Cake day

11 May 2018

Cornelia clambered into our bed at 05:00 and was wide awake for an hour, before she finally fell asleep again.  I took advantage of a bit of spare time to go out for a run – something I’ve missed doing the last few days.  I was having a lovely jog down to the river, when my phone rang… It was the Austrian boilerman, who spoke no English, who appeared to have arrived at the apartment nearly an hour early.  Sounds like some dodgy movie from the 70s, but thankfully, it was all above board!  I ran home quickly, as I’d taken the keys for the gated drive, so Ian couldn’t let him in and didn’t want to ask our neighbour (who is a 92 year old Austrian lady), as his German is as good as her English…  My stress-free jog had turned into a rather frantic rush, and I was suitably out of breath and sweaty when I arrived to greet him, so at least he didn’t expect me to say too much.  Again, I fully appreciate this all sounds a bit dodgy….!

Boiler fixed, and hot water a-plenty, Cornelia and I showered before we cycled down to the river to enjoy a boat cruise down the Salzach.  This was a 40 minute trip, with loads of interesting sites and information provided.  It is so funny how different we all are:  Ian was trying hard to listen to all the facts that were churning out of the speakers, I was trying to show Cornelia lots of different buildings, and all she was really interested in were the ducks that she spotted occasionally.  I pointed out the fortress to her and she just said to me “Yes Mummy, I’ve seen it, we went there yesterday.  But have you seen the boy duck?!”

The captain of the boat entertained us with some “boat waltzing” which was really just the boat being spun around and around to Mozart, but it was all good fun and Bugsy liked the idea that the boat might be getting dizzy.

One of the tourist spots that was pointed out to us was the Hotel Sacher, the home of the original Sachertorte.  Well… it would’ve been rude not to, wouldn’t it, so after lunch in a smoky side-street pub, we indulged ourselves there with Sachertorte and coffee.  Ian went crazy and had his coffee with a cherry brandy.  Who knew?!  It was all rather fabulous, and though we were somewhat underdressed with shorts and T-shirts and a three year old with windswept hair, we were very well looked after.

On the way home, we stopped off at a book store where Cornelia loved looking at the Mr Men books in German!  I had to stop myself from buying one!  Instead I treated myself to some chocolates from the Furst Konditorei, the creator of the “Original Salzburger Mozartkugel”.  As some of you will know, Furst is my original German surname, so it was only right that I bought some of my family namesake’s chocolates, even if we aren’t actually related!

Cornelia has been brilliant fun today, and her good mood remained all through the evening.  We FaceTimed Auntie Carole and Lara Bear, and the girls just pulled funny faces at each other and laughed hysterically.  It was completely heartwarming.  She went off to bed with no problem (apart from coming in once to see if she could sleep in our bed), and I get another beer, chocolate and TV evening!  Hurrah!

We are now planning our next stop…  The weather isn’t looking great around Lake Bled in Slovenia (think 70% chance of thunderstorms for the next few days), so we are looking at alternatives, which may include another night in an hotel!