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| Interesting time in Austria by Kenisha Wiggs |
I recently took a second trip to Europe this summer to visit friends
in Austria. I went to Salzburg, Zell am See and Kaprun. Austria is a
beautiful country and it was so surreal that when I walked into the
town center in Salzburg I thought the mountains were fake!
in Austria. I went to Salzburg, Zell am See and Kaprun. Austria is a
beautiful country and it was so surreal that when I walked into the
town center in Salzburg I thought the mountains were fake!
I was in Austria during the floods and one day I was stuck on one side of the river. When I got off the
bus I realized that the Salzach River was blocked off and I had no way of getting to where I wanted to
go. After 2 hours, I went to another bus stop and the bus never came. An Italian lady asked me in
German if the bus was coming (we were going in the same direction).
After we realized it wasn't coming, a nice local lady asked what we needed. She was going in the same
direction and had been stuck on one side of the river herself. She looked to be in her 60s and she wore
a red ski coat with pink flip-flops and heavy blue eyeshadow and the darkest eyeliner. She reminded me
of a flapper, techno-style. She told us to come with her so we could figure out what was going on.
We went to the police and the cops told us that it would be another 2 hours before we could cross the
bridge. The Italian chic saw one of the buses that she could take and decided to ditch us to go find it. I
stuck with flip-flop lady and we tracked down a bus. The driver was nice enough to let us off at a
non-regular stop. We waited, no further buses, so we crossed the street and she knocked on the car
window of some random guy in a van. He said jump in! This was the first time I had ever hitchhiked...
So we thanked him and we discussed our horrible, crazy day.
This lady must have been an angel from heaven because the next thing I knew we were nearing my
stop near where my friends live. They shook my hand and said "Tchussey"(bye-bye in German). That
was the most hilarious and interesting day of my life. The woman with the pink flip-flops got me home!
As far as hostility, I never saw it. I am an African-American female and I received a lot of curious
stares especially in the ski villages. A lot of people have never seen a person of color up close. At first it
bothered me but then I got over it, people are curious and they don't hide it.
I recommend anyone to visit this country, there are some very humble people. I went hiking with my
friend's family,shook my booty, and drank at local bars until 8 in the morning, had a local take me to
the Grossglockner Mountain. I was 3,000 feet in the air with a glacier staring at me! I saw things that a
lot of people will never experience and I thank all of the people that helped me enjoy it.
bus I realized that the Salzach River was blocked off and I had no way of getting to where I wanted to
go. After 2 hours, I went to another bus stop and the bus never came. An Italian lady asked me in
German if the bus was coming (we were going in the same direction).
After we realized it wasn't coming, a nice local lady asked what we needed. She was going in the same
direction and had been stuck on one side of the river herself. She looked to be in her 60s and she wore
a red ski coat with pink flip-flops and heavy blue eyeshadow and the darkest eyeliner. She reminded me
of a flapper, techno-style. She told us to come with her so we could figure out what was going on.
We went to the police and the cops told us that it would be another 2 hours before we could cross the
bridge. The Italian chic saw one of the buses that she could take and decided to ditch us to go find it. I
stuck with flip-flop lady and we tracked down a bus. The driver was nice enough to let us off at a
non-regular stop. We waited, no further buses, so we crossed the street and she knocked on the car
window of some random guy in a van. He said jump in! This was the first time I had ever hitchhiked...
So we thanked him and we discussed our horrible, crazy day.
This lady must have been an angel from heaven because the next thing I knew we were nearing my
stop near where my friends live. They shook my hand and said "Tchussey"(bye-bye in German). That
was the most hilarious and interesting day of my life. The woman with the pink flip-flops got me home!
As far as hostility, I never saw it. I am an African-American female and I received a lot of curious
stares especially in the ski villages. A lot of people have never seen a person of color up close. At first it
bothered me but then I got over it, people are curious and they don't hide it.
I recommend anyone to visit this country, there are some very humble people. I went hiking with my
friend's family,shook my booty, and drank at local bars until 8 in the morning, had a local take me to
the Grossglockner Mountain. I was 3,000 feet in the air with a glacier staring at me! I saw things that a
lot of people will never experience and I thank all of the people that helped me enjoy it.
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