Sunny Salzburg

October weather in Salzburg has been magnificent. Often sunny and highs in the 60s, I’ve been trying to get outside as much as I can before the Alpen winter sneaks in to the city. Though several days have been cursed with clouds, drizzle and a slight chill, we’ve been blessed this October. A couple of weeks ago I even packed away the few short-sleeve shirts I brought. I neatly folded them and placed them in my suitcase under my bed to let them hibernate through the winter and wake them in the spring. I immediately unpacked them a couple days later.

Classes have begun

Salzburg is becoming more and more familiar to me. Last week I successfully voyaged my way to the Germanistik building, where my German classes are, and then to the international office without a map. This is no small feat.

Day trip to Linz

I’ve been here 12 days… long enough to go an adventure. Right?

Burned

Today I had planned on a lone adventure into Aldstadt (old Salzburg) to figure my way around a little better and take some photos of this beautiful city on a beautiful day. The sun is finally shining and the weather is nice. It’s been rainy pretty much since I got here so today was to be a glorious day of exploration. Until I burned my hand. I went to the kitchen to have a snack before I left and set my hand on the hot burner I hadn’t completely turned off when I made my eggs this morning. The knob is a little hard to turn so I had thought it was completely turned off. Damn.

Ich bin hier! I am here!

Ich bin hier! I am here… in Salzburg, Austria. It took me a while to get to these beautiful green mountains, but I’m finally here with my room set up. The plane ride wasn’t so bad after conquering the 24 hour journey to China three years ago. The trip to Vienna, where I flew in, took about 12 hours. Then a three hour car ride to Salzburg. I wasn’t nervous. Perhaps because I’ve both traveled outside the country and by myself a couple times in the states. Maybe it’s because family was picking me up, though I’ve met them less than five times in my life. I think I was just excited to get here. The only setbacks were a late flight departing from Chicago causing a late arrival in Frankfurt. This gave me 30 minutes to make my flight to Vienna. I boarded the plane at 7:58 a.m. The departure time was 8:00. My bags didn’t arrive in Vienna, which is what I expected, but they delivered them later in the day. I made it though. I traveled to a foreign country by myself and am here.