Saturday Morning we were up early and on the bus to Salzburg, Austria. I don't remember much of the ride, so I must have been asleep (I think we watched Gattica though). Once we got to Salzburg, we went to mass at a Franciscan Church; though, I missed part of mass because I thought we had been told 45 minutes to mass, when in fact we had been told 4 to 5 minutes...a very easy mistake, and the line for the WC was pretty long.
p.s. I think it should be illegal to charge people to use the bathroom...really people, it is a basic necessity of life, and sometimes we just don't have time after a 3 hour bus ride and a water bottle and a coke to rummage through out wallets for .50. Just let us in already.
Right after we finished mass, there was a wedding about to start, boy to Europeans know how to dress for weddings. All the ladies had hats, big hats...Audrey Hepburn hats (MAK- some even had feathers!) and all the men were in coattails. I decided this attire will be required at my wedding. Anyways, after mass we headed to lunch (which was a 4 course meal) and then off to a tour. Our tour guide was one of the professor's dads, I hear what he said was very interesting, but all of us more than a foot away from him could hear nothing. Americans seem to be the best country in terms of projection. We saw the Do-Re-Mi- steps from The Sound Of Music, and the fountain they danced on. We had the afternoon free, so Katie, Martha, Rachel and I went walking around. We went to Mozart's house (the front and the back side), and then wandered around streets -shopping (I got a scarf) and listening to music from the guy with the electric violin- until we met up with Fr. Brad for some Vietnamese Pho. Afterwards we headed of to the Augustiner Brau. Fr. Brad took us on a roundabout way, showing us the smallest house in Salzburg, giving the history of the fountains, and talking to people along the way. The Augustiner was great (Fr. Brad had built up the roasted chicken, so lots of us got that...and it was as good as he promised), at the Augustiner, you ceremoniously chill your mug before getting your beer... it was not as exciting as they made it sound (you hold the mug under a fountain for a few seconds.)
Munich
Sunday morning Katie, Becca and I were going to meet some people in front of the hostel at about 5:30 am to watch the sunrise from the castle. Shame we overslept...oops. We had mass that morning -in German, and with a full choir and orchestra- and then loaded the buses for Munich. I was with Katie, Becca, and Anna for the day. We took a subway to the university where Sophie Scholl and her brother, Hans, were arrested...here's a link about them (http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/holocaust/articles/sophie-scholl-white-rose.2786.htm). We didn't take into account the fact that it was Sunday and the building would probably be closed, which it was. But we looked through the window into the atrium where she stood anyways. Next we went to see the remains of the old Nazi headquarters, and saw the site of the 1933 book burning at Munich's Konigplatz.
At this point in the day a bathroom stop was necessary, and so began our hunt for a bathroom. We came to the conclusion that Europeans do not pee, hence they don't need bathrooms anywhere. (we ended up sneaking into a museum bathroom.) After a gelato break, we went to the Haufbrauhaus. I think I like the Pittsburgh version of the Haufbrauhaus, where dancing on tables and loud singing is allowed...but the beer here is better (lushes, we toasted to you.) We had a difficult time ordering, but I ended up with a bratwurst, which was just fine for me. Oh, and Katie got hit on by an old drunk German guy, it was awkward and hilarious all at once. The best part was we made about 40 euro there...when we paid the waitress for dinner -30 euro for all 4 of us- she only took 10 and gave us a 20 back. We didn't argue =)
Second gelato stop of the day, we ate them on the steps waiting for everyone else to get back. (there can never be too many gelato stops in a day)
Maddie and I at the Haufbrauhaus
Anna's converseSalzburg (again)
Katie and I got up to watch the sunrise from the castle (high on the hill, overlooking Salzburg). We didn't know how to get up to the castle, but we found a road and some stairs that led us up pretty far. We watched the sunrise which was beautiful, and right as we were going numb in our toes we headed back.
Mondsee
Monday morning, after sunrise and breakfast, we left for Mondsee. Mondsee is famous for their church, where Maria and Captain Von Trapp were married in the movie, and for other scenes shot there (the lake scene I think). We had mass in the church from the movie, and then lunch. After lunch some people went in the lake (the warmest lake in Austria or something like that), but it was still pretty cold. We walked around the lake and the town till it was time to leave back to Gaming.
That's the weekend in a nutshell, now I'm back in Gaming and catching up on homework and making plans for next weekend =)
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