I finally picked up my pen and diary as we waited for our train to Salzburg from Vienna. Michael was a step ahead as he had already had his camera out a couple times by then. With the flight from Toronto under our belt despite some delay due to thunderstorms, we still made it to the train station with over 2 hours till our train. I had prebooked a non-changeable ticket to save a significant amount, so we sat and watched as a viable train came and left an hour before we were heading out. We still had not been outside – the temperature at 20C with overcast skies.
With no easy SIM card access in Vienna, we picked one up in Salzburg – wifi sufficed till then. After a short revitalizing nap at our pension, we headed off to explore Mirabel Gardens. It was absolutely packed with Asian tourists – several buses full. Not at all like our first visit so many years ago on our honeymoon in 1983! The trees seemed bigger to Michael, but the statues and gardens were as I vaguely remembered them through the fog of the years. As the rain increased in its intensity, we crossed the street to a church – the unrelenting magnet for Michael’s camera.
Having had no response from Dan & Suz (who had been in Salzburg for a few days at that point) via What’s App, we headed back to the pension. Turned out that Michael had data turned off hence the lack of response 😉
Dan & Suz joined us at our place and we walked in the rain to Brau Restaurant for our first Austrian dinner. I had pork medallions, spaetzle and veggies – and we all shared an apple strudel for dessert. We all had Stiegl – the local beer. No one went away disappointed or hungry!
We headed back for an early to bed to try to time adjust. Heading home in the intense rain we were all hoping it was not a preview of the hiking weather to come…
