It was a short bike ride to Salzburg from Laufen in the morning, and I took my time just taking in the town and the sights. It was such a pretty area and I felt like I could communicate more and more, and the people were friendly and smiley. It will sound Pollyanna, but people were just cheerful. A man cracked a joke about me not having a coffee with my pastry when I was eating outside in German, and I understood exactly. I don't know if I would have enjoyed certain parts of Germany even more if I had the very rudimentary understanding of German that I had by that point. Anyways, it made me think of how strangers cheerfully tease people in other places I've lived. It makes you feel included.
I was starting to fall in love with the Salzach River too. Its frigidity can be felt from the shore and its an aqua color that I have never seen in the states. I was not anticipating to fall in love with the natural beauty of the area.
I found a hostel there, but I could only book it for one night, and it was still a little bit on the expensive side. It was chillier in Salzburg too, and I could only guess that it was going to be colder yet as I went into the Alps. I was kind of tired of the cities at this point. I liked the architecture and the look of the alstadts, but I no longer wanted to be a part of the mob that was there to spend money on Banana Republic and Starbucks. I was happy just going to the grocery store, taking in some city sights, and getting on the road to see the Alps up close. Everything was expensive there. I took the afternoon and evening walked around Salzburg. I did hear people practicing violins and trumpets as I walked along the river. I didn't take the "Sound of Music" tour in Salzburg, but I was in a way. Salzburg is all about the Mozart.
This is the place to take a girl you like on a date. I took myself on a date to the top of the castle as the sun was setting. There's a tram that you take up the hill where you can see all of Salzburg.
The large clouds shifting of the mountains was just overwhelming. That you could order a drink and just enjoy all of the scenery was stupendous. I wished I could have shared this moment with someone.
I walked back to the Koplinghaus Hostel that was near the Salzach River. People were walking along the river and drinking with friends all along the way. I ended up talking with a woman in my hostel that night who needed to borrow my charging cable, and just spent a quiet, unassuming night in after that eating some food I picked up at the Lidl there.
It was the next morning that I had my real money emergency in Europe, or rather access to money. My American credit cards didn't work in person because I did not have the special chip and pin required by European businesses. (Don't be like me, order the cards from your bank before you leave, so you don't have this anxiety.) In Europe, I did all my transactions in cash mostly by withdrawing money from ATMs (geldautomats). It was this day that my ATM card wasn't working, and I had all of 20 Euros on me. My cell wasn't working as a phone either, and I knew I had to call the bank. The hostel wouldn't allow me to call the International Collect number on the back of my credit card. On the street, I spotted a pay phone that claimed to be a place to do everything digital thing you could ever desire to do, and I called the bank that way. I was was speaking to her, it was asking me to drop euros in. It was so nerve wracking, and I asked her to hurry before I had no cash left at all. She explained that my account was low, and I needed to transfer cash into it. At least I knew my card was still functional. My biggest fear in Europe was that some type of identify-theft things would cause the bank to deactivate my card unknowingly while they issued a new card to me, sending it to me in Cleveland rather than Europe.
I ended up using another card to book a hotel online just south of town so that I had a place to stay. I had a little bit of food with me, so I knew that would help. It ended up that I needed to wait for money to be transferred among my accounts. I decided to proceed into the Alps with just the money I had on me to see how I would do. I hated not having cash money on me, or a way to really buy things in person. I thought about returning to Braunau to stay with the family again while money caught up with me, but I decided to keep going forward, and Austria wasn't really an economical place to hang for long. I knew there were camping places on the way, but eventually I would have to get some money in hand again. It would be a good challenge to move along without money.
I left Salzburg en route to Hallein to where I thought my hotel was going be. I couldn't wait to see what was ahead.
It was a short bike ride to Salzburg from Laufen in the morning, and I took my time just taking in the town and the sights. It was such a pretty area and I felt like I could communicate more and more, and the people were friendly and smiley. It will sound Pollyanna, but people were just cheerful. A man cracked a joke about me not having a coffee with my pastry when I was eating outside in German, and I understood exactly. I don't know if I would have enjoyed certain parts of Germany even more if I had the very rudimentary understanding of German that I had by that point. Anyways, it made me think of how strangers cheerfully tease people in other places I've lived. It makes you feel included.
I was starting to fall in love with the Salzach River too. Its frigidity can be felt from the shore and its an aqua color that I have never seen in the states. I was not anticipating to fall in love with the natural beauty of the area.
I found a hostel there, but I could only book it for one night, and it was still a little bit on the expensive side. It was chillier in Salzburg too, and I could only guess that it was going to be colder yet as I went into the Alps. I was kind of tired of the cities at this point. I liked the architecture and the look of the alstadts, but I no longer wanted to be a part of the mob that was there to spend money on Banana Republic and Starbucks. I was happy just going to the grocery store, taking in some city sights, and getting on the road to see the Alps up close. Everything was expensive there. I took the afternoon and evening walked around Salzburg. I did hear people practicing violins and trumpets as I walked along the river. I didn't take the "Sound of Music" tour in Salzburg, but I was in a way. Salzburg is all about the Mozart.
This is the place to take a girl you like on a date. I took myself on a date to the top of the castle as the sun was setting. There's a tram that you take up the hill where you can see all of Salzburg.
The large clouds shifting of the mountains was just overwhelming. That you could order a drink and just enjoy all of the scenery was stupendous. I wished I could have shared this moment with someone.
I walked back to the Koplinghaus Hostel that was near the Salzach River. People were walking along the river and drinking with friends all along the way. I ended up talking with a woman in my hostel that night who needed to borrow my charging cable, and just spent a quiet, unassuming night in after that eating some food I picked up at the Lidl there.
It was the next morning that I had my real money emergency in Europe, or rather access to money. My American credit cards didn't work in person because I did not have the special chip and pin required by European businesses. (Don't be like me, order the cards from your bank before you leave, so you don't have this anxiety.) In Europe, I did all my transactions in cash mostly by withdrawing money from ATMs (geldautomats). It was this day that my ATM card wasn't working, and I had all of 20 Euros on me. My cell wasn't working as a phone either, and I knew I had to call the bank. The hostel wouldn't allow me to call the International Collect number on the back of my credit card. On the street, I spotted a pay phone that claimed to be a place to do everything digital thing you could ever desire to do, and I called the bank that way. I was was speaking to her, it was asking me to drop euros in. It was so nerve wracking, and I asked her to hurry before I had no cash left at all. She explained that my account was low, and I needed to transfer cash into it. At least I knew my card was still functional. My biggest fear in Europe was that some type of identify-theft things would cause the bank to deactivate my card unknowingly while they issued a new card to me, sending it to me in Cleveland rather than Europe.
I ended up using another card to book a hotel online just south of town so that I had a place to stay. I had a little bit of food with me, so I knew that would help. It ended up that I needed to wait for money to be transferred among my accounts. I decided to proceed into the Alps with just the money I had on me to see how I would do. I hated not having cash money on me, or a way to really buy things in person. I thought about returning to Braunau to stay with the family again while money caught up with me, but I decided to keep going forward, and Austria wasn't really an economical place to hang for long. I knew there were camping places on the way, but eventually I would have to get some money in hand again. It would be a good challenge to move along without money.
I left Salzburg en route to Hallein to where I thought my hotel was going be. I couldn't wait to see what was ahead.
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