Salzburger Hunde

In spite of the pessimistic forecasts, the weather seems to be holding up nicely here in Salzburg..at least during the day. It might be raining at night, but that's fine with me.

It's late and I probably should be asleep, but we had a really fun evening. Bärbel suggested we hold a potluck right here in Europa Kolleg, rather than go out to a restaurant this week. So we did. Laura and Zach made spaghetti, Melissa brought Austrian Käsespätzle (macaroni and cheese, which I actually liked!), and I brought some German potato salad I picked up at the store. Stammtisch is always a good time and it was nice not to have to spend too much money on dinner.

Yesterday I went to Getreidegasse (the main shopping street near Mozart's birthplace) to pick up a few books for class. After 45 minutes of wandering around (and asking for directions), I finally found a bookstore. To reward myself for finally finding the place, I bought a copy of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in German. One thing that I still gawk at around here is the number of dogs running around in public places! It's not unusual at all to walk into a restaurant, clothing store, or onto the bus, and see a big slobbery German shepherd or beagle lounging around on the floor! From what I've seen, there is no public establishment where pets aren't allowed. That being said, dogs here behave a lot better than dogs in America. They don't become a nuisance with their barking and they seem very well-trained. Many owners let their dogs walk beside them down the street without a leash. Nutmeg would go crazy, I'm ashamed to say. Must be something in the water here.

And what I'd heard was true definitely stands: nobody wears sandals. I swallowed my pride and put on flip flops during a warm day last week...and I was the only one. I think people on the bus were staring. So far: I've seen no shorts and no sandals. We'll see what happens when the weather gets a little warmer.

I just uploaded pictures on my Facebook from the last week...but I need to sleep now. We have a big day of touring ahead of us tomorrow. I was a klutz and hit my toe really hard against the wall this morning and I think I dislocated it, which doesn't make walking miles around this city any easier. Plus, there's basically no such thing as ice in this town. They don't serve ice in drinks and you can't buy it at the store...I may have to improvise.