A Day in Salzburg

This was my last weekend in Germany and so I wanted to do something special. I went back and forth between a lot of things in my head, trying to decide between doing the university tour (to Weimar) or maybe even going to Berlin.. I kept getting stumped, because Berlin was going to be just too expensive (train tickets alone were 120 Euros!) and I really wanted to do something cool. While talking to my dad about my dilemma, he suggested going to Salzburg. It's only four hours away by train AND it's in a different country. I looked it up and the train tickets were significantly cheaper than Berlin, and so I decided to go for it! None of my friends had the desire to spend nine hours on a train for eight hours in Salzburg, so my trip ended up being alone.

My train left at 5:48 on a Saturday morning and I got to see what Bayreuth looks like at that incredibly early hour. The only people on the streets were definitely people that hadn't been to bed and had been having "fun" the night before. But I got to the train station ohne Problem (without problem) and all my transfers to Salzburg (Bayreuth-Nuremberg, Nuremberg-Munich, Munich-Salzburg) went smoothly.

The first thing I decided to do upon arriving in Salzburg was to see the Mirabell Gartens, which was where part of the Sound of Music was filmed. I took pictures by the steps and imagined myself singing my way up the steps - which I would have done if I hadn't been by myself. I was reminded of something an acquaintance of mine told me when I was fifteen: Looking crazy by yourself just means you're crazy. Looking crazy with friends means you're having fun.

Next on my list was to climb up to a castle on a hill, overlooking the city. On the way there, I strolled through Old Town and enjoyed gorgeous architecture on all sides. I also passed by a gigantic church - the Dom Cathedral. Next to the church, there were people drawing portraits of tourists and I was reminded of another of my childhood dreams. As a child, I got my portrait drawn in a big park in Almaty. For some reason, I really want to have that done again. I'm not entirely sure why, but it"s just been something I've always wanted to do. Needless to say, my college student budget-oriented mind did not allow me to sit for a portrait in Salzburg, but maybe someday!

The walk up to the castle was decently steep, which was fine on the way up but made the walk down a bit more difficult for my knees. I missed having my hiking poles! But the view from the top down onto the city was absolutely gorgeous. Add the castle to another of the things I have climbed to get my view of the city below!

After coming down from the castle, I stopped for some afternoon coffee while I looked around me to decide what I wanted to do next. My time in Salzburg was incredibly limited and didn't allow me to see the Trick Fountains or a couple of the other things that are located outside of the city. But, incredibly enough, right next to the place where I was having coffee I saw a museum dedicated to Mozart! I knew I couldn't come to Salzburg and not see something Mozart-related (besides all the Mozart Kugels everywhere), so after I rested up with my coffee, I bought my ticket, got my audio guide "auf Deutsch" and made my way through the museum. It was nice, not too big, and I got to hear a lot of Mozart's music played, which was cool, since he's my favorite composer.

Afterwards, I wandered around the city for a bit more and then it was time for me to catch my train back to Bayreuth! I wish I had had more time in Salzburg, because it was, without a doubt, one of my absolute favorite cities. It was beautiful, simple, with lots of incredibly things to see. I was very glad I went! (I also am now one country up on my brother. We have this competition about who can visit the most countries and as most of our traveling up until this point has been together, we're fairly close to even. He's been to Hungary without me, though, and I got the Czech Republic earlier this trip - which made us tied. Now, though, I've been to Austria, so I'm winning. In case anyone was wondering.)

I also had a pleasantly surprising experience on the train back to Bayreuth. On one of my legs, I sat next to a very talkative German older woman who engaged in an hour and a half of active conversation with me. Now anyone who knows me knows that I'm not such a fan of talking to strangers in general - but, when the strangers are speaking German, it's a completely different story. I was also struck by something. On my very first day in Germany, on the train to Bayreuth, it was quite difficult for me to understand the people on the train when I asked them if the seat next to them was taken. They were very nice and tried to explain to me that it was reserved but the person with the reservation wasn't there yet - but I had no idea what they were saying. And now here I was, six weeks later, engaging in absolutely normal conversation with the woman next to me on the train. Yes, there were words here and there that I didn't understand, but I would say my percentage of understanding was 90%! I guess that just goes to show you what significant time in the country that speaks the language you are learning does... I was quite pleased. :)