Salzburger With Cheese

The hotel has been busier than ever with endless single soldier retreats and the redundant anti terrorism conferences, but in between two hectic shifts I found the time to visit the Christmas markets in Salzburg, Austria.  Brad, a STL native, also had the day off so we woke up bright and early and took the 8am train.

Salzburger Christkindlmarkt

Other than having to run to catch a transfer our transportation for the day went smoothly...especially when we both slept the entire 4 hour journey home.  The Christmas markets were so cute with booth after booth of Christmas ornaments, nutcrackers, handmade goods, wood carvings, and pretty much every imaginable holiday decoration ever known to man.  The food and gluhwein stands were abundant and we made sure to make frequent stops at them. My favorite stop was the baked potato stand.  They had monster potatoes with very un-American toppings.  I asked the lady working the stand for her recommendation and she said the most popular was the garlic cream sauce, cheese, and bacon.  And that is what I got...delicious.  To warm up from the cold day we also stopped in this little Irish pub off of the main street.  We treated ourselves to Edelweiss beer (don't worry, we took pictures) and a couple Irish whiskeys.  Before we knew it it was dark and we ventured out to take the cable car up to the top of the hill to see the Festung Hohensalzburg - a castle.  The fog made pictures impossible, but we enjoyed the city like atmosphere inside the empty fortress and after taking some silly pictures with a cannon we made the descent down to make our final purchases for the day.  It was a whirlwind day of festivities that makes me even more anxious for the Christmas markets to hit Garmisch!
The 3 month mark has come and passed.  Time is sure moving quickly and as much as I miss my friends and family, it needs to slow down so I can do and see everything in the following ten months.  This weekend I'm road tripping to Paris.  I hate to use a 4 day weekend on a city I've already been to, but the journey should prove interesting and I'm really excited for the adventures to come.  As Bret said, a lot of people have never been to Paris so don't complain that you're going twice.  It's so strange traveling in Europe this time compared to two summers ago.  Alex and I had such a different approach to sightseeing. Not that one is better than the other, but I'm really enjoying the laid back, relaxed, whatever happens, happens way of traveling.  Que sera, sera....now if only I could learn that in German.
Sidenote: No longer going to Paris.  The other girls have decided funds are too low and we are now going to Esslingen to visit someone's cousin and friend (free lodging).