More Book.

REIMAGINE

the quiet traveller

By Kate Trenerry

Book Preview

I’m sorry for falling off the face of the planet….

….but I had a good excuse. I was publishing a book. Yes, for real.

The past week has been almost completely devoted to this project, the ultimate culmination of our trip.

Here’s a link to the preview, you can order your own copy online if it is near and dear to your hearts.

REIMAGINE by Kate Trenerry | Make Your Own Book

Aaaand…here’s a few Prague pictures

These are most of the pictures that I put in our class Prague book.

Clearly, there’s a lot of processing and reflection to be done about this trip. I’ve been awake for far too long to think too hard of such things, so I’m going to take the lazy photographer’s stance and say, “I’ll fix it in post” for now. However, I will say now that this trip has changed me. I’ve become an experienced traveler. I’ve become a (more) experienced photographer. I’m putting the two together. I’ve had so many adventures, made so many friends, and learned so much. And yet, I think I’m ready to come home, I’m ready for some quiet….

…but I’m already planning my next trip.

Excursion

This morning, we are leaving for a weekend excursion around the Czech Republic. Internet is unlikely, so I’ll keep a log and post it when we get back, sunday afternoon for most of you!
Have a good weekend, all.

Late

I’m writing this the following morning because Henry had to borrow my computer last night because his is broken. So.
Yesterday was a mystery until hit happened. John didn’t tell us what we would be doing in class, and of course it was completely outrageous. First we had a normal discussion. Then, he introduced the mystery project. We watched part of a movie about Andy Goldsworthy and then we were turned loose to somehow re-configure the city. There are fabulous prizes for the winners , but until our work is judged, anonymity is important, so I can’t post about what I did. Yet. I will say, however, that I found 6-7 dead fish and got a lot of funny looks.
After the project, I made it back to CET within the time limit and was just exhausted from the intensity of the last few hours. Then we had a lecture on the Golem, specifically in Prague, to prepare us for shooting the Jewish Quarter tonight.
Then I came back to the apartment and took a much-needed nap. Then I worked for a while. At sunset, megan and I went down to the river to do some shooting. Then we came back and cooked couscous and veggies. and EGGPLANT and mushrooms. We brainstormed ideas for a hypothetical line of stuffed-animal fruits and veggies, inspired by the beauty of an eggplant. Then Henry had to use my computer and I went to bed.

Lots of work!

Today we met at CET, and half of our class went for a FAMU tour and the rest of stayed behind and worked on books and other projects. We put our Rome books on one laptop, and worked for about 4 and 1/2 hours in a dark room, editing and working.
At 2:30, we took tram 20 to FAMU and went to the student screenings. There were a few that were really good. The sound on most of them was a bit unprofessional. It was really cool to see though.
Afterwards, I went back to the apartment, grabbed my camera and went out to do a bit of personal shooting/make more work for myself. I got some good bench pictures and at least one good kids and parents picture. I walked across the Charles Bridge and didn’t find anything interesting. I did, however, get yelled at by a one-man-band.
I returned to the apartment and discovered a large gathering! Soon, it was broken up and a few of us headed out to eat. After being very picky for about an hour, we found a nice Czech place. I enjoyed a huge platter of meat, sauerkraut, bread, and potato dumpling. The power kept going off while we ate, but luckily we had a candle. It was kind of surreal. We discussed Jack Goldfeather, and the relation between Computer Science and CAMS. Then we came home, I uploaded some photos, and read in After Photography for tomorrow.
Apparently we are going on a photo walk tomorrow. John sent the following (typical John) email: “Tomorrow. Special project. Bring cameras. Nothing else. Sun hats, we’ll be out. ”

A variety

Today we had class for two hours and spent a lot of time going over the calendar for the next two weeks and troubleshooting problems from funky smells to internet access. Then we had a brief discussion on After Photography, one of our texts for class. At noon, we hastily ate sandwiches and made off to FAMU, the famous Czech film school. There, we got a lecture on the history of Czech cinema and the programs, and met one of the professors who we are going to be working with. He is really interested in sound and music, so it was exciting to hear some of his ideas and start thinking about projects to do with him!

Then, we went back to the apartment and tried to download things and set up our internet connection. One of the CET guys came by with cleaning supplies and even installed a new lamp for us! Then Megan and I cooked an amazing dinner consisting of penne with thick, vegetabley, sauce (tomato, eggplant, garlic, onion, pepper) and salad. Sam and Henry returned just in time to eat with an enormous case of drinks. 6 of us enjoyed a satisfying meal, even accompanied by candlelight. Our neighbors across the street were spotted looking at us through the window, perhaps marvelling at how civilized we were compared to the previous inhabitants.

After dinner, I hung around to get some work done while the others went to Sam’s apartment. Tomorrow, we are working on our books, and then watching some screenings of FAMU student work.

Travel Adventures Part IV: Prague at Last

This is everything that has happened in Prague so far. Pictures to come!

At 3:15, May 14, I got into the station, stepped off the train, and was immediately confronted with a huge, dirty, black and gold clock tower. It was huge, beautiful, old, and weird. It was also very communist. I left the station, and after a bit of confusion, found a cab driver of the “trustworthy” company. He took me to the hotel for 100 crowns, or 5 USD. I was the 4th person to check in at Hotel City Bell. I got a map and a key from the nice lady, and picked my room. I picked a room next to a room that would be full of 5 boys. Ezra was already there, so we talked about our trips and hung out. After not too long, I was joined by Lisa and Janae, who filled the rest of the triple. Then I took a much needed shower and met Kim from CET and (part of) the whole group to go out for a Czech dinner. We got information packets, talked briefly, took a tram, and walked to a small Czech tavern near the big castle. There, we had meat things, and learned Czech toasts. I sat across from John and we talked briefly about our trips and Czech things. After dinner, we walked up to the castle to get a view of Prague at night. Then we took a tram home and had a great night’s sleep.

The next morning, we all went downstairs for a delicious continental breakfast and then went to the CET (our academic support in Prague) center for orientation. There, we were fed donuts and information about the Czech Republic and Prague. Then we went for a walking tour of Prague, and saw exciting things like the Charles Bridge. That night, I went out to eat with Sam, Liz, Ezra, and Cooney. We ate at a small, traditional place outside. It was very good. After dinner, we hung out and worked. Around 10:30, Gabe, Casey, Henry, Max, and Caleb came downstairs and gathered people to go out with them. Ezra, Jameson and I joined them. We took the metro to a club called Crosses. It was easily the weirdest experience of my life. There were green lasers, fog, drinks, weird locals, and smelly smoke. We emerged at 2:00, and I was convinced that everything I had ever imagined was real. We took a cab home after some confusion. I showered to smell normal again, and went to bed.

The next morning, we all finished packing and moved out of the hotel to our regular apartments. I am living with Megan, Henry, Cooney, and Lisa. Our apartment is close to the river, on the east bank. We are the closest apartment to CET, which is good, but Kim also informed us that our apartment was previously occupied by 5 frat boys who failed to clean the whole semester and left a huge mess. Of course, it was cleaned, but even “clean,” it was still gross. The living room smelled like smoke, the bathroom smelled stale and musty, the dishes were questionable, my bedsheets still had some stains on them…it was unfortunate. Luckily, Megan and I are basically accredited interior designers thanks to HGTV. We spent about 2 hours rearranging, disinfecting, and covering the furniture with sheets. Now, we have a beautiful, not smelly or dirty apartment with a good furniture layout and open spaces, and good lighting.

After our hardcore interior design session, we went for a walk of the “lesser known” Prague. It wasn’t as good as our Stalker (rome) walk, but it was still pretty interesting and fun. We ended our tour at a Biergarten where we hung out for a while, then a group of us went down to the Palace Cinema and got tickets for Star Trek later that night. We had two hours to kill before the show, so we ate real dinner at a nearby tavern. I had delicious and satisfying bean soup and beer. Then, we went to the movie and had our minds blown by special effects. It was really enjoyable. Then, we walked everybody home which took about 2 hours … Finally, Cooney and I made it back to our apartment and crashed.

We all slept in this morning, and then Cooney, Megan and I went on an epic grocery shopping trip. We got about 90 dollars worth of food, mostly produce and breakfast stuff, since we had some pasta already. We should be able to make a lot of delicious meals with our supplies! This afternoon, I worked some, then went over to Liz’s apartment and played guitar, and then 7 of us, Ezra, Mateo, Cooney, Liz, Sam and Hyo went out to Hard Rock Café and had really satisfying meals. I ate  HRC cheeseburger and then had chocolate cake. I am so full right now!!! Then we came back to our apartment for a while, when Ezra called and wanted to be guided here from the metro. Cooney and I went on a rescue mission, equipped with my headlamp because our apartment building has no lights in the stairway, and found Ezra and brought him back here. Now we are all hanging out, reading, and working. Tomorrow, we are having class, a lecture, and some screenings from students at the Prague Film School!

It’s been a while, but I hope that was worth it!

Travel Adventures Part III: Vienna

This is everything that ever happened in Vienna.

I had no trouble at all in the station and had a quiet ride to Vienna Westbanhof. I followed precise directions to my next hostel, Wombat’s City Lounge, just two blocks away from the station. I was a bit early for check in, but my room was ready, so I was able to head upstairs. I arrived in room 211 and was excited to see that it was a quad, huge, and empty. I put my stuff in the locker and started figuring out what I wanted to do that afternoon. After not too long, a girl came in!! My roommate! Her name was Rosie and she was from Melbourne, Austrailia! She seemed very nice. We talked briefly, then we went our separate ways.

I walked down one of the main streets to get to Old Town. I walked around the ring and found myself suddenly at the end of an epic pilgrimage. I was standing in front of a huge statue of Johann Freidrich Schiller in Schillerpark. I took lots of pictures. Then I made a bit of a loop, got a bit lost, and headed for Wombat’s. I hung out for a while, then got ready to go out.

I was hungry, so I walked a few blocks to a pizza place noted on my hostel map. It was starting to rain a little bit so I was glad when I arrived at a small, dark pizza pub called Pizzaria Mafiosi. Hmmm. Well, I went inside and the waiter greeted me, “hallo.” “Hallo,” I replied, “Ein pizza al funghi.” After a few exchanges, we both understood that I wanted to eat at the restaurant. So, I sat in a corner and waited for my food. I felt kind of weird sitting by myself, but after about 15 minutes, my patience was rewarded with the hugest personal pizza I had ever seen. Its sides easily overlapped the plate, and laughed at it, too.  It even tasted better than the pizzas in Rome. I devoured the whole thing inside of 10 minutes. The waiters were impressed when I told them I was ready to pay. “Ser gut,” I repeated as I happily handed over 3.60 E for my whole meal. Pleased with my adventure, I headed towards Parliament to meet with the other group for a night on the town.

I realized I was going to be late so I bit the bullet and got myself a 24 hour metro pass and hopped on the downtown line. I was really impressed with the system in Vienna. All the trains ran on a timer, and they were clean, fast, and big. Additionally, there were escalators in every station, which proved essential for my travel. It was better than Rome, in my opinion, and rivaled NYC. I got to parliament within 10 minutes and waited outside for a while. I was just taking a picture for a couple of tourists when the group arrived. I joked about working on commission, and we headed off when I was finished. Our first stop was a quiet pub a few blocks away from parliament. We each had a Gosser and used the bathroom. Jameson and Garbo were confused and used the wrong bathrooms, so I laughed heartily at them. Next, we went to a bar across the street. After that, we walked around for quite a while before finding an exciting Irish pub. However, this was unacceptable for some of our group and we moved on to a Kebab stand in the center of town. I shared a snack with Liz. Then we headed back toward my place and stopped at one more bar for a last drink. We got home around 1:00. That night I returned to my room and discovered a mystery roommate! I noted her presence and fell asleep wearing my precious usb drive (aka the one stick).

The next day, I slept in for a while, then started planning my excursions. I got on the metro around 11 and headed to the Wien Museum at Karlsplatz. It took me a while to actually find the museum, during which I enjoyed looking around the park. I finally arrived and paid the student price for entry. I spent a while looking at ancient artifacts from Vienna, then got bored/tired/couldn’t read german and decided to quit pretending that I was actually interested in Viennese history and made for the NYC street photography exhibit. That was pretty cool. I spent several hours looking around there. They had a big slideshow and several rooms full of pictures, not to mention 10 or so books, including a MOMA publication with an introduction by Jack Kerouac. I left the museum around 2.

Without direction, I decided to wander toward Stephanplatz at the middle of Old Town. I spent an hour or so merrily rolling along, taking some pictures, eating a kebab. Then I hung out at the plaza for a while, watching the people, taking some more pictures. Then I walked in a circle, past some notable landmarks which I did not know the names of, and eventually got the metro back to my hostel. Then, I got dressed up a bit and headed to THE OPERA. I got a 4 euro standing place ticket and was stuffed into an area with prime views, and tons of people. The opera house was amazing. It was round, and 6 rows of boxes filled the walls to the ceiling. However, I wasn’t smart enough to bring a scarf and tie off a leaning place along the railings. Luckily, a guy on the end let me put my elbow on part of his section. Eventually, some of the other group showed up and stood in the standing place also. At 7:30, the show, Madame Butterfly started! I wasn’t sure what to expect, except something weird. I was not disappointed. All of the words were Italian, and I didn’t really know what was going on. I did not discover computerized subtitles until the second act, so I made up my own story for a while, which was entertaining. When I did discover the English subtitles, however, I was really confused and wrong. However, the basic plot was about an American who falls in love with Madame Butterfly, a Japanese woman who rejects her religion and converts to Christianity to be with him. Then, the American man leaves her for 3 years, during which time she bears and raises his child. Then, he returns with a new wife. Madame Butterfly is devastated and kills herself, and the child goes to live with the man. It was really dramatic, but honestly, I expected more people to die. After the opera, I went back to my hostel and found my roommates more interesting than sleeping or the main floor of wombat’s. The mystery roommate was from Chicago, and it turned out that we had some mutual friends at Carleton, JJ and Les! What a funny connection! Rosie and Anna had both lived in London, so they talked about that for a while. We all stayed up until 1:30 getting to know each other, then we went to bed and never saw each other again.

When I woke up at 8:00, they were both gone. I finished packing, ran out (it was raining) to mail some postcards, ate 5 plates at the breakfast buffet, and checked out of Wombats and made my way to Sudbanhof train station. The most direct route to the station was by tram 18, but I was unfamiliar with the tram system so I opted for the underground. I took two trains to the point closest to the train station, still about a kilometer away, according to my map. I used my compass to navigate to what turned out to be the back entrance to the station. By this time, I was quite tired and the staircase and walk down the platform was a challenge! Eventually I made it to the main area with about an hour to go. When my train appeared on the DEPARTURES screen, everything seemed to be in accordance with my notes from the online timetables. Then I noticed some german words after the information that said something about “reservung.” I went to an info booth to ask about this, and the nice Austrian man directed me to the ticket booth. There, I made a compulsory reservation for 7 euro. Then, I followed John’s second rule of fight club by going to the bathroom before you leave, and had to pay 50 cents for it. It was so sketchy. Finally, I found my platform and the train, wagon 7, seat 34, a window in my own aisle. My suitcase was too big for the EuroCity top compartments, so I had to keep it at my feet the whole time. It wasn’t terribly uncomfortable though. On the ride, I read about Prague, took a nap, and reviewed the instructions for getting to the hotel.

Travel Adventures Part II: Salzburg

This is everything that happened in Salzburg.
I followed my trusty map out of the train station, and about 8 blocks through the quiet streets to the YoHo youth hostel. It looked nice from the outside, and nice on the inside, too. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I thought it would be ok. The guy at the desk informed me that check-in was at 11am (in four hours!) and that I could leave my stuff downstairs and go out if I wanted to. Well. I went downstairs and found nothing but a laundry room and a small hole with a few bags in it. Did he really mean that small hole? I asked again and his directions seemed to confirm my suspicions. Well. I certainly wasn’t going to do that. So I sat on my suitcase and waited for about an hour and a half, reading my book, and pamphlets from the hostel. Then, I was hungry. There was an all you can eat breakfast for 3 euro, so I took my bags upstairs and paid to eat granola with yogurt, rolls with jam and honey, and importantly, hot coffee. It was a tasty, and much needed meal. Then, I made a friend! I think her name is Katherine but I am not sure. I was quite tired. I invited her to sit with me because she looked a bit lost and the bar was getting full. We had a lovely conversation for about an hour. She is a sculpture major from Washington University in St. Louis and just finished a semester in Florence studying studio art. She is traveling alone for a while, too. We talked about art, Europe, Salzburg, and lots of stuff. It was exciting, but I probably sounded stupid because I was so tired and having trouble focusing very well.

Then, I found the sound of music room. It was glorious. I watched the first half hour of the movie from 10:30-11. Then it was time to check in! I got my key, a map, and sheets, paid 92 euros, and went upstairs. I was thrilled that my reservation had worked out and I got a single room. I unlocked the door to find a simple, but clean, and private (!) room. It has a sink too, which is really nice. I set my stuff down and got organized. I had gotten excited by the Sound of Music and I wanted to go out and explore.

I got my stuff organized and set off with my camera, map, compass, and trusty (or at least fashionable) Italian bag. The hostel provided a lovely map of the town which included a suggested route of exploration. I followed the green line to Linder-Gasse, making small notes and marks of important things along the way. Everything I saw was exciting. The map indicated a hill to climb, but I couldn’t figure out the way up, so I walked along the side of it for quite a while. I explored a neighborhood, and eventually came to a park. I passed some dogs playing in a park, and some kids on their way to a soccer field. I walked by an exercise park, and along a shaded fountain. By this time, I was feeling tired, so I headed back to my room for a glorious nap. Around 3, I got up and headed out to explore Old Town. I found the Dom and paid a small donation to get in. At this point I had a small language warp and said “Danke” and responded, “Si” when the woman asked me if I wanted an information pamphlet in English. Slightly embarrassed, I set out to explore the church. The Dom was absolutely gorgeous, and also a good break from the surprisingly sweltering spring weather. It had a cool crypt, also. After the Dom, I walked up to the castle Fartung, decided it was too late to go in, watched some guys playing chess, and eventually headed back to YoHo. There, I paid 5 euro for a huge plate of spaghetti, which I ate while watching Lizzie McGuire in German, and reading about Europe’s best hostels. Then I went to my room, photoshopped for a while, and went to sleep.

In the morning, I found that a bunch of the group had arrived at YoHo and was currently chilling in the lounge. I got ready for the day and went down to say hello. I refused to hang out with them until afternoon. Hahah. Then, I set off on an adventure to climb the hill that I couldn’t find yesterday. Today I found it and realized why I had missed it. The entrance was a set of stairs under a narrow archway. I started climbing! With in a few minutes, I had worked up a sweat, climbing up a 30 degree slope. After just a few minutes though, I was rewarded with a fantastic view of the city. If this was just the beginning of the hill, I could hardly wait for the rest of the scenery! I passed statues of the Passion, and a monastery, and a bust of Mozart, and then I was on the real mountain. It was an exhilarating walk and it felt great to be outside.
Then I came to a crossroads where an elderly woman started speaking to me in German. I indicated that I didn’t know what she was saying and that I didn’t know where I was going either. Then she asked me where the top was in English. I looked at a sign and I pointed to where I though I was going. She said, “shall we go together, then?” I was excited and agreed. So we started walking up the hill together and got to know each other. Her name was Elfie and she was originally from Salzburg but spent 30 years in Munich, and just moved back. She had cats, she is a modern art painter. She visits Munich once a month and has a home there also. She is divorced. She walks every day and recommended several hikes to me. It was such a lovely conversation. At the top of the hill, there was a restaurant. We both went in and took in the view individually. Then she invited me to have a drink with her. She paid for apple juice for the two of us. There was a brief misunderstanding with the barwoman over a ten euro note. We think she snatched it away and basically refused to give Elfie correct change. That was a bit of a sour moment in the otherwise lovely morning. We sat on the terrace for a while and enjoyed our drinks and the sun. After we finished, she left to go back down the mountain and I decided to stay for a while and take in more of the views. It was such a nice experience and I was excited to have made a friend. I went back to YoHo and took a nap.

Around 3:30 I met the other group and we went up to Festung together. The admission to the castle was reduced for girls because it was mothers day! We all split the price and it was about 6 E per person. After a long climb up a steep gravel path, we arrived in the courtyard. We enjoyed amazing views of the city (second time in a day for me!) and walked around. We went to the marionette museum, which was creepy. We also saw the state rooms where they had militaristic weapons, Austrian history, and a bedchamber complete with WC. After the castle, the girls walked over to Nonnburg Abby on a Sound of Music pilgrimage. We couldn’t find the courtyard, but we did find the gate! (Although we weren’t certain we had until we saw the scene from the movie again.) At seven, we had reservations at the Stiegl brewery/restaurant. I decided to splurge a bit and got the beef goulash and a big beer. It was absolutely delicious. Even better, we enjoyed our meal on a terrace overlooking the Dom and the rest of Old Town in the sunset. So amazing.

The next morning was the Sound of Music tour! It was pretty cool, but restricted. We went to the road where Maria skips in the confidence song, but couldn’t actually skip much because we had to go look at the gazebo, and then we couldn’t go to the fountains…so it was a bit frustrating, but as soon as we got out of town and started singing along to the soundtrack, I knew it was worth my dollar. We drove through much of the lake district and were treated to some great views. We stopped around noon at a small tourist town where they filmed the wedding scene. The church was cool, but I was totally churched-out. I got some bread at the bakery, but I saved it for later because I was super full from the all-you-can-eat breakfast at YoHo that morning. After the stop, we headed back to town on the bus, watching a SoM documentary and doing some more singing. We got to Mirabell gardens around 1:30 and walked around and recreated scenes from Do Re Me. We agreed to meet on the hill restaurant for dinner at 6:30. Then I went shopping in Old Town. After much deliberation, I picked out some stuff for Dad, Mom, and Grandma.

I went to YoHo and napped briefly, then went to ascend the mountain. When I got to the top, it had started to rain and the others were no where to be seen. Hoping they didn’t get eaten by a bear, I waited for a few minutes, and then found them. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed, so our work was unrewarded for the moment. We went back down the hill (it was so much shorter when I wasn’t walking with the Austrian woman!) and decided to go to a beer garden in Old Town. It was drizzling slightly and we were glad to be inside in a cozy tavern. I had sauerkraut with sausage and bread dumplings. It was another expensive, but really good meal.In the morning, I got up early and took a shower and ate a huge breakfast because I did not know when I would get to do either of those things again. Then I packed up, and checked out around 9:15. I was a little sad to leave YoHo and Salzburg, but I headed down to catch the train to Vienna with excitement!

Travel Adventures Part I: En route to Salzburg

This is the beginning of my adventures from when I last left you! They are many, detailed, and long. The afternoon of May 9, I went to Termini with Mateo and Ezra. We looked at the Departures board to determine which platforms we each needed to go to. They were leaving from 3, I was leaving from 6. We joked about platform 4 ¾ then decided to camp out at 3 because their train left first. We watched people come and go, we watched people say last words to lovers as their trains departed the station. Mateo ate food from a vending machine, including part of a sandwich that had passed its expiration date. Then, Ezra realized that their train had been moved to 4, so we all moved. I hugged the boys goodbye, and then I was on my own! It was a strange, liberating, and exciting feeling.

So I went to platform 6 and studied the departure board. It was electronic, different than the Paris one the guys had looked at. My train wasn’t on there. A bunch of german youth (a class of some sort) came to the platform and surrounded me. After about 10 minutes, they started moving. My train still was no where to be seen. I trusted my instincts and followed the germans. Sure enough, they led me straight to my train. There was some confusion as to whether this was the correct train because not all of my information (stops, exactly) lined up correctly with the board. But I showed a conductor my ticket and he said “ya” and pointed to my car. I said, “Salzburg?” and he said something in german and “ya.” That was all I needed.  Number 259 my car was (what a long train!) I shoved my suitcase into the car (the trains are quite high) and climbed in. I found my compartment-a 6 person couchette. It was tiny! At first I thought I was in for an uncomfortable night, but it was much better after I put my suitcase under the bottom bed. My bed was in the middle left. I arranged my bags on the area. Then I found the conductor and asked him about my pass. He said he would come later. Sure enough, the conductor came around to check tickets shortly. He started talking to me in german and then when I had a stupefied look on my face, he asked, “Deutch? English?” “English,” I said, grateful. He told me to fill in the date on my eurail pass. He told me how to lock the compartment door. He told me 5 people would be joining me in Firenze (yay..). He took my ticket, pass, and returned to collect my passport for the borderguard.Then, we started moving! Any doubts I had instantly vanished. I was so excited. The Italian countryside was absolutely beautiful. I propped myself up by the window and read Psychogeography (slowly, because I kept stopping to look at the view). Soon enough, the moon came out and blessed me with its gentle beams. I went to the bathroom twice, and had trouble with the water once, and was amazed by the sliding doors thousands of times over. At 9:53, we stopped at Firenze and I was joined by a man named Chris. He sounded british, but he said he was Italian, and lived in Germany. We spoke briefly and were then joined by 4 germans. A woman stuck her head in and said, “we have lots of luggage.” She wasn’t kidding. The four of them spent the next 20 or so minutes hauling, stacking, and shoving tons of small, waterproof bags everywhere the compartment would allow. I wanted to ask, “Sprechen zie English?” but I never really got the chance because they were all talking amongst themselves and then started brushing their teeth and getting into bed. I think they were bikers, but I am not sure. They also smelled kind of funny. Chris went to the dining car.

I fell asleep around 11 and slept hard until 1. Then I woke up and slept fitfully, bags wrapped, clenched around me until 3:30. Then we crossed the Austrian border, and I began to mark the last hour of my journey. I would have to transfer trains at Innbruck at 4:30. I was a little worried about this, but I knew the train I wanted would leave within a half hour, so there wouldn’t be any waiting around at the station. I dozed off. At 4:05, a very bright light awakened me and I heard a deep, german voice say, “Guten Morgen!” The conductor shoved my ticked and passport at me and said, “tventy five minutes.”

I went to the bathroom one more time and woke myself up. I returned to collect my bags and realized I had been locked out! Woe to the man who created a device that lets you out, but not in, and doesn’t warn you not to actually close the door for security purposes. With 10 minutes before the stop, I was worried. I knocked several times. Finally, Chris let me in. I was really grateful and he seemed quite awake, “Oh I thought you’d left already! Cheers!”  I dragged my stuff into the hall and watched the night go by. Two polizia made their way down the car..  At 4:30 we approached Innsbruck. The conductor saw me and said, “du!” I followed him to the door. We stopped and he let me out. “Goodbye,” he said. “Danke,” I replied.

The Innsbruck station was quiet, not scary, and almost empty. The number of conductors and security personnel outnumbered the travelers in the station. I asked one of them, “Where is the train to Salzburg?” He said in a very thick accent, breathing smoke in my face, “platform four.” Slightly disoriented, I made my way down some stairs, under the tracks and to the platform. The train was already there, and it looked nice. I saw a conductor and showed him my eurail pass. He tried to explain where the second class cars were. I followed his pointing arm down to the end, and found some slightly crappier-looking cars that I guessed I was supposed to sit in. However, the doors weren’t open! I was totally confused. I turned around to walk back and ask, and saw a very large woman tottling toward the car I had been looking at. She approached it and pressed a button on the door. Again, my mind was blown by the Austiran sliding door technology. I got on the train and found a place to sit that said “nicht reservung” or, “not reserved” I sat down, eurail pass in hand for the conductor and waited.

Then the train started and we rolled out of Innsbruck. I was astonished by how empty the car was. I think there were 4 people in a car that could have seated 60.  The countryside was even better than the Italian scenery. Tons of mountains, dotted with quiet towns with old, white churches. Their spires painted the snowy slopes black in lines and crosses. We rolled though mist and tunnels, through the belly of the land. The conductor didn’t come to our car until we had passed the first stop, which was weird. He looked at my ticked and said “ser gut.” I then gave myself permission to take a short nap. I woke up at 6:30 when we were nearing Salzburg. I gathered my things and got ready to leave the train. When we stopped, I used the sliding door technology and got off. I took a deep breath. Salzburg! Finally!