Frazier Blog

After a less than stellar nights sleep I woke up to the train manger  knocking and delivering tea and a dry roll. The only problem was we  had already passed Salzburg! But I meant to miss my stop. Salzburg was  at 5am so I decided to ride until 630 and then catch a train back to  Salzburg. It worked perfectly. I got off the train in Lienz and then  right back on one to Salzburg. Asked Rick about “Sound of Music” tours  and the first one was at 9:30. Perfect. I kept watching the movie as I  approached the city.

Beautiful train ride though the Austrian hills as the sun was rising.  Not as spectacular as the Swiss alps but still gorgeous. Arrived in  the city, stored by bag and booked my ticket. All too easy. Found a cafe on my way to the pickup and had a great omelet. I now realize it was some sort of yoga/spiritual cafe hence the fake ham on the menu. Oh well tasted good. Walked right onto the bus and got a window seat.

The energy of our guide made me glad that I had a cappuccino with  breakfast. The sights started coming at us and the guide filled us in  on little known Sound of Music facts. After seeing the house used to  shoot the back scenes of the family’s house I knew the glare was going to be too much so I put in my contacts outside the bus. I impressed  myself with how fast I was able to get them in.

The rest of the tour was good.  It was cool seeing all the sights from a movie I had been watching just a few hours ago. The guide kept talking up apple strudel from the songe “these are a few of my favorite things”.  When we  stopped in a town she recommended a place to get some.  Of course 3/4
of the bus went and the strudel was all ready.  I think she might get a kickback.

As we went from sight to sight she would play the soundtrack and  encourage us to sing. Most of the bus would join in; a fun time for all.

The tour ended by her telling us to go walk though the gardens where thesong “do,ray, me: was filmed. Not only beautiful but also popular. I saw two  weddings that were taking pictures in the square and listened into a orchestra  performance. I took a quick nap under a tree while all that was going on. Too hot for walking around.

I continued though the gardens and made my way towards the river. So  hot. I started looking for a place for lunch but I was in tourist  central. I found an authentic looking beer hall thing and went it.
Looked good. Got a beer and sausages. The sausages with sauerkraut and potatoes were so good! Yum!. I still miss gelato though.

I found my way to where Mozart lived but had no desire to pay to go  in. Mozart was born and lived in Salzburg. Next stop was an Internet  cafe to catch up on blog posting and figure out where I am sleeping  tomorrow night.

Took me awhile to find one but I did. Used the bathroom but also took  out my contacts and brushed my teeth. The guy gave me a weird look  when I came out. As I sat down at the computer I pulled out my iPhone  cord to charge it. But discovered parts of my backpack were covered in  sunscreen. The guy again gave me a weird look as I took out almost  everything in my pack and grabbed a paper towel to wipe stuff off.  This was only my daypack and not that much sunscreen. However he
started the computers usage clock. Oh well, I don’t blame him.

The net was slow and a mom and kid walked in who were quite annoying! The kid kept roaming and the mom kept yelling at him in a different language.

Posted blogs and thanks to FB found out a world cup game was on so  hurried up sending an email to the hostel and left for the game. I  tried to ask the guy for a bar nearby but my English and gestures could not break though the language barrier.

Found an empty hotel bar so kept walking. Soon I passed a restaurant  with people starring at a wall. Walked in, it was another shaved meat  place making it very hot. At the time it was 1-0 Germany, making it  anyone’s game. Always exciting to see not one but two goals. As I left  two stores up was a sports betting place with two huge TVs and much  cooler.

On my way to finding a place to eat I found free wifi and called the castle hostel for tomorrow. I had a room at 20 euro. Sweet.

Found a bar for dinner and ordered wienerschnitzel and a beer.  Good  food and blogged for awhile.

Walked back to the station and started my journey to the Rhine area.  Took a train to catch my night train. The night train was 30 minutes late. I  had the top bunk, bad bad news. It was like a sauna up there and it’s  about two inches two short for me. And the women in the car kept the  lights on for too long. Not sure how well I will sleep.

Excited to see the castles,
Paul