A Schloss is not a Schloss is not a Schloss

On Tuesday, I met the mother of one of Nikolas' classmates, Christopher, a six-year-old. Christopher who is very nice and talkative joined the Kindergarten this past November. Among all the things he told me after I'd met his mother was how much he loved Salzburg's Schloss or castle. Now technically, Salzburg has several castles and the building in the city center is NOT a castle, but instead a fortification, a "Festung." But come on, to a kid and to most adults, it's a bloody castle.

One thing he shared with me that his mother probably didn't want him to dwell on was that "It's expensive to get into the castle." It is true that there's an entrance to the fortress grounds which offer great views. The actual inside of the fortress is interesting, too, but if you're able to walk around up there, it's as good as being inside. But what is also true, which I then shared with Christopher's mother, is that residents of Salzburg are allowed in for free! All you have to say is that you LIVE in Salzburg, and the man behind the counter hands you receipts that say you paid €0.00 to get in. She and her son were very happy to hear this as you might imagine.

Conversely, there's Windsor Castle in Windsor, where, yes, the Queen lives. When we lived in England in the 1990s, we often went to Windsor but NEVER went into the Castle. It was just too expensive, although I don't remember what it cost at the time. Now we're here again, this time with Nikolas, who also likes castles (and what he calls "castle fighters), fortresses, etcetera, etcetera. But we won't be going to Windsor Castle. A "Family Pass" costs no less than €41 ($52). After researching several palaces and fortresses this year in thinking of places to take my students, I'm so used to seeing entrance prices in the range of €7 ($9) to think that it's a good idea to pay that kind of money. By comparison, the Festung's Family Pass is €17 ($21).

We'll probably go to Windsor this week and, like in the 1990s, we'll probably see lines to get into the Castle, but we won't be among the masses. Sorry, Your Majesty, but I don't get it.

Der Bankomat

European ATMs know where it's at. Or at least the people who program them do.

First off, they acknowledge that no one in the world withdraws cents from an ATM, so you never have to type in the two zeros after the decimal point. If you want 50 euros, you simply type in 5 and then 0. Done.

Also, a European ATM gives you your money only AFTER it has spat out your bank card. This is great! That means the only way you'd ever walk away from a machine without your card is if you also walked away without getting your money. Not likely to happen. So it spits out your card, then comes your money. In the U.S., my bank always asks me (after my money's come out) if I want to do something else while my card is still in the ATM. What else would I want to do? Put the money I just got out back in?

Antalya

In the 1st century BC, King Attalus II of Pergamon ordered his men to find the most beautiful piece of land on earth -- “Heaven on Earth”. After a long search, they discovered a place with sea and mountains and palm trees and considered it to be heavenly. It was there that King Attalus founded the city of Antayla (then called Attaleia). Today Antalya is a modern city of over a million people with a well-preserved old city, still surrounded by an ancient wall.

Today we went on an outing to Antalya. We hopped on the hotel shuttle that dropped us on the side of a street, seemingly nowhere, but once we got our bearings turned out to be just down the street from Hadrian’s Gate. The gate was built into the city wall after Hadrian’s visit to the city in 130 AD (the same Hadrian who has the wall in Northern England). Next to the gate is a small park, filled with benches and men sipping tea. There is even a park tea waiter to bring them their tea!

Walking through the gate you enter the old city with its narrow alleyways and ancient buildings. There are many souvenir shops, and almost everyone has “a special price for you, my friend”. The salesmen aren’t pushy, however, and take no for an answer easily. We were only suckered in once by a man at a spice stand who asked Peter if he was going for the Turkish look with his unshaven stubbly chin. It was a good laugh, as most of the men had the same unshaven stubble. From there, glasses of tea were made – one pomegranate and one apple – scoops of drink mix being taken from among the trays of spices. Nikolas gave it the thumbs up, and so we felt compelled to buy some.

We continued our walk down to the harbor past souvenir stands, pottery shops (with little old ladies inside painting pots), rug shops and little restaurants. The harbor is nestled in a cove surrounded by a cliff, and you can imagine ancient ships coming and going. There were plenty of people offering boat rides for a great price, but we didn’t have the time. It was a great mix of tourist site and real life, with fishermen working on their nets, a motorcycle being washed, and people working on their boats.

During a mediocre lunch at a restaurant sitting on spectacular site overlooking the sea and the mountains, the call to prayer came echoing from somewhere in the distance. Ninety-nine percent of the people in Turkey are Muslim, although the government has a secular constitution, providing for freedom of religion. Still, there are mosques everywhere and the call to prayer comes over loudspeakers on the pointed towers of every mosque five times a day.

Before too long, it was time to head back to the shuttle, a great outing coming to an end too soon. Antalya is a beautiful city, with much more to explore than we did. More pictures will be posted on the blog once we’re back in Salzburg, and you will be able to see them here.