I woke up, got ready for my day, and planned to go out. I thought of a couple things I could do. Got on my computer, checked my email, and saw Abby was still around. I asked her if she wanted to go out and do something. A few people had already disappeared for the day. Some had gone to various locations in Austria or Europe. Almost everyone stayed in Salzburg, though.
Abby and I took off planning to visit Mirabel gardens. It was part of one of the shots in the Sound of Music. The Gardens were much more beautiful than I thought they would be. There was a mini-maze made out of some sort of leafy shrubbery; a mini stage, complete with orchestra pit and seating. My favorite part was a little corner with little dwarf statues in a large circle. Each statue had tremendous characteristics. Abby and I took a long time taking pictures and posing with each statue.
We tried to find the trick gardens we read about in the guidebook I have, but we had walked pretty much everywhere, and could not find them. By the time we started to try to find them we were already pretty tired. We walked on and stopped at a little souvenir booth. Abby bought a couple items, but I did not find anything reasonably priced that looked good. I spotted signs to another tourist shop. After Abby was finished, we walked in and browsed the items. The store was just a small closet with a few stands outside. I bought a bag that said “Salzburg, Austria” with the Austrian flag and symbol. I had been trying to find something with the symbol and the flag. Now , I had something that had both the symbol and the flag. It started to rain as we walked out of the store and onto the street. We walked quickly the few yards to the bus stop and sat underneath the small shelter there.
We were starting to get hungry. I hadn’t had anything to eat, except perhaps a granola bar. So we decided to find a “Billa”—the most common grocery store—and buy ourselves dinner. Abby said she had spotted a fresh fruit market on the way to the Europark (the mall). We rode the bus and stopped there. I bought a nectarine and a large orange, total close to 1.50 Euros. Abby bought 2 nectarines for .99. I must have paid extra for the weight of the orange, it was rather large. We walked a few yards to the closest Billa. This one looked nice, but it did not have the best selection of food. The Interspar in the Europark is the best supermarket choice so far, even with the long ride out.
Last night the Bellarmine boys and I had planned to hang out, but I didn’t want to wait around all day for them to show me where we were going. By the time Abby and I had come back to the school they had already left. They left a note for me, though. Jimmy, Ben, and Michelle had all gone out together and left a note for everyone else to come join them. I got ready to go, and asked a few people downstairs if they were coming. It seemed no one really wanted to go “out” tonight. They had had enough last night. So I took off alone, not exactly sure where to find this building they were talking about. I read my guidebook intensely trying to imagine the author’s directions in my head. I did not know the city too well, and I believe it would be easier if I had been standing and looking at what he was talking about. I wrote the name of the place on my hand “Augustinerbrau.” It is a beer garden or something of the sort. I had a picture of a building we passed on a daily basis to get downtown, and wondered if that might not be it. As we drove by I looked at all the signs trying to find the name of the building. Finally, I spotted “Augustinerbrau” in large letters on the face of the building. “How on earth did I miss THAT all this time?” I had wondered to myself.
I found my little group, or rather they spotted me. They were sitting in the far back of the café-style area. I sat and chatted for awhile before deciding to buy myself a drink. I don’t really enjoy beer much, but I figured I’d need to do it for the experience. This was the famous Augustinerbrau after all! The following is how one goes about buying a drink:
Buy a ticket from the cashier, it costs about 2.50 Euros for a large ceramic mug (don’t ask me if it’s a pint or a liter or whatever…I don’t know liquid measure very well). Take the ticket to the dude who hands out the jars, rinse the jar at the little fountain, then take it to the pourer. He stands behind a counter, a large barrel of beer at his side. Give him a tip, and he will fill your mug properly. The suds poured from my cup as I took it back, grinning, and holding on to the heavy thing to keep it from slipping. The floor all around the area is sticky from all the beer previously spilt, no need to worry about making a mess.
After we sat and chatted, sipping our own cups of beer; we decided to head to a small kebab shop down the street. Ben said these kababs were made of entirely lamb, instead of beef and lamb—as most kebab shops make them. Mmmm! So delicious!
We headed back towards the beer garden to the bus stop. While waiting the 20 minutes I went back to the building to use the facilities. As I walked quickly back to catch the bus, a large group of the KIIS students were walking toward me coming to join our little group. They said they were heading to O’malleys. I told them I did not want to go tonight. So they walked back to the bus stop with me, talked to the rest of the gang, and then took off for our favorite hangout.
My group went back to the school and sat in a little park next door, eating our kebabs, and chatting some more. Michelle and Jimmy went back into the school so Michelle could make a call with her computer (she needed Jimmy’s mic). Ben and I stayed outside and talked deeply, about life and our respective childhoods. Ben is turning out to be another big brother; he’ll be a good one, and watches out for everyone on this trip.
Close to lock-up time we headed in and watched a movie in Ben and Jimmy’s room.
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