Today was spent riding the train, passing time with solitaire and looking out the window. We got to Salzburg, Austria around 2:00 PM. After checking into our hotel and putting down our bags, we went to check out different salt mine tours. They were all done for the day, but we couldn't do them tomorrow because our train leaves at 10:00 AM. So we decided to go change times for our train to Munich, Germany. We succeeded in this, and changed it to 3:00 PM, just enough time for the salt mine tour. The next hour we spent going from tourist office to bus office to train office getting information for the salt mines. To finish off another thirty minutes, we looked in their small mall-ish building and bought from the grocery store there. We then headed to the more grassy area by the river, which had free wifi along the bank. The wifi wasn't all that great though, so I doodled on a scrap piece of paper. When I took up the whole space, we went walking in a small, un-popularized, very nicely decorated street. From there, we walked up a mountain nearby which was just a path in a densely forested area. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. My picture taking fanatic-ness inside showed itself yet again. Once in a while, the path would wind itself out of the trees and give you a brilliant over view of the city, with the hills it was nestled in, the river winding through it, and the sun setting. On the way back down, we met a couple from Ashland, North Carolina who we talked to for a while before splitting up to go back to our hotel.
This morning we checked out, stored our bags, and walked to the bus stop. We were going on a salt mine tour. We missed the first bus, unfortunately, so we had to wait an hour for the next bus. We caught it, and took the 45 minute ride to the salt mines. We bought tickets, put on special suits, then stood in line for the next tour. We rode a train underground. Because we speak English, they had to give us special audio guides that translated what the tour guide was saying. The best parts about the tour was we had to take two slides, a boat ride across underground Mirror Lake (the name is meant literally), and afterwards, a small container of salt. We had an hour until our bus back to the city, so we spent it struggling to get through the undergrowth and sitting on the beach by the river to which the dense trees and plants guarded. We found a MUCH easier route out.
Back at the city, we looked in the small mall-ish building again and got something small for lunch. We had two hours until our train to Munich left.
Our train was only 5 minutes late, but it was different because every other train we have had on this trip has been 30-45 minutes early. We were about a third of the way through in our train ride when I noticed it had started raining. As we rode along the country side of Germany, there was snow on the ground and instead of rain, hail came down. The train slowly came to a stop... In the middle of nowhere. One of the train workers came by to inform us that we would have a late arrival because of the weather, and it was causing trees to fall on the tracks. At the next station, the train had to completely stop. All riders to Munich had to get off and wait for a bus. There was about 200 people along with us waiting at the bus stop, all from the train. Luckily, the rain had stopped. It was horrible though, there was no place to escape the smoke coming from the countless cigarettes people were smoking. I finally found a spot that somewhat got away from the headache causing smell. I nicknamed it Slug Land, it was one log that had an insane amount of slugs crawling around it. I finally moved just because I was frightened of opening my bag that night and finding a slug nestled in my pajamas. The hours ticked off, busses kept coming, but none of them were the right one. Smokers were going crazy, one guy was already on his tenth cigarette and he was banging his head against a wall. I was moving the whole time, trying and rarely succeeding to get away from the smoke. It started raining, first a slight drizzle then a downpour. We had to fit all 200ish people under the little shelter. Thankfully, people stopped smoking when they got inside. When the bus came, people went crazy. They were fighting to get on the bus. My mom and I were EXTREMELY lucky to get a seat, because it's incredibly hard to fit 200 people on one bus. Many people were left behind; there was no room. I really hoped that there was another bus for them. My mom and I scooted over to let two little, worn out girls onto our two person seat. My legs were going numb because they was our bag storage, but I didn't mind, I was just thankful we made it on the bus. While riding, the rain slowed to a stop. In the distance, a double rainbow formed. We showed it to the two girls, and their tired faces changed into two, beautiful, smiling faces. But mother nature wasn't done with us, as you'll soon read. We had to catch a different bus after this one, then from that bus we had to take a train. When the bus stopped, and everyone squeezed off, we all stood fidgeting at the bus stop, unsure of what we were doing. My mom and I started talking to these two guys from Montreal, on a business trip here. We were all talking about this crazy experience, when we noticed the clouds. They were going faster then any cloud I've ever seen in my life. It was in the shape of a wave. It was racing toward us, and I watched as my mom and the two guys talked about where they were going.
"Oh. My. God." I interrupted their conversation, and they turned to look where I was looking. Everywhere the clouds went past became a very, scarily darkness. The man from Montreal suggested we find shelter. We all agreed straight away. Right as we got under the little roof, the rain started coming. It came down powerfully, the pounding it made rattled your ears. Finally, the bus came. We ran to it, trying to fight our way in. I was already soaked to the bone, colder then I've ever been in my life. There was a stream running off of my backpack. The man we were talking with shared his umbrella with us, thankfully. We let him on first, because Daniel, his companion was already on the bus. Another bus rolled in, and we took that one for there was no more space on the first one. We managed to get seats on that bus. I was shivering uncontrollably, and so was my mom. We turned around and talked to the couple from behind us. They were from Vancouver, Canada, and we shared a few stories and agreed that this adventure would be a great, unforgettable story. On the bus ride to the train, everyone warmed up a little bit. The bus slowed to a stop at the train station. We jumped off it and ran to catch the train which was getting ready to leave. We hopped on at the last second. I slept on the train, using my soaking wet backpack as my pillow. When we made it to Munich, we quickly found our hostel. We checked in, dried off, and crashed. It's amazing how much a bed and blanket calls to you when you've had an experience like ours.