phenomenal. It was some of the best chicken I have ever had and there was no skin on it either. We drank a couple bottles of wine and Maria had a delicious desert as well. I felt like I was in heaven. They are very interesting people to talk with and we just spent the entire evening talking. They had a lap top computer on the kitchen table and I checked emails and went to bed. It was a great day and I felt like I got a lot done. I was now staying in a five star hotel with 5 star meals and 5 star people. What more could I ask for. Signing out from Stainach, Austria one of the most beautiful places in the world. They have incredible mountains all around them. Especially the Grimming which towers above the town. Life is Good.

8-8-07
I slept great and probably got up a little later than Will and Maria wanted to as Will had mentioned something about getting an early start the previous night. I headed downstairs and Maria was getting breakfast together. A typical breakfast includes breads, lunch meat, jams and this morning an egg. Man I love those eggs. I learned a new way to eat an egg this morning. I have seen people do this before, but I have not done it. You do not fully hard boil the egg, but just enough to get most of the egg cooked. The yolk is a little gooey. You then take off the top 0.25 of the shell and use a small spoon to eat out the inside of the egg. Normally when I eat an egg I crave two. Doing it this way I felt full after eating just one egg. I could have eaten another, but really felt pretty good after only one. Maria really goes through a lot of effort using her finest dishes and puts all sorts of food on the table. You feel like your having a feast. Will helps out as well. After our feast we all jumped in the car and headed to Staderzinken. This was the mountain we were going to hike. The drive up was very scenic and longer than I expected. I thought if we drove much farther we would not have to walk at all. These mountains however are deceptive and after parking we did still have a ways to walk and it was not downhill walking either. Midway up the mountain there is a small church and when I say small I mean small. Might be able to get 5 people in there if they are Asian. It was situated on a cliff like area, so that is very nice. It was starting to rain so we waited there for a few minutes and then decided to keep going. The rain really was not a factor as it was very light and quickly stopped all together. I was amazed that most of the people you saw were older people. Maria said the younger people are not interested in doing this. Maria and Will are in great shape and I was pushing myself hard just to keep up.

At the top the view was decent and we took some photos. Most of the pictures were taken around the cross that is positioned at the top. There is a book at the summit and I signed it Dave Bick, St. Louis, Missouri, August 8, 2007. I didn't take the time to read the other entries, but I am sure it would have been interesting.

We quickly made it back down and jumped in the car. We were heading to Bad Aussee and then were going to continue on to Grandisee, where we would have lunch. On the way I saw a wood burning energy generation facility. It was interesting to see this sort of facility. I guess this is the kind of thing you do when you have lots of wood. It seems to me however that this would pollute the environment from the smoke emissions. Not sure of the environmental effects?

At Grandisee there is a big lake and a five star restaurant that unfortunately we learned did not serve lunch. I had volunteered to buy on the ride there, but now was having second thoughts and I am sure Will and Maria would not expect me to buy at a place like this. I like fancy restaurants, but in all honesty I always feel a little stuffy at those types of restaurants and I never enjoy the experience the price might suggest I should. I would rather go to a place like the restaurant in Lisbon, where the lady wipes the smoke out of her eyes with her sleeves right in front of you. Now that's what I call fine dining!

Man it is 4 in the morning hear at the Dublin airport and things are starting to hop. There are flights I think beginning at 6. I may have slept one hour and then was told by the cleaning people I had to get up so they could clean that spot on the floor. I have not slept since.

Since that restaurant was closed we went back to Bad Aussee on our way to Altaussee, where there was another nice restaurant. There is another lake at this town. I jokingly referred to Bad Aussee as if it was pronounced Bad Aussie referring to people from Australia. I told them they should have made up a story like there were immigrants from Australia that moved here etc. The rest of the day we referred to the town as Bad Aussie as it did seem like saying it that way made us sound cool. Everyone wants to be cool.

This too was a very fancy restaurant and there was a picture of Brad Pitt on the bulletin board, but I do not think Brad Pitt was there, but someone who worked for Brad Pitt. We sat down and had out lunch. I had a fish as did Will and I forget what Maria had, but for them they indicated later in the night that things were just satisfactory, but they never complained just said it was ok. For really positive people if they just say ok it is like a normal person saying it wasn't that good. I had a soup as well that had some kind of meat that they would not tell me what was in it. It reminded me of blood sausage, but I didn't say that. They also had two small dishes of fat with some sort of pork chunks in it. For me that was gross. I thought of us butchering hogs and rendering the lard. I would never take that lard and spread it on the bread like this. I told Will if a lot of people are eating this stuff it should be good for his business. He agreed. I made a big deal out of the fact that people are eating this stuff. I only had a little. I thought everything was ok, but again my palate is not refined enough to know what is really good and what is just ok.

After our meal we decided to take the ferry across the lake to the other side. Finally something I could afford to pay for, so I took care of the ferry cost as well as the cost of our desert on the other side of the lake, when we got off the ferry. Once we got off Maria suggested we climb the rock there so we all did. The rock was not a big one just something to do more less. There was a light on the rock for the Shakespeare play they have there in the summer time. I would love to see the play in that setting. We had strudel for desert and I had a milk to go along with it. It was all quite good. Will and Maria had come to this same lake over the weekend to swim. Maria said they were there all day. I was hoping we would get to swim on this trip as they had talked about doing such, but we never did. We decided to walk back to their car instead of waiting for the ferry to come back. I am glad we did as I enjoyed the walk very much. A couple places I would have loved to jump in and swim for awhile, but I obviously did not do that. In a few locations you could see where the water really got deep in a hurry. These are glacier lakes and generally do get deep in a hurry.

I was really enjoying the day and had been really pampered by Will and Maria and that continued. As we went out of town we stopped at a shop to look at the traditional clothing consisting of lederhosen and the dierndel (sp). Will decided to buy some socks as he said he needed some for his lederhosen.

From there we decided to pick up some smoked fish for supper. They have hatchery raised salmon in the area and I looked forward to trying that. The first place we stopped did not have any, so we drove back to a nearby place and got some there, as well as another smoked fish. Again more pampering.

We stopped at a ski jump and I acted goofy like I was landing a jump to try and make a silly picture. This jump was really big and the slope on the hill is incredibly steep. It was quite the site to see.

Near Stainach we stopped at the grocery store and got some supplies. I insisted on paying for this, but it was only like 10 €. This is the least I can do as they had done so much for me.

Back at the house Will and I walked around outside and talked about their house. I had not really looked at their house from outside and took some pictures as well. We also went for a short bike ride around the block.

Inside I went in and took a shower and when I made it to the kitchen Maria was getting supper ready. Her main thing was washing the blueberries we had gotten at the store earlier. Both of them stay really active. We were having a pretty light meal since we had such a big lunch. The smoked fish was pretty good. I liked the other fish a lot better than the salmon. We had the berries and yoghurt for desert. We also drank some wine that I liked a lot.

We talked awhile longer and I showed them some songs off of Utube. Maria use to sing and we played a Joan Baez song, With God on Our Side. I really liked it and want to listen to it again. They really liked the Utube site. They have a son that is a musician and are in "tune" with music. I worked on the computer for awhile longer, while they went to bed. It had been a long day and I soon found myself in bed as well. I am really amazed by couchsurfing. You see all sorts of people on this site. Will and Maria treated me like a king today. I am so grateful that they shared what they had with me. They have hosted exchange students as well something I hope to do some day. I wonder if there is some sort of interview process as you are with the kids for a long time? I think it would be a great experience on a lot of different levels. Will and Maria still stay in touch and visit their exchange student.

Well I need to hit the hay. Tomorrow I go to Salzburg. I have heard this is a very beautiful City. I look forward to Salzburg.

8-9-07
I got up around 7 as I wanted to say goodbye and thanks to Will before he left at 7:30. He asked me if I had any Austrian chocolate and when I answered no, he grabbed two chocolate bars out of the refrigerator and gave them to me. I had no doubt that this was some of the best chocolate out there. Who is it that's out there saying this is good and this is bad. Does this person think that a McDonald's cheeseburger is good. If that guy were me, I would say yes a McDonald's cheeseburger is good. I suspect I will never be that person that says this is good and this isn't good. I am not going to like something just because someone says something is good. What does this person say about pig tongue. I really like pig tongue. If anybody reads this and knows that guy ask him about pig tongue. Tell him I think it is a delicacy and should be listed as good food and while you are talking to this guy ask him about cheeseburgers.

I thanked Will for the chocolate and he said the directions on how to eat the chocolate is on the label. He said you have to open it and let it sit for like an hour and then you cut it and smell it. It all sounded cool and I looked forward to trying it. I wonder if it is only good if you follow the instructions to a tee. Is it bad if you do it another way. By providing instructions is it a way to psychologically think this is going to be great increasing your likelihood of thinking it is a great chocolate. Maybe it is some undercover scam of sorts. I can see it now on the cover of Time. Man single handily undercovers trickery in the chocolate industry. I overnight become a household name and have people of all ages wanting my autograph. Ok I am going hold off, for the moment, my celebrity status until it is actually realized and for the time being continue typing this diary of sorts.

Will left on somewhat of a run out the door. Maria is up as well. Will had pretty much got out everything for breakfast. Maria and I chat for awhile and then before I knew what happened she said we need to get going. It was about 8 and I still had some packing to do with the train arriving around 8:30.

I quickly threw everything in the backpack and we jumped in the car. I thanked Maria for their hospitality and then walked into the train station to get my ticket. The guy who was supposed to be at the desk was not there and a lady in line said that's the things work around here. Everybody takes their good ole time. It seemed funny to me the way she said it.

I went out to the platform and there was an announcement and I ask the same lady what it meant and she said that the train is going to be 15 minutes late and I could tell she was a little upset. Another announcement said the train was now 30 minutes late. She was pacing and went inside to ask the person some questions. When the lady came out I told her about the guy in Vienna who had no legs and was pushing himself around on a skateboard. I told her 30 minutes delay is not that bad. She was fun to talk to probably in her mid 50's and I learned a little later she was the judge's wife in Stainach. I figured she knew the people I stayed with, but I didn't bring them up right away as I was not sure if Will and Maria wanted other people to know.

We jumped on the train and sat near each other. We talked awhile longer and I learned she was on her way to visit her mother. She was contemplating getting off at the up and coming stop because another train there might be more reliable. She kept saying she never rides the trains, because they are not reliable. Austrians are not as fond of the trains as the rest of Europe with the possible exception of the Sandinavians. Two of the wealthiest countries Norway and Austria drive often. I am not sure of the Swiss, but I suspect they are drivers too. We Americans are wealthy as well and we are drivers. Maybe there is a connection to wealth? Not sure.

This lady finally started pestering (giving it back to me) me as well and we had a nice exchange. She probed me a little more about couchsurfing and I finally told her about Will and Maria and she knows them. She said they are very nice people. I told her yep they sure are. I told her she should have a little fun with the situation and email them and tell them they met this nice man on the train, who wouldn't shut up, and who was doing this thing called couchsurfing. The possibilities were endless, but I got the impression she would not do it.

We talked about music bands and she said she liked Neil Young and Bob Dylan. In Europe the music is pretty much all the same as we listen to. There is some music sung in local tongues, but most of it is in English.

We finally made it to Salzburg and she went on her way and I went my way. Conversation with her really made the trip more fun and I suspect maybe I helped her bear the situation, which she was obviously struggling with.

I walked out of the station and it was raining a little. Salzburg is a pretty small town so it is not hard to find things. Once getting directions from a local on where to go to get to the City center, it was easy to find. I did stop at a market for a few minutes to get my rain coat out. It seems markets are extremely common in Europe, but I would say they are common in America as well.

I walked to St. Peter's church and had a bratwurst. I then went to the Duomo, where I met a couchsurfer Regina. She had said she was available to show me around so I took her up on the offer. We walked through the Duomo and she read a few things from her guidebook. It was nice church. She said the archbishop at the time wanted a church similar to St. Peter's Basillica and it is commonly believed that he burnt the old church in hopes of getting a new church built. Man those were some interesting times. The scandals now are a lot less interesting, though Clinton with his oral sex and Bush's Iraq war are somewhat scandalous. Bush’s war is by far the worst as thousands of people have died because of Mr. Bush all to protect our oil interest. I recently had a person tell me how bad Clinton’s oral sex was, because now as a result parents have to talk to there young kids about oral sex. I told her that is parenting and the only reason that was a big deal was because Republicans made it a big deal in hopes of political gain. If nothing was said about it, then we do not have all the other crap. Maybe the Republicans ploy worked as the Republicans got in and took us to war under false pretenses. Now the parents are talking to their kids about why daddy is dead.

Regina and I walked up the hillside on the side of the river opposite the old side of town. It was a very nice view and I took a few photos. I also took some of Regina as she did not have any of herself and needed some for her couchsurfing profile. My photography has came a long way from since I started this trip. I am getting a decent eye for it I think.

We walked down to the old part of town and then to a coffee shop. I had a coffee and she had some sort of carrot juice. We also ate one of the Austrian chocolate bars. It was very good but we did not wait an hour to eat it. I still enjoyed it even though I did not wait the duration of time. I guess that answers one of those questions I had asked earlier.

I really enjoyed talking to Regina as a lot of her views on money and ethics were in line with my beliefs. She dropped me off at the bus stop and we said our goodbyes and will probably never see each other again. It seems a little final, but that is the truth of it all. Although some couchsurfers I will send emails to periodically, to see how things are going and hopefully I will get to host a few in St. Louis someday. Who knows what the future holds for me. There are no guarantees when you talk about the future. Plan that you will live forever but keep in my mind you never know the time the place or the day. Only that man upstairs knows that. Or does he? I don't know for sure, and that is why they call it Faith. You just have to believe. I believe he knows.

I took the bus to Gertraud’s and had a little trouble finding the place, but did eventually. Actually Gertraud found me as she had just gotten off the bus or out of her car as she had to take her daughter into Salzburg. She saw me first and she had seen me in Salzburg as well. I told her she should have said something, but she said she didn't want to interrupt me. I think Gertraud has a shy side at times, but not always.

We headed inside and I layed down for awhile after being introduced to 3 of her 4 kids and Gertraud went for a walk. I needed a break as I had been going all day. I felt a little guilty for laying down so I went back down stairs and talked to her son. Gertraud made it back in and we talked and had some supper. Gertraud knew of a place playing traditional Austrian music so we went there for awhile and I was impressed by the music and by the beer. Normally this group plays outside, but since it was raining they played inside. The group was really young and consisted of about 35 people. They were very good. I tried a schnapps, that ladies were walking around with, and didn't like the schnapps at all. Schnapps is quite popular around here. After spending a couple hours there talking we decided to head back. Gertraud had a big day planned for me. It seems all the couchsurfers are always planning activities. We were going hiking something I really enjoy so I was looking forward to the next day. This is Sound the Music country. I couldn't wait. We turned in. Another busy fun day. Good night from Hof, Austria just outside Salzburg.

8-10-07
We had a nice breakfast and hopped in the car and headed to the lake near Schloss Fuschal. This is an area where all the dignitaries stay and there are cabins there that are like €1,000 per night. Gertraud got to look inside one of them once and said they are quite impressive. We looked at a fish hatchery for a few minutes then headed to Red Bull. Yes the corporate headquarters for the company Red Bull is located in Fuschal, which is on the other end of the lake Fuschal. We took a picture at the headquarters which is surround by water. It is a very pretty place and evidently Mr. Red Bull is making some money as they are expanding the place. I learned of these Red Bull aeronautics races and lots of other crazy races that Red Bull sponsors. He was a self made man and seems to be very active in the community. Gertraud said she wishes she had a euro for every car that stops here and takes a picture.

We also went to a beach area on the lake where if you have a membership you can swim. The water felt quite cool, but there were kids out there swimming with no life preservers on and no wet suits. They were tough kids for sure. I also noticed a snack service that was on your honor system. The people in this area are very trustworthy. I suspect most have money, which helps a person be more trustworthy.

From there we headed into the hills. We were going to hike in the mountains near Wolfgangsee. This is a beautiful lake and is definitely Mary Poppins land. I am not sure I have been to a prettier place.

We parked the car and hiked a little ways and came to a small lodge that sold food and had a phenomenal view. This is one of Gertraud's favorite places. It was now one of my favorite places as well. The view is unexplainable so you will need to just check out the pictures since each picture is worth a 1,000 words and I am too slow a typer to explain the area in words. From there we hiked on and a little farther up the mountain we came to another lodge, but this lodge is bigger. You can actually stay there. I thought that would have been fun and relaxing but Gertraud needed to get back and I had no other transportation. Will have to do that next time. As I have said time and time again you have to have a reason to go back.

There is a lift that takes people to the top of the mountain, which at first I thought was not so cool as you should have to earn the view, but then rethinking it I decided it is not such a bad thing after all as the elderly people and even handicap should not not be shortchanged the opportunity to see this vista should they desire to do so.

Towards the top of the mountain it got increasingly foggy and was quite hard to see very far. At times the fog or clouds would break allowing glimpses to the lake Wolfgangsee way below. We took a couple photos from this perch and then headed just a short distance below the mountain summit as Gertraud new the owner of the lodge serving food so we stopped there. I had a beer and I believe Gertraud had coffee. Additionally, I had a strudel. I had been eating lots of strudel lately and felt like it was my duty to do such as this area is famous for it. That is one thing that Hans had done in Pram as well. The key to good strudel is to make it so thin that you can read a newspaper through it. His strudel was very good as well as the strudel here.

After the break we headed down. The hike down went much quicker as it usually does. Again we stopped at times for photos. We encountered a few horses in one area and we fed them a couple apples. I am not sure whose horses they were, but they were very tame. Gertraud took a picture of me with the horses that I really thought turned out well. The one horse slobbered all over me, which was a little messy but I viewed it as his way of saying thanks Dave for the apple.

We made it down and headed back home. It was a great afternoon and I saw some beautiful nature. This is the same nature that you see in Sound of Music. This place really exist people. In the movie at times the background looks fake, but it actually does exist. Did I tell you how beautiful this place is yet?

On the way back we went for a swim. I had been wanting to swim for a long time and Gertraud said this is her favorite place. She said the lake is drinking water quality and the clarification is phenomenal. We swam for about 10 minutes as the water was cold, but really after the 5 minute acclimation it was fine.

Gertraud had called one of her daughters on the way home and told her to turn on the Sauna for me. When we made it to her place I headed for the Sauna and you talk about warm you up in a hurry. I was really not that cold, but I did have a cold and thought sweating would help. I have become a believer in sweating as a way to help get rid of colds. I am not sure of the science behind it, but for me it seems to work.

I was going to give Gertraud a break from me so after supper I headed down town for the evening. Like Vienna, Salzburg has a film festival going on in town so I wanted to check that out. I would not be able to see a lot of it, but I could see some of it as I had to catch the last bus back to Hof where Gertraud lives. Gertraud's kids are very polite and I enjoyed talking to them. It was neat to see the dynamic between Gertraud and her four kids. She seemed to be in total control of them, but yet gave them freedom to have fun. They mainly spoke in German, unless I was talking to them, so the actual content of most of there conversations alluded me. Anyway I thanked her again for everything and headed for the bus stop.

After getting on the bus there was a drunk man that got on the bus, who sat by this young lady. I was amazed that the lady did not get up and move, but she actually joked around with him a little. I was waiting for the guy to cause a scene and he was, but not to the level I expected. After taking the 30 minute ride and getting off at the train station I walked in to ask about the train I needed to take to Munich as I had been getting burnt on trains in recent days. I found a cheap ticket for like €19 that got me to Fussen, but I had to take a slow train. That was ok as I still feel that time is on my side these days so I am always looking to save a few bucks. I was happy with the price as I really thought train prices could really hurt my budget, but they have been surprisingly cheap. This last leg of this trip has been very cheap actually and I am nowhere close to spending what I had withdrawn in Helsinki. This was nice, as I had spent on the European leg of this trip about $2,000 more than I had budgeted but with this money that I have left I am thinking I will only be about $1,000 over my budget. I will take that as being very good. I had originally thought the cost without rail pass included to be about $60 a day. I think actually I am probably pretty close to that. Couchsurfing really helps out as lodging is a big cost during travels. I estimate I couchsurfed about half the time, but I often took the host out to eat or spent money on them somehow to thank them.

As I walked out of the train station I saw the lady still talking to that drunk from the bus and I wondered if she knew that guy or something. He smelled and was probably in his late 50's while the lady was maybe 20. Not sure what was going on there.

I walked down to the main area of Salzburg and walked around to find where the play was being shown. After that I was a little hungry and decided to go for an ice cream. Man people love there ice cream.

I was a little tired from all the walking and decided to just sit down, where the film was to be played. I sat there for about a half hour and was surprised that there were not more people there. It was a rainy overcast evening and it appeared it might rain so I am sure that kept people away.

Once the 15 minutes of commercials were over they got to the play and only then did I realize it was all in German. I had not even thought about that and there were no subtitles. I sat there for about 15 minutes and decided I had enough of sitting there watching the play King Arthur having no idea what they were saying. I headed for the bus stop and got there about 30 minutes early. I sat in an enclosed area, but then a lady that sat down next to me started smoking and I got up and went somewhere else as I did not want the smoke in my eyes. I am not a big fan of smoking that is for sure.

The bus arrived and after the bus I got on, there was only one more bus that night and it did not go to Hof, the Village where I needed to go. This was the last train to Clarksville sort of speak as Hans might say.

I made it back and used the computer for awhile. Gertraud’s son was still up, but everyone else was in bed. After about 20 minutes I decided to call it a day as well. It was again a full pull and I was tired. It will be nice to get home to catch up on the rest a little. I need to just sleep for about 3 complete days to get caught up. Good night again from Hof Austria.

8-11-07
This was the day Gertraud was going to give me the Sound of Music Tour. I guess I am not a big fan of the movie, in fact I think I have only seen it once and that was when I was a young punk. I am still a punk, just not as young.

I made it downstairs around 8 and got on the computer for awhile. Gertraud was busy in the kitchen and said that her ex husband was going to stop by for breakfast and pick up Morris and hang out with him today. I was glad that they had such a good relationship with each other as it is better for the kids I believe. I was setting up Gertraud's profile on couchsurfing. I couldn't get the pictures I had taken of her the day before to upload properly, I believe because they are too big in size. They are like 2 MB and the site mentioned they should be less than 1 MB. I am not sure how to reduce their size so I suggested she just use other photos. Her husband arrived and I didn't say much about couchsurfing, but it came up anyway. I really liked her ex husband as he seemed like a very nice guy and seemed like a very good athlete and engaged in life. He seemed like he would be a great dad.

Man I am taxing out to the runway in Atlanta and they just said there are 15 planes in front of us. I must say this is the craziest airport experience I believe I have ever had. Anyway things could be worse.

We had breakfast and Gertraud's ex-husband said everyone must speak in English since I am around. I told him that is not necessary and that I just enjoy seeing the dynamic even in German. I thought what he said was a very nice thing to say.

Her ex-husband said I should come more often as this is not a normal breakfast. I assumed they had this sort of breakfast all the time, but I guess they were doing this for me. After breakfast Gertraud's husband had to go to a doctor's appointment. I worked a little longer on her blog. Two of Gertraud's friends stopped by. They were from England and said there got to be too many people in England. They talked about there business occasionally and said they could do the work from here and really did not have to go there for work. They stayed about 30 minutes and we read through Gertraud's profile and they laughed at it a little. I had written everything and this was the first time even Gertraud had heard it. Gertraud I believe liked it by some of her comments.

The English couple agreed to go out and have a beer with us later in the evening. After they left Gertraud and I headed out for the Sound of Music tour. We went to the castle first, as I had not been there before. Gertraud can get in free since she had a Salzburg library card, which entitles you to free access. She also managed to get me in for free as well. I am not sure what she told them, but maybe it was something to the effect that I was with her or a resident as well. Not sure I just know I did not pay.

The castle was cool, but nothing too great. Gertraud said back in the day, I believe she said soldiers were from Turkey, came here and had this castle under siege. The people in the castle knew the soldiers were trying to starve them out so they painted the one cow they had a different color and everyday sent it out so the soldiers could see it. By doing this supposedly the soldiers thought they had many cows and could last for a long time and decided to leave the fort as did not want to siege the fort that long. It was raining so things were a little miserable and the views were very cloudy and not clear.

From there we walked down to the Opera house and saw another open air opera house, but could not get a good view of it, because the roof was moved on top of the opera because of the rain.

We were both getting a little hungry so we moved to grab a frankfurter. Gertraud showed me how to eat the frantfurter by just dipping it into the mustard. Frankfurters are essentially what we call funeral dogs and are quite good. We walked past the backside of Mozart's birthplace and picked up some Mozart chocolate in another location. Gertraud knew of a café on top of this building and we went there for coffee and a chocolate cake for which I forget the name of. Both the coffee and cake were quite good. From this café we had a great view of Salzburg. The rain had slowed and Gertraud and I took a couple pictures together as there was a nice background.

From here it was getting late and Gertraud needed some groceries before the stores closed. We jumped in the car and tried a few places, but they were already closed. We went to another portion of Salzburg or a nearby town and found the glass house, where the girls in the movie dance around the house. I also messed around with the photography a little and tried to make some good photos.

The tour then had one more stop, where we were trying to get a picture of a remote castle that is in the movie. The castle was behind a rock wall and I had Gertraud stop on the road and I stood on the bumper so I could take a picture over the wall of this castle. We were jokingly referring to ourselves as being the paparazzi. The photo actually turned out really good and I was very pleased with it. It was still sprinkling rain however and was just not a nice day. We headed back to her place as it was getting late as Gertraud wanted to fix pasta for her kids before heading out. I showered and got ready to go out. Another friend of Gertraud's who was going out with us stopped by. I believe her name is Margaret and a little while later her English friends showed up and ate some supper as well.

We headed out to the pub and Gertraud's English friends drove. They had a really nice car and obviously had money. We made it to the bar and had a few drinks. I was disappointed because they did not have Red Bull as I wanted to get Gertraud a Jager Bomb as she had not had one, but they had no Red Bull. I was surprised as we were hanging out just a few miles from Fuschal, Red Bull Central, and no Red Bull? We decided to just have a shot of something that the lady said was like Jagermeiseter, but I didn't like it much and wished I had not gotten it.

I talked to a really drunk guy in the restroom and invited him to our table. He was really smashed and Gertraud, who grew up in this town, said she knew his mom. I brought up Franz Klammer and Hermann Maier and he mentioned the governor of California. He liked to talk about Arnold. Everyone in Austria is amazed that Arnold made it to be Governor. I guess it is a pretty amazing story.

We headed out about 12:00 and were dropped off at Gertraud's around 12:15. I was beat and went quickly to bed. Gertraud was concerned about her oldest daughter who was still out and tried to call her a couple times. I hit the hay. Again a very busy day and the bed felt good. Good night from Hof Austria.

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Photos

Heaven?
Definitely not Iowa!

Hiking View
This is the view from atop the mountain we hiked. The lake is Wolfgangsee. This is Sound of Music Country.

Riding the rails
These bikes ran on the rails. Hans my couchsurfing host and I peddled them around for awhile.

Upper Austria Countryside
You see lots of sunflowers in Austria. They make oil from the seeds.

Couchsurfing in Pram
As soon as I walked in the door at my couchsurfing host they fed me this. Schnitzel, potatoes, rice and a glass of wine. I am hooked on couchsurfing.

Countryside Near Pram
This is a view from an old coal mining area.

Fun with Coal Cars
This old coal mining area has a ride where you ride through the woods in these old coal cars.

Ahh Time to Relax.

Breakfast is Served
This is Theresa Hans's wife. This is where we had our breakfast.

Bread Crumbs led me here.
I followed this trail of bread crumbs to this house. I heard some wolf sounds inside so I left. As I was walking away I met a boy and girl that were walking in the direction of the building. There names were Hansel and Gretel. Deja Vu!

Deer Stands
You see lots of deer stands like this in the countryside of Austria. I also saw a lot of deer.

Busy Bees
I didn't expect to see so many bees in the woods. They say honey from bees in the woods is a lot darker than honey produced by bees in an area with few trees.

Time to make the Jam
Hans owns a restaurant in town and is a great cook. Here he is making some jam. He made apple struedel the same day and it sits in the background of the picture.

Where I laid my head.
Here's where I laid my head the two nights I was in Pram.

Everyone Skis in Austria
I always brought up the famous skiers Franz Klammer and Herman Maier with the Austrians and they would ask me about the California governor Arnold Scharzenegger who is from Austria.

Heater
This is a big stove where wood is burnt and then the blocks around the burning chamber heats up and radiates heat through the house. This is a secondary heat source and not the main one.

My couchsurfing host.
This is a picture of Hans and Theresa my couchsurfing host in front of their home. Hans is wearing a shirt that says Route 66. You see shirts, purses and hats all over Europe with Route 66 mentioned on it.

Small Train
In small communities like Pram these small trains stop and pick up people. It seems weird to think of a train this small.

Austrian Lakes
Bring on the Mountain Lakes. Austria has lots of them.

Halstatt
The mountains here try to push the homes into the lake.

Halstatt - Homes
Not really the ideal home sites. This use to be a salt mining town. Now it is tourism.

Here's the Good Stuff
A view from up on the mountain behind Halstatt

A 11 year view.
After 11 years the people in this cemetery use to be exumed and their skeleton stored in a nearby building to allow room for someone else to be buried. This practice was stopped after the catholic church began allowing cremation.

Downtown Halstatt
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Halstatt to Stainach
A picture from the train.

Halstatt to Stainach Pic 2
Another picture from the train.

Good Morning
I woke up one morning and saw this outside so I got up and took a picture through the window.

Stainach Couchsurfing Host
MAria and Will my couchsurfing host in Stainach, Austria. They have a couchsurfing son in Mexico right now.

Chapel on the Mountain
The previous picture was taken at this church near the summit of this mountain.

At the Summit
There were lots of older people hiking. Maria said younger people do not like to hike as much.

Desummitting
Heading back down.

5 Start Restaurant
In this restaurant you received this animal fat which contained chunks of bacon bits or something like that in the fat. One of the most gross things I have ever eaten.

Ski Jumping
That's me sticking a great landing.

Supper Time
We had a big lunch so we had a light supper at my couchsurfing host home. This is smoked fish.

Mountain near Stainach
This mountain, the Gremming, is the one that overlooks Stainach where I stayed. Not too shabby of a view.

Sound of Music Country
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Avalanche Control
There used to be avalanches crossing this road so they built this tunnel so now the avalanches simply go over the road.

Riverdance
This boat spins in circle in this spot while playing Mozart music. Quite the specatacle.

Traditional Austrian Music
The person I was couchsurfing with took me to this concert where traditional Austrian music is played.

More Bush Commentary
Saying in German that Bush is watching you a commentary on his spying program on American citizens.

Red Bull
This is the corporate headquarters of Red Bull iin Fuschal Austria near Salzburg.

Diving Platform
This water is very cold yet these kids were swimming at this lake. Very tough kids. I guess they grow up used to it around here.

Not Much Crime
This is a beach area in Fuschal. Purchasing items are based on the honor system.

Lederhoesen wearing Harley Rider
This is the traditional garb in this area. I hope his harley riding friends do not see this picture.

Get Out of the Way Dave
Another nice view obstructed by me.

Horsing Around
We ran into these wild horses while descending the mountain. I quickely became friends with these horses because of my likable personality. The apples I had helped too.

Austrian's Love their Flowers
You see these window boxes with flowers all over Austria.

Asian's Doing There Thing
I count six tripods in this picture.

Salzburg's Outdoor Film Festival
Like Vienna Salzburg has an outdoor film festival. This was a play in German so needless to say I did not stay long.

Sound of Music Tour
My couchsurfing host took me on a Sound of Music Tour. This is the church where the nuns dance. Sound of Music is not even a popular movie in Austria even though it was filmed in Austria. Go Figure.

Executioner's Home
See the home by itself in the field. This is where the executioner lived back in the day.

Life Imitating Art?
Isn't there a saying like that?

Some Art
I forget what this is about.

Sound of Music Bridge
This is the bridge in Sound of Music.

Sound of Music Gazeebo
I understand some girls dance here are something.

The Castle in Sound of Music
I was standing on the bumper of my couchsurfing host van to get this shot for it is hidden behind a wall. If not for my couchsurfing host knowing where it is I would have never found this place.

Comments

[Nancy R]

What? No photo of you spinning on the mountain top like Maria in The Sound of Music? More great photos this time! photobucket.com will allow you to resize photos, fyi.