I sit writing this with windows all around me, a panoramic view of the Alps, both rolling hills and also snow-capped peaks, just outside of them. Immediately outside of the windows are gardens, both vegetables and flowers, a grassy area for sitting and gazing at the view, or a wrap around porch, if you would prefer. Bread is baking in the oven, the smells wafting through the house, and lunch included juice that had been made from the flowers of one of the nearby trees. Before I lost myself in journalling, I spent about an hour playing the piano and singing beside one of these windows with this spectacular view (I have the choice of the impeccably tuned upright on the upper floor, or the grand on the main floor). Books and books of Chopin lie at the top of the piles of music, as though they were just waiting for my arrival...
I believe I mentioned in a previous entry that I had connected with someone on couch surfing by beautiful accident - when I first saw Ruth's profile, I had been looking for a place to stay in the city of Salzburg. When I realized she in fact lived 90km south of the city, just outside of the village of Gries im Pinzgau, "on an Alp", I went to continue my search, and then on a whim decided to contact her. And so, here I sit, on an Alp. Ruth was in Salzburg today, and so she drove me to this mountain paradise of hers, a house she built 20 years ago. She is a homeopath, psychologist, musician, gardener, baker, mom, world traveller, among many other things. This place is a bit surreal - a true gift - and the perfect spot for me to practice my intention of actually slowing down.
When I last left you, I had just arrived in Salzburg, and successfully found my hostel thanks to the goodwill of our friends Barney and Mike. I woke up in good time on Saturday morning for my Fräulein Maria's Sound of Music bicycle tour (http://www.mariasbicycletours.com/welcome.htm). Who participates in a bicycle tour in the rain, you ask? Me! And, a woman named Sharon, in her 60s, who was travelling from Florida. The two of us, plus our lovely tour guide Gertrude, set off through the streets of Salzburg and the surrounding area, riding delightful city bikes that the Fräulein herself may have ridden. Definitely not the "Sound of Music tour" experience one imagines when picturing Salzburg (i.e. 40 North Americans in a tour bus singing "The hills are alive" at the top of their lungs), though I was a bit disappointed that there was no singing involved, riding a bike for four hours, with a light sprinkling of rain and while the city streets were relatively quiet, through winding alley ways, parks, and bike trails, was exactly what I needed. It's true that doing the tour by bike means that you don't actually get to go to the hills where that famous first scene was filmed. But, you also get to see narrow streets, parks, and trails that you would never see on a bus - in addition to seeing many Sound of Music filming locations, this was simply a lovely way to be introduced to the city. Movie locations we saw included the front and back of the Von Trapp home (two totally different homes were used), the graveyard (which was altered in studio, because the graves in real life are not actually large enough to hide behind), the concert hall, the abbey, the gazebo ("I am 16 going on 17" - the city has had to lock the gazebo due to tourists injuring themselves while dancing inside of it, endeavouring to re-create the scene from the movie) and a number of stairways, fountains, archways, and paths used in filming. On the front of our bikes we had laminated pictures from scenes of the movie, so that we were able to compare these with where we were actually standing. Twas lovely to see the movie scenes of this beloved childhood movie, but my favourite part was riding a bike for four hours, getting to know my way around the city, and gazing upon the beautiful snow-covered alps in the distance.
That afternoon, I climbed to the HohenSalzburg Fortress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohensalzburg_Castle), for a lovely view of the city, as well as some information about military history, torture chambers and the like (not so much my thing). The cloud cover prevented the glorious view of the mountains that would have been possible from this height, but I enjoyed taking in the history - construction of this fortress began in 1077 - and learning about how it had been developed strategically by various archbishops over the years, depending on the political situation of the day.
Yesterday morning invited a leisurely sleep in, and then a visit to Mozart's birth-house and also his long-time residence. I opted not to pay to see the museums at either of these sights (figuring that I have memorized the details of Mozart's life and works enough times over the years), but enjoyed imagining the young Wolfgang frolicking about these same streets that I was walking. I also visited a number of churches, and happened upon the grave of Mozart's widow and also his father. I also happened upon 4 women from the K-W area in a touristy salt store (3 of them were travelling together, and they had just randomly happened upon the 4th lady moments before I arrived on the scene) - it turns out that they are loyal supporters of Lutherwood, and so I thanked them for their contributions to paying my salary, and we got a group photo before we headed in our 3 separate directions!
By suggestion of Michaela, I went to a traditional Austrian restaurant for Nockerl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salzburger_Nockerl), and felt a bit conspicuous when this dessert as big as my head arrived. (And even more conspicuous when I, of course, took a photo of it...)
The highlight yesterday was a hike around dinner time, up at least 600m, which provided a truly breathtaking view of the surrounding alps (breathtaking by yesterday's standards, that is). As I walked back down the hill, I was stopped in my tracks by the beauty around me. I stopped, allowing myself to be perfectly still, just looking, breathing. I had such a restorative, joyful, empowering, letting go kind of cry while listening to "One of These Days" (www.myspace.com/gracewandering) (shameless self promotion), still standing absolutely still. I can feel myself starting to allow myself to slow down a bit. There have been moments over these past few days where hanging out in Europe on my own for another couple of months has felt daunting at best. Yesterday, equipped with necessary reminders of the preciousness of my most important relationships, and at that moment, standing overlooking Salzburg and the Alps, I felt myself to be an empowered solo traveler once again. I also recognized, as I often do, my tendency for both literal and metaphorical mountain-top experiences, knowing that with these, comes also swings in the other direction. Noticing these without judgement, and arriving somewhere steady and grounded, I found myself actually skipping at times as I walked back down the trail, harmonizing along to Ingrid Michaelson on my ipod. :)
Empowered turned to stress this morning (again, noticing this tendency of mine), as while speaking to Ruth and getting directions on the phone, I finally said "okay" because I knew my phone was running out of minutes, but, through her thick accent, couldn't actually make out all of the letters of the street names that she had patiently spelled out for me. After Googlemaps came to the rescue (Ruth had said that she was at an apartment that she rents out to tourists; to my surprise, when seeking out her address on the internet, I found a tourist destination called "Ruth House", on a street name close to what I had interpreted). I set off, feeling confident once again, only to not find the bus stop anywhere close to where I had thought it was; when I finally did find it, the road was completely under construction, and I had to catch the bus from the other side of the river. Panic, panic...My cell is out of minutes...What if Ruth leaves for the Alps without me...Panic panic...
When I finally got in touch with Ruth to tell her I was running 30 minutes late, she assured me that she was only getting around to eating breakfast at this point (12:30pm), and that there was no need for me to rush. Reminders to slow down. When I finally arrived at the apartment, I met her son Frederic, 25, and another Canadian Couch Surfer, from just outside of Guelph. Lola Jean, around my age, is taking 6 months to travel around Europe, and is hitch-hiking for the most part. (I told her I would use her as an example to quell my own family's worries as to my safety, considering that hitch hiking is not part of my plan). It was inspiring to hear her stories about the ways in which people have opened up their cars and homes to her, and how she is learning to trust in the goodwill of others and take things one day at a time. Each time I meet a fellow solo-traveller I am inspired in some new way, and learn something new about the world.
The fresh bread that is now on the counter is calling my name.
I will hopefully post some photos of my mountain paradise soon.
Sending my love!
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