Le Jour Vingt (Day 20)

After an intense day yesterday, today was take it easy and enjoy the city day. Kelly and I woke up at 9:30!!! 9 hours of sleep was well deserved and greatly missed. We got up, went to breakfast in our pjs, and my sweet waitress lady was there right when I walked in, “Ashley! I’ve been waiting for you; I’ve already made your oatmeal!” Heart melted, I thanked her over and over and enjoyed that sweet oatmeal along with lots of other breakfast. Also, I found that mysterious chocolate cereal! Here, it’s in the actual box, and it’s called Chocos. Ya’ll have to try this stuff, seriously. So obviously I had that too.

What I really wanted to do today was to walk around by myself (it’s really safe here), enjoy the atmosphere, and talk to people. I don’t like being on a strict schedule when I’m trying to soak everything in at the same time. So, that’s just what I did for a good 3 hours. It was wonderful, much needed, and restful. I took my time walking around (not feeling like I was holding anyone back for walking at my normal pace), and I people watched, window shopped, and browsed store after store. I soaked in he view of the mountains and the unique and colorful buildings that give Innsbruck its distinct personality.

I ended up walking into this one shop that the cutest lady owns. She sold clothes from all kinds of original designers in Austria, along with other super cute knick knacks. Her English was excellent, and I asked her a ton of questions about her and Austria. It was so fun! She grew up here but studied in Denmark. She worked for Swarovski as sales director, didn’t like her job, and three years later, ended up doing what she’s always wanted to do: own her very own boutique. I told her I had to bring my friend (Kelly) back to meet her because she wants to own her own shop one day, so I departed and went to a place called Mustache that she suggested to go for lunch. It was so cute! Two boys my age worked there, and it was interesting learning a little about college life and what they are studying over here. One of the boys is actually from Florida, and now he is studying in Austria getting his masters. He only pays 400 Euros a semester! Mom and Dad, maybe I’ll come and get my masters over here in Europe; sounds cheap in lots of places! I sat outside and enjoyed my lunch and the beautiful view of this random garden of flowers, grass, benches, and a huge fountain that I sat in afterwards and relaxed and thought.

After getting restless and figuring I should probably find Kelly, I went to McDonalds to get wifi and randomly ran into Kelly! We went back to that little shopped, and Kelly had a blast asking 100 more questions to our new precious friend! When we asked what she thought about Americans, she had an excellent quote, “Eh, I mean, people are always going to be people. Some are always going to be strange or rude or nice. So, I guess I don’t really have an opinion.” She loved talking to us, and she told us she will hire us if we ever come back. We purchased a couple of her cute greeting cards to support her store and for taking her time to talk to us and left. We walked around some more after that and wandered into another store, where four ladies swooned over us, our accents, and the fact that we were American. They all stood wide eyed and grinning as we answered their hundreds of questions. When we told them our names, I thought they were going to die of excitement: “KELLY! ASHLEY! AH, how BEAUTIFUL, beautiful, beautiful! Ya’ll are so cute and sweet, and look at your TEETH, look, look at their teeth! So white and straight….” We were blushing. Too many compliments and attention, wow! Haha, I never knew how cool it would be to be a foreigner. I guess this is the way I react to French or British people in the sates, so I can’t blame them. At the end, they asked for our last names and said, “Let’s be friends on facebook! Yay, we have friends from TEXAS! From TEXAS!!” It was hilarious. People here are super friendly and warm, and they even smile at you if you make eye contact with them while walking!

 

We ate dinner at that Orangerie place again, and I got the same thing from before; it was amazing…once again. Kelly ordered an apple strudel, but I wanted gelato. We found a place that had a scoop for 1.30 (which is awesome), and I got coconut, white chocolate, almond. Probably some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had! We walked by an Irish/French/English-speaking man playing piano who sounded like Frank Sinatra. Then we got community wifi in the lobby, bonded, typed journals, and went to bed.

Goodbye beautiful, quaint, adventurous Austria. You CAPTIVATED me, but HELLLOOOO  Germany!