hills alive

OK, so I didn't exactly make it to Zell am See. I have been defeated by the Austrain trains.

I got off in Innsbruck to transfer and found, much to my dismay, to trains going east. I know I must have been looking right at them without seeing them, but I sttod there for at elast half an hour with my map and the schedule and couldn't figure it out. So I gave up and stayed here. And it is gorgeous! I know that is probably the most overused word in my trip journal, but it couldn't be more true. The alps are spectacular, breathtaking, and right next to the city. They have cable cars going to the ski areas literally from downtown. I went up in one yesterday, yeah, I know, lazy, but I just couldn't be bothered to climb when the cable car went right over the trail. It made me so sad to see all of the ski runs underneath the car and across the valley! This would be a great place to come back to when there is actually snow on the ground.

So I got this little credit card that gets you into all of the museums, buses, etc, and spent the day doing hard core sightseeing.

I saw the Swarovski (how is that spelled) gallery which was really shiny and gave me a headache, the Hapsburg palace which was really cool, a church with Maximillian's tomb inside, but the tomb is empty for some reason, and there are all these creepy bronze statues lined up on both sides. Some of the statues are shiny from all of the people touching them, and one of Emperor Rudolph has a bright and shiny groin. It was hilarious! The ones of the women have absolutely amazing detail on teh dresses, and these elaborate hairdos. Cool. The folk art museum... they are really into the painted wood furniture here, adn I saw lots. And leiderhosen! They look uncomfortable, and so do the shoes.

The eagle or whatever it is on the flag and all of the public buildings and license plates gives me the creeps because it looks like the 3rd Reich one. It is disconcerting, and everywhere. I have not seen any eidelweiss yet, but I am keeping my eyes peeled.

Luckily, I'm staying in the Alstadt (old town, or something like that) where there are no cars allowed. Apparently, Mozart stayed there for three of four days a really long time ago.

I still have not eaten any bratwurst.

My German is really sketchy, and I am still all timid about actually saying anything. I have the most orrible accent, and I take forever to say all these long, long, LONG words. But almost everyone switches right to English after my pathetic attempts to say good day, so I'm doing ok.

I got this time for free, there is something wrong with the computer, but I'm afraid it will crash any second, so more from Salzburg!