Arrived in Salzburg

Today was a travel day, and a tough one at that, so no original photos. A chip in the rental car windshield, trains departing from unscheduled platforms and rooms advertised with wi-fi that don't really have it!

So I am writing from the public reception area of an ancient stone building in the old town of Salzburg. Veronika, the owner, has been running around for at least two hours trying to get me the correct password for her new wireless internet connection. She is a high-strung, lo-tech Salzburger, with only basic knowledge of English (at least she has SOME). Imagine, though, trying to understand a password, spoken in another language (ah, be, ce, de, eins, zvei, drei vier, etc.), by someone who is anxious and uncomfortable. We finally figured it out, though!

On a more pleasant note, I met two nice people today. First, at my hotel in Tirol, Matthew from Texas, who is also traveling alone, and then on the train from Munich to Salzburg, Emily (and her daughter Sarah). Emily is originally from Kentucky but who has been living in Klagenfurt Austria for ten years. I had nice conversations with both of them - Matthew was curious about going up in the glider, but we spoke about all kinds of things including our general travel experiences. Emily told me about growing up in a military family (her parents still live in Heidelberg), and about her mother's surgery today (they still don't know the final outcome). She also told me about her children (Sarah and an older son), and her job as a controller for the city of Klagenfurt.

Meeting people is one of the best parts of travel. I wish I could speak all of the native languages. It gets really frustrating asking everyone "Do you speak English?". I try to use the pleasantries like hello, goodbye, thank you, etc. when I speak with people, but it doesn't seem like enough.

Tomorrow I am hoping to hear two concerts here in Salzburg, and do some sightseeing: Mozart's Birth House, Mozart Museum and maybe more. Thursday is the train to Ljubljana.