Wow, I just realized that it has been a while since I wrote my last post! I have been extremely busy during the last 4 weeks of the second semester with some intense upper division classes, a trip to Budapest, life at the UP Center, and a five day visit/weekend trip to Vienna with my parents. I may be loving the Austrian lifestyle, but I'm still in college, so no matter where I'm studying in the world, I'm going to experience the same old stressful classes and sleep deprivation like any ordinary college student. This semester I'm taking Fine Arts, Music, Metaphysics, and Theology (Christian Faith in Europe), and German- basically the same classes I took last year, but this time ALL upper division, except for German, which is a 200-level class. Again, this is a semester to get most of my core requirement classes under my belt so that when I go back to UP next fall, I will be able to work focus on my major and minors (classes that I actually enjoy and find interesting!). Oh, and did I mention that I have finally settled on a major? I'm proud to say that I'm now officially an English major and German and Music minor. I know I've said that I do believe it's crucial for one to speak a second language, but it's not obligatory that one must earn a degree in a foreign language. As long as you know enough vocabulary, verbs, and are able to understand a foreign language, then you will be in good shape. But, really, it's no required that all need to get a a master's or Ph.D in a foreign language, but if you want to go ahead. I think it'd be silly to stop speaking and taking German since I've been living in a German-speaking country for the past five months; especially since my speaking and comprehension of the language has gradually improved! And besides, since I'm now only a German minor, I only have to take one German class each semester. This way, I will be able to enjoy the language more and not have worry about taking the GED of foreign language fluency exams.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Budapest, Hungary for the weekend. It was a very beautiful and interesting city full of rich architecture, bridges, baths, markets, and lots of cheap food. The city is separated by the Danube River; one side known as "Buda" and the other side known as "Pest" and what do you know they just put those two words into one! We spent most of the time walking around (that was A LOT of walking we did) and seeing all of the historic landmarks, churches, and palaces. The city lights were so beautiful. I could see that Budapest had a lot of similar characteristics with Prague as in architecture, and style. One thing that I really did like was this huge indoor market they have. It had all kinds of food, such as fruits, vegetables, bread, meats, and cheeses as well as a bunch of Hungarian style clothing, tea clothes, dolls, etc. It was really cool and yet another great cultural experience. And best of all, were the Turkish Baths. It was freezing cold outside and the warmest bath was 37 degrees Celsius, which felt very nice and very relaxing. The bath we went to also had a spa where you could get a massages, manicure, pedicure, facial, etc, but sadly couldn't really fit it in on a college student's budget.
On February 1st, I went to the Salzburg Airport to meet my parents, who came halfway across the world just to see me- and have the chance to see Europe of course. It was a dramatic and somewhat emotional moment (mostly for my mom) because it was the first time they had seen me in five months. It was their first visit to Europe so they really didn't handle the whole jetleg thing very well (as I figured) and were just exhausted for the first two days. Of course, I did most of the speaking and leading them around. First, I showed them around the Center (where I've been living for the past 5 months) and they were amazed how nice my dorm is. Well true, compared to most other dorms, I've gotta say they are pretty nice. Sadly I had to go to class that afternoon and had to cut my tour short. The next day, we went out to lunch and then I showed them around Altstadt. I showed them around Linzergasse, Residence Square, The Dome, and all the magnificent views. I tried to take them up to the Fortress, but sadly the tram to get up there was under repaire. Again, I had class that afternoon and had to run back to the Center. Thursday, I got to spend more time with them since I'm done with class by noon that day and for the 39 of us Salzburger's, Thursday is Friday for us. Once, again we went out to lunch and then we went on the Sound of Music tour, which was very entertaining. The tour took us to all of the locations where they filmed the Sound of Music. It was so surreal for me being that this classic and internationally known film was (and still is) my all time favorite as a child, which I would watch continuously over and over again, and here I'm now living in the actually town. Our tour guide had a very good sense of humor, which made the tour more interesting. The tour was four hours long, but totally worth it as it took us out to the Salzgammergut Lake District and I was worried I wouldn't have time to have my parents see it. No matter the weather conditions, the lakes, mountains, and green hills are amazingly gorgeous!
On Friday morning, we set off to spend the weekend in Vienna. Since I had already been there twice, I ended up playing my parent's all time "Vienna Tour Guide" since I'm quite familiar with the city. We stayed at the very same hotel that my group and I stayed in the first time I went to Vienna as a junior in high school, which brought back many fond memories of my first visit to Europe. The first day I mostly showed them around Ringstrasse and the Innerstadt (Ring Street- street that circles around the inner city). The next day we went on a bus tour of the city. For the third time, I got to visit the beautiful Schonbrunn Palace. I was happy to show my parents one of my favorite places in the world, but unfortunately the weather was very windy, which limited our time in the gardens. Otherwise, we had a nice tour and my parents really enjoyed it. The best part of the weekend was going back to the Volksoper (yes, for the third time!) to see the opera Carmen. Not to make anyone jealous, but this was my second time to see Carmen at the Volksoper. This time was better though. Our seats were right in the middle of the second row, which gave us an excellent view of the stage and the orchestra. Carmen is my all time favorite opera. I just find the music so immersing and touching. There were many times I wanted to start singing, especially when Carmen sing "Habanerra" But, the whole thing was just amazing and I loved absolutely every bit of! Afterward, we went across the street for some Sacher Torte (a traditional Austrian chocolate cake that's very rich and melts in your mouth) and some very fine Austrian wine. What a way to end the weekend with my parents. The next morning we had to say our goodbyes as I headed back to Salzburg and they headed off to spend a week in Italy. I'm so thankful that they got to have the opportunity to come visit Europe and see what an enriching and fascinating part of the world it is.
Well, I have my midterm exams next week and a week from today, my group and I will be embarking on our three week long tour of Greece and Italy. I've heard from many past Salzburgers that it is the highlight of the year. I would have to believe them since the tour includes a visit to Athens, Pompeii, Pisa, Florence, Assisi, and Rome. Ha! This is one of the reasons I applied for this program. When will I ever have the opportunity to go on such an extraordinary tour like this? I have absolutely no idea! But I'm so grateful for all the tours and and experiences this year abroad is giving me. It sure is opening up my eyes to the world. Now I just need to get through this busy week of exams and before I know it I will be standing on the Acropolis in Athens!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain
Vienna, Munich, Innsbruck, Prague, Ulm., Strasboug, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Barcelona, Madrid.......4 months abroad and 8 countries visited and now my time here in Salzburg is halfway over. NOOOOOO....... how could this be? But wait, I still have 4 months left here. Just enought time to still visit Berlin, Zurich, Coppenhagen, Budapest, and Dublin, as well as Rome and Athens, but luckily those two cities are included in our three-week tour of Greece and Italy in the spring. Well, these are all of the places I hope to visit at some point next semester (the next 4 months of my year abroad). Aside from classses, I really want to get the best out of my time here abroad and travel to all of these places before I come home in May. I have absolutely no idea when or if I will ever get to go back to Europe someday so my advice is to just "take advantage and go out and explore, dream, and discover!" like Mark Twain expresses in the quote of his I have posted here on my blog. Our spring semester begins this coming Monday, January 10th. This semester, I'm taking German, Fine Arts, Music, Philosophy, and Theology- again, all core requirement classes, but this time harder. Now that I have an idea on how the classes are here, I'm being very optimistic about next semester as I try to balance out 13 credits and travel to the rest of the European cities/countries on my travel list. I think I can manage.
I began my new year in Spain. My friend and I left Salzburg on the morning of the 1st via train to Munich and flew from there to Barcelona. We spent the first two days in Barcelona, which I've got to say is pretty much all of the cities of California smashed into one big city (i.e. San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, etc). But it was absolutely beautiful. The weather was just perfect and it was nice to get out of the freezing cold snow. Barcelona has a big pier with a mall witha huge marina and beautiful beach with lots and lots of palm trees. I swear that I took at least 20 different pictures of just palm trees. The main steet of Barcelona is calles Las Ramblas, which is basically a market where craftmakers sell their work and where you can buy souvenirs, have dinner, and such. It was really neat, but crowded. Our second day there we just visited museums and saw all the sites that one of out Lonely Planet travel books told us to do. We first walked to the Gothic section of town where we saw some beautiful churches and cathedrals and visited a couple of interesting museums that we free. It was Sunday so I got a chance to see a part of a service (Catholic service of course). We just so happened to enter the Cathedral when the priest was giving his sermon, which sadly, I could not understand at all since I don't speak Spanish. But still, it was a cool experience. So far I have see a service in German, French, and now Spanish- pretty good for my label as "Daughter of the Deacon." My mother, an Episcopal Deacon, would be proud! That afternoon, we went to the Guell Park, which is a park up on the hill that looks over the cirty. It was established by Eusebi Güell who wanted to create a stylish park for Barcelona aristocracy. It's basically the Santa Cruz-like area of Barcelona that totally reminded me of PT due to its unique beauty and mass load of tourists. The park had some amazing views of the city and really cool stone structures and statues, including a lizard that's mostly made up of colorful stone tile. Otherwise, this park was well worth the visit and the endless hills we had to climb.
Out of all the three places we visited in Spain, I think Barcelona was my favorite because it was the warmest and had the beach and palm trees. And I've got to say I was really excited to see a real body of water and port, which reminded me more of home and what I grew up around. And I also had the best Paella ever. If you don't know what Paella is, it is a popular Spanish dish with rice and vegetables and is usually served with seafood or chicken. I learned about several other varieties of Paella on this trip, such as Paellas with noodles or black beans and even beef. The kind I had was a seafood Paella with shirmp, mussels, and calamari. The funny thing was that the shrimp still had eyes. If you are friends with me on Facebook, look for it in my pictures. But still, it was all great.
In between our visit to Barcelona and Madrid, we wanted to take the train up to San Sebastian for a few hours, which we had heard is a popular and touristy becach town in northern Spain. Unfortunately the train only went to a town called Bilboa, about an hour outside of San Sebastian. We figured that if we tried to take a bus from Bilboa to San Sebastian that we wouldn't have enough time to look around there so we just decided to stay put in Bilboa and have lunch and walk around for a couple of hours before I train to Madrid. It was a nice little town, similar to Salzburg with a new part and an old part separated by a river. After walking around and looking for about two hours, we hoped back on the train to Madrid. Our train left pretty late in the afternoon and we didn't arrive Madrid until 10:30pm. Since none of us had never been to Madrid before, we kind of got lost trying to look for our hostel, but luckily we found it. The next day we walked around a lot seeing all the popular and famoud landmarks of Madrid. We stopped at this market place thing that sold a bunch of beauiful jewelry, scarves, hats, etc. I bought a bracelet with pearl beads and a scarf. I was happy looking at all the jewelry and everything until I walke under a tree and felt something splatter on my favorite red coat from S. Oliver. Yep, you can probably guess.....bird crap! After growing up in Port Townsend with lots of seagulls, crows, pigeons, and other birds, I had to be splattered on in Madrid wearing my favorite coat!!!! Well, luckily there was a McDonald's across the street so I was able to wash it all off in the restroom sink. So we continued on and there was no permanent damages to my coat after all, but still.....GROOOOSSSSSSS!!! After that little incdient we walked around the Botanical Gardens, which were really cool, even at the beginning of January. It was like being in a jungle and best of all there were cats there and one looked like a (much) smaller version of my cat Rio. Madrid was where I got to experience most of the wonderful food, such as a (real) Spanish tortilla, which is really thick and contains less cheese and Churros dipped in hot chocolate, mmmmm. The next day in Spain, we went to the Museo del Prado, which is like a smaller version of the Louvre. They just so happened to be having a temporary Renior exhibition which we got to see while we were there. After taking a semester of art history here in Salzburg from an amazing woman, Frau Dr. Loos, who is a retired art museum curator, I'm able to apply and recognice the things I have learned from that class and continue to appreciate art as well. Then we went to the Reina Sofia, the Museum of Modern Art in Madrid, which had some very interesting displays and was, again, very Port Townsend-esque, obviously.
Spain was a lovely place to conclude my Christmas break and it was good to get away from the freezing cold and snowy climate of Salzburg. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Salzburg, but it does get pretty cold here. As a matter of fact, I think that Salzburg is the most perfect town for me. I don't feel isolated at all like I do in PT. I can walk a few blocks to the grocery store, train station, and it takes about ten minutes for me to walk from the Center to Alstadt where all the great shopping is. Plus, I can also hop on a bus at the train station that can take me directly to the airport, Ikea, or Europark (a humungous mall on the outskirt of Salzburg). I just feel like I have access to EVERYTHING here, except sailing. I really really really like it here, but I will have to come home in May as will need to get a job in order to earn all the money back I spent to have all of these advenures until I go back to Portland in the middle of August. Oh well, it will be nice to have four months to relax and recuperate after spending eight months abroad in a foreign country and see all my peeps back in PT.
So here's to a new semester with even better and more exciting adventures. I hope to savour every moment from here on out as I continue to explore, dream, and discover.
I began my new year in Spain. My friend and I left Salzburg on the morning of the 1st via train to Munich and flew from there to Barcelona. We spent the first two days in Barcelona, which I've got to say is pretty much all of the cities of California smashed into one big city (i.e. San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, etc). But it was absolutely beautiful. The weather was just perfect and it was nice to get out of the freezing cold snow. Barcelona has a big pier with a mall witha huge marina and beautiful beach with lots and lots of palm trees. I swear that I took at least 20 different pictures of just palm trees. The main steet of Barcelona is calles Las Ramblas, which is basically a market where craftmakers sell their work and where you can buy souvenirs, have dinner, and such. It was really neat, but crowded. Our second day there we just visited museums and saw all the sites that one of out Lonely Planet travel books told us to do. We first walked to the Gothic section of town where we saw some beautiful churches and cathedrals and visited a couple of interesting museums that we free. It was Sunday so I got a chance to see a part of a service (Catholic service of course). We just so happened to enter the Cathedral when the priest was giving his sermon, which sadly, I could not understand at all since I don't speak Spanish. But still, it was a cool experience. So far I have see a service in German, French, and now Spanish- pretty good for my label as "Daughter of the Deacon." My mother, an Episcopal Deacon, would be proud! That afternoon, we went to the Guell Park, which is a park up on the hill that looks over the cirty. It was established by Eusebi Güell who wanted to create a stylish park for Barcelona aristocracy. It's basically the Santa Cruz-like area of Barcelona that totally reminded me of PT due to its unique beauty and mass load of tourists. The park had some amazing views of the city and really cool stone structures and statues, including a lizard that's mostly made up of colorful stone tile. Otherwise, this park was well worth the visit and the endless hills we had to climb.
Out of all the three places we visited in Spain, I think Barcelona was my favorite because it was the warmest and had the beach and palm trees. And I've got to say I was really excited to see a real body of water and port, which reminded me more of home and what I grew up around. And I also had the best Paella ever. If you don't know what Paella is, it is a popular Spanish dish with rice and vegetables and is usually served with seafood or chicken. I learned about several other varieties of Paella on this trip, such as Paellas with noodles or black beans and even beef. The kind I had was a seafood Paella with shirmp, mussels, and calamari. The funny thing was that the shrimp still had eyes. If you are friends with me on Facebook, look for it in my pictures. But still, it was all great.
In between our visit to Barcelona and Madrid, we wanted to take the train up to San Sebastian for a few hours, which we had heard is a popular and touristy becach town in northern Spain. Unfortunately the train only went to a town called Bilboa, about an hour outside of San Sebastian. We figured that if we tried to take a bus from Bilboa to San Sebastian that we wouldn't have enough time to look around there so we just decided to stay put in Bilboa and have lunch and walk around for a couple of hours before I train to Madrid. It was a nice little town, similar to Salzburg with a new part and an old part separated by a river. After walking around and looking for about two hours, we hoped back on the train to Madrid. Our train left pretty late in the afternoon and we didn't arrive Madrid until 10:30pm. Since none of us had never been to Madrid before, we kind of got lost trying to look for our hostel, but luckily we found it. The next day we walked around a lot seeing all the popular and famoud landmarks of Madrid. We stopped at this market place thing that sold a bunch of beauiful jewelry, scarves, hats, etc. I bought a bracelet with pearl beads and a scarf. I was happy looking at all the jewelry and everything until I walke under a tree and felt something splatter on my favorite red coat from S. Oliver. Yep, you can probably guess.....bird crap! After growing up in Port Townsend with lots of seagulls, crows, pigeons, and other birds, I had to be splattered on in Madrid wearing my favorite coat!!!! Well, luckily there was a McDonald's across the street so I was able to wash it all off in the restroom sink. So we continued on and there was no permanent damages to my coat after all, but still.....GROOOOSSSSSSS!!! After that little incdient we walked around the Botanical Gardens, which were really cool, even at the beginning of January. It was like being in a jungle and best of all there were cats there and one looked like a (much) smaller version of my cat Rio. Madrid was where I got to experience most of the wonderful food, such as a (real) Spanish tortilla, which is really thick and contains less cheese and Churros dipped in hot chocolate, mmmmm. The next day in Spain, we went to the Museo del Prado, which is like a smaller version of the Louvre. They just so happened to be having a temporary Renior exhibition which we got to see while we were there. After taking a semester of art history here in Salzburg from an amazing woman, Frau Dr. Loos, who is a retired art museum curator, I'm able to apply and recognice the things I have learned from that class and continue to appreciate art as well. Then we went to the Reina Sofia, the Museum of Modern Art in Madrid, which had some very interesting displays and was, again, very Port Townsend-esque, obviously.
Spain was a lovely place to conclude my Christmas break and it was good to get away from the freezing cold and snowy climate of Salzburg. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Salzburg, but it does get pretty cold here. As a matter of fact, I think that Salzburg is the most perfect town for me. I don't feel isolated at all like I do in PT. I can walk a few blocks to the grocery store, train station, and it takes about ten minutes for me to walk from the Center to Alstadt where all the great shopping is. Plus, I can also hop on a bus at the train station that can take me directly to the airport, Ikea, or Europark (a humungous mall on the outskirt of Salzburg). I just feel like I have access to EVERYTHING here, except sailing. I really really really like it here, but I will have to come home in May as will need to get a job in order to earn all the money back I spent to have all of these advenures until I go back to Portland in the middle of August. Oh well, it will be nice to have four months to relax and recuperate after spending eight months abroad in a foreign country and see all my peeps back in PT.
So here's to a new semester with even better and more exciting adventures. I hope to savour every moment from here on out as I continue to explore, dream, and discover.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
London...Wasn't It Loverly
Well, sadly but true, the first five days of my Christmas break didn’t go exactly the way I was hoping they would. I've got to say that this was the most epic adventure of my life. I had quite a few incredible experiences and learned many valuable lessons. Life Lesson #15 I learned on this adventure: Nothing is perfect, no matter how much of a perfectionist you are (like me, unfortunately) and that things don't always go the way as planned. So here’s my sad/turned out to be happy story in a nutshell:
My cousin Glenna arrived in Salzburg on Tuesday night during finals week. The plan was for us to leave Salzburg early Friday morning and take the train from there to Munich. Since we have been having loads of snowy weather here in Salzburg for the past two weeks, our train was extremely late. So we were waiting at the Salzburg train station for about 2 hours until our train finally came. The train ride from Salzburg to Munich takes around 2 hours, but since our train was so late, we arrived Munich quite late. The flight we were going to catch to Dublin was actually flying out of Memmingen, which is about 2 hours outside of Munich, so we had to change trains in Munich to get all the way out to Memmingen. This is the part when we knew for sure we were definitely screwed! Instead of two hours, this train ride from Munich to Memmingen took us well over 4 hours. The whole way it was snowing like crazy, so, yeah, we definitely missed our flight to Dublin. It was late in the afternoon, so there was nothing else flying out of Memmingen, but we did notice that there was a flight to London the next morning. So we just thought we might as well go spend a few extra days in London and just get a hostel for four nights before my Aunt Marge and cousin Ann got there. After a long and exhausting day of traveling, we got a cheap hotel room in Memmingen above a German Gasthaus (restaurant) that was in a totally red German-style A-frame-ish shaped building. The next day, we went back to the airport, checked in, went through security, customs, and waited in the terminal for an hour until we learned that our flight had been canceled due to the mass snow in London. Here we were really screwed and had to come up with a plan C, so we took a bus from the airport back the Munich train station. Since the snow was so bad, we just decided to give up on planes and trains and decided to take the bus to London. That would mean going through the Chunnel, which I had always wanted to experience doing, but honestly, it was not exciting at all. The bus didn’t leave until Monday, the 20th in the late afternoon, so we got a hostel for two nights in Munich and spent two days exploring the city. I’ve been wanting to explore more of Munich, so it was okay. We tried to make the best out of it. We went to the Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas Market), did some shopping, went to a Medieval Market (totally reminded me of PT!), ate some of the traditional German wurst, had awesome Indian food, and went on a historic tour of the city. So, yeah, I'd say we made the best out of it, although I was really dissappointed that I didn't get to go to Ireland. But heck with it! I'm still here for 5 more months! Alles gute!
Trying to get to London through the snow was very challenging. Going through the Chunnel was something I thought I would never get to experience doing. The entire bus ride from Munich to London took 24 hours. It left Munich at a quarted the 6:00 in the evening. Luckily I slept most of the way, which was a really good thing since I hadn't had much sleep since the beiginning of finals week. We arrived to the Chunnel the next morning. To take the Chunnel, you have to go through A LOT of security. If you are taking the Chunnel by bus, everyone is required to get off with all of their luggage, go through French customs, get their baggage X-rayed, and then get back on the bus. It was a pain since I was really tired and my suitcase was somewhat heavy. But after that, there's more. When we got back on the bus, we had to get off the bus again (but without our bags thank God) and go through British customs. It makes sense why both the French and the British would have such high security at the Chunnel, but still it was a hassle and very exhausting.
We arrived in London the day before my Aunt Marge and Ann got there, so we got a hotel near Victoria Station. We had some good Turkish food for dinner that night and then went back to the hotel and crashed. 24 hour-long bus ride= EXHAUSTING! The next morning we went for a nice walk through Kennsington Park. It was so nice not to be rushing to get anywhere or carrying heavy bags. We were just able to walk through and absorb the beautiful nature of Kennsington Park. My favorite part in the park (and all of London) is the bronze statue of Peter Pan. As an English major, of coure, I've thought of so many differnent interpretations of James Matthew Barrie's renowned play of the boy who refused to grow up. I wish I didn't have to grow up! London was absolutely beautiful. All of its archtecture, scenary, and history are all so fascinating. Walking the streets of London made me feel like I was in scene from Mary Poppins- and I was constantly humming songs from the movie, too. The next day we went on a tour around London on a double-decker bus where got to see all the famous landmarks of the city such as Big Ben, Parliment, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, etc. That night we went to the stage performance of Dirty Dancing, which was absolutely amazing!
It was absolutely wonderful being in London for Christmas, but VERY different from what I'm used to. I was happy to spend it with family, but it was a little strange not to be celebrating Christmas with my parents. Our Christmas was very simple. On Christmas Eve, we went to Harrods, which is a humungous department store with pretty much everything you can imagine- designers clothes, perfume, make-up, electronics, toys, appliances, you name it they've got it! Then Glenna and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollow. We spent all Christmas Day in our nice little town-house-like hotel that had a kitchen. We made crepes for Christmas breakfast, opened stockings and presents, listened to music, watched movies, and had a nice and simple dinner. Although I did miss my parents and friends back home, this was the most relaxing Christmas I had ever had.
After all what I had been through trying to get to London, I was really happy to get back to Salzburg. My flight left London precisely on time and returned back to Salzburg safe and and sound. I'm here in beautiful Salzburg for the next four days until I leave for Spain on New Years Day. Better use these days to catch up on sleep! Happy New Year!
My cousin Glenna arrived in Salzburg on Tuesday night during finals week. The plan was for us to leave Salzburg early Friday morning and take the train from there to Munich. Since we have been having loads of snowy weather here in Salzburg for the past two weeks, our train was extremely late. So we were waiting at the Salzburg train station for about 2 hours until our train finally came. The train ride from Salzburg to Munich takes around 2 hours, but since our train was so late, we arrived Munich quite late. The flight we were going to catch to Dublin was actually flying out of Memmingen, which is about 2 hours outside of Munich, so we had to change trains in Munich to get all the way out to Memmingen. This is the part when we knew for sure we were definitely screwed! Instead of two hours, this train ride from Munich to Memmingen took us well over 4 hours. The whole way it was snowing like crazy, so, yeah, we definitely missed our flight to Dublin. It was late in the afternoon, so there was nothing else flying out of Memmingen, but we did notice that there was a flight to London the next morning. So we just thought we might as well go spend a few extra days in London and just get a hostel for four nights before my Aunt Marge and cousin Ann got there. After a long and exhausting day of traveling, we got a cheap hotel room in Memmingen above a German Gasthaus (restaurant) that was in a totally red German-style A-frame-ish shaped building. The next day, we went back to the airport, checked in, went through security, customs, and waited in the terminal for an hour until we learned that our flight had been canceled due to the mass snow in London. Here we were really screwed and had to come up with a plan C, so we took a bus from the airport back the Munich train station. Since the snow was so bad, we just decided to give up on planes and trains and decided to take the bus to London. That would mean going through the Chunnel, which I had always wanted to experience doing, but honestly, it was not exciting at all. The bus didn’t leave until Monday, the 20th in the late afternoon, so we got a hostel for two nights in Munich and spent two days exploring the city. I’ve been wanting to explore more of Munich, so it was okay. We tried to make the best out of it. We went to the Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas Market), did some shopping, went to a Medieval Market (totally reminded me of PT!), ate some of the traditional German wurst, had awesome Indian food, and went on a historic tour of the city. So, yeah, I'd say we made the best out of it, although I was really dissappointed that I didn't get to go to Ireland. But heck with it! I'm still here for 5 more months! Alles gute!
Trying to get to London through the snow was very challenging. Going through the Chunnel was something I thought I would never get to experience doing. The entire bus ride from Munich to London took 24 hours. It left Munich at a quarted the 6:00 in the evening. Luckily I slept most of the way, which was a really good thing since I hadn't had much sleep since the beiginning of finals week. We arrived to the Chunnel the next morning. To take the Chunnel, you have to go through A LOT of security. If you are taking the Chunnel by bus, everyone is required to get off with all of their luggage, go through French customs, get their baggage X-rayed, and then get back on the bus. It was a pain since I was really tired and my suitcase was somewhat heavy. But after that, there's more. When we got back on the bus, we had to get off the bus again (but without our bags thank God) and go through British customs. It makes sense why both the French and the British would have such high security at the Chunnel, but still it was a hassle and very exhausting.
We arrived in London the day before my Aunt Marge and Ann got there, so we got a hotel near Victoria Station. We had some good Turkish food for dinner that night and then went back to the hotel and crashed. 24 hour-long bus ride= EXHAUSTING! The next morning we went for a nice walk through Kennsington Park. It was so nice not to be rushing to get anywhere or carrying heavy bags. We were just able to walk through and absorb the beautiful nature of Kennsington Park. My favorite part in the park (and all of London) is the bronze statue of Peter Pan. As an English major, of coure, I've thought of so many differnent interpretations of James Matthew Barrie's renowned play of the boy who refused to grow up. I wish I didn't have to grow up! London was absolutely beautiful. All of its archtecture, scenary, and history are all so fascinating. Walking the streets of London made me feel like I was in scene from Mary Poppins- and I was constantly humming songs from the movie, too. The next day we went on a tour around London on a double-decker bus where got to see all the famous landmarks of the city such as Big Ben, Parliment, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, etc. That night we went to the stage performance of Dirty Dancing, which was absolutely amazing!
It was absolutely wonderful being in London for Christmas, but VERY different from what I'm used to. I was happy to spend it with family, but it was a little strange not to be celebrating Christmas with my parents. Our Christmas was very simple. On Christmas Eve, we went to Harrods, which is a humungous department store with pretty much everything you can imagine- designers clothes, perfume, make-up, electronics, toys, appliances, you name it they've got it! Then Glenna and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollow. We spent all Christmas Day in our nice little town-house-like hotel that had a kitchen. We made crepes for Christmas breakfast, opened stockings and presents, listened to music, watched movies, and had a nice and simple dinner. Although I did miss my parents and friends back home, this was the most relaxing Christmas I had ever had.
After all what I had been through trying to get to London, I was really happy to get back to Salzburg. My flight left London precisely on time and returned back to Salzburg safe and and sound. I'm here in beautiful Salzburg for the next four days until I leave for Spain on New Years Day. Better use these days to catch up on sleep! Happy New Year!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Semester Done, Dublin and London Here I Come!
Whew, I made it! Wow, I'm halfway done with my sophomore year of college, if you can believe it! I have had so many incredible and life-changing experiences these past 4 months, and it's not even over yet! There are still many places I need to go visit before my time up is here. In three weeks, Ireland, England, and Spain will be checked off my list and then I get to travel a lot around Greece and Italy on my spring tour. I'm planning to get a lot more traveling in this next semester because I have absolutely no idea when, or if, I'll get to come back to Europe someday, so I really want to take advantage of travelling oppurtunitie this coming new year!
My final exams went okay, but I can't really say how I did until I see my results. I'll just say I think I did quite fine, after all I did pull at least 3 all-nighters last week. Crossing my fingers! Now the pressure is over and now I'm off to a wonderful and relaxing time in Dublin and London for two weeks. I'll come back to Salzburg for a few days, sleep, do laundry, and repack, and then my friend and I will be off to Spain on New Year's Day. We will be going to Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Madrid. It'll sure be a nice contrast in terms of weather conditions after spending 2 freezing cold weeks in the UK, that's for sure!
Wishing you all back home US, or any of you elsewhere in the world, the Happiest of Holidays!
My final exams went okay, but I can't really say how I did until I see my results. I'll just say I think I did quite fine, after all I did pull at least 3 all-nighters last week. Crossing my fingers! Now the pressure is over and now I'm off to a wonderful and relaxing time in Dublin and London for two weeks. I'll come back to Salzburg for a few days, sleep, do laundry, and repack, and then my friend and I will be off to Spain on New Year's Day. We will be going to Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Madrid. It'll sure be a nice contrast in terms of weather conditions after spending 2 freezing cold weeks in the UK, that's for sure!
Wishing you all back home US, or any of you elsewhere in the world, the Happiest of Holidays!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Two More Weeks Until Freedom!
Well, everyone, I'm drawing really close to the end of the semester here. To tell you all the truth, I couldn't be anymore excited for this semester to be over because 1) I'm so ready to be done with classes, 2) I'm excited to see my favorite cousin of all times for whom I haven't seen in a year and 5 months, and 3) I super duper and extremly stoked to visit Ireland and London. I finish finals on the 16th of December and the next day, Glenna and I will fly out of Munich to Dublin. I'm going to have three weeks of complete freedom to do and see whatever I want in Europe and not have to think about writing papers or studying for tests. Since I have my so called "three weeks of freedom," I thought it would make the most sense to travel to places that are farther away from Salzburg (i.e. Ireland, England, and Spain- which are the places I will be traveling to!). Glenna and I will spend 5 days in Dublin and hopefully tour the southern countryside of Irealnd. Then on December 22, we will fly to London and meet up to spend a week (including Christmas Day!) with her mom Ann (who is also my cousin) and my Aunt Marge (her grandma). It is going to be a Christmas to remember and I couldn't be any happier, although I do wish my parents could come spend this wonderful oppurtunity with us! But I'm just so thankful that I will be able to be with family during the holidays!
Before I embark on this wonderful two week Christmas vacation in the United Kingdom, I have a few obtacles to jump through. I have text book chapters I still need to read, projects to finish, and LOTS of studying to do! Next week is our last week of classses, which in college terms is called "DEAD WEEK." I've adjusted to the cultural and social difference here in Austria just fine, but the classes taught here and living and going to school with the same 40 people has been a really big challenge for me. I think these are to two major things that all of us have been struggling with here. But, unlike everyone else here, I'm not homesick! Don't get me wrong. I really do miss my parents, friends at UP, some special people at St. Pauls, and of course my cat, but most of you will understand that I really needed to get out of PT and actually experience the real world, which I have been doing. I have totally been learning more outside of the classroom since I've been here, no duh. To be honest, now that it's been a year and half since I graduated high school and all of my friends have moved away, I don't have anything left there except my family, St. Pauls, and precious childhood memories-that's all. Yes, these are the roots of my life and I love my real blood-related family and St. Paul's family, but seriously, this is a time for me to experience living differnent places and meeting new people. The longer I live away from Port Townsend, the more I will be able to appreciate it. Will I ever come back? Maybe I will or maybe I won't. It all depends on where life will choose to take me after my 8 months here in Salzburg. Port Townsend is the place where I was born and raised and it will always be a part of me, but now it's time to leave it all behind and go out and experience the real world, which I have absolutely been doing over here!
So please wish me best wishes and luck as I go through these next two (stressful and tiring) weeks of the semester. Before I know it I will be looking at the beautiful green fields of Ireland and I will not have school on my mind!
Before I embark on this wonderful two week Christmas vacation in the United Kingdom, I have a few obtacles to jump through. I have text book chapters I still need to read, projects to finish, and LOTS of studying to do! Next week is our last week of classses, which in college terms is called "DEAD WEEK." I've adjusted to the cultural and social difference here in Austria just fine, but the classes taught here and living and going to school with the same 40 people has been a really big challenge for me. I think these are to two major things that all of us have been struggling with here. But, unlike everyone else here, I'm not homesick! Don't get me wrong. I really do miss my parents, friends at UP, some special people at St. Pauls, and of course my cat, but most of you will understand that I really needed to get out of PT and actually experience the real world, which I have been doing. I have totally been learning more outside of the classroom since I've been here, no duh. To be honest, now that it's been a year and half since I graduated high school and all of my friends have moved away, I don't have anything left there except my family, St. Pauls, and precious childhood memories-that's all. Yes, these are the roots of my life and I love my real blood-related family and St. Paul's family, but seriously, this is a time for me to experience living differnent places and meeting new people. The longer I live away from Port Townsend, the more I will be able to appreciate it. Will I ever come back? Maybe I will or maybe I won't. It all depends on where life will choose to take me after my 8 months here in Salzburg. Port Townsend is the place where I was born and raised and it will always be a part of me, but now it's time to leave it all behind and go out and experience the real world, which I have absolutely been doing over here!
So please wish me best wishes and luck as I go through these next two (stressful and tiring) weeks of the semester. Before I know it I will be looking at the beautiful green fields of Ireland and I will not have school on my mind!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
A Time to be Thankful
So things have been really busy over here lately. Classes, excursion trips, social drama, you name it. This weekend in particular has been extremely busy. Only four more weeks until the semester is over and I will be on the plane to Ireland with my cousin Glenna. So for the time being, I'm just going to stay put in Salzburg and not travel anywhere until my three week Christmas vacation. Might as well use my four day Thanksgiving break next weekend to catch up on sleep and homework and, most importantly, save my money for a fabulous Christmas in the U.K. and then New Year's in Spain! Don't be mistaken and view this as "missing out" on my oppurtunities to travel while I'm here! I have my three week Christmas break coming up and then my three week spring tour of Italy and Greece. I'm also planning to do lots of traveling during January since it seems to be the most depressing month of the year no matter where you are in the world. Plus, I've already been to Prague, Paris, Innsbruck, Vienna, Munich, Strasbourg, Ulm, and Reims. So, I'd say I've been getting around quite a bit and there is still a lot more to come! Afterall, I am going to school here, so I still have to focus on my classes like I would back in Portland. So that's pretty much my update on life here.
Oh, and another exciting news! It looks like on the first week of Feburary, my mom and dad are coming to visit me! They are planning to arrive on February 1st. For the first few days I'll show them around Salzburg and then on the weekend we'll take the train to Vienna and I'll show them around one of my most favorite cities! After that, we will go our separate ways. I'll return to Salzburg and they will continue on with thier first visit to Europe by spending the next week in Italy. I'm so excited!
Last Friday, my group had its excursion trip to KL Mauhausen, a concentration camp outside of Linz, Austria. It was a gray and rainy day, which made our experience even more depressing. After reading and learning so much about the horrible events of the Holocaust, I gained a entirely different view from actually being there on the very site where all those terrible things took place. To get to the camp, we walked up the "Stairway of Death," which the weak and exhausted prisoners had to walk up carrying at least 40 kg. of stone. And, let me tell you, those were a lot of stairs. We entered the barracks, where lots of horrific pictures and propaganda were displayed. People were crying. I myself felt tears dwelling up in my eyes, but mostly I was crying on the inside. I just kept asking myself, "How could this happen? Why could such an evil and immoral thing like this happen?" The worst part was going into the gas chamber and crematoria. That's where I just wanted to be sick. I just don't understand why this all had to happen to such innocent people! I mean what did these people (i.e. Jews, Gypsies, Romas, etc.) do? Excuse me for what I'm about to say, but I think all these S.S. Soldiers were smoking something a little more than weed. How could they all have the courage and power to do such these terrible things?
All 40 of us learned a lot from this excursion and I think it brought us closer togerther. We all need to learn to respect one another for our differences regardless of our religions, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, or personal attributes, behaviors, and ideas. What we don't realize is that we are all different, but also so much the same. That's one major thing I have learned since I've been here. We seem to view the Europeans "so differently" compared to us Americans. Yes they don't all speak English, eat the same food, or celebrate the same holidays as we do, but they do share the same personal behaviors and attributes. People have the same kind of small talk when they go to the grocery store or clothing store with the clerks there just as onewould in America, joke around with people they know know, little kids whine to their parents, pre-teens misbehave immaturely in public, people get stressed out or cranky, people are really nice, and some people are just total jerks. See, all this stuff is normal among all of us human beings, even if we are of a different nationality, speak a different language, or have different religious and or political views. But we just need to learn how to accept and respect these differences and notice these personal attributes we share in common with each other as human beings. And that is my personal reflection after my first (and only) experience visitinig a concentration camp and my idea of what would make a more peaceful world.
To sum this post up, I would just like to list a few thing I'm greatful for now:
1.) For having this incredibly amazing oppurtunity to study abroad in this beautiful country for 8 months
2.) My wonderful family and friends
3.) Music
4.) What the future holds for me
and
5.) JUST EVERYTHING! All the great things that are happening in my life right now and the people who are currently, or have been, a part of my life!
Alles Gute!
Oh, and another exciting news! It looks like on the first week of Feburary, my mom and dad are coming to visit me! They are planning to arrive on February 1st. For the first few days I'll show them around Salzburg and then on the weekend we'll take the train to Vienna and I'll show them around one of my most favorite cities! After that, we will go our separate ways. I'll return to Salzburg and they will continue on with thier first visit to Europe by spending the next week in Italy. I'm so excited!
Last Friday, my group had its excursion trip to KL Mauhausen, a concentration camp outside of Linz, Austria. It was a gray and rainy day, which made our experience even more depressing. After reading and learning so much about the horrible events of the Holocaust, I gained a entirely different view from actually being there on the very site where all those terrible things took place. To get to the camp, we walked up the "Stairway of Death," which the weak and exhausted prisoners had to walk up carrying at least 40 kg. of stone. And, let me tell you, those were a lot of stairs. We entered the barracks, where lots of horrific pictures and propaganda were displayed. People were crying. I myself felt tears dwelling up in my eyes, but mostly I was crying on the inside. I just kept asking myself, "How could this happen? Why could such an evil and immoral thing like this happen?" The worst part was going into the gas chamber and crematoria. That's where I just wanted to be sick. I just don't understand why this all had to happen to such innocent people! I mean what did these people (i.e. Jews, Gypsies, Romas, etc.) do? Excuse me for what I'm about to say, but I think all these S.S. Soldiers were smoking something a little more than weed. How could they all have the courage and power to do such these terrible things?
All 40 of us learned a lot from this excursion and I think it brought us closer togerther. We all need to learn to respect one another for our differences regardless of our religions, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, or personal attributes, behaviors, and ideas. What we don't realize is that we are all different, but also so much the same. That's one major thing I have learned since I've been here. We seem to view the Europeans "so differently" compared to us Americans. Yes they don't all speak English, eat the same food, or celebrate the same holidays as we do, but they do share the same personal behaviors and attributes. People have the same kind of small talk when they go to the grocery store or clothing store with the clerks there just as onewould in America, joke around with people they know know, little kids whine to their parents, pre-teens misbehave immaturely in public, people get stressed out or cranky, people are really nice, and some people are just total jerks. See, all this stuff is normal among all of us human beings, even if we are of a different nationality, speak a different language, or have different religious and or political views. But we just need to learn how to accept and respect these differences and notice these personal attributes we share in common with each other as human beings. And that is my personal reflection after my first (and only) experience visitinig a concentration camp and my idea of what would make a more peaceful world.
To sum this post up, I would just like to list a few thing I'm greatful for now:
1.) For having this incredibly amazing oppurtunity to study abroad in this beautiful country for 8 months
2.) My wonderful family and friends
3.) Music
4.) What the future holds for me
and
5.) JUST EVERYTHING! All the great things that are happening in my life right now and the people who are currently, or have been, a part of my life!
Alles Gute!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Prague and Paris
Well, I survived midterms and now I can say that I'm halfway through the semester. Can't believe how fast time is flying! Speaking of which, tomorrow will mark my second month of being abroad- now that is hard to believe! I feel like I have been here for a million years now! I'm still loving it here in Salzburg and the experiences I have been having here are really helping me build confidence and stamina.
Oh where to begin.....
I went to Prague two weeks ago. It was a beautiful and a very interesting place to visit. We left Salzburg at 4:30 in the morning (not really the best time) and arrived there at around noon on Friday, October 21st. It was a lovely train ride as I got to see the apparent differences between the landscapes of Austria and the Czech Republic as we crossed the border, as well as the sun rising over the Czech countryside- what a beautiful thing to see! I also got to have my first experience staying at a hostel, which I've got to say was not as scary or dirty as I thought it was going to be. The rooms were clean and there weren't any "creepers" staying there. Actually, everyone was quite friendly. We met this guy who had to have been in his late 20's or so and was a science teacher taking a free-run sabaticle around Europe for three months. When we got there, he asked us if we were Americans and we said, "Yes," and his face totally brightened up and then he said to us, "God bless you!" It was his first time in Europe ever and that was the first time he had ever met any Americans since he had been there. He was a really nice and friendly person and it was a fun way to get to meet some new people on this trip. The next day, we just spent a lot of time sightseeing Prague. I've got to say that the food was really interesting. I ate this cookie/cake kind of thing called a Trdlnik. It's this delicious, doughy, sweet, kind of cookie that is baked on a roling pin. After it is baked, they take it off the rolling pin where it forms a spiral shape and has an oppen middle. Then sprinkle it with LOTS of powdered sugar. If you are interested in how they make it, go ahead and google it. In the downtown square, they have this neat astrological clock that rings every hour. A large crowd of tourists gather each hour to watch it ring and watch the little little saints come out of the clock tower. I was lucky enough to see it happen twice. Overall, this weekend get-away in the midst of midterms was wonderful!
And now to Paris! So much to see and do! I saw and did soooooooo much! I can definately say I'll be going back there in the spring when everything is in full bloom. I think I can say that this was the first time I was ever completely satisifed with a group tour. Our itinerary was well balanced out allowing us to see almost all the popular sites and giving us every evening free to do whatever we wanted. We left Salzburg early last Friday morning. We first stopped in Ulm, Germany (also the birthplace of Einstein) to see the world's tallest highest church tower. If you have never been there, it is a Gothic Cathedral that was built between the 14th and 19th centuries and measures up to 626 ft. What's fascinating and unique about this cathedral is that above the enterance is the "Israel Window," which reminds the Christian people of the Holocaust. Another cool thing about this cathedral are the Choir stall (you St. Paulian choir people will get a kick out of this!) Between the Nave and the Altar are wooden chairs decorated with small figures of carved oak wood in tge shape of saints, martyrs, scientists, philosophers, and most importantly, female prophets of the old testament. I'll try to post some pictures of these. And I know a perfect place under two carvings where some certain choir members (not to be named) could sit!
We spent the night in Metz, France and then visited Reims, the capital of the Champagne region of France, before we arrived Paris lat in the afternoon. It was interesting to see how champagne is made. It is stored in cellars really deep underground for many years and we got to see all 19,000 bottles that are currently stored down in the cellar. And yes, it was very good Champagne! We all got to sample a free glass at the end of our tour. ( :
We arrived in Paris on Saturday evening. It was nice because we went and checked into our hotel and then we had the whole evening free to do whatever we want. Of course, most of us went to go see the Eiffel Tower. I think my most memorable moment in Paris was seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. After all the pictures and movies I had seen the Eiffel Tower in, there I was staring at it with my own two naked eyes. It was perfect timing because it was turning dark and when it turns dark, it starts flashing lights. It was such a beautiful sight! And then when I found myslelf walking closer to this enormous steel structure and finally standing underneath it, I was like, "Whoa! I've got to be dreaming right now!" The week before, I was stressed and somewhat sleep deprived from midterms and a week later I was in the most beautiful city in the world. I couldn't have been any more happier!
The next day, we went to Notre Dame. Our visit of Notre Dame was incredible because it was a Sunday so that mean that mass was going on. I didn't attend the actual Mass service (I don't need to specify why that is), but I did get to see the acolyte, deacon, and priests proccess down the aisle, which was pretty cool. Not every Sunday you get to attend and/or see a service at Notre Dame hehehehe! Afterwards, we went to visit the Sainte Chapelle. The Sainte Chappelle was the palace chapel of the royal family and a reliquiry shrine for relics of the passion of Christ, bought by Louis IX (Louis the Pious) from the Byzantine emperor. The stained glass windows inside were so beautiful and colorful! To conclude our tours for the day, we went to visit the Musee Marmottan (Monet Art Museum). To be honest, Monet is one of my top five favorite artists, propably number four after Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Van Gough. I have always had an admiration for is paintings of landscapes. It was a wonderful, but exhausting, first day in Paris and ended nicely by going to Moulin Rouge for Halloween night.
Day 2 in Paris consisted of a tour of Fountainebleau, which was used a hunting palace during the reign of King Francis I and then Napeolean after the French Revolution. The palace and gardens are MASSIVE, but not quite as massive as Versaille. After visiting Fountainebleau, we got the rest of the day free to do whatever we wished. One of my friends and I went to the Champs Elysee where I got to do some shopping and we went to lunch at this cute little cafe with a sailboat themed setting where the waiters wore sailor hats and blue and white striped sweaters- it was darlin! I had alway imagined myself sitting on the Champs Elysee drinking a cappucino and yes, there I was doing exactly (well, almost- we weren't exactly outside) what I imagined myself doing.
The next day was out tour of Versailles. I just can't believe that someone actually lived in a place that huge! But it was absolutely beautiful. I can say that I totally liked the gardens better than the inside, especially since all the fall colors were in bloom, which made it extra gorgeous. The interior was beautiful as well, but what really annoyed me were these funky Japanese scultptures that were on display throughout the palace of Versailles, which, to me, really interfered with the whole European beauty of the Palace of Versailles. Especially since I'm not so much of a fan of modern Japanese art work. After touring the palac and gardens for a couple hours, a group of us went across the street to this really cute and very French cafe where I orderd a latte and a crepe with chocolate and caramel syrup and vanilla ice cream. It was the prettiest crepe I had ever seen and wow was it delicious!
Afterwards, we rode in our tour bus back into Paris and had a tour of the Musee Rodin, where I got to see the two famous sculptures of the "Gates of Hell" and "The Thinker." Then we went to the St. Louis Des Invlaides where I got to see the tomb of Napolean. Yet, it was another long day of tours and ended with a small group of us going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was getting dark and it was foggy, so we didn't have a very good view, but it was still worth it. At least I can now say that I've been on top of the Eiffel Tower!
Our last day in Paris conluded with a tour of the top two museums in Paris: The Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay. The Louvre was incredibly amazing and HUMUNGOUS! I felt like I was playing Da Vinci Code- another surreal moment for me. I got to see the original Mona Lisa and the Aphrodite. Since the place is so big, I didn't get to see everything unfortunately, but I was completely satisfied. I think the Musee D'Orsay was my favorite out of all the museums we went to because it's full of impressionists artwork, such as works by the artists Monet, Renoir, Van Gough, Manet, Degas, etc. What I love so much about impressionist paintings is that they consist of things from "real life." Nothing to do with religion, mythology, or imaginary creatures- it's all REAL. To me realist and impressionist paintings act as a mirrror towards our everyday lives making (or helping) us see what life really is. So I give big credit to these magnificent artists.
So that pretty much sums up what I've been doing these last two weeks. I only have 6 weeks left of Fall semester so things are still really busy here in Salzburg. Not sure where I'll be traveling to next before my three week Christmas vacation. Oh speaking of which, I will be spending my Christmas break in the United Kindom and Spain. The plan is that my cousin Glenna (who's currently serving in the Peace Corps in Benin, Africa) will come visit me in Salzburg, then we'll fly to Dublin, Ireland and spend 5 days there. Then we will fly to London and spend Christmas there with her mom (my cousin) Ann and my Aunt Marge. I'm so excited! Then I'll fly back to Salzburg for New Year's, spend a couple days there to rest and then on New Year's Day my friend and I are going to fly to Barcelona and spend the last week of Christmas break traveling between Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Madrid. Yeah, that's a lot of traveling to pack in, but it's the best oppurtunity to have since I'm here and won't have any classes to stress about. At the end of my eight months abroad, it will have all been worth it! Life is so good!!!
Oh where to begin.....
I went to Prague two weeks ago. It was a beautiful and a very interesting place to visit. We left Salzburg at 4:30 in the morning (not really the best time) and arrived there at around noon on Friday, October 21st. It was a lovely train ride as I got to see the apparent differences between the landscapes of Austria and the Czech Republic as we crossed the border, as well as the sun rising over the Czech countryside- what a beautiful thing to see! I also got to have my first experience staying at a hostel, which I've got to say was not as scary or dirty as I thought it was going to be. The rooms were clean and there weren't any "creepers" staying there. Actually, everyone was quite friendly. We met this guy who had to have been in his late 20's or so and was a science teacher taking a free-run sabaticle around Europe for three months. When we got there, he asked us if we were Americans and we said, "Yes," and his face totally brightened up and then he said to us, "God bless you!" It was his first time in Europe ever and that was the first time he had ever met any Americans since he had been there. He was a really nice and friendly person and it was a fun way to get to meet some new people on this trip. The next day, we just spent a lot of time sightseeing Prague. I've got to say that the food was really interesting. I ate this cookie/cake kind of thing called a Trdlnik. It's this delicious, doughy, sweet, kind of cookie that is baked on a roling pin. After it is baked, they take it off the rolling pin where it forms a spiral shape and has an oppen middle. Then sprinkle it with LOTS of powdered sugar. If you are interested in how they make it, go ahead and google it. In the downtown square, they have this neat astrological clock that rings every hour. A large crowd of tourists gather each hour to watch it ring and watch the little little saints come out of the clock tower. I was lucky enough to see it happen twice. Overall, this weekend get-away in the midst of midterms was wonderful!
And now to Paris! So much to see and do! I saw and did soooooooo much! I can definately say I'll be going back there in the spring when everything is in full bloom. I think I can say that this was the first time I was ever completely satisifed with a group tour. Our itinerary was well balanced out allowing us to see almost all the popular sites and giving us every evening free to do whatever we wanted. We left Salzburg early last Friday morning. We first stopped in Ulm, Germany (also the birthplace of Einstein) to see the world's tallest highest church tower. If you have never been there, it is a Gothic Cathedral that was built between the 14th and 19th centuries and measures up to 626 ft. What's fascinating and unique about this cathedral is that above the enterance is the "Israel Window," which reminds the Christian people of the Holocaust. Another cool thing about this cathedral are the Choir stall (you St. Paulian choir people will get a kick out of this!) Between the Nave and the Altar are wooden chairs decorated with small figures of carved oak wood in tge shape of saints, martyrs, scientists, philosophers, and most importantly, female prophets of the old testament. I'll try to post some pictures of these. And I know a perfect place under two carvings where some certain choir members (not to be named) could sit!
We spent the night in Metz, France and then visited Reims, the capital of the Champagne region of France, before we arrived Paris lat in the afternoon. It was interesting to see how champagne is made. It is stored in cellars really deep underground for many years and we got to see all 19,000 bottles that are currently stored down in the cellar. And yes, it was very good Champagne! We all got to sample a free glass at the end of our tour. ( :
We arrived in Paris on Saturday evening. It was nice because we went and checked into our hotel and then we had the whole evening free to do whatever we want. Of course, most of us went to go see the Eiffel Tower. I think my most memorable moment in Paris was seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. After all the pictures and movies I had seen the Eiffel Tower in, there I was staring at it with my own two naked eyes. It was perfect timing because it was turning dark and when it turns dark, it starts flashing lights. It was such a beautiful sight! And then when I found myslelf walking closer to this enormous steel structure and finally standing underneath it, I was like, "Whoa! I've got to be dreaming right now!" The week before, I was stressed and somewhat sleep deprived from midterms and a week later I was in the most beautiful city in the world. I couldn't have been any more happier!
The next day, we went to Notre Dame. Our visit of Notre Dame was incredible because it was a Sunday so that mean that mass was going on. I didn't attend the actual Mass service (I don't need to specify why that is), but I did get to see the acolyte, deacon, and priests proccess down the aisle, which was pretty cool. Not every Sunday you get to attend and/or see a service at Notre Dame hehehehe! Afterwards, we went to visit the Sainte Chapelle. The Sainte Chappelle was the palace chapel of the royal family and a reliquiry shrine for relics of the passion of Christ, bought by Louis IX (Louis the Pious) from the Byzantine emperor. The stained glass windows inside were so beautiful and colorful! To conclude our tours for the day, we went to visit the Musee Marmottan (Monet Art Museum). To be honest, Monet is one of my top five favorite artists, propably number four after Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Van Gough. I have always had an admiration for is paintings of landscapes. It was a wonderful, but exhausting, first day in Paris and ended nicely by going to Moulin Rouge for Halloween night.
Day 2 in Paris consisted of a tour of Fountainebleau, which was used a hunting palace during the reign of King Francis I and then Napeolean after the French Revolution. The palace and gardens are MASSIVE, but not quite as massive as Versaille. After visiting Fountainebleau, we got the rest of the day free to do whatever we wished. One of my friends and I went to the Champs Elysee where I got to do some shopping and we went to lunch at this cute little cafe with a sailboat themed setting where the waiters wore sailor hats and blue and white striped sweaters- it was darlin! I had alway imagined myself sitting on the Champs Elysee drinking a cappucino and yes, there I was doing exactly (well, almost- we weren't exactly outside) what I imagined myself doing.
The next day was out tour of Versailles. I just can't believe that someone actually lived in a place that huge! But it was absolutely beautiful. I can say that I totally liked the gardens better than the inside, especially since all the fall colors were in bloom, which made it extra gorgeous. The interior was beautiful as well, but what really annoyed me were these funky Japanese scultptures that were on display throughout the palace of Versailles, which, to me, really interfered with the whole European beauty of the Palace of Versailles. Especially since I'm not so much of a fan of modern Japanese art work. After touring the palac and gardens for a couple hours, a group of us went across the street to this really cute and very French cafe where I orderd a latte and a crepe with chocolate and caramel syrup and vanilla ice cream. It was the prettiest crepe I had ever seen and wow was it delicious!
Afterwards, we rode in our tour bus back into Paris and had a tour of the Musee Rodin, where I got to see the two famous sculptures of the "Gates of Hell" and "The Thinker." Then we went to the St. Louis Des Invlaides where I got to see the tomb of Napolean. Yet, it was another long day of tours and ended with a small group of us going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was getting dark and it was foggy, so we didn't have a very good view, but it was still worth it. At least I can now say that I've been on top of the Eiffel Tower!
Our last day in Paris conluded with a tour of the top two museums in Paris: The Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay. The Louvre was incredibly amazing and HUMUNGOUS! I felt like I was playing Da Vinci Code- another surreal moment for me. I got to see the original Mona Lisa and the Aphrodite. Since the place is so big, I didn't get to see everything unfortunately, but I was completely satisfied. I think the Musee D'Orsay was my favorite out of all the museums we went to because it's full of impressionists artwork, such as works by the artists Monet, Renoir, Van Gough, Manet, Degas, etc. What I love so much about impressionist paintings is that they consist of things from "real life." Nothing to do with religion, mythology, or imaginary creatures- it's all REAL. To me realist and impressionist paintings act as a mirrror towards our everyday lives making (or helping) us see what life really is. So I give big credit to these magnificent artists.
So that pretty much sums up what I've been doing these last two weeks. I only have 6 weeks left of Fall semester so things are still really busy here in Salzburg. Not sure where I'll be traveling to next before my three week Christmas vacation. Oh speaking of which, I will be spending my Christmas break in the United Kindom and Spain. The plan is that my cousin Glenna (who's currently serving in the Peace Corps in Benin, Africa) will come visit me in Salzburg, then we'll fly to Dublin, Ireland and spend 5 days there. Then we will fly to London and spend Christmas there with her mom (my cousin) Ann and my Aunt Marge. I'm so excited! Then I'll fly back to Salzburg for New Year's, spend a couple days there to rest and then on New Year's Day my friend and I are going to fly to Barcelona and spend the last week of Christmas break traveling between Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Madrid. Yeah, that's a lot of traveling to pack in, but it's the best oppurtunity to have since I'm here and won't have any classes to stress about. At the end of my eight months abroad, it will have all been worth it! Life is so good!!!
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