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Salzburg
I arrived early and got to the hostel safe and sound. With my Hostels of Europe card I paid 140 AS/night. I got the free YOHO Card which I used to buy the 24hr Salzburg card for 200AS instead of 230AS. The Salzburg card provides you with free transportation and access to museums.

Salzburg is a fairly small city with only 150,000 people living there and is located between mountains and next to a river. I arrived on a Saturday so I only had that day to see anything that has operating hours because everything is closed on Sunday.

I saw Mozart’s House, took an old lift up a cliff, the Fortress, and a beautiful garden behind a palace. The next day I walked around Salzburg with a couple of girls from Liverpool. They left that afternoon however, and I asked them what was I going to do with myself on a Sunday afternoon. They suggested that I take the Sound of Music Tour. The tour cost 350AS instead of 400AS with the YOHO card.

The tour was really good and didn’t just focus on the movie. They mentioned facts about the von Trapp family, the history of Salzburg, and takes you through some beautiful parts of the Lake District outside of Salzburg.

They do have about four stops and at one of them you can take this ride. You pick up a seat, put it on an aluminum slide backwards, you are then hooked up and pulled backwards up a steep hill, then you pick up your seat put it on the downhill slide, and just fly down the hill. There is a brake lever between your legs and it was a riot! I managed to take some pictures and it’ll be interesting how well they turn out. The ride cost 40AS.

For food, I mainly ate at the hostel and they had good food for a cheap price. The goulash soup was really good and I can’t tell you how good it felt to eat something warm and had protein in it! Breakfast was not included but they had breakfast starting at 35AS, cost 10AS for 6 min on the internet (same as the one I stayed in Vienna), and showers cost 10AS for 6 min as well which I didn’t do. Lockers are available but every time I tried to get a big locker they were all used. Also, the doors to the dorm rooms do not lock but my stuff was never messed with. I just had a bunch of locks on the zippers and chained my backpack to the bunkbed.

Gruenau
The next day I took off to Gruenau which is a small town about an hour away from Wels. Which by the way was just a one car train! I stayed at the Treehouse Hostel which costs 180AS per night and includes a breakfast (and you get more than a choice of corn flakes!) You can run a tab with their food and beer and pay when you leave. The first day I just chilled out and relaxed. The second day I took a hike along the river (upstream!!!) to see
a beautiful little water fall.

On my last day I rented a bike for 70AS and rode into town to deliver a package. I then rode down to Lake Almsee. It was a great (killer) ride and the lake was very very cold and beautiful. Round trip, it was 40 km. When I got back I jumped into the river which knocks your breath out and gets you weird looks from the other guests.

My stay at Gruenau was so far one of the best places because the people that work there were friendly, the town is quiet and beautiful, and there is so much to do in the outdoors. It was such a nice break from visiting city after city for the last week or so. I would love to go back there in the winter for the skiing! After I chowed down on some dinner I took off for an overnight train to Venice. By the way, the Treehouse Hostel is where I mainly ate at since it’s about 6 km from the main part of town.

Venice
Venice is like Brussels in that the city is just a maze. But unlike Brussels, boats and walking are the means of travel as well as walking. Be prepared for a lot of people and watch your money. You won’t get robbed per se but make sure that the change you get is the right amount. I got cheated out of 40,000 lira from the ticket booth for the boats (part of the problem was it was 6 am and I didn’t know I was missing the money until I counted it).

I stayed at Casa Groto where the costs are based on the number of nights you stay. Show up early as there are only 45 beds total. For two nights I paid 65,000 lira. I was only able to drop my stuff off and check-in after 1:30 pm. So as usual, I got lost (on purpose this time) for about five hours.

Venice is such an interesting city in how there are NO cars. You will see men making deliveries by pushing these huge carts around and they are quite agile! I bought the Rolling Venice Card for 5,000 lira from the Rolling Venice Tourist office. The office is on the 3rd or 4th floor behind Piazzo di San Marco of the address given in Let’s Go. Be prepared to get lost but here’s a tip. Venice is split into areas like San Marco and the address given will be like 1529 San Marco but the place will be on a street. So look for the numbers and which way they are increasing (or decreasing) and look out for the “street” name to find whatever it is you are looking for.

I got the 3 day travelpass for the boats which cost 25,000 Lira (35,000 w/o discount). I went to the Basilica di Friars which was beautiful. I was not able to take a lot of pictures in Venice as they prohibit it in a lot of places. I walked around Piazzo di San Marco which was very pretty to look at. I went back to the Hostel and hooked up with a girl from New Zealand (Heidi) and a couple of girls from Canada. We went out to dinner to this restaurant that was kind of down an alley and had a really crappy dinner. It was cheap and tasted cheap.

The next day I went to the Basilica di San Marco which was absolutely beautiful, the Musei di San Marco which was also very interesting and rode the boats for a couple hours (only because I couldn’t figure out how they worked). I went to the island of Murano and watched a guy make glass figurines. I wanted to go to the island of Torcello because there is a museum there where there are Roman and Greek artifacts excavated out of the lagoon but it took me so long to figure out how to use the boats that it was closed.

I then made it back to the mainland and did my laundry for the first time in nearly two weeks. I met a lady from Canada and we ended up having dinner at a restaurant with Heidi behind Piazzo di San Marco. Restaurants tend to be expensive near the piazzas so go to one in between odd little places but don’t go too cheap. I paid 35,000 lira for that dinner which was a bit much for my budget. For a decent meal (better than the airplane food I got at that other restaurant) be prepared to pay at least 20,000 lira. The best way to go is to hook up with someone and split a pizza or something.

The next day I got up early and took off for Florence. Heidi was also going to go the Florence the same day but later in the day so we decided we would try and meet for dinner.

Florence
I made it to Florence and here’s a tip! The front of the stations are not where the buses are but across from a church. At first I stayed at a hostel near the train station that cost 35,000 lira a night and breakfast was not included but after meeting up with Heidi I ended up going to where she was staying. I stayed at the HI Hostel called Ostello Europe and cost 25,000 lira a night and includes a breakfast (bread and spread with coffee). Ostello Europa is a really nice place to stay because it is out of the city (takes a bus ride to get there) in a campground area.

Before meeting up with Heidi I went to the Duormo and walked up the tower next to the Duormo which costs 10,000 lira to get in. You walk up about a million stairs and each time you think you have reached the top there are more levels. I then went to the Bargello to visit the Musei Nationale and to the Academia where the original David is located. After all that I met up with Heidi for dinner.

On Sunday, Heidi and I just sort of walked around the city and checked out the gardens behind the Pitti Palace (4,000 lira). Actually, before we went off sightseeing we spent over an hour to shop for a camera to replace the one I managed to lose when I moved to Ostello Europa. The garden was really quite beautiful and you get a great view of the city. We went to the Ufizi gallery which costs 12,000 lira. I can’t say that I was blown away by the collection but I was really impressed with the sculptures.

On Monday I took a bike tour through the Chianti hills outside of Florence where I tasted great wine and got a workout. The tour was 120,000 Lira and well worth the price. You learn some things about how olive oil and wine are made along with some nice info about the hills and history. We then had a great lunch with some Chianti wine. It was a beautiful day and the tour was really good. The Tour is run by a company called the Accidental Tourists. Be sure to ask about it at the Tourist Office. There is a Tourist Office next to a church directly across from the FRONT of the train station.

After a long day of mountain biking and sipping a bit of wine I just went back to the hostel where I spent my last night in Florence with Heidi whom I probably won’t see again. The next day Heidi and I had a out last breakfast together and parted our ways where I took off for Rome and she stayed behind. I definitely miss Heidi and I hope she is doing well.

Happy Travels!!!