Keri Goes Abroad: December 2011

Pat with his pretzel and Weissbier

Just about six months ago, Pat came to Salzburg. The city had apparently used up its allotment of sunny days, and decided to be cloudy, damp, and cold every day. It wasn't that big of an issue - the city's beautiful in every type of weather - except for the fact that Pat left, firmly believing that there are no mountains in Salzburg. Even the Untersberg, the big mountain that towers over the city, couldn't be seen at all for the entire duration of his stay.

Mountains or no, we busied ourselves with the sights. Our first stop was the Stiegl Bierkeller/garten. The restaurant is nestled into the mountain that supports the castle, and is only open in the summertime. It also serves Stiegl (hence the name), Salzburg's biggest local beer. Then we wandered the city, and ended our night at another local brewery (Die Weisse) before Pat crashed from jet lag.

Our view

Pat was a little jet-lagged

Model.

Our beer selection at Die Weisse, another local brewery. Pat and I made the rounds. I was showing him some local culture, right?

The next day, Pat and I continued our exploration of the city. We wandered in and out of shops, including the infamous Christmas egg shop, before heading up to the castle. There we enjoyed the (mountainless) views, and Pat thoroughly bested me in a crossbow challenge. Just ask him - I'm sure he'll be glad to tell you all about it.

That night we went to the Augustinerbräu, home to my favorite Austrian beer and the best beer hall atmosphere. We were wandering around looking for a place to sit, when I heard a chorus of 'KERRRIIIIII.' A group of my students, accompanied by the headmaster of one of my Catholic schools, were hanging and drinking in one of the rooms of the brewery. Things that would not happen in America #301 (other things include: Krampus, sanctioned drinking at the age of 16, and ski weeks sponsored by schools). At first I think my students were a little shy. Pat, naturally, can't speak any German, so everyone was forced to speak English with him. By the second beer, though - bought by my headmaster, of course - everyone seemed to have loosened up a little. The students were genuinely interested in hearing about American life from Pat. They were ready to answer questions, and asked him plenty of their own. When the lights flickered at 11, signaling closing time, a couple of my students had loosened up enough to join us and the rest of the Americans for karaoke. I think we sang "Love Shack" by the B52s and "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi; the former we sang with Maija and her cousin, the latter with everyone (including my students).

The next day we left Salzburg for Vienna, where we were to catch a plane to Rome. The train ride was one of the worst of my life. We hadn't booked seats, which isn't normally an issue, except that that particular day was the day of the Salzburg v. Vienna soccer game. The train was filled with hooligans. Drunken soccer hooligans, each wearing the colors of their team. Beer cans littered the aisles, drunken men swayed from wagon to wagon, and Pat and I had no seat and no good way of finding one without wandering through the masses. At one point we sat on the ground by the door. We also tried to sneak into first class, but were caught pretty quickly and forced back to the ground. Finally we waded through beer cans, drunken fans and sticky messes to the far side of the train and found a compartment where we could sit. Shortly thereafter, we got off the train, and onto a bus to the airport. The flight was uneventful (thank goodness) and we made it to Rome with our luggage intact.