Things I saw while lost on my Eurobike!

My Euro Bike!

Salzburg Alstadt ("Old City") view at night from Hotel Stein

Well I finally fulfilled Euro-dream #2 and went out and bought a Euro Bike last week complete with two baskets, a bell, fancy energy efficient lights that only come on when you're riding, and most importantly the girly step through styling I haven't had since my first purple bike with pink hearts.  Dream #1 was the simple process of moving here;)  The freedom it offers compared to the bus is fantastic and the bike lanes here are generally pretty easy to navigate.  Saturday I rode from the mall where I picked my bike up into town and then down the lake path and onto Hellbrünn Allee to go check out Hellbrünn and the Sound of Music gazebo.  The poor little thing is stuck in a corner of the park, and you can't even go inside and recreate you're own 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen' moment, but it was worth it anyway.  The grounds are beautiful, with the most amazing playground I've ever seen, and the weather was the most perfect day we've had since I arrived.  I also got to enjoy the night view of the city from Hotel Stein twice this week, and have had more than one "I really LIVE here" moments.

On Sunday the Dom was having a celebration for a good growing season so all of the locals were dressed in their dirndls and lederhosen for mass.  There were parades, marching bands, and most loudly, the fortress cannons were shot off multiple times.  While at mass a woman behind me said something in English about the lack of order for communion(basically we were a herd of cattle pushing to the altar and only the priest and deacon were giving communion.  It was similar to the Vatican on Easter, but then I thought it was an anomaly due to the crowd, but apparently its the European way.), and it turns out the couple was from Medina, OH.  It seems that no matter how far you travel from home there are always connections, making it truly seem like a small world.  Today I found out our IT guy went to school for a year at BG where he met his wife (from Canada).  Back to my sunday adventures . . . in need of a bit of relaxation I had packed my Kindle and headed for a bench on the river, stopping only for some delicious apfelstrudel.

It's been a great week at school with lots of bike trips into town, our first day of gym class at Rif Sportscenter where the Austrian Olympians practice, and my first 2 health classes.  I decided I'm going to start showering and looking nice for gym as we watched the whole Austrian National Soccer team head out for practice:)

The weather is back to being gloomy, chilly, and intermittently rainy so I'm not sure what this weekend will hold around here.  I've realized that posting pictures on facebook has become a bit of a spoiler, so the process might change eventually.  Check back and see!  I miss everyone,  but mostly, I'm not gonna lie,  I miss sweet little Ramsey, as this is the most dog friendly place I've ever lived, you can even take them to the mall!

Three billy goats Gruff