I was on the 9:14 to Salzburg. Decided to try 2nd class since the trains were so nice. The trains were nice...the travlers not so nice. It was pretty much a zoo getting on the train on Saturday morning. Who would have thought. I guess a lot of people go to the mountains on the weekend. So this nice young gal and I found a seat together. She was from Belgrade Serbia and was getting her Masters in Civil Engineerig at the University in Vienna. She gave me lots of pointers for next summers trip to the Adriatic.
Arrived in Salzburg at noon and litteraly had to throw a china-man off the steps so I could get off the train. These second class travelers are like ants... Anyway found my hotel and was off to the old city. Long narrow pedistrian streets with high buildings on both sides. They had these little walk-through tunnels every 75 yards or so that cut through to the next street. There were some great shops and cafes in these tunnels, so you had to explore them all. Currently the Salzburg Festival had started the previous weekend and was in full force. Salzburg was the birthplace of Mozart and this festival was analagous to the Aspen Music Festivle, but with more glitz as the Europeans would have it. I found the schedule and different venues. Afte a quick clean up and shower in the room. I returned to the main venue and attemted to buy an unclaimed ticket at the ticet office. It was 10 min, till showtime and the ladies just laughed when I explained that in the US, will call-tickets frequenly go unclaimed are sold just before showtime. I won't describe their comments. There was a very nice lady picking up her tickets who described a "platz" around the next church where Siemens had erected a giant screen and in open air, I had a beer, cigar, and watched the performance with the other 500 peasants for free.
PHOTOS HERE
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