Ein schönes Wochenende!

On Friday it was time for another hike. This seems to have become almost a weekly thing since coming here so maybe I'm becoming more Austrian than I thought! One of my favourite things about Salzburg is that although it's a city, it doesn't take more than 15 minutes until you're in the mountains. In England I'd say that we have big hills rather than mountains, and they tend to be at least an hour and a half away from any big city. It's such a novelty to take a 10 minute bus ride and be at the bottom of a beautiful mountain all ready to hike up! We had (again) been told that it would be an 'easy' hike, and were (again) following a man in lederhosen. This is the last time I fall for this. After 2 and a half hours of pretty constant uphill, many pleas for 'photo breaks' and very much regretting that I'd forgotten to bring a water bottle with me, we reached the peak. However, despite the moans, it was very enjoyable and I just love the sense of acheivement once you reach the top and can enjoy the spectacular views. We enjoyed a drink and Breze at the cafe, before taking the bus back down.

I went home and just had time for a quick shower before heading out again to Cecilia's house for a 'Cheese and Wine evening'. She'd been given a cheese pot for her birthday and so we tried out different ways of cooking camembert - with pesto, with sundried tomatoes etc. This, accompanied by the wine, was all very enjoyable. Afterwards we went out to a Belgian bar and got to try their famous fruit beers. I tried the strawberry and cherry flavours and they genuinely just tasted like liquid bubblegum, or something else very sweet. I will admit to having a massive sweet tooth so this went down a treat, and was very drinkable. Various people in the group were getting a lot of attention from the Austrian locals. One guy just would not leave Cecilia alone and so the bar man gave her a free drink as he felt so sorry for her!

A group of us had arranged a day trip to Germany for the Eagle's Nest for Saturday so all met at the station. Those of us who had been out the night before were feeling a bit delicate, which wasn't helped by the 3 bus rides we had to take there in pretty hot buses down many winding roads. We all survived, however, and were there by lunchtime. We had a very relaxed lunch in the sun at the top of the mountain which was lovely. We then went for a wander around the surroundings of the house, took many photos and were generally in awe of the stunning views. As the others have put it - although they may have been one of the most brutal regimes, the Nazis definitely know how to pick a holiday spot! After we'd taken it all in, we got the bus back down and had a wander round the nearby village of Berchtesgaden. It's also very pretty, but of course has nothing on Salzburg! That night we had a 'Pizza and Film night' and watched Johnny English 2. All I need to say about that is that I found it absolutely hilarious, and that should more than cover it!

On the Sunday morning I went to a Flohmarkt (flea market)at Sternbräu with my host family. Unfortunately as it was the last day of the weekend, most of the good stuff had already gone. It was my first time at a flea market though, so still interesting to look around and see all the random stuff they had on offer. The saying "One man's junk is another man's treasure" definitely seemed true here! We were home by lunchtime though, so I got to catch up with people on Skype which was lovely and had a nice chilled end to the weekend.