Salt Mines and Salzburg

June 25^th

I woke up just in time for breakfast and once again it was wonderful.  Every morning the owner of the B&B writes a little letter to the guests (in German) that tells about the days weather, horoscope, and how what is served for breakfast that morning ties in with that.  The owner has been so kind to me to translate the letter into English so then I do not miss out on anything.  After breakfast I packed my belongings and paid my bill and was just about to leave when I was offered to be driven to the train station if I waited thirty more minutes.  With that down time I went outside into the garden and laid down in a hammock and gazed up at the mountains and watched the goats. 

Hammock in Garden at my B&B

I not only got a ride to the train station but I also got a ride to the Salzbergwerk (Salt Mines) after I threw my bags into a locker.  After saying goodbye to the driver I bought my ticket for the tour and then ate a brat with some coffee while I waited.  The first part of the tour required us to put on these (silly) work jumpsuits over our clothing and then we hopped onto these little rail cars and sped on down into the Earth.  It was neat learning how they make the salt and then extract it and the tour itself was a lot of fun, especially the wooden slides that led us deeper and deeper.  After the tour I walked back to the train station.

Silly Mine Outfit

Mine Rail Cars

The departure time of the bus leaving to Salzburg gave me an hour to get some lunch.  I walked across the street from the train station to a Chinese restaurant.  Not long after I sat down at a table I knew the owner and staff could speak Chinese so I gave it a go.  The response was enthusiastic so I continued to only speak Chinese for the remainder of my meal.   It was fun to break out my Chinese again.  The bus arrived and I was off to Salzburg.

Salzburg Old City

The bus ride is a scenic forty five minute commute to the train station in Salzburg and my hostel was just a few blocks away from there.  After getting off the train and leaving the train station I started walking to my hostel, but in the opposite direction.  A kind local was able to point me in the right direction and I was able to find the hostel without any problem.  I checked in and climbed the stairs to my room and opened the door and found that two of my bunk  mates (all male room) were passed out in their beds (its 3:00 pm) looking a bit hung over.  I thought to myself “they must have been out late last night, I have come to the right place”.  I quietly stowed my bags and left to go do a walking tour in the old part of the city.

Hohensalzburg Fortress

I followed the walking tour in my travel book and saw all of the main attractions in just a few hours.  It was fun seeing some of the locations from the film The Sound of Music.  As I was walking around I wondered if I would ever run into some students from my undergrad college (St. John’s University) because they have a study abroad location there.  Unfortunately I didn’t see any.  I walked along the river for a while, ate a brat and then made my way back to the Hostel.

Canadian Friends from Hostel

It was about 6:00 pm when I got back to my room and my two bunk mates were still asleep.  I worked up the courage to say something funny and introduce myself to them “You guys must have been to one serious party last night”.  After realizing the time they both jumped out of bed with, we made friendly introductions and then they went to go clean up.  They were both Canadians and not long (30 minutes) another friend of theirs (also Canadian) showed up.  After they finished cleaning up they met up with me down in the hostel bar to take advantage of happy hour.  The night was a lot of fun; we played cards, had good conversations, got some beers to go and walked around the old city, climbed a radio tower to get a breathtaking view, and then returned to the bar for more merriment. 

Once again another successful day of hosteling.