I have Monday off, and most of my peers don't, so I decided to take advantage of the day and bought a bavaria ticket which takes you anywhere in the state of bavaria for 20 Euros. It was a long train ride, about 3 hours. During the trip I read Harry Potter, one of the several books that I have been using for the last few weeks for these longer trips which would otherwise be very dull. I forgot how much I love reading, since law school began and pounded part of that love out of me.
So the train pulled into the station at around 12 o'clock and from their I followed the signs to an information booth the agent then directed me to the tourist desk a few doors down. Though most people speak English the signs are all in German, which means about as much to me as Chinese characters sometimes. So, I am always asking were things are. "Do you speak English?" Weir ist der Bahn holf? (where is the train?) Anyway, I obtained a map and she circled the castle and so I headed off in that direction. Taking in the sights and sounds of the city, some old like most other parts of Bavaria some exposed concrete of construction, but unlike Augsburg the sidewalks are not cobbled they are the dry grey cement of any major city.
It was a cool day in Salzburg and later I would be drenched by the rain, but during the walk to the city center I was enjoying the cool damp in between rain air. The hardest part about Germany is finding your way, primarily because none of the signs make any sense I can never tell if the sign is a street sign or any other instructions like this is a one way street. That was the problem at the HbF, german abbreviation for main train station, the streets were not labeled so pacing back and forth in front of the train station, I finally figured it out based on the alignment of the train tracks, and the street.
After the long stroll I stumbled upon a small building that claimed to give bus tours of the sites that the Sound of Music was filmed at, so I paid 33 euro that is right the ticket for the tour was more than the train ride. During the wait for the trip I found my way into the Rathouse garden
The tour turned out to be well worth it, they took us to Benedictian Monastry that Maria married the Captain during the film,
The gazebo for Ms. Lesel(sp?)
It also took us by Motzarts mom's home town, Wolfgang Austria.
After we arrived in the city the bus dropped us off at 6 pm 4 hours in Austria lost, and I knew the castle closed down at 10 p.m. SO I started walking and it started raining. This was by far the worst of the day, my shoes and socks were soaking wet. It was horrible, finally I caved and bought an umbrella, one I did not need, since I had forgotten mine at home and feeling slightly more dry in the downpour wandered randomly around until I saw the cable tram to the mountain top for the castle.
To give you an idea of how steep the hill was:
By this time the weather had lifted and the castle was beautiful, I took photos until my camera battery died.
It was gorgeous, the castle was huge and imposing and noble and frankly old. It was so strange that the present tourist trap at one time had poor scullery maids trudging up the entrance hall after a trip into the town below, she must have been sweating under her load as I did under my modern backpack. Knights peered through the arrow knocks at the great gates and people lived in the rooms that are now displays, restaurants or just empty.
After the awe inspiring trip and a tram ride into the city which the boy let me just ride because frankly sorting through my bag in search of the ticket was taking to long. During my saunter to what I was hoping would be dinner, when I was stopped by a street artist who told me I was very beautiful his "mona lisa" and he offered to do a charcoal sketch for a reduced price. I am sure it is his sales gimmick, and I am also sure that I am not the first to fall for it-so for 25 euros he spent about 45 minutes of my former dinner and sketched, this is the final potrait.
Personally, I think that 25 euro was a steal.
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