May 16, 2015:

I will write a quick note in anticipation of tomorrow.

At 10am I will be going to see a former concentration camp called “Terazin” and I know this will turn my thoughts in an entirely new direction.

But before that!

After taking a train from Salzburg to Munich, then missing the second leg of the journey to Prague, I got on a later bus at no extra charge and made it to my destination.

I was a little disappointed not to be going to Munich, but because I missed the second bus, I got to walk through Munich in search of a post office (I forgot to leave the airBnB keys in Salzburg!) and I passed the Glockenspiel.

So I’ve been to Munich. Check!

And I made it to Prague. Czech!

Since the last message, I went to Venice and to Salzburg.

Venice was a sight to see (a most unoriginal observation).

It is a tourist cluster, but as beautiful as ever.

I knew Venice was the “city on water” and I was primed to see gondolas in every direction. But what I didn’t expect was for it to be so tall.

What I mean by this is that there were very tall buildings, specifically in San Marcos Square, and it was breathtakingly beautiful.

I imagined it to be a small, winding city with water in between streets.

I didn’t consider that it would be overlooking a vast seascape and would feel so boundlessly effervescent on this particular day.

The sun and ocean were in competition for who could out-glory the other, and the ocean may have won because it rained in the afternoon.

I took a 30 minute water-bus to an island called Murano, famous for its glass.

I walked through the glass stores, then looked through a few restaurant menus. They were all overpriced so I kept walking.

I happened upon a grocery store and quickly saw how cheap everything was. I snatched up fresh dates, an olive “salad,” a granny smith apple and a Sicilian beer and walked outside.

I pulled a piece of cardboard out of an exposed recycling bin and thought I’d use it as a plate.

I decided to retreat from foot traffic and post up on the concealed side of a residential street.

I used the cardboard as a seat and, with pride, unpacked my self-made mediterranean feast. The dates came with a small spear which served as my utensil.

(See picture of the street where I sat).

But I cannot skip Venice without telling you about Paolo.

Paolo was my airBnB host and I thought, by his profile, that he was a machismo flirt who was going to potentially be a weirdo.

He picked me up and I realized- he was either gay or just European. A conscientious, gentle, nervous sort who was as precious as a lamb.

He spoke like a grandfather clock- rhythmic and melodic with a chime after every phrase.

In my ideal world, Paolo will narrate the audio-book of my memoir.

I tell you, imagine if a cinnabon could speak.

Moving on-

I missed my bus and had to take a 40 euro cab back to Paolo’s. Oh well. It’s part of travel.

IT. WAS. Breathtaking (see picture).

Salzburg was great and two days was all I needed.

I walked across a bridge bookended between mountains and a river (don’t ask me which one). I went to my first beer garden. Let me tell you, it’s lame to go to a beer garden alone. But you “do it because you are in Austria,” by golly, and you try not to feel too lame or too lonely. I’m sure there will come a time when I will wish I could be alone in that beer garden again. (This is what I tell myself).

I took the Sound of Music Tour to the tune of 40 euro, but when you are in Salzburg you do IT.

I cannot tell you how discombobulating it was to miss the connection to the bus to from Munich to Prague. Directions are hard for me on an English day- how about on a German day with a wheely suitcase and a backpack in a new city? I managed to figure out that I needed to get on the subway, go one stop over, and then find the bus station. All of this in another language and with very little detail on my ticket.

Mind you- I made a train reservation. Nobody said nothing about no subway and no bus. But these are the cards the Deutsche Bahn dealt. After a 7-hour ride in the top front of a double-decker bus, I found Prague.

Michal, my AirBnB host in Prague, bought me a beer and then we walked to his apartment.

And here I am after my first day.

I did a four hour walking tour, and then went to a strings concert tonight (three violins, one cello and one bass).

I am WORN OUT and everything is in CZECH and the currency has changed again to whatever the Czech currency is. So I have three different sets of coins in my bag. Cappucinos cost “45” here, and a shirt costs 290. Also, I paid one euro to use a bathroom yesterday. Paying to pee is a new thing, too.

It’s time to sleep so I can’t tell you how unexpected and fascinating it was to have a Venezuelan roommate in Salzburg, who spoke Spanish, German, but no English and who left Venezuela at 16 to escape the unrest. I also don’t have time to tell you about his friend, Liza, who owned the place and was like a Dominican Republic Rosie Perez. In Austria. And that they still said “Ciao” as part of their “Dom-Re/Austrian” dialect.

I have learned that I cannot predict anything.

Life is short, sweet, and worth living- Austria gently whispered these reminders in between my moments of angst from tiring of solo travel.

We are all traveling alone, aren’t we?

Ciao Ciao,

Natalie