PART II--Austria

After our incredible success in Germany and Switzerland, we were about as excited as we could be about heading for Austria. Austria was the country we had been the most excited about and, as it was, the one we planned to spend the most of our trip in. This was for several reasons: (1) it had very informative and exciting Web information back home, which made it easier to find out what to see; (2) we figured it would be especially exciting for us since it had so much musical history, plus (3) it was the one country on our agenda that Doug had never been to; last of all [1], (4) Frommer's hyped the hell out of it. Of course, we probably should have gotten the hint when Rick Steves glossed over it in his shows, altogether ignoring it in his `Best of Europe' tour, that maybe it might be a little bit overrated. But we ignored those naggings and planned on spending 11 days--over a third of our trip--in Salzburg and Vienna, with a one-day stop in Hallstatt.

As the end of Part I attested, we had had the best send-off from Germany we possibly could the night before in Munich and, as it happened, we had a pretty good time in the station there waiting for our train into Salzburg. We spent all 20 of our final Deutche Marks on shot glasses and sorts, enjoying a conversation with the woman at the counter and her extreme interest in our trip. "Where did you visit? How did you like Germany? I hope you come back to visit again soon." Ah, it was nice. But if Germany was this great, Austria was only going to be better, right?

The train ride was pretty uneventful; I think we probably spent most of it boning up on our photocopied Salzburg chapter in Frommer's. Rick Steves' didn't have as much information on it, and not many listings on rooms in private homes (we were up for the experience), so we were relying mostly on Frommer's. We arrived in Salzburg on an extremely overcast day, disappointed about the way the famed city[2] initially looked in so much dingy fog. Oh well, its only going to get better, right?

Once in the station, guards for some reason wanted to see our passports again, and gazed suspiciously at Doug as he was retrieving his from his money belt. Next, we knew we needed to get a phone card. Unfortunately, Austria was the only country for which we had absolutely no money[3], so we were forced to change money right there in the station. BIG MISTAKE! They charged a service charge of 86 Austrian Shillings for the first check, and, well, 86 AS for each check after that. Relax, the AS rate there was 10,4 per dollar, making the service charge only...$8.50 a check??!!! Okay, so we got totally reamed in the station, losing over $30 in service charges, but its only going to get better right?

After wandering around the tourist-unfriendly station and asking person after person where to actually buy a phone card, we finally found one[4], and then finally found a phone where we could use it. We called our first choice--Frau Brigitte Lenglachner--and were relieved that she spoke English. "I do!" she answered to that first German question, and I continued to ask her about the room she had. She interrupted me and said, "But I must know your name." I knew that Tracia was difficult to pronounce, so I started to say, "Well, let me give you my husband's name..." "No!" She insisted. "Yours!". So I did, and throughout the conversation she continuously kept interjecting my name. I must admit, it felt pretty good. I guess things are finally getting better, right? [5]

Our room in a private home. Authentic (contrived) Austrian decor and a huge radiator that never worked.

After settling in, though, we were quite anxious to see Salzburg, and decided to go downtown. We again walked along the Salzach river 20+ minutes[10] to the center of town, first stopping by the `Little Cook' restaurant recommendation Frau Lenglachner gave us for lunch. Well, Doug was very interested in eating there, but it seemed to pricey to me[11], so we declined, expecting to find the cheap deals Frommers raved about downtown. Also on Frommers advice, we first stopped by the TI, expecting to find a list of free concerts the city's school, the Mozarteum, would put on. Well, when we asked about free events, the first lady shooed us away to someone else, and she bluntly said, "We don't give out information on any free events!" A little put off but still very interesting in experiencing the classical music scene Salzburg is famous for, we inspected the list of what was being presented at all of the different stages: Hmm, boring "Eine Kleine Nactmusik" at the Mirabell Palace, uh, oh, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" at the Fortress, corny "The Magic Flute" at the Marionette Theater, and, oh, here's something interesting: "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" at the Residenz. And, let's see, these are the same exact concert programs that have been going on for, oh, decades now[12]. And each concert costs...$30-$50 a ticket?!?!? As I'm sure you can guess, we got out of there in a hurry! We later learned that the `TI' disguises itself as such to hide what it really is: a ticket outlet that snatches a steep 20% commission on its `convenient' sales. Profit is one thing, but does that excuse just plain rudeness when tourists have legitimate questions?

Disgusted by that encounter, we decided to go in search of lower-priced, local-style food. We went to the school's cafeteria, the Mensa, where Frommer's boasted bargain, hearty, hot meals. When we finally found it, it was closed, and would have been expensive even if it were open ($4 for ice cream?!)! I think we went to at least a half dozen other places and spent well over an hour looking for something decent to eat. Giving up, we settled on the local Br[sigma]ustuberl, figuring this was our special "night out"... at 3 pm. It was here that I noticed a pattern forming; locals no longer were being receptive to my German. For example, I would start ordering in German, and would be immediately interrupted with the waitress[13] curtly finishing my sentence for me in English. Well, at that particular moment I felt more forgiving than later on, because this particular waitress looked incredibly overworked and exhausted. This $30 meal was the least enjoyable of the trip so far, not only because the food was mediocre, but I didn't even get to use my new and improved German[14]!

After our bellies were somewhat satisfied, we were able to go explore the city. We went to the famous and supposedly popular Mozart's Geburtshaus[15]. We were impressed with the stone walls, portraits of the entire family[16], and the intimate size, but a little disappointed in the total lack of energy in the place[17]. Feeling a little empty for the $12 we spent to get in there, we then took a self-guided walking tour of the old town, taking advantage of the information in Rick Steves book. In it he described the Archbishop's Residenz that has a private walkway connected to the cathedral, an Italian fountain created by a Austrian who 'Italianized' his name and copied the Triton fountain in Rome, and (yet another) statue of Mozart...free and far more interesting than anything at the Geburtshaus or the TI for that matter.

Things cost a lot more than we thought they would in Salzburg

Yes, it had gotten too late to do any more sightseeing, since it was now 19:00. We had originally planned to one of the concerts that Salzburg is `world-famous' for, but not at those outrageous prices. So we meandered as slowly as we could down the Getreidegasse[21], stopping by the restaurant we had ruled out as too expensive for lunch, but remotely do-able for one (shared) apple strudel and a glass of water. I don't think the strudel was worth the $4+, much less its world-famous reputation. We then went back to our very cold room in a private home, falling asleep by about 8:30 pm. Oh well, with the famed Sound of Music Tour tomorrow morning, we figured (you guessed it) it was only going to get better....

...right?