The day of my flight, I had to bright Idea to dress very business casual. I wore a pair of khaki coloured jeans, a nice floral shirt and blue blazer. I had shoes that I could easily remove and a nice scarf just in case I got chilly. I decide to slick my hair down with the gel. When my mom dropped me off to the airport I was a well Package little world traveler, until I couldn’t find the airlines. I had misread my ticket. I was frantically looking for Austrian airlines when I was flying out on Canadian Airlines. DUH! With my backpack and two suitcases I ran down to the Canadian Airlines terminal and began check in. Mind you I had flown overseas before with my Choral group. We toured Germany in 2008. However, I had never in my 39 years flown this far by myself. First misstep avoided. I checked in with plenty of time to spare. Testimony to the Eco Styler Gel, my slick down was still attached to my head. I was still pretty put together. On the other hand, by the time I got to Toronto, I was quickly running low of funds. I had managed to raise the money for the rip but I was still very cash poor. My husband and I had managed to budget $200 for the next three weeks. I was to staying in a dorm like room with a kitchen, so I would buy food, I would get a bus pass once I got to Salzburg that would cover the three weeks. That cost me $18 per week. I had $100 in the bank, yes, $100. The rest of the money I would get in Euros. $200 turned in to €175. Sitting in the Canadian airport eating my over priced lunch; I was still excited and confident about what I was doing. I studied the lyrics to each aria. I had written out a cheat sheet that I carried with me everywhere. We boarded the Lufthansa flight to Vienna and I was off!

By the time I landed in Vienna, I was growing very weary; I was a constipated, sweaty and disheveled mess. I wish I had worn a pair of sweats and Uggs! The Vienna terminal is brand new and sleek. However it took me forever to find where I needed to go. With my German I was confidant in forming sentences t ask for help. As soon as they heard my phrases everyone quickly switched to English. Upon finding the right terminal, I quickly went to the restroom! What a relief! However, I looked in the mirror and saw there is a limit to how effective this gel worked. My hair became a puffy nightmare. So I took my scarf and wrapped it around my hair in an attempt took look as stylish as I could. I went back to the terminal and sat and looked out the window. I thought to myself, I have accomplished something that I didn’t think I had the strength to do! I am in Vienna! HA! Interrupted by the effortless sound of English, the cutest little girl ran to the window with her mom and big sister in tow! She said hello to me and I felt relief. There is nothing like hearing English when you are by yourself in a foreign country. I turned around and her mother was extremely friendly. The sister, older and too cool for school was buried in her Iphone. As it turned out the lady and her daughters were travelling to Salzburg as well. Her husband is an opera singer as well and they were meeting up to spend the summer with him while he was singing at the Other Festival. Yes the bigger one. While we waited for the flight, she gave me tons of tips on where to go for food, where to eat and hang out. She also told me about a man who is at the farmers market that makes the best roasted chicken. I never found that guy! As I looked at my watched I noticed we had been sitting there for way too long and no one had come to the terminal to start boarding. I looked outside and notice a trailer filled with suitcases rolling on the tarmac. Conspicuously, my pink suitcase was rolling right along with it. The lady whose German was far better than mine asked the soft spoken terminal manage where I flight was. He said it was at the opposite gate. We all panicked and grabbed our things and begged to be let on! They shuttled us to the plane and we were off! Phew! After we boarded we said our goodbyes and I quickly began to fall asleep. Fifteen minutes later, I was awakened by a gentleman who smelled of smoke and looked like someone who played guitar for an 80’s band. His wife could have been a band groupie. They were letting me know the snack cart was coming around. I squeaked out a “Danke” and got myself prepared. As I looked out of the window I couldn’t believe how beautiful the mountain tops were. The small town looked every bit the fantasy I had in my head. My brain, of course, was playing the opening scene of “Sound of Music”. When I got my coffee and the cutest bottle of water in the world, I was taken aback by the aroma of nutty, chocolaty, heaven that is Julius Meinl coffee. It is by far theeeee Best coffee I have ever tasted. EVER. That primed me for what I thought was the pinnacle of Café drinking. When we landed, I wanted to cry out I’M HERE!!!!! But I was by myself; that would have been really un-cool! I got to exit the plane in diva style, they rolled over the stairs to exit, and I strolled off as if I was a diva from the past. I want to wave and say, “Please no cameras! No cameras. Now stop it!” When I entered the small airport I saw the bust of Mozart and thought Pilgrimage complete. There is Wolfie; the one composer who brings me joy to sing and Dabney Ross Jones is in his Heimat!

Who of thunk it! After getting my bags I had to figure out how to get out of the airport. I walked out and hailed a cab. All I could hear was cha ching! More money being spent! Luckily my room was paid for before I left. When I got to the Apartments I unloaded my bags paid the driver and checked in. One thing; it was 1pm and check in was at 4pm. No early arrivals! UGH!!!! Lesson Learned? You can always depend on the kindness of strangers. Make sure you insist on checking in early or make a plan for yourself when you arrive early. Take more money with you because things always come up! What does a girl do when waiting for her room to get ready? Walks off jet lag in a Baroque city. The ladies at the Apartment let me keep my things at the office and gave me instructions on how to get to the old town. I went to the bus office which was right down the street, bought my weekly pass and hopped on the number eight bus into the Alte Staadt! 16 hours of traveling leaves a girl looking and smelling like, well, shit! I looked like Shit! Here I am walking around an old city looking like the old City! My scarf had soaked up sweat and hair gel and dangled on my head like a bandage. My jeans were now cutting into my bloated belly and my blazer, well, that Talbots khaki blue blazer held up really well! It was the only thing pulling my sad ensemble together. When the bus rounded the curving corner, it became increasingly obvious that I was, indeed, not in California anymore. I was in one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

The Salsach River rushed beneath the bridges with the same excitement as my blood. It was a hazy, chilly day with billowy clouds hovering over the still snow capped mountains. I was in a time warp of jet lag but I was so filled with gratitude to all the people who made it possible for me to see this! When I got off the bus, I didn’t quite know where I was. I just walked. The first place I went was to the Schnapps place called Spöhr that I saw on “Rick Steves’ Europe”. I knew I wanted to get my coach a bottle of schnapps for her efforts in training me. Now, I have never felt limited by my colour. I will walk into a place and not feel a damn thing about who feels comfortable around me! I walked down the Getreidegasse and found the Iconic sign Hanging outside and walked right into that store and said I wanted to sample their schnapps. I recognized the proprietor from the travel show and he seemed quite taken a back with me. In this bizarre version of Cheers, there were the archetypal characters seated at the bar, your Cliff, your Woody, your Sam, and in comes the norm of the group. This tall striking older gentleman grabbed me and insisted on taking a picture with this travel weary African American woman. He was Like the Norm of the ancient establishment. Luckily, I could understand what they were saying; I didn’t hear anything that I should be overly concerned about. I think we disarmed each other with smiles and flattery. Plus, I bought a bottle of Peach Schnapps! ChaChing!

I made it over to the other side of the bridge to the new side where I found every “Sound of Music” fans favorite spot, the “Do Re Mi” Montage spot. In my extreme poopy jet lag, I took pictures and proceeded to fall asleep on the bench while people watching. Once I woke up, I checked the time and made my way back to the Apartments. I told them I needed to be let in to my room. Luckily the maids were done and my second floor walk up was ready for occupancy! I dragged my suit case up the stairs, unlocked the door, and surveyed the room. It was essentially a dorm. But to me it was heaven! I went into the pristine bathroom unloaded, washed up and went to the plushest bed right to sleep. Lessons Learned? Zzzzzzzzz…