I remembered quite vividly how much freedom a car afforded my buddy John when we worked at the international school in Salzburg back in 1992-1994. I was able to tag along on many occasions, and we were able to see so many towns in the area.
Yes, the trains and buses are much better here than in the States. And yes, it IS possible to get to many places. But it simply takes longer. And a bus or train can't take you everywhere.
Jenny wasn't sold on the idea at first. And I admitted that it was an outlay of money. But I was certain that a car would make our experience here more enjoyable.
I looked at a used car which a young kid was trying to sell. He gave me a list of things the state inspection service (ÖAMTC) said needed to be done within the foreseeable future. I thanked him and visited the ÖAMTC the next day, and they not only told me about the repairs--they looked up the car I was interested in buying! This would never happen in the States. The guy told me that I could do better.
I got on my bike and told myself that I was stopping at the first car dealership I passed (and then hoped that it wasn't going to be BMW or Mercedes). It was Citroën, a French car manufacturer. I didn't know anything about it. But, I asked Herr Wieland what his cheapest car was, and he showed me: a cute little red buggy. Part of me was convinced. Part of me was still second-guessing.
I actually sat on Herr Wieland's information for about two weeks. Jenny sort of gave in over time, telling me to just do it or else I wouldn't stop talking about it! I think we were both convinced, though, the Sunday the three of us tried to find a bus stop across town where a bus would take us to the Freilichtmuseum outside the city. We were at the wrong bus stop, even though it shared the same name as the one we were supposed to be standing at, and the bus shot passed us, the driver waving his finger "no" at me. I wasn't happy.
The next day I stopped into Citroën and asked Herr Wieland to get the ball rolling. I think he'd thought he'd never see me again, but there I was. He even set me up with an unorthodox 10-month lease! Within days, we were car owners...or Leasers as they known now in Austria.
Was it the right choice? Well, 162 car rides later (incidentally, the number of games in a baseball season!), I'd have to say "yes." There were many short rides (18 times to Nikolas' Kids Club Tennis during cold/bad weather months, 12 trips to the video store) and then some great trips to Cesky Krumlov, Regensburg, Südtirol in Italy, and shorter trips to Gröbming, St. Johann, Schladming, and Werfen.
Today, I took the little buggy back to Citroën. It cost money, but we had a much different year than we would've had without it. A better year.
Thanks, C3!
Below, all the places we went....
American International School - Salzburg
Augustinerbräu (restaurant, brewery)
Austria Video 12x
Train station 2x
Bank 4x
Bauhaus (store)
BauProfi (store) 2x
Bowling 3x
Bozen, Italy (1 hour from hotel)
Brixen, Italy
Cemetery (Regensburg)
Cesky Krumlov, Czech Rep. 3 hours
Doktorwirt (hotel)
Dr. Grabherr (Nikolas)
English Center
Eurospar (Friedenstrasse) 3x
Eurospar (Sterneckstrasse)
Flatscher Lukas’ b-day party
Stocker (butcher/Thanksgiving)
Flee Markets (various) 10x
Florada (flower shop)
flood (Salzburg)
Freilassing, Germany 2x
Freilichtmuseum
Gaisberg 3x
Glockengasse (dorm) 6x
Golling, Austria
Gröbming, Austria 2x (1 hour away)
Hangar 7
Hellbrunn 3x
Hinterbuchner Family (Bergheim)
Hoppolino (indoor amusement) 3x
Hofer (grocery) 3x
Hofer (Schladming)
Humboldt (dorm) 4x
IKEA 4x
Kern family
Kindergarten
Königssee, Germany 2x
Langenloiser (restaurant) 7x
Ristorante Milano/Minigolf (pond) 3x
Lepibad (swimming)
Lucas/Thomas’ house
Lüson, Italy (3 hours away)
Maximarkt 3x
McDonald’s 4x
Minigolf 2x
Mostwastl (restaurant) 3x
Paracelsus (dorm)
Recyclinghof 2x
Regensburg (3 hours house)
Reiterhof (restaurant) 2x
Roggenbauer family 7x
Schider Schilder (sign store)
Schladming, Austria (1 hour away)
St. Gilgen, Austria
St. Johann im Pongau, Austria (1 hour away)
Stieglbrauerei-Fest
Paracelsusbad (swimming)
Tennis 18x
Toys R Us
Trampoline (Regensburg)
Watzmann Therme (swimming)
Werfen, Austria 2x
