So this lovely trip was sandwiched between Barcelona and Fall Break, aka midterms week. In fact I organized the day trip of sorts to Salzburg when I was supposed to be studying for my Italian midterm, thank goodness all is well that ends well. But to properly tell this story there are a few beginning details: I lost my debit card 20 minutes before we were supposed to leave for the airport, I realized our hostel only took cash, and I had been attempting to coordinating seeing a family friend who lived there for quite a while.
So yes as I was running home to grab my backpack and get to the airport, I attempted to take cash out for the trip. The ATM was out of cash and somewhere between this attempt and setting down my purse, I lost my debit card, it was not in my wallet! I searched in literally almost everything multiple times but had not found it when Morgan insisted we go. Ironically we were early….but to be fair we had no idea yet how long it would take to get to Fiumcino airport. No worries, Morgan was going to loan my money the next day. So I spend normally Thursday night, and pay for the room, buy food, etc. Friday we were supposed to meet up with two friends from Rome and another of their friends that afternoon. We got a jump on the day however and started wandering around Vienna to get a sense of it. It was definitely the coldest place yet, the weather going from the 40s-50s. I did actually bring a real coat, but had forgotten what that weather felt like and therefore wore tights – not warm at all! For the fun of it (and to stay warm) I think we stopped in no less than 3 cafes and I got something with Morgan at all of them. We walked my Mozart’s house, several cute Viennese stores, and the giant museum complex where we entered the private rooms of Empress Elizabeth. We are all very different personalities, and yes we all loved that exhibit and immediately attempted to look her up back at our hostel. Morgan and I even searched for a book on her, but the only good one was note yet on kindle….so that will just have to wait for the states I suppose.
Around this time our friends finally answered their phones and we attempted the long process of finding them so that we could get the key to our room from them (same hostel, switched rooms).
(You should also know that by this time I am panicking, because Morgan’s card isn’t working….and no one else apparently brought a debit card, only credit and a quickly dwindling supply of cash since the hostel, and all of Europe, only took cash.) I will attempt to leave out all of the rest of the drama with money, but suffice it to say that as fun as Vienna was, it was also one of the most stressful experiences of my life in some senses and that I hope to always be more considerate to those in even temporary need. I felt impoverished and ate only bread and soup all weekend once I realized that I had no money. It was also extremely isolating, which I am sure is more just my personality, hating (with a passion!) to impose at all, and yet I was forced to continually. So….
We found them but decided that it would be a waste of time to go back. Instead we took a delightful ride in a carriage and found a great little restaurant where we were literally given our own tiny, personal room for dinner. It was great company (minus the whole money stress thing, which no one seemed to get…). The next day we did the most amazing thing ever: Sound of Music tour in Salzburg! The Sound of Music is a historical tale, and the family was really from Salzburg, Austria. We got to go around many of the real sights, as well as though used for the movie. This included a sojourn up into a little Victorian, mountain town, where we had toaster strudel and danced around the green fields singing (Rome makes you forget that green exists…). Again, marvelous!
That night I was able to meet up with a lovely girl who I met through my best friend in the world at W&L. Small world? I had just missed her in Munich and was so glad to get to have dinner with her in Salzburg. Sunday we had several hours to go explore….however not only were we really tired, but almost everything in Vienna is closed Sunday morning/early afternoon not to mention that we were ALL out of cash…so McDonalds all day it was. Who knew that McDonalds is the same in just about country, no matter where you are they take credit cards….good thing. I also got to meet up with another family friend who lives in Vienna. She was slightly horrified that we were eating at McDonalds (but then again so was I…), however, food is food and it was freezing outside!! We finally left for home, one poor friend had to start studying for two finals when we got back at midnight.
The story does have a happy ending though, that very night I found my debit card…in the trashcan. No wonder I could find it in any normal place I hurriedly rummaged through. And once I paid everyone back, all was good again….
No comments:
Post a Comment