Arriving at the train station, I was blessed with the night view of Hohensalzburg (The Fortress) sitted atop a hill beyond the River Salzach. It was like a good omen - telling me that I'll be having a fine time visiting the city. But when I left the train, it was freezing cold and I had to walk a long way towards the end of the platform to the exit of the Hbf. Once outside, I had to locate the bus station as instructed by the proprietress of the B&B I'm staying at and ride the bus towards Hanuschplatz and then from there, take the next bus to Moostrasse. So there, I waited and waited for a long time. The bus stop has this timer for bus arrivals and it seemed that the bus I need will not arrive for at least 15 mins yet. It was a very long wait, I tell you. There were only a few people at the station and it was a bit scary for me because I have never been out at night all by myself in a long while now. Finding myself alone was a weird feeling especially since I'm at an unfamiliar place.
When the bus arrived, I paid the driver 2.10 euros and asked that he drop me off at Hanuschplatz. He doesn't speak English but gestured that it was just 5 and not far. Hmmm... I'm not sure what he meant by that, either the trip will only take me 5 minutes or 5 stations. What I did then was time the trip and when we reached the 5 mins barrier, I assumed it was 5 stations away. I was also desperately trying to figure out the stations being flashed on the bus tv but there was no way that those words say "Hanuschplatz!" Hehehe. I was right, though. It was 5 stations away. Unfortunately, the rain was pouring down heavily now (that must be why it was unusually cold -- it was about to rain) and my umbrella was somewhere deep down in my backpack.
At Hanuschplatz, the bus going to Moostrasse was to arrive in 30 minutes. That was a long wait and I'm cold, and my feet hurts with all the standing. There was no sit at the bus stop and behind me, there was just total darkness. It was kinda scary eventhough there were other people waiting for their bus. It was just disconcerting because even if I'm small, I stand out because I was the only one there who was foreign-looking. There were also teenagers wearing daring clothes who seem to be up for some mischief and smoking, too! To say it frankly, I was not that comfortable at that time, especially when I also realized that it was total darkness behind the bus stop.
Fortunately, the bus arrived on time and just like before, I tried very hard listening to my stop which was Hammerauerstrasse (what a long word!) and also timing the bus. Ms. Steiner had informed me that it takes around 20-25 mins to arrive at her place. Luckily, I was able to get off my stop, and started walking back as per instruction but after walking quite a bit, I again became scared because there was no sign of the B&B and it was dark save from a light post a couple of meters away. I then tracked back to the bus stop and see if anyone there can help me. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long because two girls arrived (Halo!) and they were able to confirm that I was going the right way (Danke!). So I went back, walked quite a long way, found the sign, turned to the street and found Haus Steiner. I knocked and an old man opened the door for me. He showed me in and led me to my room and left me there. When I asked about filling out the B&B forms, he just said that we will fix it tomorrow and that I should rest first. Thank God for that! I was just so tired and my feet are hurting me.
I opened my door and there it was, a small lovely room with a welcoming bed!
so happy to finally have a nice, warm bed again!
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