Backtrack: Salzburg, Austria

[Not to confuse anyone, but this entry is a flashback to last Monday in Salzburg, just a delayed entry] Having had an idyllic time in the Vienna countryside wine tasting, and then enjoying some of the big city sites such as the Schonburnn Palace, I was ready for a quaint town like Salzburg full of cobblestone streets, cafes, shops, and square after square connecting the many churches and alleys. There was a bike race in Salzburg the weekend I was in Vienna. By the time I arrived at the hostel on Sunday night and then headed back out with an American to get some dinner, most of the festivities had subsided, except for this group of Dutch supporters who ran through the streets in their orange outfits, waving flags and blowing horns. They were pretty amusing.

On Monday, a few other Americans and I walked around the Old Town, peeked in churches and cemetaries, window shopped, and then decided if we wanted to pay the steep 35 Euros for the ice caves.....Nah. I put my money towards a purchase at H&M - maybe not the most traditional of Austrian shops, but I was in the mood for some retail therapy.

For lunch, we stumbled across a fantastic organic vegetarian Indian restaurant, and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch complete with complimentary desserts and samosas to go. I took a rest, and then met up with the girls later on for dinner, a beer, and a movie (Breakfast on Pluto). In some ways, it seemed like a very American day of shopping and movie-watching, but the fact that you are doing it in Salzburg makes it ok (I tell myself).

The next morning I was off to Ljubljana (pronounced Loob-lee-AH-na), the capital of Slovenia (my homeland!) I am 50% Slovenian, so this trip actually was of great interest to me, but the main challenge was getting there. There was supposed to be a 5 hour train ride direct from Salzburg to Ljubljana. It wouldn't be an express train, but that's ok. I have time, and it was pretty cheap. Turns out part of the tracks were closed, so instead it was a 2 trains, and then a bus ride for a few hours, and then another train into the city, magically, on time! I was impressed, to be honest.

(More on Ljubljana tomorrow...time for bed).