Salzburg... 2 days late!

Munich and Salzburg

Currently I am sitting on rail jet train to Vienna via Linz. Supposedly this train has free Wifi. It has yet to work. 

Anyways, I last wrote when I was going to Munich, so, I'll give an update. I met my cousin (after some wondering around) at the Karl-Preis Platz. ITs some little random tram stop in the city. I managed to get there (she was quite worried about that..) with relatively little difficulties. I only boarded the right tram going in the wrong direction and wasted about 15 minutes. But, you know, the usual :) I haven't seen Andrea in about 4 years, so it was good to catch up and talk to her again. Her and her boyfriend, Domingo, took me to central/old Munich and we wondered around. There is a really pretty church down there (catholic of course) that Andrea wanted to show me. No problem. Anyways, there was a rock concert in the square and Domingo and I were talking as we were going in. He was telling me about the history of the church. It was quite interesting and we stood in the door for a good 30-45 seconds, with the absurdly loud rock music going through the door. IT wasn't until we actually got into the church that we found out it was sunday evening mass. THe priest was in the middle of waving his little wafers around… Anyways. we got some glares! 

After the church, we walked to the local surfing spot. Yah, thats right, surfing. There is a river in Munich that has a big rapid, and it is a popular hippie hangout to go and surf, with wetsuits and actual, real surfboards on this wave. I had a good laugh at it, but it was actually pretty cool. We then strolled back in the direction of the city square, stopped and watched some soccer and then went to a bavarian restaurant. For the record, Bavarian food consists of three staples, cooked together: Pork, with potatoes, in a beer sauce and an extra pint…. Thankfully, there were variations of this that did not include two of those three. I ate some pasta with cheese and fried onions and a bread ball with mushroom sauce. Very, very tasty and quite filling. Then, we went back to the apartment (by then it was 9:30), hung out and eventually made it too bed. Monday morning brought a delicious breakfast of potato break with gouda cheese and tomatoes and avocados. I made it to the Bahnhof a few minutes late, so, i ended up having to wait an hour for the next train, but, eventually got into Salzburg by 12:45. I then went downtown, walked around, visited the Cathedral, found the Mozart Birth house (which was fascinating) and went up the monchburg mountain where I got some really nice pictures. Then, I went to the other side of the Salzach river and visited the other mozart house. They had some instruments there, so it was really interesting to see extant fortepianos, square pianos and clavichords (that were actually his). I made it back to the station just in time to get my train to Braunau am Inn where I took a taxi to Bogenhofen. I found my room, then some internet, ate a bar of dark chocolate (i forgot to eat  a real lunch or supper) and went to bed. 

Side note number 2: I've found, at last, an economical way to travel. Don't eat! Or, at least, don't eat three meals a day. It really actually saves a good deal of money, and I haven't lost any weight, primarily because the main staple in my diet is Gouda cheese, which is simultaneously very filling and very, very delicious!). 

Tuesday brought much of the same. Got to Salzburg by 11 (i didn't hop out of bed very early) then went to the Mirabell palace and gardens (Beautiful!!!!) then the Hohensalzburg feasting (Fortress on the hill), visited a bunch more churches and then went to another palace named Hellbrunn that has a bunch of trick fountains. The archbishop, basically needed a pleasure palace, that was out of sight where he could go party with his friends and keep his concubines… Now, keep in mind, that Salzburg was ruled by prince Archbishops, so, they were fabulously wealthy, but ware also supposed to live like good, upstanding Roman Catholic priests/bishops. Well, it didn't exactly work to well. He built a palace that was designed solely to gratify the senses. Lavish gardens, amazing fountains and a few surprises. One, consisted of a dinner table, out of marble, with a big pool in the middle for keeping wine chilled. After everyone was thoroughly soused, buddy boy prince/Archbishop would signal for a valve to open. Now, because of etiquette, no one could stand unless the prince was standing. So, this valve opened a series of fountains that shot up from under/through the chairs (soaking their rear ends!) as well as fountains that shot out and soaked their backs… And they had to sit and endure or break etiquette as long as the prince wanted :) It was quite funny!

From there, I left the tour early, hopped on my bus back to the Bahnhof and got my train to Brunau. Now, I could had taken a taxi, but that would have cost another 8 Euros. So, I waited almost an hour for the train to go to Hagenau and then on to Linz. Hagenau is a tiny, tiny stop that is a 3 minute walk from the campus of Bogenhofen. So, i sat and waited, hopped my train, and was waiting for it to stop (its only a 4 minute ride from Brunau) when it roared by the stop!!!! I Was a little frustrated. Turns out, in my lack of German mastery, i failed to notice that Hagenau is such a small stop you have to hit the stop button for the conductor to stop and let you out. So, if there is no one standing on the platform, he doesn't stop.. So, i got off at the next stop, waited another 35 minutes for the train and went back to Hagenau. I would have walked, but it was pouring rain…

Today, I woke up, packed, ate breakfast at the school and went back to Salzburg. I get to Vienna at around 3 and will see what looks interesting. I think i might go find stephansdom and take a tour… :)

ok, this was written wednesday. I have another blog about vienna forthcoming. Im sitting in starbucks (free internet) and head to dresden via night train in a few hours. Tomorrow the plan is to get into Dresden around 7 am and then go to a park and enjoy some nature. I'll probably visit the Frauenkirche for an organ demonstration at noon.