La Boheme and Rain. And Photos.

Alright. So, yesterday was pretty fun. After church we had dinner with the Holmes' and one of their past study abroad students, who is now living in Vienna, brought his family over. They discussed their life together, how they met, what they wanted to happen, and what really did happen. They pretty much lived an extremely interesting life. They lived in Cuba, Ethiopia, Vermont, North Carolina, and now Austria. They have five kids (one was adopted in Ethiopia) and they were all adorable and so full of stories. I talked with the little ones for probably an hour and a half. They were mostly just interested in telling me about the animals they knew about and wanted to know what kinds of pranks I played on people throughout my life. Went home feeling pretty happy, kids are so fun. Then, skyped home until the wee hours of the morning since I know my time to do it is limited. This month is so crazy busy. So i talked with mostly my mom until 2 o'clock in the morning, even though I had a German test the very next day.
So, I woke up at 7 in the morning (that's like 4 in my life right now. so difficult), took a shower, rushed breakfast, ran to starbucks, got a hot chocolate, felt antsy from the adderall, and went to class early to study. to no avail, i still felt like an idiot and studied not enough so. there you are. after art class (before which i had an in depth conversation with professor kroll about Baroque art and my dislike of it and how quick to judge I was about it, etc. etc.) we had history, then me and Melinda and Melissa planned our trip (WHICH IS NEXT WEEK) to London and Edinburgh. It sounds like its going to be really fun. I just can't believe we're going. I'm so excited.
When all this was over, we had an opera. Let me tell you... not only was it in the Staatsoper, but it was La Boheme. I've had a connection to this song ever since Mr. Keller made us watch it in 4th grade before we went on a field trip to the Dallas opera. OMG. I've always found some deep connection to the opera, not sure why. Maybe its because its so melodramatic (like i often am). I just really feel like I can relate. They fall in love so quickly, and the song they sing together is so sweet, and I cried knowing what was to come. Their relationship struggles through the winter, but they promise each other they can last till spring. When spring comes, both men in the opera find themselves alone, but missing and loving the girls that were in their lives. and then... Mimi comes back. And its so poignant, and the irony that as the spring arrives, and everything bursts into life, she dies. And the way he cries over her, his reaction when she dies, the swelling music that plays... all i can say is, i was sobbing at the end of this performance. It was incredible. the singers were so good, so powerful, and it was just... ah, perfect. There were tears underneath my chin, thats how hard i was crying. Walked home, ran into Daniel and Andres, linked arms with Daniel and explained my love of this opera to him. All in all, good night. thumbs. up.
In other words, we leave for Salzburg on wednesday. It sounds like its going to be a fun trip.

Old Photos...

I realized I have a bunch of photos of old times that I've not posted, and so, I have the sudden urge to.
Most of these are from/ now that I think of it, all are from Greece with my parents. I miss it a lot, even though when I was there I said it wasn't my favorite. There were some great things about it... food included. Mmm... the warmed and seasoned pita bread, the greek salads, the kababs and the endless syrupy desserts. Plus, being there with my parents was very fun. Very, very, very fun.

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

Switch Over

Ok, i've decided to move my travel blog to this blog just because it's easier. Sorry for the transition, everyone. i'll try and re-post all the older posts onto here. in the meantime, that link was juliawanderlusting.wordpress.com. but this is just easiest for me. anyway, i have much to catch up on but unfortunately i've just realized how late it is. so i'll upload tons of pictures and news and other such things probably on sunday. busy month ahead of us!