2006-10-19 - 2:38 p.m.
So it turns out that Switzerland is prohibitively expensive. We can just about afford to eat and sleep, with enough left over to keep my loyal readers up to date with my misadventures. In the spirit of not wasting money, we've decided to cut short our time in Switzerland by two days and apply that time to Greece, where the living is affordable.
Salzburg was cool. We saw neither any Sound of Music stuff nor any Mozart stuff, but liked it none the less. Our hostel was not too bad- reasonably comfortable, and average price. They had a bar, which is always nice, but no kitchen- since they served food from the bar they specifically asked you not to bring your own food in. But, the beds were nice enough, and the people friendly.
Our first day in Salzburg we spent on a bench tour. It's a beautiful city, and we enjoyed it from many angles. One of the best was from above. There is a giant hill in the middle of town with a monastery on it, so we climbed halfway up this for some magnificent views. We also went and saw the church, which was incredible. It was in the baroque style, which can be very nice. It was huge though- it looked like someone had taken a normal church and stretched it!
Our second day in town we were going to try to find this archbishop's palace that mom recommended. We missed the bus, however, so decided to go see if we could find a brewery tour we had heard about. We found it (on a hill, like most things in Salzburg) but there was no brewery tour- just a beer garden. We sat on the hillside for an hour or so until that opened, and spent the rest of the afternoon pleasantly distracted in the beer garden, which boasted affordable delicious brew, and a variety of food, including the perennial favorite among Jesse and I - half chickens. It was a good afternoon. We had a bit of a nap when we got back, with the result that I woke at nine, very much awake. I went down to the common area to read for a bit, but soon finished my book. I was sitting there, trying to stretch out the ending, when something in me snapped.
I'm generally a fairly reserved person, and dislike initiating conversations for the most part. I don't mind talking to people, but rarely do I join conversations without being asked. There was a large group of Aussies talking about, of all things, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so I put my book away, screwed up my courage and joined them. It was a good decision, in the end. They were all very nice, and I spent several hours talking to them- mostly about good bars in Sydney.
Our last day in Salzburg I was determined to go and see the archbishop's palace, as recommended by mom. We found the bus this time, and in a matter of half an hour were four kilometers outside Salzburg at the palace of Marcus Sittikus.
Marcus Sittikus was an Austrian archbishop in the seventeenth century. He was a bit of a practical joker, and his gardens reflect this. He had a very beautiful garden laid out, with a series of grottoes (ie man made caves) and an outdoor table in an amphitheater. He outfitted all this with trick fountians. At the table, when his guests were drunk, his servant would turn a lever and water would spray up from inside the stone seats (except the bishops, of course). In the grottoes water would come from the ceilings, and from the floors. It was cool. We were in a big tour group, and our guide took great pleasure in spraying people with the fountains. He liked his job just a little too much. There were also little moving figures powered by water, including one huge town scene, complete with water powered organ to drown out the sound of the machinery. It was really neat, all the more so since it is all four hundred years old!
We spent our last night in Salzburg quietly, talking to some of the Australians that I had met the night before.
Our train to Zurich from Salzburg was a little late, and we nearly froze waiting for it! Apparently it is starting to get colder out. I hope Italy will be better. Anyway, in our wisdom, we managed to get a smoking car on the train.
A short aside- from henceforth any person who shares our train carriage, what I would formerly call a travel Stanly will now be a Winston. To recap: unwanted roommates are Stanlys, unwanted travel companions are Winstons.
Anyway, we had a Winston who smoked in the carriage, which was unpleasant. She left after not too long (two cigarettes worth actually) and we only had one other Winston, and he didn't smoke, so the trip was pretty good. The Alps are very beautiful. I really do enjoy mountain scenery- must be a product of where I was raised.
We are in Zurich now, and will be for two more nights, before heading to Geneva, and then out of this prohibitively expensive country!
