Hi, Hallo, Gruss Gott, and Bonjourno!
While greetings change from place to place, I've noticed that the pigeons, ducks, and seagulls are pretty much the same wherever you go. In fact, I think in Frankfurt, I saw Jonathan Livingston's cousin, Johan. I also spotted their cousins Tony (in Chicago), Wolfgang (in Salzburg), and Mario (in Venice). While I've had a lot of opportunity to take in the not-so-wildlife, I've had almost no internet access until today, so here is an update on my activities and impressions:
Pre-April 26 -- Got ready to go. What I didn't give away went into a 10x10 time capsule at the local Public Storage.
April 26 -- Final packing, a last-minute trip to seal the time capsule, and off to the airport--transportation courtesy of the Colin Murphy help-your-friends-out-in-a-
pinch express limousine service.
April 27, 1 a.m. -- During a Chicago layover, I ate the "world's best thin crust pizza, as seen on the Oprah Winfrey Show and in USA Today." Poor world.
April 27, 2 p.m. -- Learned that a Chicago deep dish pie is exactly that--a pie. Two inches deep and to my surprise the sauce was on top. I got the Gino's special that uses a plate-sized sausage patty instead of crumbled sausage. Different.
April 27, 6 p.m. -- Shuffled down the gangway to American Airlines seat 27B for a snug nine hour viewing of two bad movies-- Escape to Madagascar and Nimm's Island.
April 28-30 -- Aside from Paris, the next best place to get a croissant is Frankfurt's auto row. Who would've thunk it! But don't go out of your way to visit the Frankfurt zoo. The night animals exhibit is interesting, but aside from that exhibit, a sunbear, and a couple of bengal tigers, it's a fairly modest zoo for a city of Frankfurt's size.
May 1 -- I woke up looking forward to my daily croissant only to find the store closed. What??? Oh, wait, how silly of me, it was "May Day!" I think the US should make the first day of every month a national holiday.
May 2 -- Mom arrived safe and sound and her first meal was an authentic Frankfurter.
May 3 -- Over here, a gyro is called a doener kebab, and we found the best one this side of Turkey in the little town where Mom's childhood girlfriend lives.
May 4 -- The highlight of driving from Frankfurt to Salzburg should have been visiting a castle in Wuerzburg along the way, or maybe seeing my aunt and uncle for the first time in eight years. But what really comes to mind is arriving at a youth hostel, being handed a pile of sheets and climbing three flights of stairs with our bags to find a room with bunkbeds. Ahhh, makes me feel young again!
May 5 -- I have a thing for cemeteries. Salzburg has some old ones. We saw the grave where Mozart's wife and parents are buried, along with a whole bunch of other people who like us, lived their lives and then died.
May 6 -- I had been to Mom's hometown of Marquartstein before, but never with her and never inside her childhood home, which has since been converted into offices. I got to go in the attic where Mom's nanny used to rattle some chains while her parents told her the ghost would punish her if she wasn't good. Nothing like fear to keep a kid in line. Except nowadays a kid would Google "ghosts" and learn there is nothing to fear except fear itself.
May 7 -- I walked through one of the oldest streets in Salzburg still lively with people living in the upstairs apartments and businesses on the ground level. Every 15 feet or so, there are one-foot-square cement blocks attached to the base of the buildings with rounded edges worn over time. The blocks kept the horses and carriages from scraping up against the buildings, medieval guard rails if you will.
May 8-11 -- Venice! Waterways, bridges, gelato, souvenir stands, stores selling hand blown glass, more gelato, churches, more bridges, more hand blown glass, more souvenir stands, more gelato, more churches, boats, more gelato, more boats, a few mosquitos, and one very interesting island cemetary.
May 12 -- The same train that took us down to Venice brought us back to Salzburg with a 3-minute transfer in a town called Villach. But gotta love that Austrian organization, the train we needed was on the platform directly across, so we really only needed 45 seconds to make the transition.
May 13 -- Finished reading "Practical Demonkeeping" by Christopher Moore, his first and not best book, but entertaining nonetheless. I highly recommend his other books, "Lamb: The gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal" and "A Dirty Job."
May 14 -- Hiked around Fuschl Lake, which is next to Wolfgang Lake for anyone who knows the area. If you don't know the area, this is where they filmed the opening scenes of "The Sound of Music" where Maria is twirling on the grassy hill. Picture perfect green meadows blanketed in yellow, white, and purple wildflowers make it almost a characiture, except it's real...and breathtaking. After a sunny day, the late afternoon poured rain and we sought sanctuary in St. Wolfgag's church where Joe lit a candle requested by his dad, who just had a partial hip replacement after breaking his hip while trying to play Paul Bunyon in his backyard.
May 15 -- Sick day. We moved from the lovely youth hostel to an "apartment hotel" complete with a pre-made bed, nice pillows, a kitchenette, and our first free wi-fi. Joe has the creep and crud, so instead of going with my family to Berchtesgaden (where Hitler had his retreat, and another stunningly beautiful area), we decided to stay in, catch up on e-mail and rest for the travels ahead.
Tomorrow we leave on a 3-day meandering driving trip through Austria in the direction of Vienna, where we will arrive on Tuesday and stay in what used to be a castle near the famous Vienna Woods. We spend a couple days in Vienna, then go to Prague, and then return to Frankfurt on the 23rd to return the car. From there, we take a train to Paris, where we will spend 10 days in Joe's brother and sister-in-law's apartment near the Arc d'Triumph, and after that we head to northern Germany to visit my host family (from when I was an exchange student in high school). The trip with my Mom rounds out back in Salzburg for my uncle's 80th birthday party at a cabin high in the Alps.
Please write and let me know what's going on with you, and don't just say, "oh, the usual...work." I'll be mostly offline until Paris, so please be patient if you don't get quick replies from me.
xoxox
Annie
April 27, 1 a.m. -- During a Chicago layover, I ate the "world's best thin crust pizza, as seen on the Oprah Winfrey Show and in USA Today." Poor world.
April 27, 2 p.m. -- Learned that a Chicago deep dish pie is exactly that--a pie. Two inches deep and to my surprise the sauce was on top. I got the Gino's special that uses a plate-sized sausage patty instead of crumbled sausage. Different.
April 27, 6 p.m. -- Shuffled down the gangway to American Airlines seat 27B for a snug nine hour viewing of two bad movies-- Escape to Madagascar and Nimm's Island.
April 28-30 -- Aside from Paris, the next best place to get a croissant is Frankfurt's auto row. Who would've thunk it! But don't go out of your way to visit the Frankfurt zoo. The night animals exhibit is interesting, but aside from that exhibit, a sunbear, and a couple of bengal tigers, it's a fairly modest zoo for a city of Frankfurt's size.
May 1 -- I woke up looking forward to my daily croissant only to find the store closed. What??? Oh, wait, how silly of me, it was "May Day!" I think the US should make the first day of every month a national holiday.
May 2 -- Mom arrived safe and sound and her first meal was an authentic Frankfurter.
May 3 -- Over here, a gyro is called a doener kebab, and we found the best one this side of Turkey in the little town where Mom's childhood girlfriend lives.
May 4 -- The highlight of driving from Frankfurt to Salzburg should have been visiting a castle in Wuerzburg along the way, or maybe seeing my aunt and uncle for the first time in eight years. But what really comes to mind is arriving at a youth hostel, being handed a pile of sheets and climbing three flights of stairs with our bags to find a room with bunkbeds. Ahhh, makes me feel young again!
May 5 -- I have a thing for cemeteries. Salzburg has some old ones. We saw the grave where Mozart's wife and parents are buried, along with a whole bunch of other people who like us, lived their lives and then died.
May 6 -- I had been to Mom's hometown of Marquartstein before, but never with her and never inside her childhood home, which has since been converted into offices. I got to go in the attic where Mom's nanny used to rattle some chains while her parents told her the ghost would punish her if she wasn't good. Nothing like fear to keep a kid in line. Except nowadays a kid would Google "ghosts" and learn there is nothing to fear except fear itself.
May 7 -- I walked through one of the oldest streets in Salzburg still lively with people living in the upstairs apartments and businesses on the ground level. Every 15 feet or so, there are one-foot-square cement blocks attached to the base of the buildings with rounded edges worn over time. The blocks kept the horses and carriages from scraping up against the buildings, medieval guard rails if you will.
May 8-11 -- Venice! Waterways, bridges, gelato, souvenir stands, stores selling hand blown glass, more gelato, churches, more bridges, more hand blown glass, more souvenir stands, more gelato, more churches, boats, more gelato, more boats, a few mosquitos, and one very interesting island cemetary.
May 12 -- The same train that took us down to Venice brought us back to Salzburg with a 3-minute transfer in a town called Villach. But gotta love that Austrian organization, the train we needed was on the platform directly across, so we really only needed 45 seconds to make the transition.
May 13 -- Finished reading "Practical Demonkeeping" by Christopher Moore, his first and not best book, but entertaining nonetheless. I highly recommend his other books, "Lamb: The gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal" and "A Dirty Job."
May 14 -- Hiked around Fuschl Lake, which is next to Wolfgang Lake for anyone who knows the area. If you don't know the area, this is where they filmed the opening scenes of "The Sound of Music" where Maria is twirling on the grassy hill. Picture perfect green meadows blanketed in yellow, white, and purple wildflowers make it almost a characiture, except it's real...and breathtaking. After a sunny day, the late afternoon poured rain and we sought sanctuary in St. Wolfgag's church where Joe lit a candle requested by his dad, who just had a partial hip replacement after breaking his hip while trying to play Paul Bunyon in his backyard.
May 15 -- Sick day. We moved from the lovely youth hostel to an "apartment hotel" complete with a pre-made bed, nice pillows, a kitchenette, and our first free wi-fi. Joe has the creep and crud, so instead of going with my family to Berchtesgaden (where Hitler had his retreat, and another stunningly beautiful area), we decided to stay in, catch up on e-mail and rest for the travels ahead.
Tomorrow we leave on a 3-day meandering driving trip through Austria in the direction of Vienna, where we will arrive on Tuesday and stay in what used to be a castle near the famous Vienna Woods. We spend a couple days in Vienna, then go to Prague, and then return to Frankfurt on the 23rd to return the car. From there, we take a train to Paris, where we will spend 10 days in Joe's brother and sister-in-law's apartment near the Arc d'Triumph, and after that we head to northern Germany to visit my host family (from when I was an exchange student in high school). The trip with my Mom rounds out back in Salzburg for my uncle's 80th birthday party at a cabin high in the Alps.
Please write and let me know what's going on with you, and don't just say, "oh, the usual...work." I'll be mostly offline until Paris, so please be patient if you don't get quick replies from me.
xoxox
Annie
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