A few years ago we were traveling in Europe….and, as usual, I try to keep a daily log…so here it is…talks a bit about the events of the day…
Zurich to Salzburg, We set our alarm for 6 AM..got up and packed and left the hotel on the 7:40 am shuttle to the train station….carrying our luggage for the first time. A lot of thought, and some input from Carrie, had gone into our planning as to what we would take, and we ended up with one large pull-on suitcase, Audy’s green pull-on, and my black shoulder bag, which is used in China and it holds quite a lot. This worked well, for the only real weight was in the large pull on…and with its handles where they are, it is easy to move around. This morning was our first test…and it went well, as we got into the station to look for the Salzburg train. We got there a little early, so went into the mall area of the train station to their “Safeway”, which is called Micros, and got some bread, sandwiches, and drinks to be prepared for the long trip to Salzburg. These shopping areas are very clean and open, as my photos illustrate…and very easy to shop in, although Switzerland does not participate in the Eurodollar system, yet. We then went on up to the gate area, and encountered our first crowds, for this was the Saturday of the Christmas week, and a lot of travelers. We were hoping to get onto the Panorama car…but so were many others…and we decided on the regular first class car…which worked out best. The only difference in the cars is that the panorama cars have the higher windows…but it was crowded and loud…so we were happy 4 cars way in our “private area”. I say private, for the way the seats are configured, we usually had 4 seats for the 2 of us..and sometimes we had the additional 2 seats across the aisle…which gave us plenty of room to move about and go from side to side to see the sights…and make pictures…(I totaled out about 400 digital photos…so I was constantly moving from window to window), so the open areas served us well. At 9:50 AM, we left…and the train was late leaving, which is very unusual for these trains. Off we went heading for Innsbruck and Salzburg…and it was raining, which continued for the entire day. Still the trip east into the Austrian Alps was spectacular, and we did have periodic clearing along with rain and an occasional light snow. We were on an IR train, so once again, fast on most of the flat and straight areas…and slowing down as we went up into and along the mountainside. Again, spectacular. Along the way we passed through farmlands, rich and green valleys surrounded by the jagged peaks of the Alps. Something to see! We went through the small country of Liechtenstein, which is kind of 2 big mountains with 2 cities in the valley…and took us about 15 minutes to go the length of the country with 1 stop. From there we went into Innsbruck….known for the Olympics, of which some of the areas are still used. Reminded me of Aspen, CO, for the mountains surround the valley where the city is…ideal for the Olympics, but not terribly scenic at this time of the year with no snow. From Innsbruck, went up and over the Alps through the Ardhem Tunnel, and it was in this area as we went along the side of the mountain that we saw this bad accident on the road below..and as it turned out about a 15-mile back up in each direction….for there was a lot of traffic on this holiday weekend. Again, thankful that we were on the train. The track usually will go along the valley and follow the rivers, etc….but from time to time has to go along the sides of the mountains, and on a couple of occasions we were looking down about 1500 feet to the valley directly below. Quite exciting. As we came out of the Alps, the train would pick up speed, for we were still about 30 minutes behind…and a couple of times, it seemed like we were exceeding 120…we were “crankin”….but we made it to Salzburg at 4 PM…on schedule. We got directions to the Renaissance Hotel…and being 2 blocks from the train station, we walked over in the rain…and checked into this 5 star hotel. We walked around the area for awhile as we had been sitting all day…then had our first schnitzel at the hotel restaurant…and got to see our first Turkish wedding. About 1000 Turks in the hotel ballroom…all smoking, etc., but interesting. Got to bed at 10 PM after another full and interesting day.