I Have Confidence...

We have now conquered metros in three different foreign cities and yesterday we conquered the trains of Europe. We successfully transferred to six different trains in three different countries yesterday, so as Maria sang through the streets of Salzburg... "I Have Confidence!"

We made sure this time of which train station we were to be at yesterday morning and since we would have had to change metro lines twice to get there, we opted for a taxi ride! We made it to the station just fine, had to wait for a bit, but then found our train, got on and claimed a little cabin all to ourselves. With all of our luggage, we did not look to be too inviting, nor did it look like we had a lot of space, so we made ourselves comfortable and took up a six person cabin, quite easily I might add! A few minutes later the man came by to ask us for our tickets and informed us that we were in a 1st class cabin and of course, our tickets were for 2nd class (no wonder it was so comfortable)! We looked at each other, not wanting to drag our huge suitcases anywhere else and asked how much it would cost for each of us to stay, when we said 5 euros, we easily gave in, who knows, we might have given in had he said 100!

Our next train helped us to even out that first class, as it as a hot, crowded train and we got four seats to ourselves and sat with our legs high up on our suitcases that were on the floor. On the third train, we discovered a small little cabin at the end of the car that had three pull down seats and lots of space. It was not the most comfortable, but it was right at the door, so we didn't have to lug our suitcases anywhere and we had space that we could all fit comfortably!

We knew that it was almost time for our stop, and as the trains often only stop at a station for a few moments before pulling away again, we had to be ready. At this one stop, still not the name of our trainstation, we looked on the train and realized not a single person besides us remained. I found someone who worked on the train and showed her the name of the station we were looking for and she said, "yes, here." I was confused, but we decided we should get off. After getting off we realized that a few steps away, the station changed names, I believe that was the border town between Czech and Germany. Since there was only one other train at this station, we easily found ours although it had no people, no conductor when we were supposed to leave in 10 minutes. We decided to have a seat in this beautiful, clean car though and make ourselves comfortable. Thankfully, after settling down, the train did start and take us to our next destination.

It was at this next change that we only had six minutes to change to the next train. Thankfully, we must be living right, and the train we got off of shared the platform with the train we were leaving on so that we did not have to go down a flight of stairs (with our luggage) and back up another flight to go under the train tracks.

Somehow, on the next train, we managed to end up in 1st class again, but the man did not offer us a chance to stay, so we squeezed into the other little compartment and found space for our luggage on the hot train.

Our next stop, which was at about 4, we had 45 minutes, by far the most time at any stop, so we were able to eat and sit for just a few minutes. We borded our last train which was again rather crowded so that we had to split up, but we found space and it was relatively clean. And somehow, amazingly, we made it to Salzburg!

We had help from kind strangers who helped us with luggage or told us where to go along the way. We enjoyed observing the different train stations, some of which seemed to be at hayfields. Our favorite part was watching the old women open the doors as the train was still moving and hopping off into one of these fields and walking on. For those of you who were wondering, my suitcase did make it, but the tape will need repair, but this yesterday was a big test and it passed!

Our hotel in Salzburg is great! It is very nice, and although it is the smallest room we have had so far, it is in an awesome location, just a block from one of the main town squares. The receptionist has already been very nice and very helpful. Her hair is dyed black, but her bangs are green, white and red. When I asked her if she was cheering for Italy, she said yes. As she does not look Italian, I asked her why. She said, "I don't know, but when I was ten, they had the cutest players and you don't abandon your team!" Sounds good to me!

We walked the block down the road to the main square and were thrilled to find that here too they have a giant screen set up for watching the soccer matches. Mozart is probablz rolling in his grave, for around his grand statue in the center of the square (he was born here), are beer tents. The side of the cathedral has signs for the games and then beautiful statue that Maria splashed in when she came out of the abbey singing I have confidence is also surrounded by tents. What a sight! We enjoyed people watching and watching the game, but as it went into a double overtime and a shoot out, we decided to watch the end of it in bed! Turkey did a great job in the shoot out though and beat Croatia in this quarter final game.

We are doing a Sound of Music tour this morning and I couldn't be more thrilled! I certainly hope the hills are alive today!