A Trip to the Festung Hohensalzburg

The Festung Hohensalzburg is a fortress that was built in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard von Helfenstein as a bailey with a wooden wall to protect the salt business and eventually but was expanded due to war with Hungary and Peasants or to protect other interests by rulers such as Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach between 1495 and 1519. It is erected atop the Festungsberg mountain in the city of Salzburg. The money that was used to fund in building this fortress is through the money they earned from the salt business. Here is a view when you get on top of the castle.

The Festungsbahn is 121 years old because it was built in 1892. It was originally powered by water balance. The street that connects the Festungsbahn is called Festungsgasse. A ‘gasse’ is an alley. The oldest railway in the world is the reiszug which was built in 1495 and it is man-powered. It goes from the halfway to the mountain and to the top of where they can get the goods that are transported. It goes through five walls and its significance is that it transports the goods and essentials to live for those who live in the festung. Here is the train that transports the goods, now it just transports tourists bound to the actual fortress.

It was so cold when I got to the top, we were using an audio device to guide us where we should look, but instead I hid in one of the walls because it was so windy and cold, I could not stand it.

Here is the inside of the fortress, it looks like it has its own little community. The fortress used to house the soldiers and their families, so there was a school for the children, a church, and many other things.

First Week

Forgive me for not being able to post for the past week, the wifi has been very unstable, I'm not entirely sure if it is because of the bad weather that's also been so unstable, or just a server thing. Anyway a lot has happened since I arrived in the hostel with the group. It feels like we've been here for so long even though it's only been a week since we got here. My classes are going well, here's my daily schedule:

8:30-10:00 Conducting

10:00-11:30 Break

11:30-1:00 Opera Workshop

1:00-1:30 Lunch

1:30-3:00 Choral Literature

I'm really happy that my body decides to wake itself up at 7 A.M. in the past week, I've always been the first one of everyone to go to the little cafeteria that they have in the hostel to eat breakfast. I will take a picture of the breakfast scene when I can and I'll show you that I'm literally the first one down there everyday. I sleep at around 9P.M.- 10P.M. everyday, which I think is pretty good, I don't feel sleepy in the afternoon at all and my friends and I go do some bakery-hopping, walking around Getreidegasse which is their old shopping street.

This is a beautiful view of that river, which name I do not know, that we pass by every time we make our way to the Getreidegasse, the street with a bunch of shops.

I have yet to post pictures of the Salzburg Dom that we went to, I have attended the vespers and a whole Sunday mass, all in German, and the dom is magnificent. It's highly baroque and the decorations in the ceiling are just magnificent, I was in complete awe, I was gaping as I was looking up, as if I was looking at heaven.

Dinner Time!! (water is actually more expensive than beer, this particular beer is called Kaiser Sportradler It's their special beer mixed with sprite or some carbonated beverage, it's really good, anything radler is actually good. Now I have to do crunches before I get a beer belly!

by the bridge above the river are these padlocks that is supposed to never be unlocked because once you lock it, you throw the key to the river. So, those who are committed in a relationship and do lock their vows in here, have to fly all the way to Salzburg to get a bolt cutter or something to unlock the key, just in case they break up or something.

I don't think I've mentioned how great lunch is here, well, they serve a big lunch here at our hostel and oh my, it's GRAND. They go all out, apparently Austrians typically eat a heavier lunch than dinner, which for me makes sense because all the action happens in the day, why would I eat so much when all I'm going to do after eating is pretty much sit down and study and sleep.. 'murrica.

People here are very nice, at least so far. Most places charge you if you're using their bathroom, interesting huh. Also, their McDonalds, oh my god, it's amazing. Alright, I know, I get it, I'm in Europe, I should try something not American, well, anything I try in Europe IS European, so I tried a European version of Mcdonalds, and guess what, they have a café in Mcdonalds. McCafé is actually a Café, they also have servers who take away your tray when you're done eating, so you just leave your mess on your table after. I feel really bad, actually, my first time eating in European Mcdonald's, I was looking for the trash bin where you throw your mess, but there wasn't, apparently, there are servers who do that job! Also, they have tiramisu in their Café, and so many things. I will take a picture the next time I go to McDonalds.

I didn't get to mention a lot of things, because it's almost time for class, but I'll post something when I can again!!I will probably type a journal even when I'm offline so that I can just copy paste it when I get the chance.

The Beginning

Well, first of all, thank goodness I'm already in my hotel and I have rested well. I am looking forward to the breakfast buffet in a few hours. I arrived my hotel room at 3 P.M. and slept immediately. I woke up at 10 P.M. and got a sandwich for dinner. My hotel room is really nice, the view outside is a mountain and the staff is very nice.

-I was surprised at how much energy I had at this point- Let me start at the beginning of my journey, at the airport. I met this nice woman named Caitlin, who was headed to Greenland, she knew German very well and taught me some phrases. She also gave me the whole season of Chobits, Lost Worlds, andt Ouran High School Club, to keep me preoccupied for the nine-hour layover that I had at the ORD airport and the other nine hours flying from ORD to VIE. The nine hours weren't as bad as it seems, really, I spent some time doing the pre-class assignment that we had for Conducting and was able to think a lot about things I don't really think about during my hectic semester: not having anything to think about. Yes, at once, I felt present yet at the same time, incognizant of my surroundings. I sat there, indifferent of the hundreds of people around me, who seem to be doing the same thing, and then I realized that there was no music coming out of my earphones because my battery had died. How long were those earplugs in my ears, I don't really know, but it gave me an unutterable moment of peace. I stood up and found a booth that is specifically meant for charging your devices and I was there for two hours. Three hours before my flight, United Airlines finally released information about where my terminal and gate is. So I went to the terminal specifically for international flights, went through security check all over again, and finally, arrived my gate. I waited an hour and a half for my flight, and I was neither excited nor afraid- I felt indifferent- maybe it was the combination of the fact that I am journeying to foreign land by myself has not yet sunk in and I've also only had three collective hours of sleep in the past thirty hours.

We finally boarded, and I ended up not sleeping at all, although the whole flight was enjoyable, I still felt discomfort, merely because I wanted to sleep horizontally, so instead, I spent most of my waiting time watching whatever I had on my laptop until it ran out of battery, and iPad. Upon my arrival, I got my luggage, and didn't know where to go at that point. Although it was unnecessary to feel this, but I felt like I needed to act like I knew what I was doing because I felt like everyone knew that I didn't. I was afraid of leaving the airport without knowing where to go, but I did anyway. I stayed focused and with the little German I knew, I was able to find the airport van that takes passengers to the train station. I was right on time when the van arrived to take people to the Wien Westbahnof Station. There I was talking to my brother, who was worried at the time, and read a message from my mom, who was also very worried. I felt worried and uneasy because they were worried. I tried to not think of that anyway because I needed to stay focused. Upon my arrival at the station, I found my way to the particular train that is bound to Salzburg, and realized that it I have to wait for an hour before it actually leaves. So I sat and watched Howl's Moving Castle, while at the back of my mind, questioning what I have just done, and trying to absorb what is actually happening- I was present, in a different sense, I was present in the real world I was presently in. I felt alone. But I instantly came into my senses and realized that I am right where I'm supposed to be, so I felt reassured.

I walked from the train station to my hotel and it was quite an experience. I was observing everything that was happening, everything seemed really normal. Although I was suspicious of everyone that was walking against my direction, I tried my best not to make an eye contact as I didn't want to stir up an idle conversation.

As I was walking in the streets of Salzburg, everything, aside from the German signs, seemed normal, (and by normal, I mean, normal in the American standard), everything is very self-explanatory. There are definitely a lot of vandalism around, but the beautiful parts of it looks just like the facade buildings in Universal Studios, only they're 3D now. Anyway, everything seems to be going the way it's supposed to. From the airlines in the US to the trains here, everything went perfectly well. Today, I'm planning to go to the mall which is attached to this hotel, I'm not really going to take a stroll around yet, I'll have a lot of that when I walk from 4km from my hotel right now to our actual hostel tomorrow. I'm not really too excited travelling by myself either, I like talking about what I see with whoever I'm with. Me travelling by myself will just be me, walking, and enjoying the music I play in my head or actually listening to. Plus, I feel more safe going to places with at least one other person that I know.

So that is the beginning of this long journey. I look forward to writing more journals to document this whole experience. I will make sure not to miss anything and I want to read what I have written in the future!!

Waiting for my flight

So I guess this is it! I am but an hour away before we start boarding for this nine hour flight to Vienna. They estimate our arrival to be at 9:40 A.M. tomorrow, which is good, I guess, but at the same time, I think there's going to be a lot of people just because of the part of the day that I am arriving. When I get there, I need to get my luggage and go to the shuttle that will take me to the Westbanhof Station. There I will take a train to Hauptbahnhof station in Salzburg. Then a short walking distance to my hotel. When I arrive, I will sleep for hours and regain my energy, and finally finish the pre-class assignment for my conducting class which starts immediately on Monday. I am glad that I came two days earlier than everyone because that gives me time to replenish my energy from travelling so far, just dealing with the airport, no matter how many times I have done it, is just tiring, which is not because of the airports themselves, they're actually very systematic and efficient, there's just way too much sitting and waiting. Anyway, I should probably go ahead and review what I need to when I step on European soil, so I don't get lost.