I'm going to go ahead and skip the re-caps of my trips and just sum up the last week or so. There are lots of details I don't want to forget. Especially details about Vienna and how I got to live here. The homeless people and drug addicts in Karlsplatz that have blue mouths from the medicine they take (and sometimes apparently start walking backwards when you pass by...). Der Mann and Stöck with their buttery early morning pastry smells. Waking up to blue light because my curtains are rather thin and filter light that way, and the chandelier i would look at every morning. How Eva says guten morgen when i walk in for breakfast, and when i am in a rush she gives me to kisses on the cheek and a hug, asking me to stop being gone so long. The softness on the inside of a semmel roll and the perfect balance of crunch to it, especially when it is smothered in rahm cheese. the marble tables at the institute where we would study, frau Weißgarber saying NA GUT all the time, professor Krolls jokes. the blue oxidized rooftops to Karlskirche and the Hoffburg. The bell that rings when the Straßenbahn is driving by and the man who announces the stations on the u-bahn. Umsteigen zu der linien... anyway, enough of that. this past week has been crazy chaotic. we have been going to museums and on tours. the coolest one i think was the Josephinium, which was opened by Joseph II to improve the medical system in Vienna. There was an area where the put the people who were insane, not to lock them up but to research and help them. they had all these skeletons and mutated lungs and things. I thought it was so interesting. unfortunately you were not allowed to take photos. this is something EVERYONE MUST DO when they are in austria. the tours are difficult to book though, they're only three times a week for about three hours.
last night was our last opera. it was the masked ball by Verdi. the ending was so dramatic and sad, and the woman next to me was so nice. she rubbed my back and encouraged me to lean over the edge to get a better look, that i would not bother her. so kind. then john, rebekah, and i, post-underground-photoshoot went to get a glamorous thanksgiving dinner at macdo, and watch an episode of gossip girl for old times sake. then i sort of lost it for a little bit and said crazy things i didn't really mean, simply because chuck was being such a good boyfriend and sometimes i get crazy about how annoying guys are. so yeah. i just do what i do. then rebekah brought up budapest which really threw me over the edge because i genuinely had really wanted to go and it made me really sad to think about just staying while everyone else was having fun.
also yesterday we went to the war museum. that is another thing everyone should go to. built by Franz Joseph, who is awesome, to document battles lost and won.
wednesday night was way fun. me and andres and john studied at daniels house. when the homework was finished i decided that all of the boys had the emotional range of a teaspoon. daniel said making fun of people built up your self-esteem, so even if you didn't have a heart, your self esteem felt good from making fun of people. they continued to make fun of me and claimed they "felt so good because their self-esteem was so high." only thing to do was to pin daniel down and give him hand turkeys. his stomach was so red. a lot of laughter ensued.
today is a day of work. well, supposedly. i'm supposed to be studying for finals but all thats happening is i'm sitting in the austro-american institute, not doing homework, surrounded by food from spar, and uploading photos onto facebook. i'm ridiculous.
November 27, 2009
November 21, 2009
QUICK THOUGHT.
in the last three or four months. i have been to the following, in order. and this is including in the next few weeks to come:
new york, dublin, paris, bern, interlaken, luzern, venice, milan, nice, avignon, paris, dublin, vienna (which lasts quite a while), hallstatt, salzburg, vienna, prague, vienna, paris, neu chatel, basel, freiburg, brugges, chantilly, paris, dallas. OMG. sometimes my life is too cool for myself. and i'm jealous of myself because i know that soon i'll be shoved in an apartment in provo and i'll miss it. oh so much.
new york, dublin, paris, bern, interlaken, luzern, venice, milan, nice, avignon, paris, dublin, vienna (which lasts quite a while), hallstatt, salzburg, vienna, prague, vienna, paris, neu chatel, basel, freiburg, brugges, chantilly, paris, dallas. OMG. sometimes my life is too cool for myself. and i'm jealous of myself because i know that soon i'll be shoved in an apartment in provo and i'll miss it. oh so much.
And after the Marriage of Figaro??
OK that seems like it was two years ago. i'm not even sure i can remember what happened after that. That opera was fun... and it was the last night i would see most people because the next day, Melissa, Melinda, and I all flew to London! Ah, now i remember.
So, the next morning we all met up at my apartment, grabbed a quick bite to eat at Pizza Bizi, and then went to Westbanhof to catch a shuttle to get to the airport. after a passport scare (i thought i had left mine. i'm an idiot) we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. we sat in the airport lounge for a while, then finally got on our aer lingus flight. We landed in London with plenty of time until we had to catch the night bus to edinburgh, so we bummed around Victoria station. We ate asian food in take out boxes whilst sitting on the floor, took Melissa to get her first starbucks, and wandered in and out of stores. We boarded the National Express bus from London to Edinburgh close to midnight. Let me just say... could be one of the worst experiences ever? My body is still trying to forget it... the headlights from the cars on the highway were always in my eyes, i had no leg room, and a constant paranoia that my things would be stolen. At 3 in the morning we stopped at some place in the middle of nowhere, designed just for these overnight buses. it was really weird. We looked at cards and i got nutrigrain bars to keep me going. the bathrooms were clean and free, so it was worth it. i looked like a mess.
We got into Edinburgh around 7 o'clock in the morning. check in at our hostel ended up being about 2, but they let us keep our stuff in their storage closet. Very nice. I LOVED OUR HOSTEL. It was called Castle Rock, it was super cheap and cool, and the staff was way helpful. They had everything you could ever need. We went up to see the Edinburgh Castle (which is right by our hotel), wandered around Prince street, and just enjoyed looking at the beautiful city. Because really, Edinburgh is incredible. You feel like you're in a movie from the 1400's just being there because the houses up on the hill are all wobbly and crowded and dirty. It just felt good to be there. We checked in and collapsed. checked e-mail, and tried to get Melissa some money (since her card had been eaten in london). What happened after that? I can't even remember. Possibly a shower. I think we got dinner at Pizza Hut, but i can't be sure. Maybe it was somewhere else...
The next day was spent knowing that it would be our only full day in the city. We bought rugby shirts, got melissa some money, ate lunch, wandered around the city some more. Nothing extremely productive happened, it was just nice to shop and lounge about, even if i did look gross and my pants hadn't been washed in 2 weeks (and wouldn't be washed again for another 2...). we went to go and find where our bus for our loch ness tour would be the next day. we found it after an hour or so, and then we went back to the hostel to clean up and relax. checked my email, we had to rush a new tour because our other one got cancelled. The next morning, we left at about 6 o'clock. Walked all the way over towards prince's street and found our bus.
the tour took the entire day, until about 7 or 8 at night. We drove through the highlands, into all of these small villages. There were plenty of coffee breaks and lunch stops, and i wish that my family had been there. It was so incredibly beautiful. The colors were all fall ones, so the green had faded into these oranges and reds and browns that were just breathtaking. The Loch Ness tour had to be the most fun. We learned all about how they track "monsters," which, it turns out, are real. We saw pictures. Our guide new everything about everything loch ness. We talked with him and even got a photo. It's awesome. Ate lunch at some italian place near where the bus dropped us off. went to bed early because the next morning we'd be up at 3.
I know, that's hardly anything, i didn't even finish a whole trip, but i'm just so tired of talking. I really feel the need to recall what i've been doing this week. But i just don't have the energy! So let me leave you with this::: modern opera, lots of late night hang outs, and total and utter confusion. I will never understand the male mind. My parents come into town the 5th! I cannot wait to show them around.
So, the next morning we all met up at my apartment, grabbed a quick bite to eat at Pizza Bizi, and then went to Westbanhof to catch a shuttle to get to the airport. after a passport scare (i thought i had left mine. i'm an idiot) we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. we sat in the airport lounge for a while, then finally got on our aer lingus flight. We landed in London with plenty of time until we had to catch the night bus to edinburgh, so we bummed around Victoria station. We ate asian food in take out boxes whilst sitting on the floor, took Melissa to get her first starbucks, and wandered in and out of stores. We boarded the National Express bus from London to Edinburgh close to midnight. Let me just say... could be one of the worst experiences ever? My body is still trying to forget it... the headlights from the cars on the highway were always in my eyes, i had no leg room, and a constant paranoia that my things would be stolen. At 3 in the morning we stopped at some place in the middle of nowhere, designed just for these overnight buses. it was really weird. We looked at cards and i got nutrigrain bars to keep me going. the bathrooms were clean and free, so it was worth it. i looked like a mess.
We got into Edinburgh around 7 o'clock in the morning. check in at our hostel ended up being about 2, but they let us keep our stuff in their storage closet. Very nice. I LOVED OUR HOSTEL. It was called Castle Rock, it was super cheap and cool, and the staff was way helpful. They had everything you could ever need. We went up to see the Edinburgh Castle (which is right by our hotel), wandered around Prince street, and just enjoyed looking at the beautiful city. Because really, Edinburgh is incredible. You feel like you're in a movie from the 1400's just being there because the houses up on the hill are all wobbly and crowded and dirty. It just felt good to be there. We checked in and collapsed. checked e-mail, and tried to get Melissa some money (since her card had been eaten in london). What happened after that? I can't even remember. Possibly a shower. I think we got dinner at Pizza Hut, but i can't be sure. Maybe it was somewhere else...
The next day was spent knowing that it would be our only full day in the city. We bought rugby shirts, got melissa some money, ate lunch, wandered around the city some more. Nothing extremely productive happened, it was just nice to shop and lounge about, even if i did look gross and my pants hadn't been washed in 2 weeks (and wouldn't be washed again for another 2...). we went to go and find where our bus for our loch ness tour would be the next day. we found it after an hour or so, and then we went back to the hostel to clean up and relax. checked my email, we had to rush a new tour because our other one got cancelled. The next morning, we left at about 6 o'clock. Walked all the way over towards prince's street and found our bus.
the tour took the entire day, until about 7 or 8 at night. We drove through the highlands, into all of these small villages. There were plenty of coffee breaks and lunch stops, and i wish that my family had been there. It was so incredibly beautiful. The colors were all fall ones, so the green had faded into these oranges and reds and browns that were just breathtaking. The Loch Ness tour had to be the most fun. We learned all about how they track "monsters," which, it turns out, are real. We saw pictures. Our guide new everything about everything loch ness. We talked with him and even got a photo. It's awesome. Ate lunch at some italian place near where the bus dropped us off. went to bed early because the next morning we'd be up at 3.
I know, that's hardly anything, i didn't even finish a whole trip, but i'm just so tired of talking. I really feel the need to recall what i've been doing this week. But i just don't have the energy! So let me leave you with this::: modern opera, lots of late night hang outs, and total and utter confusion. I will never understand the male mind. My parents come into town the 5th! I cannot wait to show them around.
November 04, 2009
Continuing on...
I'm pretty sure i stopped at Hallstatt. I also forgot to mention we went to a monastery in between mathausen and hallstatt. it was a really busy day. both things were very interesting though. anyway, so we went to the salt mines, and then we wandered around the town for a while. we loved that pumpkin soup SO much that we decided to get it again. totally worth it, even better than the night before. Wandered around the city and i finally bought a hat for my freezing head, got some groceries for the bus-ride and then left for Salzburg.
In Salzburg we put our things down in the hotel and didn't really have time to tour because it was already dark. So we all went to this incredibly delicious italian restaurant where the food was SO good, and afterwards, feeling very full and jolly, we walked back to the hotel and all crammed into one room and laughed and bonded some more. Every night i went to bed on this trip i was just so happy because i felt like i was part of a real group. i felt such camaraderie it was incredible. so anyway, the next morning we wake up a little early, have an incredible, INCREDIBLE, breakfast, and go into salzburg on a tour. our tour guide was like the shaun connery of austria, he was totally awesome. we got to see the new town and all of the old town, including where Mozart was born. Its the fourth largest city in Austria, but i think i like it better than vienna. It had three significant churches all rather close to each other that were great examples of gothic, baroque, and romanesque, respectively. I got to visit all three over the three days. after the tour we went up to see the giant schloss (Festung Hohensalzburg, the city's fortress, built in 1077) which was never ending and really fascinating. they had a bunch of different museums and some of us sat in a circle while dan told us a Norwegian fairy tale. it was fun. we got to see the marionette museum where you got to see how they are made. then we saw a museum filled with weapons and history of war. it was so fascinating, just to see the transition in warfare. the view was unbelievable. i'll have to post more photos later. afterwards, we broke up, had lunch, and then some of us met across the bridge in a park where the sound of music was filmed. there we played on the playground, then went to the gnome garden. afterwards, we all went back to the hotel, relaxed for a bit, and our group went to the same italian restaurant because it was THAT GOOD. the tortellini casa i della was particularly good. at the restaurant, we all played games (like the wood one and the dream house one). it was a really fun dinner. when it was over, we returned to the hotel and i (jessie, trent, melinda, daniel, andres, and john) watched a soccer game.
The next day was a free day in Salzburg. after another AWESOME breakfast at the hotel, i decided i really wanted to see the hellbrunn area, which was well worth the visit even in the rain. we got to see where the sound of music gazeebo was, the wonderful parks and steintheater, we passed the zoo a few times, and then decided we needed a warm meal. after returning to the old city, we found this hidden (melinda, dan, and i) hotel/ restaurant which had really wonderful food. we then proceeded to catch the rest of the churches we had missed (St. Peters, Franciscan Kirche, the dome are the three i'm referring to). soon it was time to return to the hotel, so we did just that. grabbed some lunch to go, and arrived in vienna late at night. felt weird to be back, and i missed the places i'd been. i think that was one of the best weekends ever. EVER.
the sunday after we got back, after church, we went over to the Holmes' house for the traditional dinner and evening speaker session. the patriarch over the area, Soucek, came over with his wife. he told us about his responsibility in the church, about the importance of going to take the sacrament every week, and a rough outline of the story of his life. He was a very interesting old man, very old fashioned. When he first got there he said, "ladies, would you mind if i took my jacket off? you see, that's how its supposed to be, you always ask women permission first." it reminds me of a different more refined time. i liked the air about him.
On Tuesday we went to see the marriage of figaro. and since i'm so tired of typing and i have so much other work to do, i'm going to update more later.
November 01, 2009
Salzburg, Hallstatt, Edinburgh, London, Prague???
Ok, so its been like a month since i updated. but let's be real, i was traveling almost the entire month of october. kind of impossible to update. a lot, a lot, a lot has happened. let's go with what i remember.
- The morning i left for hallstatt (at about 630 in the morning) i fell and hurt my ankle. i called my mom in a panic of crying because i had heart it pop and i was worried it was broken since the pain was excruciating. however, since i called my mom incoherently sobbing she thought something a lot worse had happened and couldn't sleep the rest of the night. i felt bad. i had to hop around for the rest of the trip, basically, which wasn't too fun, but everyone helped me around and they were very patient with me, which i am grateful for. First stop was Mathausen, a concentration camp from WWII. It was the coldest i've ever been in my life. It was depressing. I didn't learn too much more about the holocaust. i feel like i've been pretty well fed information wise on the subject, thanks to my high school. but my favorite part was the series of videos that were playing. this old french man talked about getting beat in the face with a rubber strip filled with lead because he didn't take his shoes off, and to this day he can't see out of that eye. he was so precious, talked about being 5'9" and 68 pounds and what that meant, how hard it was. some women even talked about their periods (which didn't exist during those years) and sex (it could be done). very fascinating. the rooms were bare and cold. i don't even really know how people who were punished and forced to sleep naked outside overnight survived. i could barely handle it in all my layers.
- After Mathausen we drove on the bus to Hallstatt. Let me explain... it's narnia on this earth. its nestled in the austrian alps and a giant lake separates it from other adorable small cities. the snow, the entire two days, was constant and gentle. it was like a dream. the first night we were there, we all went out to grab some food. we found this lovely restaurant where i ordered the kurbiskremesuppe (PUMPKIN CREAM SOUP. BEST THING IN THE WORLD). warm and full, we all left to explore. it was pretty freezing there. after about an hour of wandering, me, daniel, and melinda walked back to our hotel (which was extremely nice, by the way). the entire group gathered in this central living room, and we all shared stories and laughed. i can tell you that that night was one of the main reasons my trip really started to brighten. i felt so close to all my fellow classmates, it was awesome. the next morning after a cup of AWESOME hot chocolate, we went to the saltmines. OMG. OMG OMG. let me tell you... i was terrified and my ankle really hurt, but it was so worth it.
they have these wooden slides inside that you can go down. they are a total blast and well worth it. you get to see how they mined the salt and where, you learn about the body they found their about 300 years ago (that was like thousands of years old) and you get a free miniature thing of salt. so i say, everyone should go. totally a blast. anyway, i'm overwhelmed with all the things i should write, so i'm going to leave this as the first segment in many updates to come.
- The morning i left for hallstatt (at about 630 in the morning) i fell and hurt my ankle. i called my mom in a panic of crying because i had heart it pop and i was worried it was broken since the pain was excruciating. however, since i called my mom incoherently sobbing she thought something a lot worse had happened and couldn't sleep the rest of the night. i felt bad. i had to hop around for the rest of the trip, basically, which wasn't too fun, but everyone helped me around and they were very patient with me, which i am grateful for. First stop was Mathausen, a concentration camp from WWII. It was the coldest i've ever been in my life. It was depressing. I didn't learn too much more about the holocaust. i feel like i've been pretty well fed information wise on the subject, thanks to my high school. but my favorite part was the series of videos that were playing. this old french man talked about getting beat in the face with a rubber strip filled with lead because he didn't take his shoes off, and to this day he can't see out of that eye. he was so precious, talked about being 5'9" and 68 pounds and what that meant, how hard it was. some women even talked about their periods (which didn't exist during those years) and sex (it could be done). very fascinating. the rooms were bare and cold. i don't even really know how people who were punished and forced to sleep naked outside overnight survived. i could barely handle it in all my layers.
- After Mathausen we drove on the bus to Hallstatt. Let me explain... it's narnia on this earth. its nestled in the austrian alps and a giant lake separates it from other adorable small cities. the snow, the entire two days, was constant and gentle. it was like a dream. the first night we were there, we all went out to grab some food. we found this lovely restaurant where i ordered the kurbiskremesuppe (PUMPKIN CREAM SOUP. BEST THING IN THE WORLD). warm and full, we all left to explore. it was pretty freezing there. after about an hour of wandering, me, daniel, and melinda walked back to our hotel (which was extremely nice, by the way). the entire group gathered in this central living room, and we all shared stories and laughed. i can tell you that that night was one of the main reasons my trip really started to brighten. i felt so close to all my fellow classmates, it was awesome. the next morning after a cup of AWESOME hot chocolate, we went to the saltmines. OMG. OMG OMG. let me tell you... i was terrified and my ankle really hurt, but it was so worth it.
they have these wooden slides inside that you can go down. they are a total blast and well worth it. you get to see how they mined the salt and where, you learn about the body they found their about 300 years ago (that was like thousands of years old) and you get a free miniature thing of salt. so i say, everyone should go. totally a blast. anyway, i'm overwhelmed with all the things i should write, so i'm going to leave this as the first segment in many updates to come.