Austria

17 September 2008
Salzburg, Austria
                Our bus arrived in Vienna after about a 2 hour bus ride from Bratislava.  We were hoping to catch a bus the rest of the way but we were informed that there were no buses, only trains to Salzburg.  The guy we asked gave us directions to train station.  On the way to the trolley that would take us to the train station Doug accidently dropped our food bag.  There was a loud crack and then a liquid starting coming out of the bag.  We both tore the bag apart to discover that a small bottle of olive oil was destroyed and now everything was covered in oil.
                We split up, Anna stayed back to clean up Doug’s mess and Doug headed off to find an ATM to get some Euros.  Soon Doug was back and Anna had things more or less cleaned up.  We boarded the trolley and arrived at the train station.
                At the ticket booth we asked for the first train to Salzburg.  Thankfully the train was leaving in about 20 minutes.  We found the platform and found a couple seats.  The train was quite nice and even had power outlets that allowed us to work on journals and for Anna to work on Spider Solitare.
                The train arrived in Salzburg around 3pm.  We asked an information desk which hostels had room.  The lady called the closest place and told us they had room.  We walked the ten minutes to the hostel and checked in.  This hostel belongs to the International Hostel group.  The facilities are very nice, but they charge for internet, they don’t have a kitchen or even a fridge we could use.  They also don’t allow food or drink in the room.  We didn’t really care for this place too much.
                After settling in and get cleaned up we set off into town.  Salzburg supposedly is The Sound of Music city.  Although Doug has never seen the movie (it is a chick flick after all), it definitely puts a pretty clear image in your mind of what the area looks like.  The city is also the birth place of Mozart.  On a hill top overlooking the city is the Festung Hohensalzburg, which appears like a smaller scale version of the Potala Palace in Tibet.
                While wandering around we stopped in a grocery store and bought food and wine to smuggle into our hostel.  As we entered the front we decided to “hide in plain sight.”  We walked right in with the grocery bag and the girl working the desk didn’t bat an eye.
                Up in the room we watched a movie and had a little picnic.  Before we went to bed our roommates showed up.  The guy was from Portugal and the girl was from China.  We tried chatting up the girl about China but she didn’t seem very interested.  Eventually we stopped trying to make polite conversation and just read a bit before going to sleep.

18 September 2008
Salzburg, Austria
                The both of us were up pretty early.  The weather was definitely cooperating today.  We began walking towards the center, and ran into a market.  The market was so tempting we bought a piece of apple strudel, a potato patty thing, some sausage, a cut of Gouda cheese, and an olive baguette to bring it all together.  This would all last us through breakfast, and lunch.  Next Anna wanted her coffee.  We found a little café right outside the center, and she had her caffeine fix for the day.
                The Festung Hohensalzburg castle was one of the main attractions in this city, so we decided to go visit it.  It is perched on a hill at one end of the city.  We walked up, paid the entrance fee, and began exploring.  Some of the other castles we had visited were really cool, but small.  This castle was larger, and had more personality.  Walking around we ran into the couple who was staying in our room the night before.  We said hello, and explored a little more.  To the South side of the castle there was a look out with some benches to sit on.  This is where we broke out the picnic food for lunch.  By now the sun had finally graced us with its presence.  It was nice to sit outside in the sun eating our market food overlooking the country side from the top of a castle...this was what Europe is all about.
                After the castle we wandered back into the Old Town taking photos, and watching some of the street artists earn money.  There were musicians playing, and a couple of the painted people who mime doing gestures every now and then. 
                Next laundry needed to be done, so we went back to the hostel for a couple hours.  After laundry we wandered back into town.  There was a beautiful garden we had been at earlier, but we hadn’t really explored it too much.  So we went back there and also walked up to a church on a hill to take some more photos.  After a couple more hours we went back to the hostel for the night.

19 September 2008
Salzburg, Austria
                The alarm went off at 5:30.  We wanted to take an early train into Germany.  Arriving at the train station, the attendant for the German line was not going to be there until 6:30.  So we waited.  Anna then went to get coffee and some pastries for breakfast.
                Once Anna got back Doug was chatting with the attendant about the best way to get to Nuremberg.  The slow train wasn’t going to get us there until about 1:00pm, and we wanted to arrive around 11, or 11:30 to meet Anna’s friend for lunch.  Anna talked Doug into paying for the fast train to arrive around 11:00.   The price difference was huge, but we were getting free accommodation for the next few days.
                The train was leaving in 10 minutes, so we bought the tickets, and hurried to the platform.  The train left on time.  This was one of the nicest trains we had been on the whole trip.  It took us all the way to Munich.

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