"We" because sweetie K insisted on going with me to the hauptbahnhof (train station). Because he came with me though, we had to walk to the further Sihlcity Nord station to be able to buy a 24-hr transit pass for him; I only needed a one-use ticket.
Thankfully, my arm is much better today, with just a brief stab of pain when I move it in certain ways. Box of cereal, yogurt, banana, and a coffee stirrer (spoon substitute) in hand, I boarded my train at gate 3 to Salzburg and waved "bye" to K from the window.
The train ride out was an Alp wonderland! At my first sight of them, I was reminded of SB's "it's an Alp!" comment. She cracks me up. I knew the tiredness would get to me at some point, and it did -- I slept for most of the ride, despite pretty Alp after pretty Alp.
I was a bit nervous going off on my own. It sounds silly coming from the girl who booked accommodations and borrowed books from the library to plan all the rides and sights for her family's trip to Disneyworld in sixth grade. My nervousness was not for lack of planning. I had my chopped up RS Salzburg info, I had my lodging (booked over the phone yesterday), and I had a brain. Maybe it's in part due to K being nervous, which rubs off on me. He's nervous because he's afraid I'll get lost, and I assured him that inevitably I would. Not be "lost" though. "Lost" is when you don't know where you are and can't find your way. No, I'd just somehow get to some place other than the one intended. But, I'd manage to eventually find my way to my intended destination.
So, it *did* take me a bit longer than expected to find the TI, and after I left the TI, it *did* take me a while to find my way to the hostel. It would have helped if I didn't think my starting location on the map was somewhere other than where it really was ^-^'
Train arrived in Salzburg at 13:30. I left my dorm, ready to start exploring, at 14:40. Incidentally, the TI-provided map of Salzburg is quite good.
My original itinerary for the day --
- go to Makartsteg (bridge) and start RS' new town walk, visiting Mozart's Residence along the way
- do RS' old town walk, visiting the fortress at the end if there's a concert that day, thus leaving the funicular open until later, otherwise, take the elevator up to the other great viewpoint
It almost worked out that way. I dropped into a sandwich place along the way and picked up something to go. Still on the way, I saw a pretty garden with benches, so I decided to sit on a shaded bench and eat my sandwich first. Eating, taking pictures, and people watching... well, I sat for a while.
At some point, this nice, old German lady joins me on the bench. How I wished I'd decided to learn German before starting our trip! She'd say something to me every now and then, but it was right at this moment when I needed to know most that I blanked on how to say "I don't understand"... all I could muster was "speak German, no/not", which gave her a laugh. She seemed to indicate she understood me but then continued to talk to me again later. (Telling K about it later, I realized that I had said "you speak German, no/not" (!) Hmmm.) Nope, she didn't speak English. I tried that. If only I could even say something like "it's gorgeous out" or "this is so pretty, isn't it" and understand her a bit. Even a level like my cursory knowledge of Korean would be great >_<
I finished half my sandwich and eventually left the garden, making it to the start of my RS new town walk. It's very warm today, even warmer than it was in Zurich, low 70s I think. I actually packed for colder weather; rolling up the sleeves of my long sleeve worked fine though.
The RS new town walk actually took me *back* to the gardens I had just been at not too long ago, so I spent even more time at the garden ^o^
I spent so much time there that I didn't make it to Mozart's Residence in time. RS said it closes at 6pm, but when I got there at 5pm, it turns out closing time is really 5:30pm. I guess I'll have to go back tomorrow morning.
Old town walk. I like RS walks. He gives you little interesting details about the history of what you're seeing and takes you to both the touristy spots and the backroads of no tourists. Sometimes his tone is a little too... arrogant? But I can deal with that.
The cathedral here is crazily ornamented! Baroque? I forget the style name. Not quite rivaling the Spanish (e.g. the one in Toledo), but sometimes, you'd almost think you were in a palace, not a place of worship. The ceiling...
Getridegasse has modern stores and is quite touristy, but I liked the old-style iron signs. Even the Chinese restaurant and McDonalds had them...
I ate the other half of my sandwich while watching these guys play chess on a big board (D -- something you'll have to do next time you're in Europe!)
I don't really know much about chess aside from how the pieces move, but the spot looked good for sitting, eating, and watching. It was at this point that I noticed my sandwich had strawberries! (matched with prosciutto)
18:30. Perfect time for the fortress. When I asked the TI, they told me there would be a concert tonight. So, after fortress closing time (18:00) until 30 minutes after the start of the concert (21:30), you only have to pay the funicular fare (and not the extra 10 euros for admission to the fortress grounds and museum). RS is good for telling you these types of things.
Watching the sun set from atop the fortress was ^o^
Since I had only finished my sandwich not long ago, I wasn't really that hungry. I stopped by a place to eat, only to find it closed (since 6pm for today!). I ended up just picking up a weisswurst at a sausage stand to be the rest of my "dinner".
When I got back to the dorm, it was not even 10pm yet, but one of the girls was already asleep! Actually, 'girl' is probably the wrong word... she looked like she was in her late 30s / early 40s.
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