On Wednesday, I met up with one of my friends, Alice, and we went to a quaint café hidden in one of the narrow alleys in the Altstadt. It had been two years since I'd visited, first having gone for a "pastry testing" seminar back in 2011. It's several hundred years old, and has maybe 8 tables inside, surrounding the counter stocked with delectable homemade cakes, pastries, cookies, and chocolate. We shared a table in the corner for over an hour, just chatting away. The gang had plans to meet up for drinks later that night, so instead of parting ways for a bit, I invited her over to my shoe box of a room for dinner. After making the last batch of Antonio's pasta from his shop around the corner together, we headed over to Steinterrasse, a rooftop bar on the river that offers spectacular views of the city across the way. This was one of the first places in Salzburg we went to back in October, so it sort of seemed like coming full circle near the end.
Thursday was a busy day of shopping and prepping for the big "Abschiedsessen" (farewell dinner) we were throwing for our departing friends. I sort of took the reins in planning the party, so I suggested a menu of what I know how to cook - Italian - and the proposal was decided upon as soon as I mentioned it! For antipasti we had roasted red peppers, marinated green olives with orange zest, fennel, and parsley, crostini with bruschetta, a plate of ham and salami, fresh mozzarella with fresh basil and a balsamic reduction, and my grandmother's recipe for bambini, which are a little pastry stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, pecorino romano, and a slice of pepperoni, all of which was homemade! The sauce cooked for about 5 hours, and we had pasta a few hours into the party. The girls made all sorts of cakes and cookies for dessert, too. We cooked for 14 people, and it was my first time making a big meal like that, so I'm so happy it went over well, but now I can totally appreciate why my mom is so tired after making the holiday meal! We spent the night talking and playing games, and it was a lot of fun.
Friday was the last night we'd have together, and we did it the only way one can do it in Salzburg - with some of us dressed in Tracht, we hit perhaps our favorite place in town, Augustinerbräu. We claimed a big table in one of the airy halls, and we all brought our dinner a la picnic (which you can do), and had a wonderful time together over good beer, with lots of fun card games, and it was just great to be all together one last time. Most of the gang left once Augustiner closed at 11, but of few of us weren't ready to call it a night, so we walked across the river to a little place for a few drinks. We left around 2:30am, and then it started to get hard, saying bye to each of them in turn. Alice was had to walk the other way, so we said our farewell first, and then within five minutes, the other Alice, Rachel, and lastly Cecilia.
I guess that I was so tired that night that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, but when I woke up in the morning, I felt it. Something like an emptiness. "Now what do I do?," I thought to myself. I won't lie, I had a few tears race down my cheek throughout the day, and I know I'll have to strengthen the friendships I have here to get to that level of comfort I enjoyed with my friends who've just left, but, as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once penned, "The tender friendships that one gives up, on parting, leave their bite on the heart, but also a curious feeling of a treasure somewhere buried," and in that, I find great comfort. I had the time of my life with these special people, three of them in particular, and I will carry the memories we share forever, and I know that our friendship will live beyond our time together here in Austria. I miss them terribly, and I'll wish they could see this place in spring in all its grandeur, but on the bright side, I now have friends in some really cool places around Europe that I could visit! In this neck of the woods, people don't say "goodbye," but rather, "auf Wiederschauen," which means, "until we see each other again." I like saying that a lot more than "goodbye," especially in this case.
I've thought a lot about life's experiences since they've gone, and I've come to the same conclusion over and over again - without the people to make life beautiful, being here in this city, as magnificent as it is, wouldn't be nearly enjoyable. It's the people that touch you, who add special meaning to adventures, and to whom you look back when remembering the past. It's the people that forever change you, and leave their indelible mark on your soul. How wonderful a gift, to have been blessed with the friendship of amazing individuals. Even if I leave this experience with nothing else, I will walk away having forged three friendships, and you know what, I can hardly contain how great a feeling that is.
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| Alice, Alice, myself, Cecilia, and Rachel - Augustinerbräu. |
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