First Week in Salzburg

So It’s been about a week in Salzburg now and I’m in love with it! It’s gorgeous and everything I expected and more. Wednesday we had an orientation and they introduced us to the city. Thursday we had 2 classes and a walking tour around the entire city which got us acquinted with it and now we are pretty good at navigating our way around. I’ve had dinner with my host family every night and breakfast every morning. Sabine makes great food, all organic which surprisingly I like. Our cook at the school, Bregite, cooks typical German and Austrian food which is good but obviously not good for you! I’m going to start running in between my classes along the river in the city which has a perfect view of the mountains and the Fortress.
Friday we got to sleep in FINALLY! And went around the city, got a cell phone, bus pass and train pass. Then we had a dinner at the school for all the host parents to come. Some of my friends and I had to help out so we got to cook! I made some cool Bulgarian dish and learned how to dice peppers and onions. Then Bregite made us real homemade hot chocolate with milk and real bars of chocolate. Delicious! After the dinner a group of us went out to the Augustiner Brewery which is famous around the world. It was huge and had about 5 big rooms with tons of tables, some rooms were smoking and some were non smoking. You walk into this hallway where you pick up your mug, either .5L or 1L and you go and pay for it, then you wash it out in this fountain, then you go and get your beer! We all had fun and stayed there for quite a while getting to know each other better. It was very loud and there were many different groups of people from all over the world.
Saturday our host family took us up to Eagle Nest Mountain which is where Hitler’s eagle nest is located. You can’t go up to the eagles nest in winter because the road is very very narrow and the snow would make it way too dangerous to go all the way to the top of the mountain. During the spring and summer thought it’s a very nice restreaunt supposedly. I don’t think I would want to eat there… But we dropped Sabine and Leona off at a little ski mountain because Leona is learning how to ski. Then Bernhard took me and Kristen and his son Alexander on a hike through the woods. May I add it had snowed all night and we were the first ones on the trail! The snow was up to our knees but we had walking sticks with us which were like ski poles. We walked to where Hitler’s house used to be, but has since been destroyed. Bernhard knew a lot of History which was very fascinating to me and he was like our own little private tour guide. From there we hiked to a museum which was in one of the old buildings in Hitler’s camp he had up on that mountain. It was again very fascinating like all the other museums I have been too. I bought a interesting book with lots of information and pictures in it for cheap which will be good when I start teaching and I can say I actually have been there! We got to go into the bunkers that were used to go from building to building in Hitler’s camp. Most of Hitler’s close friends and politicians had houses on the mountain where he did, so they had underground bunkers to walk to each house with so they would not have to be seen. Some of his party members also hid out there when bombs raided the city. This was Hitler’s place of relaxation and leisure. I can see why he would like it since it was very calming and peaceful. There were many pictures in the museum of him enjoying his time there in the woods. He had a huge window in his house so on a clear day he could look down and see all of Salzburg. This trip was really great because it got us to know our host family better and it was nice that they included us in their family time. We had some nice conversation again over lunch about our countries and the differences. I’m definitely learning a lot from Bernhard about the history of this place. On the way home they took us by where they filmed the Von Trapp house in the Sound of Music. They filmed the back of the house in one mansion and the front of the house in a different one, neither of which were the real house. They live within walking distance of where they filmed the back of the house where the lake is, I will add a picture. Kristen and I are going to walk down there within the next couple days to get a closer look.
Then Sat night was one of our friend’s birthday, she turned 21! So we all went out to an Irish pub in town that is known for being the most fun place but also having a lot of Americans. We met a lot of people from California and a lot of Germans and Austrians as well. Some Austrian guy game me a rose! Don’t ask me where he got it from!? It was a very fun night to celebrate our friend’s birthday in Europe! We were all saying last night how we’ve only known each other for not even 2 weeks and we are already such good friends.
Classes start tomorrow, so today Kristen and I are just going to lay low. I’m going to try to make it out for a run!! This next week will be interesting because we will really have to start settling down and doing school work, which I have not done since the beginning of Dec! Its so hard to sit in a classroom and pay attention when you look out the window and see the most breath taking mountains and you just want to be outside and exploring! But that’s why I’m here I guess; to learn.. I’m excited to start to get to know the city more and become a member of it! Me and some friends are planning a trip to Munich, Germany in Feb to go see my favorite band, Dave Matthews Band, play there.. and Also a trip to Innsbruk which is in Austria to go skiing for a day and explore the city I have heard so much about! Will post again in a couple days..Love and Miss you all!


Some of the girl on our first day in Salzburg

Me helping Alexander through the snow

Where the filmed "The Sound of Music", in the back of the house where the lake was..I live about 5 minutes from here

One of Hitler's bunkers

Kristen and me standing where Hitler's house used to be, the view behind us would be so much prettier on a sunny day!