"Regretfully they tell us, but verbally they can tell us to say goodbye...to you. So long, farewell, auf wiedershen, good night. I hate to go and leave this pretty sight." ("So Long, Farewell", Rodgers and Hammerstein)
Hello faithful readers! In about an hour, we are going to walk to Die Weisse for our celebration dinner. As these famous Sound of Music lyrics imply, all good things must come to an end as my five week adventure here in Salzburg ends tomorrow morning. When people ask me how I feel about going home, I always tell them I have mixed feelings. Although I am excited to see my friends, sleep in my own bed with my cat, and move into my new house four days after arriving back to the US, I am sad to leave the beautiful city of Salzburg and have enjoyed my time here.
So what have I been up to the last few days? As I mentioned in my previous post, I spent the weekend here in Salzburg. Aside from working on papers, I spent a lot of time exploring the city. On Saturday, I walked down Linzergasse (a street near where I am staying), which has great shops. I bought some souvenirs and a belly button ring at a 1 euro plus (equivalent of Dollar Tree in the US) for 3.50 euros. I also visited some churches, including the famous Dom Cathedral. I have visited a lot of churches during my five weeks abroad, and I have to say that the Dom is probably one of my favorites. There is a crypt below the cathedral that may seem creepy, but it is actually pretty cool. There is a prayer room and graves of various church leaders and figures, including John the Baptist. Also, the actual cathedral is very pretty and peaceful. On Sunday, I read for my theology class and walked around the beautiful Mirabell Gardens. The flowers themselves are very colorful, and arranged beautifully. After finishing my theology final yesterday, Lauren (my theology professor's wife) and I went on our own Sound of Music tour. We did not take the "official tour" since I was the only student who signed up and it is expensive. Instead, we took the bus and walked around the countryside where I saw the gazebo where Liesel and Rolf sing "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", walked down the path where Maria sings "I Have Confidence" (the Von Trapp house is on that road, but does not look exactly how it looks in the movie), and saw the Nonnenberg Abbey.
For those of you who are curious about my culinary adventures, let me fill you in about the delicious food I have eaten. A bunch of us went out for coffee and pastries on Monday; I had a strawberry tart and an Eiskaffe. Eiskaffee is essentially Austrian iced coffee with coffee, ice cream, and whipped cream. This drink is very rich, but good. Interesting dessert fact: Austrian whipped cream is unsweetened. Yesterday we had cheese and gelato tastings. The students in the political science class bought cheeses from different regions in Europe, and we went to three different gelato places that afternoon. I have also eaten at two delicious Indian restaurants recommended to me by my friend Sara, who spent the year here in Salzy--Bella Vita (this restaurant has both Indian and Italian food) and Bio Bistro (a vegetarian Indian restaurant).
Well, this concludes my last post here in Salzburg. Thank you for reading my blog, and I hoped you enjoyed reading about my adventures as much as I enjoyed writing about them. Auf Wiedershen!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Prague and Vienna
Hello faithful readers! As promised in my previous entry about visiting Mauthausen, this week's blog entry will be a lot happier. Because I have visited two amazing places, this weeks entry will be about my travels. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of going to these two places, let me introduce you to Prague and Vienna!
Prague: Last weekend, four other people from my program and I went to Prague. The train ride on Friday was long, and we had to change trains a few times. Once I stepped off the train, I was surrounded by a lot of U.S. restaurants and stores (i.e. McDonald's, Sephora) and old buildings. After checking into our apartment, we got dinner at a nearby restaurant where I had one of the best meals I had on my trip---angel pasta with shrimp, olives, sun dried tomatoes, and olive oil. We went back to the hotel to relax and watch the Olympics and Fear Factor on TV before going to a British pub for drinks. On Saturday we met up with a friend's friend who lives about an hour outside of Prague. Two of the girls who went with us were in Prague the previous weekend, so they went to some art museums while the other two people and I made our way to the Prague castle. Unfortunately, the line was long so we decided not to wait. However, we did go into a beautiful cathedral with amazing stained glass designed by Mooka, a famous Czech artist. We walked on the famous St. Charles bridge back to Old Town, where we shopped until we met up with the other girls for dinner. The rest of my group did a pub crawl, while I went to a local wine bar for a glass of Proseco and an ice cream shop for some gelato.
Vienna: Every Wednesday my group has gone on excursions, and our last and most recent one was this lovely capital city. Because Vienna is three and a half hours outside of Salzburg, we had to leave at 6 am. Fortunately, I slept for two hours on the bus before we stopped at a rest stop for breakfast. Our first stop was the Schonbrun Palace, where Austrian rulers such as Maria Therese (Marie Antoinette's mother), Franz Josef, and Elizabeth lived. I love visiting palaces, and I'm not quite sure how Schonbrun stacks up to Versailles (I went there last year when I was in Paris), since they are both gorgeous. My one complaint was that I could not pictures inside the palace. You'll just have to imagine huge rooms, porcelin china, a huge bed...you get the picture. After visiting the palace, we went to the gardens, which are stunning. We had lunch in downtown Vienna before heading to the Jewish museum. Though we were supposed to be at the museum at 3 pm and had maps, we got lost. Our director told us where to go, but he didn't tell us that there were two Jewish museums. The first one we went to was under rennovation, and we eventually found out by asking some locals that there was a Jewish museum in Judenplatz--which our director supposedly told us not to go to! We got there a half hour late, but I didn't feel too bad about being late since the museum was not very impressive. I loved walking around Vienna and wished I could be there for more than a day--spend more time in the gardens at Schonbrun, go to the Freud museum (must do for a psychology minor!), go to the Volkstheater, and other places that I am unaware of at the moment.
I will be in Salzburg this weekend, as we have to stay here in order to study for finals. I have two papers and a final exam before I am homeward bound. My final is for my theology class, and our professor explicitly told us we do not have to study for it as long as we have been doing the readings and paying attention in class. Today I gave a presentation in that class about Anti-Semitism (or Anti-Judaism, as my professor likes to say) in the Christian Scriptures, which I rocked--I don't know my grade, but virtually EVERYONE in my class told me I did a great job. Aside from papers, my plans for this weekend are going on the Sound of Music tour and walking around Salzburg to explore the churches and shops. If the weather is nice, I am also going to go to Mirabell gardens.
Tchuss!
Prague: Last weekend, four other people from my program and I went to Prague. The train ride on Friday was long, and we had to change trains a few times. Once I stepped off the train, I was surrounded by a lot of U.S. restaurants and stores (i.e. McDonald's, Sephora) and old buildings. After checking into our apartment, we got dinner at a nearby restaurant where I had one of the best meals I had on my trip---angel pasta with shrimp, olives, sun dried tomatoes, and olive oil. We went back to the hotel to relax and watch the Olympics and Fear Factor on TV before going to a British pub for drinks. On Saturday we met up with a friend's friend who lives about an hour outside of Prague. Two of the girls who went with us were in Prague the previous weekend, so they went to some art museums while the other two people and I made our way to the Prague castle. Unfortunately, the line was long so we decided not to wait. However, we did go into a beautiful cathedral with amazing stained glass designed by Mooka, a famous Czech artist. We walked on the famous St. Charles bridge back to Old Town, where we shopped until we met up with the other girls for dinner. The rest of my group did a pub crawl, while I went to a local wine bar for a glass of Proseco and an ice cream shop for some gelato.
Vienna: Every Wednesday my group has gone on excursions, and our last and most recent one was this lovely capital city. Because Vienna is three and a half hours outside of Salzburg, we had to leave at 6 am. Fortunately, I slept for two hours on the bus before we stopped at a rest stop for breakfast. Our first stop was the Schonbrun Palace, where Austrian rulers such as Maria Therese (Marie Antoinette's mother), Franz Josef, and Elizabeth lived. I love visiting palaces, and I'm not quite sure how Schonbrun stacks up to Versailles (I went there last year when I was in Paris), since they are both gorgeous. My one complaint was that I could not pictures inside the palace. You'll just have to imagine huge rooms, porcelin china, a huge bed...you get the picture. After visiting the palace, we went to the gardens, which are stunning. We had lunch in downtown Vienna before heading to the Jewish museum. Though we were supposed to be at the museum at 3 pm and had maps, we got lost. Our director told us where to go, but he didn't tell us that there were two Jewish museums. The first one we went to was under rennovation, and we eventually found out by asking some locals that there was a Jewish museum in Judenplatz--which our director supposedly told us not to go to! We got there a half hour late, but I didn't feel too bad about being late since the museum was not very impressive. I loved walking around Vienna and wished I could be there for more than a day--spend more time in the gardens at Schonbrun, go to the Freud museum (must do for a psychology minor!), go to the Volkstheater, and other places that I am unaware of at the moment.
I will be in Salzburg this weekend, as we have to stay here in order to study for finals. I have two papers and a final exam before I am homeward bound. My final is for my theology class, and our professor explicitly told us we do not have to study for it as long as we have been doing the readings and paying attention in class. Today I gave a presentation in that class about Anti-Semitism (or Anti-Judaism, as my professor likes to say) in the Christian Scriptures, which I rocked--I don't know my grade, but virtually EVERYONE in my class told me I did a great job. Aside from papers, my plans for this weekend are going on the Sound of Music tour and walking around Salzburg to explore the churches and shops. If the weather is nice, I am also going to go to Mirabell gardens.
Tchuss!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Witnessing History and Intolerance, Up Close and Personal
If a random stranger came up to me on the street and said, "Have you seen any acts of intolerance in the last few days?", I could say, "Not directly, but yes." I say "not directly" because I did not see individuals being intolerant to one another, but I went to a place that is a pretty obvious sign of intolerance.
On Wednesday my group visited Mauthausen, the main labor camp in Austria where prisoners were worked to death. A common saying that the guards liked to tell prisoners was that "the creametorium is the way out". When we arrived, the first thing we saw was the river were prisoners were forced to push other prisoners in--those prisoners who were pushed in the water ended up drowning. We walked up the "stairway of death" where prisoners were forced to carry 100 kilos of stone on their backs. While I can say for sure that I was winded after climbing up those stairs, I could not experience the climb the way the prisoners did as I was a) not wearing wooden shoes b) not malnourished and c) not carrying 100 kilos of stone on my back. Also, the staircase was not as even then as it was when we were there. When we got to the top, we saw memorials in many different languages to commemorate the prisoners who died in the camp. We took a self guided audio tour where I saw several barracks where the prisoners lived, the gas chamber, and the cremetorium. It seemed so surreal to me that I was seeing with my own eyes something that I had been exposed to in different forms throughout my life.
Now that I have described for you all what I saw, let me share my reflections on what I saw (hence the "witnessing" and "up close and personal" parts of this entry's title). Visiting Mauthausen was quite intense, as I walked along the paths where hundreds of thousands of soldiers were harassed, beaten, and even killed. In addition to taking a theology class about the Holocaust, I have read books and seen movies about this tragic event in history. None of the Holocaust related experiences I have had--taking a class this summer, discussing it briefly in my world religions class in high school, reading Night and Man's Search for Meaning, watching The Pianist and Schindler's List (and other documentaries I have watched for my theology class), and visiting the Holocaust memorial in Paris and the Holocaust museum in London--can do justice to seeing a very sad but real place. I realized how lucky I am to be able to eat balanced meals, sleep in my own bed, not have to do heavy labor in unbearable weather, and most importantly, not worry that I am going to be killed based on my religion, sexual orientation, or social class. After all, the people who were in concentration camps were there simply based on their religion, race or social status--Jewish, Jehovah's witness, homosexual, political prisoners, Slavs, Gypsies, and people who were antisocial. It breaks my heart that people were--and still are, sadly--persecuted and killed because of their differences. Too often, minority groups are persecuted by dominant groups for the fear that the minority will overpower the majority. Perhaps certain races, religions, or social classes have or are considered "the majority", but can't we all learn to be respectful of our differences? We may or may not have control of the identifying factors I mentioned above, but at the very least, we can respect and understand them.
Sorry for the delayed update! I got back from Prague this afternoon and have been crazy busy with reading and papers for my classes. Having said that, I will try post another entry this coming week, and I PROMISE that it will be much more upbeat than this one.
On Wednesday my group visited Mauthausen, the main labor camp in Austria where prisoners were worked to death. A common saying that the guards liked to tell prisoners was that "the creametorium is the way out". When we arrived, the first thing we saw was the river were prisoners were forced to push other prisoners in--those prisoners who were pushed in the water ended up drowning. We walked up the "stairway of death" where prisoners were forced to carry 100 kilos of stone on their backs. While I can say for sure that I was winded after climbing up those stairs, I could not experience the climb the way the prisoners did as I was a) not wearing wooden shoes b) not malnourished and c) not carrying 100 kilos of stone on my back. Also, the staircase was not as even then as it was when we were there. When we got to the top, we saw memorials in many different languages to commemorate the prisoners who died in the camp. We took a self guided audio tour where I saw several barracks where the prisoners lived, the gas chamber, and the cremetorium. It seemed so surreal to me that I was seeing with my own eyes something that I had been exposed to in different forms throughout my life.
Now that I have described for you all what I saw, let me share my reflections on what I saw (hence the "witnessing" and "up close and personal" parts of this entry's title). Visiting Mauthausen was quite intense, as I walked along the paths where hundreds of thousands of soldiers were harassed, beaten, and even killed. In addition to taking a theology class about the Holocaust, I have read books and seen movies about this tragic event in history. None of the Holocaust related experiences I have had--taking a class this summer, discussing it briefly in my world religions class in high school, reading Night and Man's Search for Meaning, watching The Pianist and Schindler's List (and other documentaries I have watched for my theology class), and visiting the Holocaust memorial in Paris and the Holocaust museum in London--can do justice to seeing a very sad but real place. I realized how lucky I am to be able to eat balanced meals, sleep in my own bed, not have to do heavy labor in unbearable weather, and most importantly, not worry that I am going to be killed based on my religion, sexual orientation, or social class. After all, the people who were in concentration camps were there simply based on their religion, race or social status--Jewish, Jehovah's witness, homosexual, political prisoners, Slavs, Gypsies, and people who were antisocial. It breaks my heart that people were--and still are, sadly--persecuted and killed because of their differences. Too often, minority groups are persecuted by dominant groups for the fear that the minority will overpower the majority. Perhaps certain races, religions, or social classes have or are considered "the majority", but can't we all learn to be respectful of our differences? We may or may not have control of the identifying factors I mentioned above, but at the very least, we can respect and understand them.
Sorry for the delayed update! I got back from Prague this afternoon and have been crazy busy with reading and papers for my classes. Having said that, I will try post another entry this coming week, and I PROMISE that it will be much more upbeat than this one.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Food, Glorious Food
Hello foodies! Yesterday's excursion involved my group visiting amazing food related sites. We began the day off by taking a tour of Kasewelt (Cheese world), a cheese factory. In addition to learning about how cheese is made, we got to make our own cheese. Best of all, we got to sample four different kinds of cheese--mozzerella with pumpkin seeds, Emmental, Parmesan, and one more which I cannot remember at the moment. After visiting the factory, we had lunch at a local restaurant. We sat outside, as the weather was lovely. The only thing that would have made our meal better was if the bees were not near our food. Despite the bees being an annoyance, nobody got stung.
After picking up our homemade cheeses, we made our way to Bad Ischl, a little town about 45 minutes outside of Salzburg. We had pastries at Zauner's, a famous pastry shop in the area. I had a strawberry napoleon and a traditional Austrian iced coffee. Austrian iced coffee consists of coffee, unsweeted whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream. The drink was delicious, though having the coffee and pastry at the same time made me very full.
Many of you know that a) I am a vegetarian (pescetarian, if you want to be technical, as I do eat fish and seafood) and b) that meat is an important part of Austrian culture. Many people on my program wonder how I am adapting to a meat heavy culture. I am sure many of you reading this entry are thinking the same thing, so let me give you the lowdown.
Breakfast is not an issue--I have been enjoying the typical Austrian breakfast of rolls with jam and coffee. My travels to Europe have helped me like jam, as I never really ate it in the US. The flavors of jam I have had here are mixed berry, marionberry, strawberry mango, and rose petal (which Naomi turned me on to last weekend).
Since I only have 45 minutes for lunch between classes, I usually have soup, a piece of bread with cheese, or fruit. There is a local farmer's market near where I am staying, and the fruit is excellent--especially the cherries.
When I am at the center for dinner, I typically have soup, pasta, omelettes, or quesidillas. Sadly, I have not been able to find tofu, veggie substitutes (i.e. veggie burgers), or other ethnic foods I like, such as Indian or Thai curries. When I go out to restaurants with my group, there is usually at least one or two vegetarian items on the menu. I had spanikopita yesterday, and cheese dumplings (they usually come with a salad). The other unfortunate part of eating here is the limited amount of fish and seafood. I did have scampi at the Augustiner the first Thursday I was here, but otherwise, I have not had much fish or seafood.
Bottom line: being a vegetarian is not as difficult as one might imagine. However, there are fewer options at restaurants and the number of ethnic restaurants is smaller than in major U.S. cities. However, there are several Chinese and Japanese restaurants nearby. A friend and I want to check out a local Thai restaurant soon, so I will let you all know how it is when we go.
Tonight we are having a BBQ where we grill our own food. I am leaning towards making a quesillda or grilled cheese sandwich with the cheese I made yesterday.
Guten appetit!
After picking up our homemade cheeses, we made our way to Bad Ischl, a little town about 45 minutes outside of Salzburg. We had pastries at Zauner's, a famous pastry shop in the area. I had a strawberry napoleon and a traditional Austrian iced coffee. Austrian iced coffee consists of coffee, unsweeted whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream. The drink was delicious, though having the coffee and pastry at the same time made me very full.
Many of you know that a) I am a vegetarian (pescetarian, if you want to be technical, as I do eat fish and seafood) and b) that meat is an important part of Austrian culture. Many people on my program wonder how I am adapting to a meat heavy culture. I am sure many of you reading this entry are thinking the same thing, so let me give you the lowdown.
Breakfast is not an issue--I have been enjoying the typical Austrian breakfast of rolls with jam and coffee. My travels to Europe have helped me like jam, as I never really ate it in the US. The flavors of jam I have had here are mixed berry, marionberry, strawberry mango, and rose petal (which Naomi turned me on to last weekend).
Since I only have 45 minutes for lunch between classes, I usually have soup, a piece of bread with cheese, or fruit. There is a local farmer's market near where I am staying, and the fruit is excellent--especially the cherries.
When I am at the center for dinner, I typically have soup, pasta, omelettes, or quesidillas. Sadly, I have not been able to find tofu, veggie substitutes (i.e. veggie burgers), or other ethnic foods I like, such as Indian or Thai curries. When I go out to restaurants with my group, there is usually at least one or two vegetarian items on the menu. I had spanikopita yesterday, and cheese dumplings (they usually come with a salad). The other unfortunate part of eating here is the limited amount of fish and seafood. I did have scampi at the Augustiner the first Thursday I was here, but otherwise, I have not had much fish or seafood.
Bottom line: being a vegetarian is not as difficult as one might imagine. However, there are fewer options at restaurants and the number of ethnic restaurants is smaller than in major U.S. cities. However, there are several Chinese and Japanese restaurants nearby. A friend and I want to check out a local Thai restaurant soon, so I will let you all know how it is when we go.
Tonight we are having a BBQ where we grill our own food. I am leaning towards making a quesillda or grilled cheese sandwich with the cheese I made yesterday.
Guten appetit!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
A Wonderful Adventure in Munich
Hello lovely readers! I just got back from a wonderful adventure in Munich where I spent the weekend with my friend Naomi. She has lived here for almost a year as an au pair, so she knows her way around the city pretty well. Naomi met me at the train station Friday night, and we went back to her apartment where we made dinner and stayed up late talking. Unfortunately, the weather was not very nice, but that did not stop us from exploring the city. On Saturday, we walked through the English garden where we made our way into the city center. We had delicious cake and coffee at a local cake shop, and walked around the local farmer's market (I can't remember the name for it in German) and went inside a few churches. I felt really lucky to be in Munich with someone who knows the city well, as Naomi pointed out different sites of historical importance--including the building with where Nazi rallies were held and a modern art museum that was rebuilt after WWII. The most unusual sight I saw during our adventure was a person surfing. Okay, so Munich may not the first place one would think of for surfing, but there was a river we walked by where the waves are conducive to surfing. Despite the weather, we saw people watching a guy surf.
This morning, we went to a Lutheran Evangelical church. While German churches have a reputation for having good music in churches, the music was a little too traditional for my taste. Also, the service was in German, so I could not full understand everything that was going on. However, attending church in another langauge was a pretty cool experience in itself. Afterwards, we went to a cafe where I had Jamie Oliver's (a famous chef on Food Network, for those of you non-foodies) famous hot chocolate--hot chocolate in a huge mug with marshmallows and mini chocolate pieces--SO GOOD! A few hours later, I went to the train station where I was homeward bound--my temporary home, that is--to Salzburg.
I know this post is about Munich, but I cannot forget to share my adventures in Salzburg with you all. On Wednesday, our group went to a salt mine in Hallien, which is on the Austrian-German border. We had to wear these white suits that were supposed to prevent our clothes from being stained with salt. Frankly, those suits made us look like Oompa-Loompas and we didn't see the point of wearing them since there was no salt in the mine that would stain our clothes. Looking like Oompa-Loompas aside, the mine was very cool. There were no stairs when the mine was built, so we had to slide down two slides--amazingly enough, I did well on, given that I do not have the adreniline gene. We also took a boat ride in the mine, saw statues of miners and saints of salt (can't remember their names). Best of all, we got free samples of Austrian salt! After leaving the salt mine, we went to Berchtesgaden, where we had lunch at a traditional German beer house. From Berchtesgaden, we made our way to the Nazi documentation center--this place essentially had information about Hitler's life right before he came to power (I even saw copies of his famous book, Mein Kampf) to a year or two before the prisoners in concentration camps were liberated.
Well, it's late here so I should go to bed. Gut Nacht (good night, in German) everyone!
This morning, we went to a Lutheran Evangelical church. While German churches have a reputation for having good music in churches, the music was a little too traditional for my taste. Also, the service was in German, so I could not full understand everything that was going on. However, attending church in another langauge was a pretty cool experience in itself. Afterwards, we went to a cafe where I had Jamie Oliver's (a famous chef on Food Network, for those of you non-foodies) famous hot chocolate--hot chocolate in a huge mug with marshmallows and mini chocolate pieces--SO GOOD! A few hours later, I went to the train station where I was homeward bound--my temporary home, that is--to Salzburg.
I know this post is about Munich, but I cannot forget to share my adventures in Salzburg with you all. On Wednesday, our group went to a salt mine in Hallien, which is on the Austrian-German border. We had to wear these white suits that were supposed to prevent our clothes from being stained with salt. Frankly, those suits made us look like Oompa-Loompas and we didn't see the point of wearing them since there was no salt in the mine that would stain our clothes. Looking like Oompa-Loompas aside, the mine was very cool. There were no stairs when the mine was built, so we had to slide down two slides--amazingly enough, I did well on, given that I do not have the adreniline gene. We also took a boat ride in the mine, saw statues of miners and saints of salt (can't remember their names). Best of all, we got free samples of Austrian salt! After leaving the salt mine, we went to Berchtesgaden, where we had lunch at a traditional German beer house. From Berchtesgaden, we made our way to the Nazi documentation center--this place essentially had information about Hitler's life right before he came to power (I even saw copies of his famous book, Mein Kampf) to a year or two before the prisoners in concentration camps were liberated.
Well, it's late here so I should go to bed. Gut Nacht (good night, in German) everyone!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Salzburg So Far
Hello! Today is my fourth full day in Salzburg, and I am absolutely loving it! Salzburg is a charming fairy tale like town, that is unlike any other European city to where I have been. Thursday was our first full day here, and we had quick class meetings and a three hour orientation to the center. The two classes I am taking here are Theological Implications of the Holocaust and Intercultural Communication. I can't really say I have a favorite yet, as I love both classes so far. In my theology class, we will be looking at the history behind Anti-semitism (or Anti-Judaism, as my theology professor says is the more accurate term), the role of God, and the Catholic Church's response. In my communications class, we are looking at ways different cultures communicating and noticing the differences between the US and Austria. I have an oral presentation, paper, and essay exam for my theology class and two papers for my communication class.
The last few days have been filled with excursions, which have been fun, but have taken a toll on my feet due to all the walking we have done. Thursday afternoon we split up into teams and went on a scavenger hunt to find different landmarks around Salzburg. My team came in first place, and we won eight Milka chocolate bars. Milka is the Austrian version of Cadbury, and it is delicious! On Friday we went to the Salzburg Castle, which was originally a fortress for keeping enemies out. The walk up to the castle was steep, but the views from the top were totally worth the hike. Both Thursday and Friday nights we had delicious dinners at the Augustiner and Krimpelstatter. On Saturday we went to Hohenwerfen, a castle where we had an audio tour and saw a falcon show. Though it was cloudy in the morning, the sun came out when the falcon show started. We sat on a grassy hill that overlooked the Alps, which had breathtaking views. We then made our way to Hallstat, a small town on the lake. We visited a graveyard and a house where they keep bones of people who were buried there. Because the graveyard is so small, people can only be buried in the graveyard for ten years. After ten years, the bodies are creamated; the families get to keep the ashes and the bones are stored in this house. The families of the deceased also get to decorate the skulls. There are boats in Hallstat for people to rent, so four of us rented a motorboat. We all had fun putting our feet in the river, blasting music on the radio (yes, there was a radio!) and taking turns driving the boat. Our last stop of the day was the alpine slide at St. Wolfgang. Because I am missing the adrenline gene (not a fan of rollercoasters or big rides), I did not actually go down the slide. Instead, I read and watched everyone go down.
Finally, let me describe the center where I am staying. There is one building with a kitchen, dining room, living room, and bedrooms upstairs. Outside is a courtyard where we can play basketball or ping pong. The second building consists of the classroom, director's apartment, and computer lab. All of the rooms have balconies, so I can sit outside on my balcony to read, listen to music, write postcards, or just enjoy the nice weather. To all my friends at UP: I'm sorry, but this place is much nicer than Mehling, and Fields combined! Even though I have a roommate, I still feel like I have enough space and can have time to myself when I need. Sharing a room with one person is a lot easier than sharing a flat with six people; as much as I loved my time in London, I do not miss living in a flat that did not allow one to have much privacy.
I have to attend a group meeting in ten minutes, so I am going to stop here. More to come next week!
The last few days have been filled with excursions, which have been fun, but have taken a toll on my feet due to all the walking we have done. Thursday afternoon we split up into teams and went on a scavenger hunt to find different landmarks around Salzburg. My team came in first place, and we won eight Milka chocolate bars. Milka is the Austrian version of Cadbury, and it is delicious! On Friday we went to the Salzburg Castle, which was originally a fortress for keeping enemies out. The walk up to the castle was steep, but the views from the top were totally worth the hike. Both Thursday and Friday nights we had delicious dinners at the Augustiner and Krimpelstatter. On Saturday we went to Hohenwerfen, a castle where we had an audio tour and saw a falcon show. Though it was cloudy in the morning, the sun came out when the falcon show started. We sat on a grassy hill that overlooked the Alps, which had breathtaking views. We then made our way to Hallstat, a small town on the lake. We visited a graveyard and a house where they keep bones of people who were buried there. Because the graveyard is so small, people can only be buried in the graveyard for ten years. After ten years, the bodies are creamated; the families get to keep the ashes and the bones are stored in this house. The families of the deceased also get to decorate the skulls. There are boats in Hallstat for people to rent, so four of us rented a motorboat. We all had fun putting our feet in the river, blasting music on the radio (yes, there was a radio!) and taking turns driving the boat. Our last stop of the day was the alpine slide at St. Wolfgang. Because I am missing the adrenline gene (not a fan of rollercoasters or big rides), I did not actually go down the slide. Instead, I read and watched everyone go down.
Finally, let me describe the center where I am staying. There is one building with a kitchen, dining room, living room, and bedrooms upstairs. Outside is a courtyard where we can play basketball or ping pong. The second building consists of the classroom, director's apartment, and computer lab. All of the rooms have balconies, so I can sit outside on my balcony to read, listen to music, write postcards, or just enjoy the nice weather. To all my friends at UP: I'm sorry, but this place is much nicer than Mehling, and Fields combined! Even though I have a roommate, I still feel like I have enough space and can have time to myself when I need. Sharing a room with one person is a lot easier than sharing a flat with six people; as much as I loved my time in London, I do not miss living in a flat that did not allow one to have much privacy.
I have to attend a group meeting in ten minutes, so I am going to stop here. More to come next week!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
I Made It!
Hello faithful readers! I just want to let you know that I arrived safely in Salzburg yesterday afternoon. My journey began when I boarded the biggest plane I have ever been on (in my opinion) at San Francisco on July 12. The plane was a 747, so there was an upper deck as well as a main cabin. Though I believe I traveled on one the first time I went to Hawaii (the only reason I remember this is that my younger brother was fascinated with the fact that the plane had a top deck), the plane I was recently on seemed to be wider and have more seats. Sadly, I was not on the top of the plane, but I did see the staircase that lead to the top. My ten hour flight to Frankfurt was not as bad as one might imagine--I read a few chapters from my communication textbook, watched Modern Family and Scrubs, and slept. Even though sleeping on a plane is nowhere near as comfortable as sleeping in a bed (especially in my bed at home with my cat Lily), the fact that I was able to sleep for about 4 hours was pretty good. Lufthansa deserves A LOT of credit for designing seats that are wide (there was a lot of space between the armrest and the window), have ergonomically adjustable headrests, and lean back further and have more legroom compared to most airlines.
I arrived in Frankfurt at 10:15 in the morning (we got in 10 minutes late because we left SF 15 minutes late), and walked through what felt long the longest walkway to get to the gate for my connecting flight. Even though my walk to my gate included stops at customs and security, I can tell you that by the time I got to my gate, I felt both like Moses wandering in the desert and a little kid on an incredibly long car ride asking "Are we there yet?" Unlike Moses or the little kid, I was rushed because I had to catch my flight to Salzburg in a little less than two hours. Luckily, I made it to my gate with plenty of time before boarding. As we flew over Austria, I thought, "Wow, the view from below looks like the opening page in a fairy tale book!" One hour flew by, and before I knew it, I was finally in Salzburg!
After getting our checked luggage, two students, two professors, three family members (of my communication professor), and I squeezed into a taxi that took us to the Univ. of Portland Center. We arrived there around 3 pm, which gave us a few hours to get settled before we had dinner and a quick meeting.
Despite being able to fight jet lag the first few hours I was there, I was actually tired as the evening went on. I went to bed around 9 pm--which is normally way too early than me, but I guess is reasonable for someone who has been traveling for 11 hours and had no trouble staying awake during the day. Unfortunately, I woke up at 5 am, but perhaps the fact that I got 8 hours of sleep makes up for this. I DID try to listen to music, which helped me stay asleep for a little while, but after some time, I decided to get up.
That's all for now. More to come about my first full day soon!
I arrived in Frankfurt at 10:15 in the morning (we got in 10 minutes late because we left SF 15 minutes late), and walked through what felt long the longest walkway to get to the gate for my connecting flight. Even though my walk to my gate included stops at customs and security, I can tell you that by the time I got to my gate, I felt both like Moses wandering in the desert and a little kid on an incredibly long car ride asking "Are we there yet?" Unlike Moses or the little kid, I was rushed because I had to catch my flight to Salzburg in a little less than two hours. Luckily, I made it to my gate with plenty of time before boarding. As we flew over Austria, I thought, "Wow, the view from below looks like the opening page in a fairy tale book!" One hour flew by, and before I knew it, I was finally in Salzburg!
After getting our checked luggage, two students, two professors, three family members (of my communication professor), and I squeezed into a taxi that took us to the Univ. of Portland Center. We arrived there around 3 pm, which gave us a few hours to get settled before we had dinner and a quick meeting.
Despite being able to fight jet lag the first few hours I was there, I was actually tired as the evening went on. I went to bed around 9 pm--which is normally way too early than me, but I guess is reasonable for someone who has been traveling for 11 hours and had no trouble staying awake during the day. Unfortunately, I woke up at 5 am, but perhaps the fact that I got 8 hours of sleep makes up for this. I DID try to listen to music, which helped me stay asleep for a little while, but after some time, I decided to get up.
That's all for now. More to come about my first full day soon!
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