36 Kilometers... Mein Popo ist kaputt.

Before I even talk about what I did today, let me post some more photos. OK so we have: a really cool door knob i thought my mom would like. Then we have a group of Austrian kids. It was so cute, we were in this castle, Forchtenstein, and the kids were actually making things in the medieval kitchen! It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen and I really wish when I was a kid, we could've done that. Later on, one of the boys' cell phones beeped and he texted back, and then another one commented on a piece of armor with a "TOLL!" = cool. The photo of me is in a guard position at the castle where Haydn the composer was hired. There is also the image of a rocky road leading up. That is close to one of the first restaurants we ate in as a group. Very fun night, and Rebekah's birthday.




Anyway, we've been keeping very busy over here in Austria. This week we saw both "The Magic Flute (Die Sauberfloete)" and "The Merry Widow." I liked that later more, it was very festive and fun. What else happened this week? Other than today's events.... Miley Cyrus deleted her twitter and made a really lame video about it. Whatever, she just made me really sad. What else... we had class. I felt a bit sick all week, not sure why. Anyway, I haven't uploaded the pictures yet, but here's what happened.
We visited the Melk Monastary which was a beautiful piece of land that somehow didn't get shut down by Joseph II (right? Maria Theresa's son). Anyway, here's my problem with it. 300 years ago, the Baroque Period threw up on it. I hate baroque with a passion. If I could compare it to anything, I think it would be rhinestones. Here's the thing: it's not just that its gaudy. It's that it is gaudy and CHEAP. so cheap. They wanted people to get back to the Catholic Church so they said, hey, you know what will get them back? A church that appears heavenly. Well, fail. Because what ended up happening is they got stucco instead of real marble, gold painted EVERYTHING, and bedazzled monks bones, and it ends up looking like a really cheap snobby girl designed it. There are a few elements I like, like the sun rays beaming down upon the people, and you are quite stunned by the ornateness of it all at first. But overall, not impressed. Everything is an illusion of grandeur that just doesn't exist. It makes me feel cheap, and I didn't even design it.
This isn't to say I didn't like the monastery. The outside was beautiful and the gardens were so lovely. We left and had lunch at a nearby restaurant and then rented bikes.
Here's the thing::::: one of the girls in our group, my friend Rebekah, doesn't know how to ride a bike. So, she didn't get to go. I felt so bad for her. Basically, it started out iffy to begin with. Our "group leader" didn't really know what he was doing so half the group didn't know what was going on, and ugh. Anyway, it was a lot more arduous than I'd expected. I sort of imagined biking along the Danube and it being this pleasant laid back sort of a ride. Well... that wasn't the case. We were going up hills, into these small, BEAUTIFUL little villages with row after row of grapes. Each city smelled vaguely of burning wood, wine, and cinnamon. It was wonderful. I also didn't know that it was 36 kilometers and was thus, very very unprepared. Physically I suppose. I felt like such the fat girl from movies because the second half (the last 19 km) I was pretty much always last and holding up the guy, Daniel, in charge of making sure everyone was OK. Pretty much I felt like a fat failure. But the views were so worth it. It didn't rain a bit, and we went through the cutest cities, down hills and through woods, in almost all topographical regions you could imagine. An hour behind schedule, we arrived to the bus at 5:30, exhausted and rather cold.
Even though I can't feel my bum now, I am SO PROUD that I biked 22 miles today. It was a beautiful and surreal experience. I touched the Danube today, found a Narnia-esque table, slid on dirt doing rock on hands, and skyped my family. I saw the most amazing, quintessential cities, and I wouldn't take back a single moment.
TODAY. WAS. AWESOME.
When we got back we all got ice cream and had italian food at Illy (of course) and then watched the last episode of season 1 gossip girl, which B and M are just starting to watch. Hope everyone is having a great time, will right soon...
xoxo,
Julia