Melk & Salzburg

Day 1 – Thursday, September 23
Less than 24 hours after getting to Seattle from Thailand, I was back on the plane to Europe to visit my parents and meet up with my brother, whom had flown in a day earlier from Philadelphia. I arrived in Vienna at 10pm, meet my parents at the airport and we hoped in the car and drove to their apartment, located smack dap in the middle of the old city, only 4 blocks away from the Hapsburg Palace.

Day 2 - Friday, September 24
I slept in to about 9am, not really feeling the effects of jet lag, since my biological clock was still synched with Thailand’s time zone. My family and I were leaving for Salzburg after lunch, which did not leave me much time, so I repacked my luggage, checked my email and watched a little TV.

My father got out of work in the early afternoon and we packed up the car and began our journey east. My parents’ car had GPS, which I had never seen before, and they programmed in our destination. Their GPS system had an English woman’s voice giving us directions, as she did not let us down. We successfully made out way out of Vienna and onto the highway.

We stopped for a late lunch at a gas station and attempted to order lunch in German. We asked our waitress if she spoke English and she replied “A little”. As I would come to find out throughout my trip, “A little” in most European countries means better English than 40 percent of Americans, including myself.

We reached our first destination, a small town, after 50 minutes of driving on the interstate. We spent about an hour walking around and taking in the sights, old churches, town squares and cobbled streets lined with picture perfect houses. After that, we went to the Melk Monastery, where the archbishops of prior centuries held sway over Austria and other lands. The building and artwork contained therein was very impressive, as was the history associated with this Monastery.

We arrived in Salzburg and checked into Hotel Wolf, a small but very nice hotel located a couple of minutes from the main plaza. We went out for dinner and upon passing through the main platz (plaza), saw a small assortment of carnival rides and a large beer tent. Oktoberfest was in effect and cities and towns all across Austria and Germany were celebrating, albeit not as grandly as Munich, Germany, our next stop.

Day 3, Saturday, September 23
After breakfast, we grabbed umbrellas to combat the consistent sprinkles and proceed towards the castle sitting atop the hill. We spent the morning and into early afternoon taking an audio tour of the castle. It was time well spent, we learned about the history of the city of Salzburg (Salz means salt), and we were rewarded with sweeping views of the city and countryside, although the sky was encased in storms clouds.

After a hearty lunch and a liter of local beer at a tavern, we walked around the old section of Salzburg, visiting a number of old churches. We saw where Mozart was born, but didn’t bother taking the mini-tour of his home. For dinner, we had typical Austrian fare, and some wonderful Austrian red wine (rot wine). After dinner we stopped a bar next to our hotel and chatted with the bartender, a gentleman from Serbia. The expansion of the EU has opened up immigrations and more Europeans are moving, although this is not nearly as common as the United States.

Day 4, Sunday, September 24
We hopped in the car and drove over to Germany, which was only about 20 minutes away. The only indication that we were leaving Austria and entering Germany was an old guardhouse. We drove to Berchtesgaden and spent the day at a War Musuem. Berchtesgaden is where one of Hitler’s bunkers was located and they had an amazing account of the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. I had always wondered how the Nazi party and Hitler were able to embark on years of genocide and now I had some answers. The amount of propaganda put out by the Nazi party and the extent to which they controlled people’s lives and surroundings was amazing. It reminded me a little of my country, with a subdued feeling of fear, followed by reassurance by our government that with a strong leader at hand, we will be all right. The Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s fortress pearched atop a mountain, was closed due to freshly fallen snow. By the time we left the museum, it was open, but we were ery hungry and decided not to go up.

We had a nice lunch and then went back to the hotel. My parents packed up and left, since my father had to be at work on Monday. My brother and I stayed in the hotel for another night, as we were leaving for Munich, Germany the next day. We decided to wander over to the beer tent for dinner, trying to prepare ourselves for Oktoberfest in Munich. After chicken and beer, we went back to the hotel and crashed for the night.