Munich and Salzburg

One of my Spanish friends flew to Munich to meet me this past July. I used my Eurrail pass to pick her up at the airport and then she paid for us to stay in a hotel. Her flight was delayed unexpectedly so I waited in the Munich airport for a few hours and then by the time she arrived, we really didn’t have much time to see the city like we had expected. We ended up just going to dinner and walking to the Glockenspiel in the city center and then going to back to the hotel to sleep. One thing that was particularly funny…. She arrived during a World Cup game, in which Germany was playing. All of the TVs in the airport were on and when she approached customs, there was no one there. She asked someone from the airport where she should go and they said, “We’re not doing customs during the game. Just walk on through.” Not surprising. :)

I hadn’t spoken Spanish in months so it was somewhat shocking for me to get an earful of Spanish upon her arrival at the airport. She bought me dinner and gave me a gift (earrings) that she had purchased from home.  She was so excited to be in Germany; she had never been before.  The next morning, we took the train to Salzburg. She was staying in Salzburg for a few days and then going to Italy to visit her cousin for a week (I went back to Vienna later that night). I had arranged for her to stay with Frau Shoettke – an older woman who rents rooms out of her house, whom I know from when I lived in Salzburg. I had no idea how well they would get along. They instantly loved each other and she ended up staying in Salzburg longer than planned, just to spend more time with Frau Shoettke.

Frau Shoettke paid a cab to take us up to the café on top of the Museum of Modern Art (to save time – normally, you’d enter the museum at the ground level and take an elevator to the top). We had gone straight to Frau Shoettke’s from the train station, so I hadn’t yet seen the city. The last time I was in Salzburg was in May, when it was rainy and cloudy and cold. Not surprisingly, when we got out of the cab and took in the view of the city below, my eyes started watering. I really don’t think I’ll ever get over my love affair with this city and the memories I have there. I love Salzburg and I will always love visiting but it will always be a little bit painful and nostalgic. (When I saw Knight and Day, for instance, the scenes which took place in Salzburg made me really uncomfortable. I recognized every street and every café and I found myself breathing a sigh of relief when the Salzburg scenes ended. The Salzburg I know and love does not include Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.). Erica happened to be in Salzburg that same weekend so we met up and rode back to Vienna together.  Perfect timing. :)

And Salzburg is looking more beautiful than ever, am I right??