starbucks and shopping

So Kelly and I are safely inside of our lovely hostel in Salzburg, waiting for Elizabeth to join us (she stayed longer in Vienna to see a few more sights). Sadly the hostel doesn't have a kitchen, so the pasta and sauce we bought in Vienna and lugged all the way here is USELESS! Nevertheless, we sucked it up and had dinner here at the hostel (some sort of potato concoction for me and a burger for Kelly) and it wasn't too bad (except that we'd already paid for other food that we couldn't cook!). Our train ride was uneventful, thank goodness...I LOVE German/Austrian trains...very clean, efficient, and thoughtful (as in, there was a compartment on our train reserved specifically for women...genius!). We haven't seen much of Salzburg because it was dark when we got in, but, tomorrow we're going to see a TON...starting at the bright and early hour of 9 for our Sound of Music tour, followed by an afternoon of sightseeing in the actual town of Salzburg.

Vienna was a whirlwind...kind of like with Prague...when I'm back in Venice and NOT paying a ton for internet, I'll give more detail (for anyone who cares to listen to my rambling). It was good, though...not nearly as beautiful or enchanting as Prague, but, still a great, interesting place. Thankfully my friend Will lived there when I lived in Venice last time, so he told us what was worth seeing, what wasn't, etc, which saved us a lot of time and money. Fear not, friends...I put that money to good use at Starbucks (yes, again, shhh...it was essential for my sanity) and various Viennese shops (mostly H&M and Zara). I would feel guilty, but, I just got the second half of my salary in Euro (cash) and I have to spend it before I come home. Yes, have to (also essential for my sanity!) Starbucks, shopping, and the lovely zoo made Vienna worthwhile, but, as Kelly so kindly put it, "if my parents were doing a tour of Europe, I wouldn't tell them Vienna was an obligatory stop."

I'm excited to see the cities we still have left, but, my suitcase is positively bursting at the seams (I know, I have only myself and consumerism to blame) and I'm getting a bit tired of the constant packing up, moving on, trying to find a new hostel in the dark every third night, etc. But, then I sit back and think "oh yeah, I'm in EUROPE" and promptly force myself to stop complaining, because despite being travel-weary, this 10 day break has come at a great time and this semester has been one of the best EVER! Anyways, I have a mere 10 minutes of internet left, so I suppose I should be a grown up and check email. Miss you all-can't wait to see everyone in less than a month!