Bike Ride with Ginchen

Today, Daniela, Verena, and Dorni all had to work during the afternoon, so Ginchen (a friend from the dorms) and I went for a nice long bike ride. We went first to a flea market where Ginchen had found some things she had wanted to buy. Then we were off to the grocery store to buy sandwiches for a lunch in the park at Hellrunn, where there is a little castle that was constructed in one month! That should tell you though how big the castle was. We then headed to Hallein to GelatoK, an AMAZING place for ice cream.. Just to give you and idea, the most expensive ice cream on the menu was the Königschale (Kings scoop) for a mere ¬ 37.95 = $~30. This thing was huge, and could feed about 10 people! Needless to say, I opted for a smaller version for just ¬ 1.50, but it was sooooo good! We then rode our bikes home and met up with Daniela and Verena. This weather is sooooo great! Shorts, short-sleeve shirts and sunglasses are the only things necessary!

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So last night, we packed up the car and headed toward Daniela’s parents house in Eberschwang. It is a tiny little village located east of Salzburg and a little north. Anyhow, the night was very fun because we went to a place to have a traditional Austrian dinner. Here at this restaurant, well if I could call it a restaurant, was a house, and we were the diners for the evening, along with some other drunk Austrian men hitting on the ladies sitting at the table next to ours. Anyhow, what is so traditional about this restaurant is not only that all the food prepared is handmade, even the bread they serve, but it is all cold served. So, I got a huge plate of all these sausages and meats with bread. It was really good, but it was too much. After the dinner, we headed to a bar for a while to hang out. After that bar, we went to another, one owned by Daniela’s ex boyfriend. It was a nicer, smaller place. Anyhow, enough talk about bar hopping in Austria, the next morning, we spent the day at the parents house. It is a huge house that they built themselves in 1972. It was really cool, and the bed was sooo nice. That morning after breakfast, I went with Daniela’s dad around the town for a walk, and to watch a music fest of traditional music and costume. For some reason, they were having it as a festival, and I got to see all the traditional dress and listen to the music. That afternoon, we had a huge barbecue with steaks, my favorite käsekrainer, salads, potatoes, and juice. It felt like I had been eating for hours but it was sooo good! After the barbecue, we hung out, Dorni and Verena practiced their juggling with the bowling pins because they have to go volunteer at an elementary school tomorrow. They will be teaching the kids how to juggle. Anyhow, I was very impressed by their talent. I was also part of the -act- today because they needed to -practice- on me. I held a stick in my mouth, and they juggled around me, and got closer and closer to the stick. Eventually the stick was knocked out of my mouth, and I was set free =) So, the afternoon quickly left, and we packed the car and headed back to Salzburg.

Hitler’s Eagle Nest

Today, Daniela, Verena and I set off in the morning to see the old hideout of Hitler in the hills of Berchtesgarten. We paid $12 which was a complete rip off for this bus that took us to the top of the mountain, and from there we could either hike up the rest of the mountain to the Eagle’s Nest or take a huge elevator up to the top. The weather was completely awesome, so we decided to hike the way up. You would not believe these views, as they were sights I had never seen before. The massive mountain tops with snow covered cliffs and the green trees toward the bottom really made this trip a picturesque memory. Unfortunately, the Eagle’s Nest is really just a nice place that you can sit down and eat with obviously an amazing view of the mountains and lands below. There was absolutely no museum within his house. After we descended the mountain we walked over to a museum that was more about the history and stuff about this time during the war, and Hitler’s rule. It was really interesting because it had a lot of film and pictures from the Holocaust and details about some of the ideas behind Hitler that I don’t think are always completely explained in books. Anyhow the entire day was a really cool event with the mountain fresh air and the amazing views, I would definitely put this site in a things-to-see list.

Hiking to the Sound of Music

Today, I met one of Daniela’s friends, Daniela, yes I know it’s confusing, but anyhow, we all went together for a hike up this mountain. It’s in the same area where the Sound of Music was filmed, so I am sure you can imagine how beautiful it was. I think also that I couldn’t have had more perfect weather for the hike… the sun and the temperature was absolutely awesome! The only bad thing was I have allergies?! My nose was running, sneezing, and having a fit, I guess I can’t handle all this clean air! Anyhow, the hike was great, and we’re relaxing the rest of the afternoon. Actually Daniela has to work at this dinner, so me and Dorni (Daniela’s sister’s boyfriend) and I are going to hang out and go to a party.

Salzburg Downtown, Home of Mozart

Today we had perfect weather… we went this morning on a long bike ride to the center of Salzburg to see the castle, and all the sights. We went to Mozart’s birth house, and his regular house after he moved. It was really interesting. We also ate at a really nice café and I had my first Bosner.. it’s just really like a hot dog, but it had curry spices and mustard..

Anyhow, we had a great day walking around the town and catching up. I am thinking about staying here a little longer than planned since there’s so much we can do..skiing, Hitler’s hideout, Daniela’s house in the countryside, hiking etc..

Daniela and the Barbecue

From the window, as I was arriving in Salzburg Hbf, I saw Daniela as we arrived! We met up and had some lunch–I was starving, and we drove to her apartment about 20 minutes away. It was raining, so you really couldn’t see the mountains nearby. That afternoon, we hung out and I met her sister and all her friends. Everyone is so nice and I like it here so much. That night about 10 of us had a huge barbecue with steaks, sausages, potatoes, salads, and it was really fun. I went to bed early though cause of how exhausting the day was.

Train to Salzburg

This was a bad morning. Not only did my train leave at 7:00am, but I also didn’t have a lot of sleep the previous night due to these American guys in the room. Don’t get me wrong, they were nice and all, but every other thing they said was, just have faith in God or God will take care of you. I mean EVERY sentence seemed to have something like that in it, and they spoke so loudly, it reminded me of the Osama bin Laden tape where every other word was Allah. Anyhow, I met some Americans waiting for the train. They were brother and sister, the brother just graduated like me, and the sister having a year left, and just was finishing her study abroad in Spain. Anyhow, I had wanted to sleep I guess, but it turned out they were really fun to talk to, and we spent the entire trip talking.

Funny thing is, all of a sudden we were all told to get off the train and some station and there’s a bus waiting for us. They understood that we had to change trains, but I really thought we had to get on a bus. So anyhow, the little old woman who was in the compartment with us tried to explain what was going on.. so she drew a picture of a train, marked it out, and then drew a picture of a bus and circled it. Sure enough at the next station, the whole train is unloaded onto these buses, driving through beautiful countryside of Austria, to some random train station, where we connected, and finished our trip to Salzburg.

 

Day with Kathryn

Today Kathryn and I met at the clock tower for a full day walking around the city, seeing the Jewish sector with Synagogues and such, and I bought some crystal pieces. I had to move to another hostel today which really sucks because my train leaves at 7:00am tomorrow morning and NOW I have to walk almost 15 minutes with all my stuff down to the station!! So, I will be in early tonight to get some sleep. Now I’m off to meet up again with Kathryn for dinner.

ZENJIRO!!! and My Appearance in a Japanese CM for 地球の歩き方。

Ok, this post probably won’t mean anything to my non-Japanese friends, but anyhow, it’s pretty funny.

So, I come back to my hostel in the clock tower, and there are 3 new people in my room. Turns out they’re Japanese, because low and behold, and a 地球歩き方 book is laying there on the bed..

So, last night they came in while I was sleeping, and turned on the light and were like, oh sorry sorry sorry. I said in Japanese, oh I’m ok.. daijyoubu! From that point on we only spoke in Japanese.

Turns out that these 3 are sponsored by Chikyuuarukikata to take this tour and make jokes about things you need to be careful about while traveling abroad. Zenjiro is the only name I got, and he’s a comedian in Japan… the other two are quite famous as well, but I don’t know their names. So anyhow, they were making this video for chikyuu and guess who will be in one of the commercials…yours truly, Benjaminhl. I come into a “dorm” room while Zenjiro is sleeping, and I take his suitcase and walk out with it. Then I take it to the stairs go through it throwing out non-valuable items, take out his wallet, find the money, and then throw the wallet down and leave. How funny is that?! Just another fun story of my GUUZEN life!!

Kathryn from San Francisco..or Boston?

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During my stroll last night, I was on this bridge with tons of gothic statues looking up at the golden-lit castle in the background. Everyone is out enjoying the dry night. I took some pictures playing with the shutter speed and stuff with my elph =) Anyhow, this girl walks by, looks my age, and for those of you who have traveled abroad, Americans are SO easy to spot. So, I asked if she spoke English, and since she was alone, would she like to go for a walk. Well, it turns out she just moved from living in San Francisco, to Boston. She also just arrived in Prague from Zurich, having been in her best friend’s wedding. So, we talked about my work and where I should move (note to myself > use www.craigslist.org and find LAKE MERRIT). So, we continued walking and went all over the city having great conversation. So we ended the night and decided to meet again tomorrow at 11:00am for a day of touring. This will be a lot of fun so I’m looking forward to it.

Night Stroll

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Again, the weather was really nice. So, after dinner, I went to walk around the city. I found myself at the river, and noticed a huge pendulum. Well, and a pendulum be inverted like a metronome and still be a pendulum? Whatever, it was a big stick swinging back and forth at the top of the hill looking over a city. I mean this thing was huge. I figured it was a clock or something, but by the time I climbed the whole hill (there’s a park up there) I found no indication of it being a timepiece. So, looking out over the red tiled roofs of Prague, I relaxed and thought about how amazing this trip has been thus far. I love it so much, and every day I am learning something knew not only about life, but about my life as well. It’s the kind of cliché “find yourself” type trip I guess, but being alone in such a beautiful place conjures up a lot of thoughts–and I enjoy the thinking…