The long night in Salzburg...

So last night started off great, and ended up quite interestingly! It was our first Austrian cuisine class and what a class it was! We learned to cook authentic Austrian wiener schnitzel, potato salad, a special homemade mustard dressing, and apple strudels. It was an amazing meal, culminated in a special dinner for all in the class.... I think I should have been a chef and not a music major. Anyway, we decided to go out for a while after and by the time people were heading home it was around midnight. Two of my friends had to walk home because they missed the bus, and because it was late, and I don't mind walking, I decided to walk them home to make sure they got home ok, etc. Well it ended up being an hour walk to their house, and after saying our goodbyes I headed back in the direction of my house. Well I thought I had it all planned out, right at the T, left at the Mini Cooper, right at the swimming pool. But, I learned, it only takes one wrong turn to get completely lost, and I was completely lost. So after trying to find a familiar street for around 15 minutes, I took a minute to try and orientate myself. I was in some sort of suburb of the city, no mountains or stars were visible because of the clouds so I couldn't use them, but it was warm, and I don't mind walking, so I wasn't too concerned. There were some very bright lights on the cloud cover, and I figured that was most likely the center of the city and that I should walk towards them. So after walking for around an hour, I finally came to the big lights... an airport... the airport that was 5 miles outside of town... crap. So by now it was around 2:30. I tried to picture the map of the city in my head, remembering that the airport was in the southwestern part of the map, and that the runway was going southeast to northwest. So, based on this I took a street that was in the general direction of the city center... north, north east. If I headed north, then at least I would be able to hit the river, and from there I was golden. Well after walking for another hour I finally got close enough to the city to hit a bus line, and from there it was a piece of cake. However, as I went through the tunnel on my way back to the city, I met an older gentleman who began to talk to me in german, so naturally I started talking back. And after many many lansam bitte (slower please), we had a nice conversation about the nice weather, the beautiful city, and some other jibberish that I didn't understand. Then later, I encountered two guys who asked if I had a "feuerzeug" or lighter. Ended up that they were students from a USC, and they were here on a "study field trip". So finally I got home, and by the time I crawled into bed it was after 4. So it ended up being a nice little 4 hour walk around the city, where I met some interesting characters, got some exercise, and had a lot of time to think. And what I realize now, not at one point during that walk did I ever feel uncomfortable, or unsafe. This is one of the many wonderful things about Austria, the crime rate is one of the lowest in the world. It was just a really cool feeling to wander around a city for hours and feel like I didn't have a care in the world. This is quite a place.
Ciao! (I know it's Italian, but many Austrians use it as a farewell)
-Christoph-