Friday, June 8, 2007

Fun in Salzburg!

Ok, in case you haven´t noticed, the y´s and z´s are reversed on German keyboards. If you see either letter in a word, and the word doesn´t make sense, just take that into consideration and you will figure it out. It is really annoying, considering we are in SalZburg. or is that Salyburg. Anyway...

So, after the Mozart houses yesterday, we were in for a treat. We were just walking around, down streets, exploring. There was a big crowd at the end of one street, and some music, so we walked down to see what was happening. There were people standing on the sidewalk, and the road was barricaded. In a few seconds, we figured out why. There was a race going on! Well, that´s what it looked like, anyway. There were a bunch of old classic souped up cars racing down the road along the river. There was some sort of track blocked off, because the same cars would go by over and over. It was so cool! There were Porsche´s, BMW´s, and who knows what else. (I don´t know enough about cars to tell you). Anyway, we eventually figured out that it probably wasn´t an actual race, it was probably a show. Of course, that is all pure speculation, because the announcer was speaking German, which is a foreign language to us still, even after five days in Austria.

The show was so much fun! It was very relaxing to just hang out at a local festival instead of trying to read a map and tour yet another tourist attraction. So, we hung out watching cars drive by for about 2 hours. It was a blast! They were really racing, even though I don´t think it was a race. We were right past a turn, so sometimes they would take the turn a little fast and skid right toward us. It was exhilarating! I am going to post a few pictures, so that you can figure out what the cars were for yourself.

After the "race" we walked around some more. We just walked around, took pictures, visited a church, and then decided to find an elevator that takes you to the top of a cliff on the outside of Salzburg. It is supposed to have a gorgeous panoramic view of the city and river.

So we started walking. We were at the horse fountain, so I used that and the fortress to figure out which direction to start walking. we started walking...and walked...and walked...and walked. It didn´t feel quite right, so I studied the map again, and figured out we were walking int he opposite direction. NO worries, it was a beautiful evening, it stays light until 10, and we had plenty of time. So, we walked in the right direction. We arrived at the intersection where the elevator was supposed to be. There was a sign with an arrow pointing down the road, so we naturally followed it. we walked for a while, until we had clearly gone too far, and still didn´t find it. Oh well. It isn´t the first time we walked past a destination. We turned around and kept looking. We walked until we reached the arrow, and still...no elevator. We walked into a building to ask where the elevator was. They said, "50 meters in that direction" and pointed to the same direction the arrow said. Ok, we must have missed it (again). We started down the road again. We walked significantly farther than 50 meters (like 300 meters) and still...no elevator. We were getting frustrated. We could actually see the elevator going up the side of the cliff, but couldn´t find any kind of entrance. so, we turned around. This time, as we were approaching the infamous arrow, I checked my map and realized that we should be exactly at the elevator. At the same moment, Rose pointed and said "It should be right there!" No elevator. Then, we noticed some scaffolding and a little door surrounded by tarps. Could that be it? Sure enough! We had found the entrance. It only took four walk-by´s, one request for information, two maps, one arrow, and one hour to find it. Not too bad for two English speaking sisters!! haha

The trouble was worth it. We rode the elevator up to a gorgeous view of the city. I´ll post some pictures.

After that, we had dinner. We went Austrian and both had Beef Goulash. It was really good. Well, I thought so. Then, Rose had apple strudel and I had a cappuccino. Their coffee here is better than in Italy.

After dinner, we were exhausted. We stopped by the Internet cafe to post a little, and then rushed to the train station to catch the 10:15 train back to our little B&B. Well, we thought it was a 10:15 train. It was actually a 9:55 train, and we missed it by 5 minutes. That was no fun. The next train was at 10:55, and I was way to tired to wait that long, so I broke down and hired a taxi. It was our first taxi of the trip! I guess that isn´t too bad. It did save us the hike up that hill...

We got a good night sleep in our awesome hostel and awoke to another beautiful day. This morning, we woke up, at breakfast with a beautiful mountain view, and then were picked up by our tour to go to Hitler´s Eagle´s Nest retreat.

The tour was awesome! The Eagle´s Nest was a gift to Hitler for his 50th birthday. It was a meeting center at the very top of a mountain. We took a 30 minute bus ride to the bottom of the mountain, than another bus ride up the mountain, than an elevator ride to the retreat. From there, you can see ranges and ranges of mountains, all the way to Italy. (We were actually in Germany at that point). The view is indescribable. I will just post pictures so that you can see for yourself.

We had lunch in a little German town on our way back to Salzburg, and are now ready for our next adventure! We are going to the fortress in Salzburg (I don´t remember the name) this afternoon, and then are going to relax. In the morning, we have our Sound of Music tour! That will be fun. :)

I hope you are all doing well! Our trip was half-over last night. We have one more night in Salzburg, then two in Munich, then four in Lucerne, and then six in Paris. We have changed the schedule from what it was originally, so don´t let that confuse you.

We miss you all!
Katie

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey, I told you I should have gone with you. I am good with maps!!! I could have saved you a lot of walking!