Rebecca Does Italy: Rebecca does Austria

Well, another weekend has already come and gone, but I've conquered yet another city in a new country. I must say that I'm enjoying this lifestyle.

We got to the Verona train station smoothly and bought our tickets to Salzburg with no problem. We actually had time to stand around and wait for the train but we'd rather it be that way then running after the train. The train ride was really pretty. The mountains were gorgeous and there was a lot of snow in some areas. We stopped in Rosenheim, Germany for the connection and got to Salzburg around 9:15. Once we arrived in Salzburg, we were quite hungry so we ate at the Burger King in the station. I know, I know- I went to Salzburg and ate Burger King but it was still open and we thought things would be similar to America. While the french fries were (pommes in German), my chicken wrap was nothing like the ones in America. My friend Ginny and I ate about half of ours but couldn't go any further. I know to stick to the french fries from now on. After we finished at Burger King some girls wanted a milkshake so we walked across the street to the McDonalds. The McDonalds in Austria have shrimp and curly fries. It was weird, but apprently the shakes taste the same. Anyways, once our tummies were satisfied, we walked to our hostel. This time we stayed at YoHo hostel- which came highly recommended by students that have been on this study abroad trip and from high ratings. It was a great location, I felt safe and it was clean but other than that it was a disappointment. Our hostel in Nice was so incredible that we only set ourselves up for some kind of disappointment. The people that worked at YoHo just weren't that nice nor helpful. But, it was clean, safe and a great location and I'm realizing that those are the most important things. We checked in and hung out for a bit downstairs in the common area but we were pretty tired so we rested up for a full day of activity.

Friday morning we woke up and left for the Sound of Music tour at 9:30. The tour group picked us up from the hostel but we had to split 2 girls from the 7 to fill the tour group's vans. We ended up with 3 women from Orlando and were UF fans so there wasn't too much talking in the van. The tour was about 5 hours long. They drove us around Salzburg and gave us the history of the movie making and of the real story. It was a bit disappointing because all of the inside scenes were done in Hollywood so we only saw the outside of buildings. Plus they edited a lot of the buildings so the back of their house in the movie was by a lake but the front of their house, with the gate, was in another part of town. But, we did ride out of the city and they showed us the church where Maria got married. Its a gorgeous church, but its smaller than it appears in the movie. We had a chance to get a quick lunch so my friend Emily and I shared an apple strudel- like from the song Favorite Things. While we were in the van we listened to the Sound of Music soundtrack which was fun. Also, the hills that are alive (with the sound of music) are covered in snow right now so we couldn't go and see them. If you go to Salzburg, go in the summer when you can see more-- even if the tour doesn't take you, it'll be easier to get to things. Anyways, the tour ended around 2:30 and they dropped us off back at the hostel. We spent about 30 minutes resting and deciding what to do. Four of us decided to walk around and see the gardens that are in the movie as well. Even though it wasn't in bloom, it was really pretty. Then the 4 of us met 2 girls at the local brewery. My friend Lauren and I were hungry from all the walking so we each got a bratsworth sausage with cheese in it- it was really good. I didn't like the sauerkraut but the mustard was pretty good. Plus the guy that worked there spoke English (most people do in Austria and Germany) so he gave us places to go and things to do in Salzburg, which was really helpful. And while Lauren and I were getting food, the rest were getting a table. When Lauren and I found the table, the girls were laughing. Apparently, when the man working at the brewery asked "how many" he wasn't referring to a size table, he was referring to number of beers. So once they sat down the man brought 6 liter sized mugs of beer. I didn't drink mine, but the miscommunication was pretty funny. After everyone finished eatting and drinking we walked back to the hostel. The hostel usually plays the Sound of Music movie everyday so we got to watch it through dinner. Its been a while since I've seen the movie so it was good to see it again and see everything that they showed us on the tour. After the movie most of us hung out in the eatting/bar area at the hostel and met some cool people. There were some guys there from Germany that were in Salzburg to ski but had never heard of the movie Sound of Music which was pretty funny. After another long day, we were all pretty tired and crashed at a decent hour.

Saturday morning we didn't wake up too early and left the hostel around 10. The tour guides had given us some suggestions of where to walk and what to see so we decided to hike up to the modern art museum on the hill to get one of the best views of the city. Saturday is was really cold so we were all bundled up pretty well. Our hike to the museum wasn't bad and the views were incredible. The Austrian Alps were gorgeous and are all around the city. From the museum we continued walking to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. This fortress is almost 1000 years old which is pretty cool. We took an interesting audio walking tour and heard the history of the the fortress and of Salzburg. They also had a museum and old rooms on display. But, it was really cold up there and started snowing. We stayed until about 2 or so and walked through Old Town to a cafe that was highly recommended. We all needed warmth and food so it was the perfect place. Once we were re-fueled we went back to Old Town to do some shopping. There were some neat stores and the town was really pretty in the snow. We slowly made our way back to the hostel around 6. We rested and cleaned up for dinner. The hostel wasn't serving dinner Saturday night so we found something close by. We, incidentally, ended up in a small Italian resturant. It was absolutely delicious though and it was a perfect way to end the night.

Sunday we woke up and checked out at 9:30 to catch our 10:30 train back to Verona. Two girls decided to go skiing since we didn't have class on Monday. So the other four and I had a smooth ride to Innsbruck, Austria and then to Verona. While we were waiting for our connecting train in Innsbruck we met some American guys that went to Kansas University and Oklahoma University. They had just been skiing there but were studying in a small town north of Verona. It was cool to talk to them for a few minutes about their program and the trips they had made so far. Sunday was a gorgeous, clear sunny day so on our ride back we could see more of the Alps. Once in Verona, we got on the right bus, but going the wrong way so instead of a 15 minute ride, it turned into a hour and 15 minute ride. We're learning things like that each trip though and each trip is going more smoothly. Besides that bus mix up the trip went very well.

I really enjoyed Salzburg and all it had to offer. It stinks that we only have two days in these cities because there is a lot to do in each of them. But, Salzburg is definitely somewhere I'd like to go back to when its warmer. Salzburg is the home to Mozart so in the summer there are tons of concerts and festivals. The city is green and beautiful in the summer too. But it wa gorgeous in the winter and I'm really glad we got to go! Enjoy the pictures!

-Werden alle meine Liebe (I'm trying to pick up German too...)

Rebecca Boo

The church she got married in!