Home Sweet Salzburg

Salzburg!

Before I launch into my first impressions of Salzburg, I would like to point out that to my young students, I'm "Frau Professor." It sounds a little ridiculous, but in German you say "Ms. Professor" or "Mr. Doctor" or whatever. The older students just call me Keri, though.

Anyway, to return to my original storyline, I arrived safely in Salzburg with Al on an incredibly warm and sunny day. As I said before, I have two very large pieces of luggage with me, both chock-full of things that I thought were necessary at the time (I'm learning that the official dress code for teaching assistants is jeans and a nice top, not business casual as I'd previously thought; I will probably never wear any of my nice dry-clean-only trousers here). Thank God Al was with me, and willing to drag one of my giant suitcases along with her luggage.

Al and I took the regional train to Salzburg from Munich, which was cheaper, slower, and more full of commuting teenagers and mothers with small children than the fast train would have been. The trip from Munich to Salzburg is beautiful because you go through the mountains. The Salzburg Hauptbahnhof, however, is not so beautiful - it's totally under construction, and therefore was incredibly hard to identify as our final destination. I was expecting something grand, not a boarded-up building with some platforms. We realized it was the correct stop nonetheless, and managed to get off the train, deposit our bags in a GIANT locker, and purchase Al's ticket to Vienna without a problem. Then we took a cab to the cell phone store so that I could get hooked up to the internet that night and let everyone (read: Mom) know that I'd arrived safely. The cell phone store was (and still is) conveniently located at the end of my street, so we took our time wandering until I could get my keys from my neighbor at 6PM. Then we explored a little, retrieved our things from the train station, and moved in to my lovely new apartment.

I have to admit, I had the most difficult time upon arrival because the Salzburg dialect is like nothing I've ever heard. My neighbor (Frau Rinnerthaler) speaks it flawlessly, making it incredibly difficult to communicate sometimes. Instead of saying things like "ich weiß gar nicht" (pronounced "ick vice gar nickt"), they say "ee vice gowr net." Even after three weeks, I often end up just nodding and smiling, and when that's not the right reaction I ask them to say it again more slowly.

Al and I stumbled upon Mozart's birth house in the middle of the Altstadt. It's always surrounded by too many tourists to get close. One of my teachers said it should be my goal to get a picture of the house with me totally alone in front of it. Not likely.

Linzergasse. My apartment is down here on the left, past the church.

My apartment!! My room is hidden by the tree, but it has lovely yellow curtains and a very nice view of some hotel windows (which occasionally leads to a nice view of some hotel guests changing).

The next day Al and I explored the city, did some shopping, went to the top of the mountain to see the fortress, and cooked dinner for ourselves. Naturally, it drizzled the entire day. The next day I escorted Al to the train station, then returned to my apartment for some well-needed rest and unpacking before meeting the rest of the American Fulbright girls for dinner.

Mirabell gardens in the rain, with the fortress in the background

All the tents on the right are part of some market that has not happened since this day.

In case we hadn't gotten enough at Oktoberfest, Salzburg was having it's own small celebration. It looks empty here, but trust me, it was full of people in dirndls and lederhosen all weekend long

View from the fortress

Salzburg from above

We're surrounded by huge mountains, but they're covered in fog so often that it's hard to tell sometimes just how large they are

Mountain smack dab in the middle of the city

Al admiring the view

Part of the fortress

Panoramic views. This is the view from the fortress still, but from the opposite side of the mountain

The balcony at my apartment, as seen from the kitchen window

My courtyard!

Neighbors and the mountain in my backyard, as seen from the kitchen window

The kitchen window itself

There are more pictures of my apartment to come. I just didn't want to post anything while my room looked like hurricane Keri had hit. But now that I'm (finally) unpacked, it shouldn't be a problem!