Day 58 - Travelling Home

Going Home

Today I go home. I took the train from the Salzburg Hbf. at 9:02. I worked on my math on the train. I felt super good because I understood what was going on. Then at the Westbanhof in Vienna I didn’t see Filip. We were supposed to meet for lunch, so I just got on the bus. Good thing I didn’t wait, turns out he was 45 minutes late. The flight felt like forever long but at least people sitting beside me spoke English this time. There was a little girl beside me. She told me she was 11, and she was visiting her grandparents in Romania and now going home to her parents. That’s quite a flight to be all by yourself at that age! On the other side there was a guy and his sister across the aisle. They had been visiting family in Europe for a month. She was reading my favourite book, the Hunger Games, and he was reading Harry Potter. The movies were pretty lame. And finally after what felt like forever I was in Toronto. I couldn’t wait to get home. Then my family wasn’t there. They were late. 45 minutes late. I was so sad. I started crying when I saw them. I missed my family a lot, I’m so glad to be back. The funniest part was that about five minutes after we walked in the door, Maryn called. I couldn’t have asked for better timing than that. So she came and said hi after work for a little bit. 

I had so much fun on this trip. It was the best way to blow 3 thousand dollars I think. And I had so much fun getting to know Dom better. We had tons of fun. I can’t wait to do it again. I guess I better start looking for a job! Also, if you'd like to see more pictures just shoot me a message, or come see me!

Day 57 - All Packed

Last Looks at the Old Town

Weird Decor at the Restaurant Where We Had Lunch

Today was rainy. Set to rain on and off. Of course it poured for the whole morning. Then it was sunny just long enough to walk into town and start lunch on the terrace. Lunch was alright although the restaurant was kind of weird. They had all dog statues and pictures everywhere. And they were dressed up oddly, kinda like little Lady Gaga Dogs. I also finished my packing today. I wasn’t able to fit the masks into my suitcase, which is good because I was worried they would break in there anyways, despite all the bubble-wrap. I put them in my carry-on. They should maybe be safe in there. I feel ready to go now that I’m all packed up. I just want to be home now. Anyways, I have planned tomorrow like so:

- 3 hour train ride to Vienna

- 45 minute bus ride to the airport

- 9 1/2 hour flight to Toronto

What a day. Tante Carole made Salmon Teriyaki again tonight. It was delicious, again! It’s funny that we had that my first and last night in Salzburg. 

Day 56 - Eggy Mountains

Music Hall

Concert Soloists

Dessert!

So this morning I went to a concert. It was actually amazing. It was about Ivan the Terrible. So... in Russian, but it had subtitles above the stage (are they still subtitles if they are above the stage?). The Vienna Philharmonic was playing with a choir, male and female soloists, a narrator (a speaking part, well played), and Gerard Depardieux (from Cyrano de Bergerac) as Ivan the Terrible (another speaking part, obviously well played). They were all amazing! Oh, there was also a boys’ choir. They were all little and cute. I was very impressed with the brass section; they were glorious. The female soloist was very strong, very good. And I thought Gerard Depardieux was amazing, although I’m told his Russian sucks. I didn’t notice. Some friends of Tante Carole and Uncle Rainer were visiting from Vienna. They were very nice. Afterwards, I took my Aunt and Uncle to dinner. It was wonderfully delicious and ended with a Salzburger Knokurl (?). I don’t know how to spell that. It’s pretty much just egg whites, except more eggy than meringue. It was alright. It was more exciting to see than to eat. It’s just a big fluffy...thing. It’s like three little mountains. Anyways, it was a fun dinner. 

Day 55 - Oh Beautiful Sunshine

Riko, Hide and Me

Today was meant to pour rain all day. So I planned to read and do some math. I quit as soon as I saw the sun peaking out around noon. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the pool for the afternoon. I didn’t do much else besides swim and laze about all afternoon. Riko and Hide came over for supper as well. We had penne with tomatoes and mozzarella for dinner. It was delicious!

Day 54 - The Salt Mines

View of Hallstatt

Geared up for the Salt Mines

Mine Slides inside the mountain

View from our lunch spot

Today is Friday the 13th! Ah! Tante Carole and I went with Riko and Hide to the salt mines at Hallstatt. That’s right! I spent the whole day with a dentist! He said I had very nice teeth, but I didn’t tell him about the braces or all the cavities. At Hallstatt, we had to ride the cable car up the mountain. Then we learned about all the graves and tools/jewelry/artifacts that were found on the mountain from the oldest salt miners in the world (7000 years). Then we took a tour through the mountain (in protective clothing), where we learned about mining and miners throughout history. This makes it sound super boring but it was actually fun and interesting. They had wooden mining slides that took us down into the mountain. They went pretty fast. I was going 20 km/h. Tante Carole made 26 km/h! Our tour guide made 35.8 km/h!! I’m sure she practices though. At the end we rode a little train thing out of the mountain. Overall it was a pretty fun tour. Then we got a late lunch at a brewhouse built in 1595. Tante Carole let me in on a secret of not eating at crappy touristy places. She said always head for the church, because that’s where the town centre is, where all the town council buildings are and all the best cafes and other things to see and eat. It was a nice lunch right on the water, with a view of the mountains and a small castle right across the water. It was great. Later we had dinner with Rainer. It was a pretty fancy restaurant, so I had Chardonnay instead of my usual orangensaft. I ate chicken (which turned out to be wrapped in bacon, it was interesting) with a wild mushroom sauce and risotto balls (which was really just deep fried rice). Today was a great day. 

Day 53 - Linzerstrasse

The Oldest Drugstore in Salzburg

Today I went for a walk on the new-town side of the river (although, I think it is still older than Fergus). I went up Linzerstrasse, which is a shopping street, but isn’t so touristy and expensive like in the old town. I got some things to do my math and some cute fish magnets. It’s kinda weird how much I love magnets and stickers. It’s probably really childish. I also bought two more books and a sweater because I like sweaters too. When I got back to the apartment I felt pretty sick, so I went to bed. I got up once to eat some bread, but I pretty much slept until the next day, at which point, I felt better. 

Day 52 - Riko and Hide

Tante Carole, Hide and Riko

Nothing really happened today. I worked on the puzzle. I helped Tante Carole with the groceries. I started on the U of G math package. I think I’m stupid. Although to be fair, I haven’t done any math in over a year. Also, Riko and Hide were visiting from Japan, so they came for coffee. She is a tennis player and he is a dentist. They both look very young but Riko is 40-something and Hide is 52. They were very nice and we might see them again on Friday for a day-trip. 

Day 51 - The Shafberg

Selling Toys in Salzberg

Today I’m really starting to get homesick. It’s hard to do nothing all day and not wish you were at home doing nothing with your friends and family. It can be very tiring to meet new people for two months solid. I finished my last book today. Today we ate lunch with all three of us together, and it was so good. It’s the season for corn, so we had corn on the cob and it was so good and fresh and sweet. Then we drove out to St. Wolfgang on the Wolfgangsee. From there we hiked up the Shafberg. It was a three hour hike and I was totally beat after, but in a good kind of way. The view was amazing, and so many mountains! And so high up! The lake looks so blue and you can see the lakes on the other side from the top too. It was incredible, but I forgot my camera in the car so I have no pictures. It’s 1732 meters high. I can’t believe I walked all the way up! The place we stopped for dinner had such delicious snitzel!

Day 50 - Fairytale Castles

As if anyone would try that...

Linderhof Castle

Neuschwanstein

Front facade of Neuschwanstein

Inner Courtyard of Neuschwanstein

Today the plan was to head into Germany for a day-trip. The most exciting thing that happened when we crossed the border, was a German flag popping up in the corner of the GPS. Pretty much, there are virtually no borders in the European Union. Very different from the US/Canada border. First stop was the Linderhof Castle in the Graswang Valley. This was meant to be a tribute to Louis XIV (the Sun King) of France. He was the idol of Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig wanted to build another Versailles in the Graswang Valley. But with the mountains, there was no room. Instead he built Linderhof; it’s really over the top, but beautiful and small. Each room is dripping with gilded gold everything, except the Moon Room. The Moon Room is gilded in silver. There is also the grotto, with seating for only seven to watch the opera. And the magic table (or flying table), which came up through the floor when it was time to eat. I found this castle interesting, because he actually lived there for most of his life. So it’s furnished still with the original furniture and it has all the original decor. Nothing has being redecorated or renovated. It’s incredible and so beautiful. The surrounding countryside is amazing too. All the mountains and lakes are a really nice, peaceful setting. I can see why it was his favourite castle. Then we drove to one of his other castles nearby, crisscrossing the border to get around the mountains. This next castle is probably the most photographed of all time, despite not being finished because he died before it could be completed. Schloss Neuschwanstein, near Fussen, was also the inspiration for the Disney Castle. Neuschwanstein is the fairytale castle of all fairytale castles. It’s beautiful, all white and sparkling in the sunlight. Except the front. I thought I’d never seen it before, but it turns out I have! Katelyn and I built it as a 3D puzzle in our basement. It’s the facade that made me sure. It’s red-brink with burnt-yellow stone. It’s very unique. The whole time Tante Carole kept saying that it was a famous castle and I’ve probably seen it before. I did, I just didn’t realize it. 

Day 49 - Earth

Carved from Coral

Nemo!

Amanda Escaped in Vienna

Giant Turtle

Today was a bit sunny, but mostly cloudy, so I went to the Haus der Natur. I liked all the rocks and minerals, but I also really enjoyed all the fish too. There are these weird little garden snake fish that I think are super creepy though. They sorta pop in and out of view from the tunnels they dig. It looks kinda funny. They also had a new part of the Science Centre part. It was all hands on experiments that were pretty fun. I think Laura would’ve really liked it. There was a cool one that I didn’t think people really understood. It was a wheelchair obstacle course. It was pretty tough. For dinner Tante Carole experimented with a new recipe. It was pork medallions with tomatoes and mozzarella. We also had rice and carrots. It was amazingly delicious! So good! We also started on the Photomosaics ‘Earth’ puzzle I brought back from the museum. And I gave Tante Carole the cheese plate I got her at the market. I think mom would like one. I would’ve got her one if I didn’t think I’d break it one the way home. 

Day 48 - Amazingly Delicious

Walking in Old Salzburg

Today was supposed to be a nice sunny saturday. So of course it poured all day long. Nick was visiting from Linz. It was an okay day, but we really don’t have all that much in common. I like good, healthy food, and being outside. He just laughs at those things. So we didn’t do much all day, because we couldn’t agree on anything to do. We did agree that ABDC and So You Think You Can Dance are pretty cool shows. For dinner I was on my own, because Tante Carole and Uncle Rainer were at an art showing/birthday party. So I made some chicken fried rice. It was amazingly delicious. 

Day 47 - Don Giovanni and Leporello

Outside of the Music Hall

Nothing much happened today, except for the performance of Don Giovanni. I really enjoyed it. The music was beautiful, the story was interesting and the actors were really impressive, especially Leporello. It was an amazing performance. Tante Carole made some tasty pork medallions with sauce and rice. It was really good, and I don’t usually like pork, so...must’ve been amazing. We also finished the puzzle. Finally! The sky was super hard!

Day 46 - Broken Bones and Chopsticks

Turtle!

I woke up early and drank some orange juice. Why do I always wake up early when I go to bed so late. Then I slept some more, and when I woke up again, Anita showed me her finger. It’s really not looking too good. She is going to go to the hospital and get x-rays after she drops me at the train station. Back at my Aunt and Uncle’s, it was time to get ready for Elektra. It was an interesting opera. Definitely better then Lulu. I didn’t always know what was going on because the English subtitles were at the other end of the stage. There wasn’t a whole lot of movement or action that was easy to read onstage either. Dinner was chinese, pretty good actually. Maybe only because I love eating with chop sticks. And I’m getting good too. I drop my food even less than when I have a fork!

Day 45 - Night Out

Walking in Linz

Swimming at the Public Pool

Anita's Sister's Turtle!

I had to wake up early to make it to the 9:02 train to Linz. Waking up was sad because I was so tired. When I got to Linz, Anita took me up the Postlingberg to have a nice view of the city and to see the old church. Linz is surrounded by a beautiful countryside. Then we walked in town and Anita told me about the city. We also got Oreo shakes. Too much ice I think, I’d like it better with ice cream. I like most things better with more ice cream though... Lunch was some almost noodle things which I have never seen or heard of before. It was quite tasty though. We spent the afternoon at the pool, where we laid in the sun and went swimming. We saw three people Anita knew, and they sat with us: Sebastian, Freddie and someone who I can’t remember their name. Then we headed back to get ready for a night of fun. Dinner was pretty fun too. Toast and yogurt with fresh fruit in it. Then we each showered and dressed. Finishing just in time for Nick to arrive. Then everyone else got there right after. Luckily, most of them were pretty happy speaking to me in English. Turns out I was one of the oldest people there. At the bar after, there was a 17-year old guy talking to me. It was an odd feeling, not being the youngest person at the bar anymore. There I was the oldest! But it was a fun night and everyone was super nice. But then on the way home Anita managed to shut her finger in the taxi door. She thinks it’s broken. That’s pretty bad!

Day 44 - Mr. N

Dinner with Mr. N

Today is another gloomy, rainy day. It’s sad after awhile, spending the entire day inside. Rainer had a lunch meeting, so Tante Carole and I went with him. The meeting was with Mr. Nagano and Maki. They seem like really nice people. But, I don’t like eating at such a fancy place, it makes me feel out of place. The waiter asked if the ‘lady’ wanted any coffee. I just felt weird. We didn’t do too much else all day. We had grusel for supper. It was actually pretty good. Then I meant to go to bed. But I ended up watching Jake and Amir. 

Day 43 - Big Murderous Slut

Tunnel under the Music Hall

Today the weather report called for rain in the afternoon. So  I walked down to the pool in the morning, although I didn’t really swim too much. I swam a little and laid in the sun. I read my book. I also had some ice cream. I went back and had potatoes and chicken for lunch with that delicious cucumber salad I love so much. More work on the puzzle, because yes it did start to rain in the afternoon. The puzzle is getting tough though, because we only have the sky left. Everything moves along much more slowly now. Dinner was leftovers from last night, and then Lulu started at 11:00. And I’ve got to say, this is a really messed up story. The actors are all great singers sure, but really, Lulu is the biggest slut ever. She’s cheated on and then killed every one of her husbands. Ridiculous. So I skipped the end and went to bed. I just couldn’t stay up till 2 am to see this opera through to the end. 

Day 42 - Going for a walk

Salzburg Fortress

The river seperating the New Town and the Old Town

Walking in the Old Town

Wrought Iron Signs in the Old Town

Today was forecast to be a nice sunny day, so Tante Carole and I went into town. We drove through the tunnel in the Monchberg. Then we walked up the Monchberg and across to the fortress. The views were beautiful. After a nice walk through the old town, we walked back to the apartment for lunch. We ate some really delicious corn on the cob. After lunch we worked on the puzzle for a bit. For dinner there was spaghetti with onions, peas, yellow peppers and salmon. Then we thought that Lulu would be on tv, but we found that it would not be on until tomorrow night. So we spent time on the puzzle. Somehow, despite doing absolutely nothing, I didn’t get to bed until 2:30. Bleh...

Day 41 - The Old and the Beautiful

Salzburg Freilicht Museum

Very, very Old Furniture

Nothing Like This Anymore

My House!

Today I was up surprisingly early, with no alarm. How do I manage that? And I was the first one up! So I worked on the puzzle. During breakfast we decided to spend the day outside because it was a rare sunny day. So Tante Carole drove me out to the Salzburg Freilicht Museum. It’s an open air museum, kinda like Upper Canada Village. All these old-old houses that were brought from all over the Salzburg province. So the houses are all well-used after hundreds of years. It was actually pretty cool to see what was typical in each county of Salzburg. There was one house in Pinzga that I decided I wanted to live in. It was truly incredible. I got a really good feeling when I walked into that house. And it wasn’t so dark like these old houses usually are. It was a pretty fun little day trip. Then of course for the rest of the evening we worked on our puzzle. For dinner we had insalata caprese, procuitto melone and pasta (penne with tomatoes, onions and mozzarella). 

Day 40 - Snitzel and Accordions

Night at the Inn

Today I slept in a little bit, and my back is really not feeling too great. It felt better by the night though. I finished off my book, The Monster of Florence. I also worked on the puzzle a bunch. I walked down to the outdoor pool to check it out. I didn’t swim long though because the rain and the water were both pretty cold. But even a short swim felt really good. After everyone got back from the Opera, we drove out to the Aspen Rose. I ate Snitzel, finally, with lots of fries. Then people were playing Austrian folk music. In total I saw 4 trumpets, a tuba, a clarinet, 2 guitars and 3 accordions. Who would’ve though that a small teenaged boy playing an accordion would be one of the coolest things I’ve seen all week. The food was great, the music was better, and I really enjoyed one man who could play any song by ear. He sang:

L is for the way you look at me

O is for the only one I see

etc.. He also had pretty much everyone in the place singing along to ‘Oh When the Saints’. And it’s really funny because he doesn’t speak anything other than German, so he has no idea what he is saying. He jut heard it somewhere and now he plays and sings it. Apparently he does French songs too. It was a super fun night! I love Austrian Folk Music, although, I don’t think it would be as good if it wasn’t live. 

Day 39 - Puzzle Time

Venice Puzzle

Today was really uneventful, I cleaned up all my stuff, because it was all over my room for some reason. We had steak and potatoes for lunch, and Marillenfleck for dessert, which was amazingly delicious. Gotta love traditional Austrian desserts. Then my aunt and I started on the 3000 piece puzzle she bought. It’s a painting of Venice, and it looks really hard. I meant to go for a swim today, but I got distracted by the puzzle. Dinner was avocados, then risotto and salad. And of course more puzzle time. Today I also got my bank account working again! Yay!

Day 38 - Doblinger's

Apartment in Salzburg

Today we woke up early so Dom could catch her flight. We all ate breakfast in the airport at a little cafe. It was ok, but I prefer breakfast made by me, for me. After Dom went through the gate, Tante Carole and I drove into the city. She needed to stop at the bank, and I needed to stop at the famous music store, Doblinger’s. I bought 3 books/pieces. One was ’16 Easy Pieces’, for Laura and I to share. And for Katelyn I want to get Mendelsohn’s something-or-other in D minor, but they only had it for two pianos. This is definitely a duet that is over my head. So I got her a piece by Mahler and a piece by Ravel. I’m really excited about the Ravel piece, because it is ‘La mere L’oye’, which I think the Youth Orchestra played in Ossiach and Opatija. It was really good, so I can’t wait to hear Katelyn play it. With the money Dom gave me, I bought my aunt a book called ‘Vienna for the Music Lover’. I think she’ll like it. Then we stopped at the house before driving back to Salzburg. We ate lunch at a beer pub around the corner. I read all afternoon, before pasta for dinner. 

Day 37 - Mauthausen

Concentration Camp at Mauthausen

Too many to a bunk...

Gas Chamber

Room for surgery; removing tattoos and things

Oldest Standing Oven on the Grounds

Quarry

Schloss Hellbrunn

Hidden Water Spouts

He spit on me

Cool Moving Stage Powered by Water Alone

Today we are heading to Vienna, because Dom’s flight is at 10:00 am tomorrow. Too early to take a train, so Tante Carole is going to drive. She needs to get something from home anyways. We wanted to squish in one more thing before Dom leaves, so despite the rain, we made our first stop at Schloss Hellbrunn. The small palace really is very beautiful. But the coolest part about the palace is the trick fountains. All over the grounds there are hidden water spouts and little moving characters all powered by water, that were designed and built hundreds of years ago. Pictures don’t really do it justice. You have to be there. It’s like...the original water park...for the rich/famous people. (Because no one else would’ve been allowed onto the palace grounds.) Then I slept a bit in the car before we stopped at the Mauthausen Memorial. Dom didn’t want to something quite so depressing, so I went alone. I suggest doing it, but don’t go alone. After awhile I just had to shut the audio-guide off. Way too many details; it made me feel sick. Then I saw the ovens and a pit started to form in my stomach. The final straw was the shower room though. I walked in, not realizing where I was going, I just wanted to get out of there. I can’t even imagine having to live here. Well, first off, it’s a men’s work camp. The only way a woman would be there is if she was brought from the women’s camp to work in the brothel. This place made me feel so sick inside. I knew it existed, but it’s pretty different seeing it in real life. Then I walked through all the memorial monuments put up by countries from all over and down into the rock quarry where the men were working. The pictures look great. It looks like beautiful, peaceful scenery. Then you remember how many men jumped/fell/were pushed off the rock face. How many of them died trying to carry rocks weighing 50 kgs each up the uneven steps back to camp, with the guards yelling and pushing them the whole way, probably with sticks or guns. It is a sad place. It made me feel weak all over. And sick, so sick. How can someone do that to another human being? I don’t think I could intentionally cause harm to another person. Then we went to Tante Carole’s favourite restaurant in Vienna. It was called Rudi’s Beisl. ‘Beisl’ refers to something like a greasy spoon restaurant. The food was delicious. It was a nice little place. Then we did absolutely nothing for the rest of the night, except read, and Dom wrote some postcards.