...my true love gave to me, six dollars a paying.
Well, we hated to say goodbye to beautiful Munich, but the hunt for more Christmas markets continues! As we got to the train station I stopped at Starbucks for a caramel macchiato. Cost me nearly six dollars (US). Sheesh. It's killing me because I have a free drink on my Starbucks account, but they won't accept it here. I wanted to get a Germany Starbucks mug to go in my collection I have started, but they were OUT! (They had Munich, but I prefer just the country to match my others) Hopefully they will have them in when we stop at the station on the way back through to fly home. :)
We were at the station an hour early, just to be safe, but neither one of us slept last night...so I was already awake when the alarm went off at 7am. Our train pulled away from the station right at 9:55 and off we went to Salzburg, Austria. The ride was only about two hours long and the scenery was nice but it is so foggy today that if there were mountains I didn't see any. We hogged up 4 seats with all our stuff, but the guy taking our ticket didn't say anything even tho the train was pretty full. 11am was apparently snack time as people around us started pulling out food. The cute older couple next to us had packed sandwiches and apples. Down a few seats, several girls whipped out bread of some kind. So of course with the train car smelling like a buffet, I had to pull out the snacks we bought at the train station. I had a long pretzel and Guy had a pretzel with cheese and ham on it. I also had some kind of German cookie and the jury is still out on its level of deliciousness. It had like a thin wafer on the bottom, then the middle was a cross between an oatmeal cookie and fruit cake. The outside was covered in dark chocolate. So when I got it I had no idea what lurked in the middle. Since I'm not counting any kind of calories on this trip, I ate most of it. If I had been counting calories I'm not sure I would have wasted them on it. Ha Ha. Still, I don't think I've ever met a cookie I didn't like or coudn't eat.
As we got off the train and into the cab, Guy told the cabbie "the Sheraton". He said "which one". Um.....for a very long second Guy looks at me - I look at Guy *insert blank stare here*. So Guy told him the one that was only about an 8 Euro ride. He said "ok". The lady at the desk said there was really only one Sheraton in town. The other one was about a 1/2 hour ride out into the country. Glad we aren't looking at the countryside right now. So as we checked in, this beautiful blonde gal got us hooked up with, yes, an UPGRADE! All she said was it overlooked the garden, which was cool, but when we walked in the room it had a hallway. Yes, a hallway. First clue that it ain't the Red Roof Inn (Tena Bennett). Gosh, what will we do with two bathrooms and a walk-in closet? Maybe MOVE HERE? So as I overlooked the beautiful gardens and castle in the background, I decided the few seconds of tight chest, shortness of breath, and sweaty palms in the elevator was worth it. It is just the 6th floor, so I could hoof if I had to.
I was so excited about the room I had to Facetime my sister so she could take a tour! Ooops...my bad (and lack of math skills) it was only 5:30am in Nashville. But she loves me and tolerated my early call. She did her obligatory "ooos and ahhs" and I told her I'd call her later...at a decent time. - After our chat, Guy and I headed out to the town in search of more Christmas stuff. Within a few steps of the hotel we came across our first little market. They had a few nice things, but this wasn't the big one. For that we crossed over the river (over a beautifully lit pedestrian bridge) and entered into one of the town's squares. It was so big we had to designate a meeting spot because I needed about a half hour to peruse. Then we'd go into the second section. They had most of the same things the German markets had, hats, candles, ornaments, toys, food, Christmas miniatures, and of course Gluhwein! I wondered if that was just a German thing, but it must just be a Christmas thing. We'll see in a few days if the Italians have it. ;)
So all this shopping makes one hungry! Guy grabbed a hotdog on a big roll and I had a giant sugar donut in the shape of a pretzel. It was a big'n but I took care of business. Note the information about calories and vacations in the second paragraph. - As we looked around this cute section of Salzburg, we walked up and down the main narrow street and down the occasional side street we would find mini markets to explore. One even had some sheep and a jackrabbit. Hmmm...but it had some unique items and I actually bought a few ornaments there. BTW, this no credit card business at the markets is for the birds. How can I spend recklessly when I only have so many dollars on this trip? One needs a credit card so you don't have any idea what you have spent and have shoppers remorse weeks after the fact! Geeze...they really know how to take the air outta my shoppin' balloon.
Time to eat again, so for dinner I found a place on Trip Advisor that sounded really good. Authentic Austrian food that was packed every night and a reservation is a must. So Guy had the hotel call for a reservation and they were booked tonight and tomorrow night. Hmm...so we opted for an Italian restaurant, L'Osteria. We decided since we couldn't get into the Zum fidelen Affen and we were getting slightly schnitzeled out, we thought a dose of straight up spaghetti would do us good. So we walked back past the small Christmas market toward old town. The restaurant was on the main road and when we walked in it was rockin'. Good thing the hotel made us a reservation. The tables for two were so close together something like that would not fly in a small town, but the bad thing is we couldn't eavesdrop because we had no idea what they were saying. Still, people watching is always fun. They brought out our food, first the Caprese salad and then the spaghetti. I went for the marinara and Guy went for the meat sauce. They were both really good and hit the spot on a cold night. As we were waiting for our check the door opens and in walks a guy that is dressed like an Arch Bishop and he had some angels with him...as well as a few trolls. Seems like an odd group, doesn't it? So he came in with his big walking stick and tapped in on the floor several times and made a small speech. In German. After this they went around and collected money from anyone willing to part with a few coins and if you did so, you got some candies. We were indeed willing and with a "danke" they were on their way. When our waiter came by to drop off the check we asked him what that was all about. He said they go around as a fund raiser for "kids who need help". So that was pretty cool.
After we left he restaurant we walked around just for a bit in the old part of town. The shops were all closed, but the Christmas lights were beautiful. We walked up and down and window shopped. It is brisk out and you could see your breath, but we were bundled up nicely and we didn't want to miss out on the cool night vibe in beautiful Salzburg. Now don't get excited here people, but there was a possibility that for a split second we saw the outline of the moon. So perhaps...without saying it too loudly and knocking on wood...we may see a break in the clouds tomorrow? That would be nice. - Upon return to the hotel we went to the room to put our coats away and headed up to the 7th floor where a hot chocolate awaited us in the "Club Room". Yes, you heard me...the Club Room...as part of the UPGRADE. And so you know, and can sleep tonight without disappointed, there were lovely little chocolates on our pillows when we got back from dinner. Guy and I just gave each other knuckles with jazz hands. *wink* Gotta love Starwood points!
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