Today, we traveled to Austria!
We were given this day as a free day on our trip, and as a group we settled on traveling to Salzburg, Austria. We took the train to Munich, and then to Salzburg for a total ride of about 2 1/2 hours. Once we got there, my initial impression was not great… I thought it looked like New York. However, we traveled into the city center and then I was amazed.
Me and Riley spent the day exploring the city. We started by grabbing sushi for lunch, and it may have been the best I have ever had! The presentation was GORGEOUS and we even got complemented! While we were chatting, a young German girl came up and asked if we were studying there. We both said no, but asked “why?” She told us that we did not remind her of tourists and that we seemed so comfortable and adjusted being there. I felt that as such a compliment, since I always feel like I look so stupid and stressed being there. Me and Riley talked about that for the rest of the day!
After lunch, we began our exploration. We walked around and ended up going up this random path. The path opened up and we actually got to see the Alps. Within minutes of arriving there, the clouds moved and hid them again, but the timing was unbelievable. It was so beautiful, and we just stood up there for a while looking out over the city and the mountains in the distance.
After, we continued our walk by going into some shops. We went into the Prada store, just to get a taste of fancy living, and then found a Redbull store. The Redbull store had tons of cool stuff, such as an F1 car, which I never knew were that big in person! I was so excited and looked through everything in the store. I considered getting a purse made from the pull tabs on cans, but ended up passing on it (I mildly regret this). Riley bought us some fresh truffles, and it was so delicious. In the end, I grabbed a magnet for my fridge and we headed to a cafe to relax until heading back.
Today was one of the most fun and relaxing days I had on the trip. Riley and I had spoken little before today, but ended up having a great time together. Having no set schedule or plan and just going with the flow was a great change in pace for the trip. I had great food, views, and time for my last day of the trip!