Austria

Michelle’s words when we woke up on Sunday were “I feel like I was sleeping between layers of butter.” In her half asleep way, that was a good thing. I think we’d both slept better than we have yet. Our beds were soft, it was cool enough to use a blanket, and it was silent and dark. We probably could have slept all day if breakfast weren’t only served until 9:30. And quite a spread it was too. Probably the closest to an American breakfast we’d had. I mean, pastries, bread and pizza are all great... But eggs, fruit, and yogurt are nice too.

Well fueled and rested, it was time to explore Salzburg and after some mild resistance from me about being the only person able to actually forget how to ride a bike, I caved and we rented bikes from our hostel. It has to have been at least 10 years since I’ve ridden a bike and perhaps I didn’t forget completely how to ride one but I definitely struggled from time to time. Overall it was a lovely idea. We rode paths through fields that would occasionally turn a corner and present us with some stunning view of a castle or church on a hill that we weren’t expecting. We rode into Old Town, parked our bikes and walked around. Sazlburg is a beautiful city. Quaint, cute, and old. The architecture is breathtaking. The scenery has a way of making one constantly wish they were sitting drinking tea there with their grandma. AND I would like to point out, that locals actually DO wear lehterhosen and the women wear the complimentary tight bodiced dresses with the fluffy white sleeves. It is too cute.

Of course visited Mozart’s birthplace and residence both of which were pretty facinating. We had a light authentic lunch of bratwurst, a giant pretzel and strudel. And goodness, things are cheap in Austria. Our lunches totaled about 3.50 each. A nice change, I must say.

Once we digested a bit, we quite accidently got lost on our bikes, but that was nice too. We found a cute outdoor vendor market and then later a slumyier part of the city which I guess doesn’t fit with my previous statement, but we also found out way out which was positive. We returned our bikes to our hostel and asked them to call us a cab to our next hotel. Due to the inability to get some of the trains we wanted before we left Italy, we had ended up having to reserve an extra night in Salzburg. We’d reserved our second night first but when we found out we had to add a day, they were sold out so hence our staying in two different places. The cab came up and I was again struck by the difference between Austrian taxi drivers and any other I’ve ever seen. The one we’d had from the train station to the hostel had been a well dressed man in a business suit and the second looked like someone’s stylish grandmother. Anyway, the second hotel was an adorable bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town that I happened upon by accident while figuring out how to get to Salzburg while still in Italy. Cheaper than many of the hostels we’re staying in in other countries, it seemed like a nice little getaway. Haus Am Moos was a little cottage up against the giant mountains, where we were greeted by a little white dog with a gaudy blue bow in his hair. On the front door there hung a sign on the door saying, “please only ring once, It takes us 3 minutes to get to the door.” It was certainly nothing less than charming. I took lots of pictures. We asked what to do for dinner and they said there was a restaurant about 10 min walking down the street. The wee restaurant had two rooms- smoking and non smoking. The non was full so we accepted what we could get. The room was small and there was a thick cloud of smoke covering the top third of the room, and while it made my eyes water, it had it’s own charm. Everyone was huddled closely around tables, talking quietly and it was obvious every knew everyone. People would come in and sit at other people’s tables, smoking and chatting and wearing letterhosen. At one point a little farmer came in and placed a pepper on the table in front of a young man he obviously knew and then laughed uproariously as the boy took a bite and went running from the room to grab water. Our food, though very inexpensive and limited in choices, was both delicious as well as plentiful. I had turkey with potatoes and grilled veggies and Michelle had a steak in an amazing sauce (cooked much more than in Italy) with potatoes. Mostly out of politeness, we forced ourselves to finish what was probably 3 times what would have been sufficient and were thankful for a walk home.

This morning we woke up to another lovely breakfast and are currently on the train up to Prauge. I found in my guidebook both an Hotel Adria and Adria Palace. I know what we’ll be doing when we get there.

PS. If you’re ever in Austria and on an elevator, do Not reach your hand out to stop the doors to open them back up to allow on a lady with a stroller or a big, old, angry, German lady will yell quite furiously at you thinking your fingers will be cut off. Apparently elevator doors don’t open back up when touched like they do in the states. No harm will be done to fingers as the doors only very very lightly close on them but no need to be startled like that by all the yelling.