Hello everyone!! We have been very busy and having lots of fun. While Alisha is at a class (the last before her break begins) I thought I’d sit down and do write on her blog. So much has happened already!
The trip over was very long and I was very relieved when I finally reached my destination. As some of you know, my flight from Frankfort to Salzburg was cancelled due to a strike at the airline I was supposed to fly on. They had me fly to Munich and then go by bus to Salzburg. The Lufthansa airline was very helpful because when I got off the plane in Munich there were two airline women waiting with a sign that said Salzburg. The group gathered (about 12 of us), got our luggage and headed out to the bus. It was a two hour bus ride to Salzburg and I wouldn’t have chosen to go by bus. However, it was quite a treat to see the country-side of Austria. The season is a bit ahead of us so everything was green and blossoming. Villages of houses would be grouped around farmland (I’m guessing lots of haying because the ground wasn’t dug up). There were also the houses way up on the sides of the mountains…picture Heidi….just not in the Alps….smaller mountains. There were long winding roads that lead to them. They must have good plowing here! The farms were very neat…much like Canadian farms. Not a rusting car or truck to be seen!!!!
Alisha was a very welcome sight when I got off the bus! We headed right to her place on the city bus. Once we got my suitcase taken care of we went for lunch. We chose to walk and went along the river and I saw the scene of the picture of the fortress on the hill. It’s so big and amazing. We had decided on pizza and it was delicious. Picture this…sharing a pizza in a small restaurant…finishing and paying…and me tripping and turning my foot as I exit the place on a little step down that I missed!! Yes, it’s true! In Salzburg for about an hour and a half and I go and do that! The very good news is that it could’ve been so much worse! It feels much better after an icing and a couple of days. It turns out to be bruised. My Clarks sandals have been a footsaver!
Alisha took me to her grocery store and we watched Survivor on her computer. I struggled to stay awake towards the end of that but it was a fun evening.
Wednesday morning we visited St. Peter’s Church (the one Alisha told us about with the six organs) and had some yummy pastries for breakfast. The weather was very cold and was still spitting rain. The day before had been steady wind and rain so we were glad that had passed. We spent quite a bit of time at the church so it was time to head to Alisha’s class. I had intended to go to class but ended up a small café on the next street. I was there for about an hour and a half writing in my journal and nursing a hot chocolate. I was worried I’d overstay my welcome and would’ve braved the cold but took my cue from two women that were there when I arrived. They left only ten minutes before Alisha came back to get me. I felt very European!!!
We ended up going into some shops that Alisha wanted me to see and then we went back to her room until it was time go to IKEA and then meet up with Erin and her mother and sister. They arrived on Wed. We met to go to an authentic Austrian restaurant. I had the traditional Wiener-Schnitzel with potatoes and Alisha had bacon wrapped pork and potato wedges. I tried a white wine spritzer and Alisha had Radler that is half beer and half lemonade. I wasn’t crazy about either one…too much after taste. The meat dishes and potatoes were very good with lots of salt as Alisha has told us. For dessert we ordered a Salzburg Nockerl. It was awful!!! It smelled like egg and was the texture of custard with the meringue on top. We’ve decided to stick with the other delicious pastries and chocolate!!! One thing to note, here the server doesn’t bring your check until you ask for it! He had checked in to see if we were doing good but we ended up sitting a while until we asked for the check!
We ended our day skyping with Fred and gabbing.
This morning, Thursday, Alisha had a class so I did some much needed stretching and wrote in my journal. When she got back we went to the Farmer’s Market they have on Thursdays. It was a cross between our traditional markets and the Fryeburg Fair. There were food booths selling hot cooked food like the fair, cheese, sausage (many, many kinds of both cheese and sausage), fish, pastries and loads of fresh flowers and plants. We shared a cream roll and a pretzel. This is a great (?) place for me because I love pastry and bread! After this we walked back up to the Altstadt where we went into the church and visited the St. Peter's Cemetery and the shops. It’s a bit warmer today and so it was much more pleasant. I saw Mozart’s birthplace and some other statues and interesting tourist spots like a giant chess set in the square. We also stopped at St. Peter's Bakery, the oldest in Salzburg, and got some warm straight out of the oven bread!
Alisha helped get me back to her room before her class. I’d wanted to go by myself but she insisted. I would’ve had a little extra ride because I think I would’ve gotten on bus one instead of bus three. I would’ve noticed what I’d done but it’s just as well she helped me!!!
A few more random thoughts…we saw Stephen King, Agatha Christie, and Mary Higgins Clark books (to name a few) in German. There were English books and I thought it might be fun to buy one here but they’re more expensive plus the exchange!!!
The people here do not say excuse me…we’ve been in three different grocery stores and we hadn’t moved out of the way as they came up behind us we might’ve been run over!!!!
I don’t want my gravestone/marker to say RIP.
Bottled water isn’t too expensive when you buy it in the grocery store.
I’d say most of the people have initially spoken to me/us as we’ve been out and about in German but have no trouble switching to English when they see my blank look!!!
I know we are all aware of the good head on Alisha’s shoulders. She continues to use it. Now that I’m here, I’m even more aware of how much she’s had to learn and adjust to in a very short time. She’s done extremely well and I’m very impressed!!! What they say is proving true…the young lady we sent to Austria will not be the one that comes home!! She’s doing GREAT!!!!
We’ll be back to blog again before I leave. The next three days will be busy as there’s still a lot we’d like to do together. Today we decided not to take the time to do a day trip to Munich because I can say I’ve been there (Ahem!) and we’re hoping the weather will warm up, the rain will go away and we’ll get to do the many other things on our Salzburg list!!!
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