It’s the Easter Holiday Spectacular! I had several weeks off work in mid-April, so I decided to spend ten days gallivanting across three European cities: Venice, Salzburg, and Amsterdam. I hadn’t originally planned to go to Venice, but some last-minute changes brought me to the ancient floating city. With a friend I made in my hostel, I spent two days exploring the city on foot, stopping in museums and cathedrals (the violin museum was my favorite) and sampling overpriced espressos. Some highlights include a quiet night exploring the Dorsoduro district and attending a performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
Venice canal
Venice itself feels like a museum—it’s jam-packed with tourists and high-brow boutiques, and little about the city feels “alive.” While it was a pleasure to experience, I was ready to board my train to Salzburg, Austria. The journey was stunning; I passed through Verona’s endless vineyards and nearly decaying multi-colored homes, gawked under the towering Dolomites, and changed trains by the snow-capped mountains of Innsbruck.
One of my train transfers
After several missed trains and nearly eight hours of travel, I arrived at Salzburg and met my host, Johanna, who I would be staying with for the next few days. Johanna and I immediately discovered we have much in common: we both studied English at university, we both lived in Iceland, and we both loved folk music. We spent that evening preparing an Austrian-style cheese board (including pickles, radishes, Johanna’s homemade Pumpkin bread, and local dairy) and taking a moonlit walk around her neighborhood—a quiet village with miles of green pastures and a stunning view of the alpine mountains. We shared a meaningful conversation about our past relationships and the role faith plays in our lives. For the second time that week, I found that a stranger knew more about the dramas and complexities of my life than most people did. I love experiencing solo travel this way, knowing that I have friends scattered across the world.
The hills are alive with the sound of music!
Salzburg is one of, if not the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen. Its Baroque-style churches and cream-colored buildings are seen from the scenic river walkway with the mountains not far behind. I explored the city on foot and through a guided Sound of Music tour, learning fun facts about the city along the way (like how Red Bull is headquartered there and Mozart grew up in the city). I took a day trip to the mountain town Hallstatt where I discovered that sometimes the most Instagrammable spots are not worth visiting: it was brimming with tourists and had little to do beyond take photos of the “photo-worthy” spot (which is literally marked on the map as “Scenic Viewpoint”). Back in Salzburg, I closed out my time in Austria with a walk around Johanna’s neighborhood that resembled “the hills” where Julia Andrews danced, and I reflected on how grateful I was to be in this dreamy European city.
Salzburg at night
The final stop on my tour was Amsterdam, which has long been a favorite spot of mine. I was there to meet up with my dear friend and travel companion Eleri for our shared birthday weekend. It doesn’t really matter what I’m doing with Eleri, because we always have a good time. We somewhat hilariously confused the Van Gogh Rembrandt Museum (which provides a trendy, modern light show) with the actual museum, so we had a running bit about how I was cursed to never see Van Gogh (because all my previous attempts of doing so had failed). But we were successful at riding bikes around Dutch tulip fields and finding the most delicious tapas restaurant I’d ever been to (I had tuna and burrata cheese, sweet potato fries with truffle mayo, and roasted cauliflower). On Friday night we went to an English storytelling night, which was highly entertaining, and on Easter Sunday we attended an English mass before going our separate ways, and then, after a surprising turn of events, I did make it into the Van Gogh Museum. It was a birthday miracle.
Eleri and I riding bikes around Keukenhof’s tulip fields
When I arrived back in Bournemouth, I had less than two weeks left in the country. I spent my time doing all of my “lasts”: last run club, last fiddle lesson, last workshop, last jam night, last youth group. I bade tender farewells to my closest friends and threw a wrap-party / fundraiser night for The Story Work’s. This included a presentation recapping the work we’ve done this year followed by live music and poetry readings (by yours truly and three fellow volunteers). The volunteers even surprised me with my very own illustrated Story Works booklet, written about my life but if nine year-olds wrote it. Overall, I felt so celebrated and valued that night, and I’m more proud than ever of the work our charity is doing and has done.
The Story Works team at our end-of-year celebration
Oh, I also ran a marathon in Shakespeare’s hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon!
Until next time,
Elisabeth