The Hills Were Alive! - Sort Of

Last Thursday morning I flew from Rome to Munich, and then from Munich to Salzburg by train. That part of Europe is very pretty and it was great to see green fields. Interacting with Germans in the airport and then Austrians in Salzburg, my perception of the German language and culture has greatly changed. Before, I always thought the language was very harsh and angry, yet now, I think I like German more than French (sorry Jess!)! And the people were very friendly and helpful, I think more than Italians or Belgians, and certainly more than the French, at least the little bit of interaction I had in France.

Anyways, Salzburg is a very pretty city, but it was a bit disappointing that there were clouds and haze to the south so I could not see the beginning of the Alps very well. On Friday, my first full day in Salzburg, I went to Haus der Natur, a natural history museum, but with many interactive scientific exhibits like that place in San Francisco (I’m blanking on the name). My favorite was playing with all the exhibits! Probably one of my favorite ones shows the basic concept of how a jet engine works. I had fun with that! After the Haus der Natur, I wondered around for a while and saw a very pretty cemetery and just some cool old buildings in the historic city center. Then, I went up the mountain to the Fortress in Salzburg, with a great panorama view of the city. It was so pretty! But that haze was still over the mountains to the south, so you could only just make out the mountains. While I was at the Fortress, I stopped for lunch and had sausage and sauerkraut. That was my first time having sauerkraut and it was ok, definitely a good thing I didn’t know ahead of time that it’s pickled cabbage!

The next morning I went on the Sound of Music tour and that was a fun experience! The tour starts in the center of Salzburg, right next to the Palace (not an impressive one) where they filmed them running through the garden singing Do-Re-Mi, and the tour takes you to all the spots where they filmed on location and the tour guide tells all sorts of little anecdotes about the movie. The thing I found most interesting is that the Von Trapp house in the movie is actually two different houses in real life. One for all scenes in front of the house (and when they are set in the backyard yet you see the house) but then all back scenes where you don’t see the house but you see the lake were filmed at a different house! That was really cool to find out! And the mountain that they climb over in the end, was filmed on the mountain to the south (so they’re heading the wrong direction if they’re going to Switzerland, which is very far away), which is the mountain Maria is supposed to be playing in during the opening of the movie. And somehow she makes it from this mountain to the Abbey, 20 km away, in only a few minutes. That’s cinema for you! Anyways, the tour was very informative and fun (we sang songs on the bus, but I only joined in a bit for one or two) and it was really awesome to see some of the landscape around Salzburg!

The main sight I was hoping to see did not happen, though, which was a huge disappointment. My plan all along was to visit Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden in Germany, which is very very close to Salzburg. To get to the nest, you have to take a special bus up a very steep road, but this road is closed until May 15. So, I missed out by a month. A huge bummer. That would have been so pretty to see. Oh well. I’m still glad I went.

Much like the week before, I had to put my trust and faith in Christ once again. Because of the volcano in Iceland and the canceled flights across Europe, I had to find another way back to Rome. Originally I was hoping that Munich would still be open on Sunday, because it had still been open on Saturday, but no doing. So instead, I went to the Salzburg train station and booked trains to get me to Italy. First, at 2 in the afternoon, Salzburg to Innsbruck, and then from Innsbruck, to Bolzano Bozen in Northern Italy. When I finally got into Italy, though, I had to wait about 6 hours for a train at one in the morning to Rome, and this train was packed, so I ended up sleeping on and off on the floor. In Florence, though, a bunch of people got off so I was able to get a proper seat. It was easily not my best train experience, but I tried to look at the bright side of things. I was on a train to Rome and not stuck in some other city and I had my jacket, flannel, and a blanket so at least I was mostly warm. There are many people in worse situations all over, so I was thankful that I was provided for in such a way.

So far my entire time abroad has not been what I expected, but I do not regret coming here because of how this experience has impacted my relationship with Christ. In many instances now, I have had to rely on Him alone. He has protected me and comforted me and gotten me where I need to go. I am very thankful that He has not given up on me over the years and I pray that He will continue to urge me on towards Him (and that I’ll be able to come home when I’m supposed to!). Thank you all for your prayers for me!

Enjoy some of Salzburg! Love you all! See you in two weeks!!