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!