Home Sweet Home!

I’m so happy to be back in Vienna. The 9-day trip was amazing, but I’m glad to be back in my own bed. Plus, the kitchen in my apartment was renovated while I was gone so now I have no excuse for my pitiful frozen pizzas. I actually went grocery shopping and bought – drum roll, please – vegetables! I bought other food as well, but I thought people might be proud to know I’m eating green beans at my own free will.

Last week was my first week of school here in Vienna. Since I’d already taken the intensive German course, the whole “first day of school” effect was somewhat lost on me. Plus, I don’t have classes on Mondays (thanks to some clever scheduling on my part) so my first day wasn’t until Tuesday. My class schedule isn’t too exciting: I’m taking two psychology classes, one literature class, one sociology class, and my German language class. I like that my courses are all influenced by Austrian history and culture, even though they aren’t history classes per se.

I definitely took it easy last week; I was so exhausted from the trip!

On Thursday night, Stephen arrived in Vienna and we went to the 1516 Brewery Company for dinner with two of my friends. My hamburger was to die for, and Stephen had his first taste of Austrian beer. After that, we met up with other people from the Vienna program at a pub where IES was holding a “pub quiz.” I didn’t know the answer to any of the questions, so after Stephen had sampled another excellent Austrian beer, we went to Flex, a club down by the Danube Canal to meet up with Stephen’s friend who is also studying in Vienna. The next day, we walked around the city and I tried to be a good tourist guide and get in some practice for when my parents come to visit. I couldn’t have asked for better weather on Friday. It was almost 70 degrees and sunny; Stephen couldn’t understand why I had been describing Vienna as cold. (He found out the next day, though.) That night we went back to 1516 because the restaurant I had wanted to go to had an hour’s wait for a table. (Mom and Dad, we need to make a reservation for that place, stat!) That night we went back to Flex with my friends and it was a lot of fun. On Saturday morning, we went to the Naschmarkt and ate some delicious street food as well as fresh hummus and bread. It tasted amazing. In the afternoon, we traveled up to Grinzing, one of the wine towns right outside of the city. There was an event happening on Saturday and Sunday where people could take a hike through the Viennese woods to each of the wine towns and sample different types of wine at the heurigers (wine taverns/cellars). I only drank Sturm, which is semi-fermented grape juice from the first grape harvest of the season. It's pretty low in alcohol, but tastes delicious. Imagine carbonated apple juice, I can’t think of any other ways to describe it. It’s delicious though. After we got back from Grinzing we were pretty tired, so we hung out at my apartment. Stephen left this morning at 7:30, and I spent the rest of the day sleeping and doing homework. I’m currently at a café down the street doing my homework while it, of course, violently rains outside.

It’s weird to think that I’ll only be here for a little less than 3 more months. The first month went by very fast, and I’m sure my remaining time here will go by fast as well. This week I finished booking pretty much all of my trips, which include: Munich, Paris, Athens, Madrid and Rome. Next weekend I’m going to Munich for Oktoberfest, and I’m so excited to get my 200^th anniversary of Oktoberfest beer stein. I’m more excited for the stein than for the beer. Not a surprise, I’m sure, for those who know me. Now it’s time to go study some German words, we have a “drill” on Tuesday. I’m not sure what a drill is, but I want to be ready!

Guten Nacht!

(What would I do without my friend Ashley, who is in a more advanced German course and just told me how to spell that?)

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

As I’m sitting here in my nice comfy bed at the Best Western in Budapest, I can’t help but wonder why it is so much nicer than all the Best Westerns I’ve seen in the United States. After all, I do believe it was at a Best Western somewhere in the states where my family found mouse droppings and hair in our “clean” bed. Though the differences between U.S. and Budapest Best Westerns baffle me, I’m so glad that this is where we’re staying for the last leg of the 9-day field trip. The rooms are big, the beds are comfy, and the breakfast buffet is off the charts. Thus far, my experience in Budapest has more than made up for the gloomy trip to Krakow, Poland.

Don’t get me wrong; Krakow was a beautiful city and I had a really great time. However, the weather was cold and the sun was hidden for a lot of the time. Plus, I caught a really bad cold (as did most of the other students on the field trip.) At one point, one of the girls in charge was doling out Vitamin C and cold medicine on the bus, row by row. On our first full day in Krakow, we visited Auschwitz. While I appreciated the trip and will definitely never forget what I saw and learned, it put me in a bit of a depressing mood. The next day we were able to visit Schindler’s Factory, and the history there – while sad – was a bit more uplifting. I really want to see the movie “Schindler’s List,” but I think I’m going to have to wait until I get home. The rest of the day was spent shopping and spending the Polish money I had. It was hard, since everything is very inexpensive there.

On Thursday we were on our way to Budapest. Another 8-9 hour bus ride, another currency, another hotel, another boring meal full of meat and potatoes…or so I thought. For dinner, we were taken to this large restaurant with an all you can eat/drink buffet. It was marvelous. I drank mugs of mulled wine and ate lots of salad and fruit, which I hadn’t really had access to in the other countries. After a great night’s sleep at the Best Western, we woke up to rain and went on a tour of Hero’s Square and the art museum. Following that was free time, which my friends and I chose to spend at one of the many bath houses scattered throughout Budapest. Even though it was lightly raining, we were more than comfortable in the heated outdoor baths. For about 10-11 Euros, we got to go in as many different baths (pools) as we wanted, and there were so many, all different temperatures. We also got to use the saunas. My favorite was the one with the mint aromatherapy. I feel so relaxed; I know I’m going to have a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we have some more tours of the city, and then a farewell dinner. On Sunday we’re heading back to Vienna, which I’ll readily admit that I’ve missed. All in all, it’s been an incredible trip and I’m so glad I got the chance to experience three amazing cities.

Praha!

Its official: I love Prague. Even though I’ve only been here for 2 ½ days, I completely understand why people are so attracted to such a beautiful and interesting city. To explain everything I’ve done here would take forever, so I’m compiling a list of the things we did in Prague that I’ll never forget:


-Visited John Lennon’s wall for an hour and a half and listened to The Beatles while reading all the beautiful quotes painted by people from all over the world
-Raced up 288 steps of a spiral staircase to the top of Prague Castle and had an amazing view of the city
-Ate bread with pig’s lard mixed with bacon bits spread on it, a Czech specialty
-Saw the opera La Traviata at Prague National Theatre
-Was filmed watching the guy from Jackass Praha at the club do disgusting things
-Went into hundreds of tiny tourist shops looking at tiny Faberge eggs and matryoshka dolls, as well as shot glasses and little glass owl figurines
-Cruised down the Vltava River at night and saw the city all lit up


I have so many other amazing memories of Prague, and I hope I get to visit again. The food was delicious, even though every lunch and dinner consisted of soup, poultry, and potatoes. Tomorrow morning we’re off to Krakow, Poland. I’ve heard its going to be about a 10 hour bus ride, so I should probably go get a good night’s sleep.


Dobrou noc! (Good night!)

♪♪'Cuz I'm leaving on a ... bus?♪♪

I’m proud to announce that yesterday I successfully took the U-Bahn (subway) from the center of Vienna back to my apartment, BY MYSELF. Independence, here I come – and it’s about time. After my German class, I had about an hour to kill before my first Comparative Austrian and European Youth Cultures class – the teacher won’t be here the first week of class, so we had a make-up one today – and I took the opportunity to walk around a bit. My main purpose for this excursion was to find a café I could go to between classes. Unfortunately, I didn’t find one. I believe two problems hindered this search: First, I only walked about a block past the IES center because I didn’t have much time and because I was FREEZING; Secondly, the area I chose to explore is very touristy and has more expensive restaurants than hole-in-the-wall cafés. Oh well, hopefully I’ll have better luck in a couple of weeks.

On Monday night, my friends and I decided to try out the local Mexican restaurant. It was…well…it wasn’t very Mexican. Aside from the Margaritas, the food seemed a bit lacking in the Mexican aspect. Then I remembered how far away we are from Mexico, and it made a bit more sense. I still haven’t really had any Austrian or German food. I’m not avoiding it, but I’m not seeking it out either. For dinner every night, I have either frozen pizza (73 cents each) or pasta (63 cents a package). I’m both cheap, and not adventurous. When I return from the trip, I’m going to try some of the frozen Austrian meals they have at the grocery store. They may be a bit more expensive, ha, but I suppose a meal with actual vegetables and meat might be a better choice than my pizzas.

Tomorrow afternoon – after the German final – I’m jetting off (or bussing off, but that sounds much less exciting and glamorous) for Prague, Krakow, and Budapest. I’m really excited; it’s going to be a busy 9 days! The only drawback is that each city has it’s own set of currency, so I’m betting I’ll return to Vienna with a whole bunch of coins the currency exchange won’t take from me. Nevertheless, I’m really looking forward to this trip and seeing more of Eastern Europe. I’ve been checking Weather.com avidly, and it seems like the weather is going to be the same as it is here. Which means cold. (Or cold for September, that is.)

I’m procrastinating studying for my German final right now, even though I have to take it in 11 hours. I just can’t seem to get a good grasp on the pronunciation, the spelling, the grammar…you name it. Every time I feel like I understand what’s going on, the teacher opens her mouth and says something to me. And then I fall straight back into my black hole of blankness. I’ve got a couple hundred flash cards sitting in front of me right now, so I guess I better start going through them.

Auf Wiedersehen!