Salzburg- Day unknown....

Phew what a day. It was an emotional roller coaster.

This morning started out rough. I had plans to do like 5 things and they all fell through, so I felt like I had wasted the morning and I was very frustrated. Eventually I decided to get online and figure out where I was going to go next (like to get back to Edinburgh or go to Norway or what), and that just made me more frustrated with the limited and expensive options.

Thoroughly discouraged, I decided to lift my spirits by renting a bike. An excellent idea. I started out with the intention of going back to Hellbrunn, the park where the Sound of Music gazebo is, but I got lost and decided just to wander around. I have no idea where I went, but wherever it was, it was gorgeous. I followed bike paths through fields with wildflowers, with mountains in the background, and the ocasional horse pasture. Does it get better than that? I guess if the weather had been better (it was pretty grey) that would have been nice, but it didnt rain. Here are some pictures of the lovely countryside.

Field full of yellow wildflowers that you cant really see in the picture:

You cant tell from the picture but there were mountains behind the horses:

Eventually I saw some signs for Hellbrunn so I followed those. As I biked, I suddenly saw on my left the house from Sound of Music, that we had only seen from across a field on the tour. I did a double take and almost crashed the bike, but recovered gracefully and without incurring the wrath of passing Austrians. I was right in front of it, and of course took a picture. That was pretty sweet.

Sound of Music house:

I did find Hellbrunn eventually, and it was a really nice place to bike around. Its a palace, so there are some nice gardens.

Hellbrunn Gardens:

I still had 2 hours with the bike after Hellbrunn so I made my way back to the river and picked a direction. I biked along the river for a long time, then biked back. It was a really pretty ride.

After the bike ride I tried to do more planning for the rest of my trip, but got frustrated and gave up. I went back to my hostel and read for about an hour to recover. The book Im reading, Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, is great because it is set in Scotland. It talks about Edinburgh, Cramond, and other places Ive been, so its really fun to read.

Anyway, I felt better eventually, and decided to tackle planning one last time. Here is the final plan:

- 10 hour train ride to Eindhoven tomorrow, stay with family friends

- Amsterdam on Friday

- Plane to Norway on Saturday

- Complicated plans to get me to Kristiansand

- Plane back to Edinburgh on Wednesday

So yeah, hopefully there will be no more travel problems.

In other news, I just found out that I got a graduate assistantship for OT school next year! Im really excited about it. I dont know what Ill be doing yet but it is 6 hours per week doing OT related stuff. Fantastic.