...with rain. On our last day here it has been raining ever since I woke up this morning. I am ready for some Michigan sunshine :) Since I heard about all of the super nice weather over there. It has been a wonderful trip though, even with all of the rain and cooler weather. I have had my share of wonderful experinces and would definatly recommend coming here to anyone. If I would have to pick a few of my favortie things to do here (in no particular order)they would be:
1. Being able to get a ton of places without ever driving a car. You can travel all over the city and everywhere I have gone, I have never driven in a car. It would be wonderful if I could do that back at home.
2. The bread. Ok, I know it sounds ridiculous but these Austrians really know what they are doing. American bakeries please take notice.
3. Exploring and discovering new things about the city every day. This trip has been full of adventures that have lead to many wonderful experiences - some examples include finding a huge park to go hiking in as well as running through the garden's of an old palace. Oh and you can't forget the little adventures,like finding all kinds of fun places to go shopping (or looking) or remembering when you witness your sister getting shut in a bus door.
4. Prague and Salzburg. These two cities were amazing. They were so different from one another. Salzburg was surrounded by the mountains giving it the most beautiful views and landscape. Prague was a city full of history due to it never getting ruined by bombings during the war. The winding roads and great shopping are defiantly worth coming back to see someday.
5. My host family. They are seriously the greatest. All three of them really took us in and made us feel at home. They have a new puppy too (which just tops everything off). I am going to miss them so much!!
And there are probably about 50 more things I could keep going on and on about but basically this has been the best experience in my life. I have learned so much about not only the other cultures around me but myself as well. I am so blessed to have had the chance to take this trip, with my wonderful sister and some close friends. It really made it that much more meaningful.
Well I need to get packing, I still haven't started yet -whoops! But pray for our safe travel home and SEE YOU IN THE STATES (where it is warm and not going to rain for 17 days in a row... hopefully).
Amanda
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Is it June Already?
Holy crap... June came fast! I feel like we only got into Vienna yesterday, and we're going to be leaving in a little less than two days. Its crazy how time flies! I am excited to go home (I am definitely missing people), but at the same time, I want to stay longer because I'm finally feeling comfortable in the city. Dang it!
These last few days in Vienna are mainly being spent shopping (a lot of gift getting ) and doing some last minute things we haven't quite fit in yet.
I mentioned before that my class requires us to go to many different museums, mostly as part of in-class trips. However, we did have to go to the Imperial Treasury on our own. This is the place where all of the crown jewels, expensive tapestries, and encrusted church pieces of the Royals are housed. Let me tell you, this was cool. We even got to see the largest emerald in the world, around 2380 carats (not like thats a big deal or anything). After seeing these pieces, it seems a little ridiculous to me that people actually lived in that amount of luxury. I mean, there was even a baby blanket embroidered with real gold and silver thread! All in all, the things in the treasury were pretty amazing.
It rained here again today. I feel like an umbrella is becoming a permanent accessory necessary to function in this city! It was also maybe reached 60, and I wore my North Face fleece for most of the day. Did I mention that it was June? This weather is crazy! Fanni told us today that this is the first time since they began recording weather that Austria has had this kind of weather in the summer. Well, at least we got to experience a piece of history, right?
One of the places I'll be sad to leave in Vienna is the bakery about a block away from our house. It is the cheapest place we've found in the city, and they have some of the best bread and pastries in the city! The apple strudel I got one day (yes, we've been multiple times) was fantastic, and rivaled my grandma's apple pie! Amanda is also slightly obsessed with their bread from there as well. If she could bring a loaf back, she would, but I don't think that it would survive the plane ride.
Tonight, for dinner, we went back to the great brewery by our house with Fanni and Taylor, the other student staying with us from Macalester College. It was a fun time, and I'm so glad we got to go out with them, because we've talked about it since we arrived in Vienna. Over the course of the night, we figured out that Amanda, Fanni, and I all have one dimple on our cheek! Amanda then told her that people like to poke her in the dimple, and Fanni just said that her friends sometimes tease her and call it "cellulite on her face."
The brewery reminded me of this, because it was very smoky inside - Many people smoke in Europe. Seriously, its absolutely everywhere, and its probably one of the only things I dislike about Europe. Amanda told us that her professor said 41% of women in Austria smoke. Yuck! It makes me really want to go back to good ole smoke-free Ottawa County! The restaurants will even sell them. They also have strange warnings on the boxes. For example, we saw one that said something to the effect of "Don't smoke around children, because it is bad for their health" and "Smoking can kill you." Slightly different from our required Surgeon General's Warning on the cigarette boxes in the States. I find it ironic that Europe continues to promote this bad habit, because they are very much more environmentally focused than the States. Its like they're choosing to promote a healthier planet, but not a healthier body.
Well, I have my final exam tomorrow, so I should probably be heading to bed here soon. I need to be able to think for this exam and have energy left over for shopping! We'll probably try to squeeze in one last post tomorrow night during the chaotic mess that is packing. Cross your fingers for a rain free last day in Vienna - not likely, but I can hope! T-minus 2 days until Michigan! Until then...
Sweet Dreams!
Molly
These last few days in Vienna are mainly being spent shopping (a lot of gift getting ) and doing some last minute things we haven't quite fit in yet.
I mentioned before that my class requires us to go to many different museums, mostly as part of in-class trips. However, we did have to go to the Imperial Treasury on our own. This is the place where all of the crown jewels, expensive tapestries, and encrusted church pieces of the Royals are housed. Let me tell you, this was cool. We even got to see the largest emerald in the world, around 2380 carats (not like thats a big deal or anything). After seeing these pieces, it seems a little ridiculous to me that people actually lived in that amount of luxury. I mean, there was even a baby blanket embroidered with real gold and silver thread! All in all, the things in the treasury were pretty amazing.
It rained here again today. I feel like an umbrella is becoming a permanent accessory necessary to function in this city! It was also maybe reached 60, and I wore my North Face fleece for most of the day. Did I mention that it was June? This weather is crazy! Fanni told us today that this is the first time since they began recording weather that Austria has had this kind of weather in the summer. Well, at least we got to experience a piece of history, right?
One of the places I'll be sad to leave in Vienna is the bakery about a block away from our house. It is the cheapest place we've found in the city, and they have some of the best bread and pastries in the city! The apple strudel I got one day (yes, we've been multiple times) was fantastic, and rivaled my grandma's apple pie! Amanda is also slightly obsessed with their bread from there as well. If she could bring a loaf back, she would, but I don't think that it would survive the plane ride.
Tonight, for dinner, we went back to the great brewery by our house with Fanni and Taylor, the other student staying with us from Macalester College. It was a fun time, and I'm so glad we got to go out with them, because we've talked about it since we arrived in Vienna. Over the course of the night, we figured out that Amanda, Fanni, and I all have one dimple on our cheek! Amanda then told her that people like to poke her in the dimple, and Fanni just said that her friends sometimes tease her and call it "cellulite on her face."
The brewery reminded me of this, because it was very smoky inside - Many people smoke in Europe. Seriously, its absolutely everywhere, and its probably one of the only things I dislike about Europe. Amanda told us that her professor said 41% of women in Austria smoke. Yuck! It makes me really want to go back to good ole smoke-free Ottawa County! The restaurants will even sell them. They also have strange warnings on the boxes. For example, we saw one that said something to the effect of "Don't smoke around children, because it is bad for their health" and "Smoking can kill you." Slightly different from our required Surgeon General's Warning on the cigarette boxes in the States. I find it ironic that Europe continues to promote this bad habit, because they are very much more environmentally focused than the States. Its like they're choosing to promote a healthier planet, but not a healthier body.
Well, I have my final exam tomorrow, so I should probably be heading to bed here soon. I need to be able to think for this exam and have energy left over for shopping! We'll probably try to squeeze in one last post tomorrow night during the chaotic mess that is packing. Cross your fingers for a rain free last day in Vienna - not likely, but I can hope! T-minus 2 days until Michigan! Until then...
Sweet Dreams!
Molly
Monday, May 31, 2010
The Beautiful City of Praha
Ok so this past weekend, we took a trip out to Prague in the Czech Republic. This city was very beautiful but also very different from Vienna. The streets were very narrow and had coblestones, giving off an older feel. We arrived there Friday night around 7pm - we were supposed to be there around 5:45 but due to a law about the driver resting for 30 minutes and then a wonderful traffic jam in the city it tacked on an hour or so. When we arrived we headed out to St. Norbert's Monastery where we ate dinner as a group then went on a tour of the area with our awesome tour guide named Dana (pronounced Donna). We saw a BEAUTIFUL church and I don't remember then name but here is a picture.
We also got an amazing view of the city on our walk down from the bus.
Saturday began with a 2 hour walking tour of the city, where we got to go onto St. Charles bridge which gives a great view because the river splits the city in two. The tour then brought us to our lunch destination - on a boat that took us down the river, giving us a view of the city from a different perspective. After that, we went shopping (of course) and found some very unique stores as well as a market that had some fresh fruit, unique crafts, and candies. Saturday night, we went to a black light theater performance. These are unique to Prague and the show was defiantly different but well done. We saw the performance called "Faust" and they company that preformed it had its own little spin on the story.
Sunday, we got a tour of the old Jewish quarter of Prague. This is where the old Jewish cemetery is and it is very interesting. There tombstones that date very far back in time (to at least the 16th century if not later) that are basically back to back with one another. It is defiantly something to go see if you ever go there. After that we did a little bit more shopping and exploring and then came back to Vienna around 7pm.
The most exciting thing that has been happening lately is that our host family got a NEW PUPPY!!
Her name is Fielou (Fee-Lou) and she is an Elo - a new mixed breed of some kid. Most precious puppy ever. Seriously. I want to take her home with me. Ok, I won't obviously but she is going to be a very pretty dog. Well we leave here in just over 3 days and I can't believe it already almost over. The time has flown by and it doesn't seem like I am going to be leaving soon. I am excited to come home and see all of the people I have been missing but I am going to miss exploring and seeing all of the different things in Austria and Europe.
Well I have to get to bed! Oh and yes - it rained again today - don't worry we did get one day without rain this weekend :)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tut Tut... Looks Like Rain!
Hello again from Wien! (thats German for Vienna)
It rained for most of the day again. I feel like we're in London, or Michigan in April, or the rainforest with all of this rain! What is ironic is that the forecast predicts sun and high temperatures starting on June 3rd, the day we leave Vienna. That would happen.
The class I'm taking over here is called Austrian Art and Architecture. Its pretty fun, mainly because we go visit and tour various sites around the city, to learn first hand about the different types of art and architecture. We've been to a handful of museums, visited Roman ruins, and have visited multiple churches, including St. Stephen's Cathedral (see the picture). Today, we visited Belvedere Palace, and looked at many different sculptures and paintings. One of the coolest things that this class offers is the chance to see famous works of art up close. I've seen works by Michealangelo, Claude Monet, Rembrandt, and many others from an arms length away. If there ever was a way to learn about art, this is it! Visiting these places helps keep my attention to the subject, which is also helpful. We have to keep a journal for the class, which is not hard, but I am avoiding at the moment. I don't know much about art, so to me it is all interesting, but I don't feel like I have much to say about things other than "it's really beautiful."
I swear weird, funny things have their way of finding me. Remember how I got shut in a bus door last week? Yeah, well this week I got scolded by an Austrian grandma while waiting for the subway. It was finally warmer out (ie. NOT 50 and raining) so I decided to wear shorts and flip flops yesterday. Well, as I was standing there, a short little old woman walks by, and just starts looking at me as she passes. She proceeds to look me up and down, look me in the eye with that "disapproving-grandmother" look, and then make a long comment to me as she walked away. However, I have no idea what she actually said, because it was all in German, and it wasn't like I was going to stop her to ask her to say it again in English. I just stood there and didn't say anything. (Amanda told me that I was awkward for doing that - but seriously, what would you do!?) I would be interested in what she had to say though. It could be pretty funny.
A few other amusing things I feel you should know. 1. Dogs are EVERYWHERE. They are on the subways and buses, in restaurants, and popping their heads out of purses left and right. Many people don't even have their dog on a leash if it isn't required, and all the dogs seem to be quite well trained. 2. Birkenstocks (the really really comfy shoes made here in Germany) are mainly used as house shoes here in Austria. According to Fanni, people rarely ever wear them out of the house, and when they do they are usually old. We told here that in the States, people wear them religiously in the summer (and some people where them year round with socks, but we're not going to talk about that), and she just laughed. Another culture difference I guess. 3. The main food staples of Austria consist of the following: bread, meat, and booze. Seriously, I don't think I've ever eaten as much bread as I have here. It is all delicious (seriously I love it), but I feel like 80% of my daily food intake is in the form of bread. They also sell alcohol everywhere. There are some little carts that stand only to sell booze. You can even buy it at McDonald's, and the checkout stands in the grocery store have a little line of pocket size bottles of liquor. Oh, and Austrians love their meat, especially their sausages. Stands selling hot dogs and brats are on almost every corner. When you order one, they normally come in a massive roll of some sort. What... more bread! See, I told you it's everywhere.
This weekend, we're taking our second trip of the term to Prague, in the Czech Republic! I am very excited for this. It is supposed to be a beautiful city, with great sites and great shopping. There is supposed to be internet at the hotel, so we may get a post up while we're over there. After this trip, we'll have visited 4 countries on this trip! Not to shabby. Well, seeing as how I have homework to finish, its time to wrap this thing up. Oh crap... tut tut... looks like rain!
Molly
It rained for most of the day again. I feel like we're in London, or Michigan in April, or the rainforest with all of this rain! What is ironic is that the forecast predicts sun and high temperatures starting on June 3rd, the day we leave Vienna. That would happen.
The class I'm taking over here is called Austrian Art and Architecture. Its pretty fun, mainly because we go visit and tour various sites around the city, to learn first hand about the different types of art and architecture. We've been to a handful of museums, visited Roman ruins, and have visited multiple churches, including St. Stephen's Cathedral (see the picture). Today, we visited Belvedere Palace, and looked at many different sculptures and paintings. One of the coolest things that this class offers is the chance to see famous works of art up close. I've seen works by Michealangelo, Claude Monet, Rembrandt, and many others from an arms length away. If there ever was a way to learn about art, this is it! Visiting these places helps keep my attention to the subject, which is also helpful. We have to keep a journal for the class, which is not hard, but I am avoiding at the moment. I don't know much about art, so to me it is all interesting, but I don't feel like I have much to say about things other than "it's really beautiful."
I swear weird, funny things have their way of finding me. Remember how I got shut in a bus door last week? Yeah, well this week I got scolded by an Austrian grandma while waiting for the subway. It was finally warmer out (ie. NOT 50 and raining) so I decided to wear shorts and flip flops yesterday. Well, as I was standing there, a short little old woman walks by, and just starts looking at me as she passes. She proceeds to look me up and down, look me in the eye with that "disapproving-grandmother" look, and then make a long comment to me as she walked away. However, I have no idea what she actually said, because it was all in German, and it wasn't like I was going to stop her to ask her to say it again in English. I just stood there and didn't say anything. (Amanda told me that I was awkward for doing that - but seriously, what would you do!?) I would be interested in what she had to say though. It could be pretty funny.
A few other amusing things I feel you should know. 1. Dogs are EVERYWHERE. They are on the subways and buses, in restaurants, and popping their heads out of purses left and right. Many people don't even have their dog on a leash if it isn't required, and all the dogs seem to be quite well trained. 2. Birkenstocks (the really really comfy shoes made here in Germany) are mainly used as house shoes here in Austria. According to Fanni, people rarely ever wear them out of the house, and when they do they are usually old. We told here that in the States, people wear them religiously in the summer (and some people where them year round with socks, but we're not going to talk about that), and she just laughed. Another culture difference I guess. 3. The main food staples of Austria consist of the following: bread, meat, and booze. Seriously, I don't think I've ever eaten as much bread as I have here. It is all delicious (seriously I love it), but I feel like 80% of my daily food intake is in the form of bread. They also sell alcohol everywhere. There are some little carts that stand only to sell booze. You can even buy it at McDonald's, and the checkout stands in the grocery store have a little line of pocket size bottles of liquor. Oh, and Austrians love their meat, especially their sausages. Stands selling hot dogs and brats are on almost every corner. When you order one, they normally come in a massive roll of some sort. What... more bread! See, I told you it's everywhere.
This weekend, we're taking our second trip of the term to Prague, in the Czech Republic! I am very excited for this. It is supposed to be a beautiful city, with great sites and great shopping. There is supposed to be internet at the hotel, so we may get a post up while we're over there. After this trip, we'll have visited 4 countries on this trip! Not to shabby. Well, seeing as how I have homework to finish, its time to wrap this thing up. Oh crap... tut tut... looks like rain!
Molly
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Only One Week Left!
With only one week left, I have really been wanting better weather but weather really hasn't been cooperating too much. though it has been sunnier, we have only had one full day without any rain (Monday) and I don't like this whole teasing game of it being sunny one minute and then raining five minutes later. The temperature has gone up quite a bit though - it has been in the mid to lower 70's the last few days. So hopefully the trend continues? (I'm crossing my fingers!)
As for the day yesterday, it was still fairly warm and nice outside. I had class in the morning and then grabbed some lunch because my class when to the Arsenal museum in the afternoon to see some interesting historical elements of Austrian history. We first saw the car that Francis Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in during the tour through Sarajevo (in Bosnia).
This basically caused the start of WWI. We also saw an exhibit on armored materials and different signs and other memorabilia from WWII in Austria. This part of the exhibit was interesting because it really showed how much control that Hitler had on everyone in Austria, There was even a square that was refereed to as Adolf Hitler Square. Ugh Creepy.
After the museum, Molly and I went home and went to a little bakery by our house that was cheap and SUPER delicious. We got a loft of bread and then some pastries that were so good. We are defiantly going back soon (we are only in Vienna once right?). After that, we went out for a run - one of which where it was sunny but raining on us for about 20 of the 30 minutes we ran. Then we came home and went out to eat downtown with some of the girls. The picture is of Mols and some of our friends but it shows that we got to eat outside in the middle of one of the busy pedestrian streets in Vienna - it was really fun!
After dinner, we went out got gelato then walked around the city for a while before all going our separate ways. We got home and just spent the rest of the night finishing up homework and doing laundry.
Today I went for a tour of the Jewish area of Vienna and visited a Synagogue. That was very interesting and the synagogue we went to was the only one to survive the Nazi occupation during WWII.
The rest of the day we spent exploring a little, grabbing lunch downtown and then coming back home and talking a walk and exploring our neighborhood in a direction we haven't traveled as well yet.
As of right now - the weather prediction is light rain all day -but I am going to hope for a Michigan weather forecast here and say that it will be wrong and be sunny. I feel like its a little bit of wishful thinking...but oh well - Im desperate for some consistent sunshine!
Until something semi interesting occurs (or just not wanting to do homework...)
Amanda
As for the day yesterday, it was still fairly warm and nice outside. I had class in the morning and then grabbed some lunch because my class when to the Arsenal museum in the afternoon to see some interesting historical elements of Austrian history. We first saw the car that Francis Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in during the tour through Sarajevo (in Bosnia).
This basically caused the start of WWI. We also saw an exhibit on armored materials and different signs and other memorabilia from WWII in Austria. This part of the exhibit was interesting because it really showed how much control that Hitler had on everyone in Austria, There was even a square that was refereed to as Adolf Hitler Square. Ugh Creepy.After the museum, Molly and I went home and went to a little bakery by our house that was cheap and SUPER delicious. We got a loft of bread and then some pastries that were so good. We are defiantly going back soon (we are only in Vienna once right?). After that, we went out for a run - one of which where it was sunny but raining on us for about 20 of the 30 minutes we ran. Then we came home and went out to eat downtown with some of the girls. The picture is of Mols and some of our friends but it shows that we got to eat outside in the middle of one of the busy pedestrian streets in Vienna - it was really fun!
After dinner, we went out got gelato then walked around the city for a while before all going our separate ways. We got home and just spent the rest of the night finishing up homework and doing laundry.Today I went for a tour of the Jewish area of Vienna and visited a Synagogue. That was very interesting and the synagogue we went to was the only one to survive the Nazi occupation during WWII.
The rest of the day we spent exploring a little, grabbing lunch downtown and then coming back home and talking a walk and exploring our neighborhood in a direction we haven't traveled as well yet. As of right now - the weather prediction is light rain all day -but I am going to hope for a Michigan weather forecast here and say that it will be wrong and be sunny. I feel like its a little bit of wishful thinking...but oh well - Im desperate for some consistent sunshine!
Until something semi interesting occurs (or just not wanting to do homework...)
Amanda
Monday, May 24, 2010
Oh What a Beautiful Day!
So right now I am sitting on the veranda at our house looking outside to the beautiful garden that our host parents keep. It reminds me of my mom and grandma and how much they would love it.
With a little exploring I have found that most of the flowers are in the back and side yard of the house while the front has the veggies and other types of plants like that. This week, our host family is in Italy on vacation, with Fannie (our host sister) coming home Wednesday and Gerda and Michl returning on Sunday - which means molly and I are in charge of watering the house plants and flowers outside if it doesn't rain enough.
This weekend in Salzburg was amazing, the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I have decided that someday I am coming back and hiking through the alps. The best part was we only saw the edge of them, so i can't even imagine what it would be like to be in the middle of them! The other part of the trip that really was meaningful (minus the whole city of Salzburg) was when we made a trip to the concentration camp on the way back. Going though the buildings, seeing the pictures and memorials, really just broke my heart. The most ironic thing was that this place that was fully of death and disaster was surrounded by a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and valleys. It make me wonder why something so terrible was surrounded by such beauty?
But to move on a lighter subject, this is the first day that it hasn't rained and I have gotten to wear something other than jeans or pants because it is actually warm. It has rained for the past 12 days, and its supposed to again tonight...but I am crossing my fingers that the forecast is wrong. I have never been so sick of rain in my whole life. And I love to explore the city (like today we went down to the area of the University of Vienna), and it is so much easier to do when it is nice and sunny!
Plans for tonight we are going out to dinner with some of the girls also in the program that live down the road from us, which I am looking forward too! I am not looking forward to my midterm tomorrow in my class though. I mean, my studying has been going really thus far, since I am writing this with my books laying closed around me.... whoops. But I figure I am only in Vienna once though so I will just use those awesome cramming skills I have acquired thanks to the nursing program and hopefully do well.
A few more observations I have made while over here (i know this post is all over the place, sorry) but they are the following
1. People here don't really wear flip flops over here. They mostly wear closed toe shoes, even when its warm or nice sandals, but not flip flops as much.
2. The don't have peanut butter in anything. There are no chocolates or pastries or gelato with peanut butter in it. The basically use marzipan or Nutella instead, two things that we don't use that much in the States. Our host family does have peanut butter though so that is a plus.
3. It is really hard to find a cheap cup of what we would consider to be "regular" coffee. They don't really drink it like that over here as much, and it is more expensive to get things (since I am not really a big fan of shots of espresso). Trust me, Molly has noticed this a LOT. :)
Well, pray for us to have good weather and stay safe for the next 11 days until we return home.
Now I am off to enjoy the sunshine - oh an study too... ;)
Amanda
With a little exploring I have found that most of the flowers are in the back and side yard of the house while the front has the veggies and other types of plants like that. This week, our host family is in Italy on vacation, with Fannie (our host sister) coming home Wednesday and Gerda and Michl returning on Sunday - which means molly and I are in charge of watering the house plants and flowers outside if it doesn't rain enough. This weekend in Salzburg was amazing, the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I have decided that someday I am coming back and hiking through the alps. The best part was we only saw the edge of them, so i can't even imagine what it would be like to be in the middle of them! The other part of the trip that really was meaningful (minus the whole city of Salzburg) was when we made a trip to the concentration camp on the way back. Going though the buildings, seeing the pictures and memorials, really just broke my heart. The most ironic thing was that this place that was fully of death and disaster was surrounded by a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and valleys. It make me wonder why something so terrible was surrounded by such beauty?
But to move on a lighter subject, this is the first day that it hasn't rained and I have gotten to wear something other than jeans or pants because it is actually warm. It has rained for the past 12 days, and its supposed to again tonight...but I am crossing my fingers that the forecast is wrong. I have never been so sick of rain in my whole life. And I love to explore the city (like today we went down to the area of the University of Vienna), and it is so much easier to do when it is nice and sunny!
Plans for tonight we are going out to dinner with some of the girls also in the program that live down the road from us, which I am looking forward too! I am not looking forward to my midterm tomorrow in my class though. I mean, my studying has been going really thus far, since I am writing this with my books laying closed around me.... whoops. But I figure I am only in Vienna once though so I will just use those awesome cramming skills I have acquired thanks to the nursing program and hopefully do well.
A few more observations I have made while over here (i know this post is all over the place, sorry) but they are the following
1. People here don't really wear flip flops over here. They mostly wear closed toe shoes, even when its warm or nice sandals, but not flip flops as much.
2. The don't have peanut butter in anything. There are no chocolates or pastries or gelato with peanut butter in it. The basically use marzipan or Nutella instead, two things that we don't use that much in the States. Our host family does have peanut butter though so that is a plus.
3. It is really hard to find a cheap cup of what we would consider to be "regular" coffee. They don't really drink it like that over here as much, and it is more expensive to get things (since I am not really a big fan of shots of espresso). Trust me, Molly has noticed this a LOT. :)
Well, pray for us to have good weather and stay safe for the next 11 days until we return home.
Now I am off to enjoy the sunshine - oh an study too... ;)
Amanda
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Our weekend in Salzburg!
Hello everyone. This weekend, we went on our first group trip to Salzburg. Well, we actually stayed in Hallein, a small town outside of the city. We left around 1pm Friday, and got back today around 7:15 pm. We were busy this weekend, so this post is going to be quite long.
Before I discuss this weekend, I just want to mention that we went exploring on Thursday, and found a fantastic park to go hiking in. Its part of the small mountain (some might say large hill) by our house. We saw Austrian deer there (they are the size of goats) and also wild boars. No, I am not kidding. They completely freaked me out, but Amanda and our friend Taylor that was with us didn't have a problem with them. It turned out that they were practically half domesticated, because when Taylor threw a stick they ran after it like dogs, thinking it was food.
On Friday, we stopped about halfway through our drive at Melk Abbey, which is the oldest monastery in Austria. This place was absolutely huge, with complete with a ballroom, library, and a beautiful, massive church. The pictures of the church do not do it justice, as it was elaborately decorated with paintings all over the walls gold adornments everywhere. It practically glowed. After that, we continued on our way to Hallein. (by the way, it was raining for most of the day.... again) On the rest of our drive to our hotel in Hallein, we saw two exciting things. The first is the church where they filmed scenes from the Sound of Music. The second is the MOUNTAINS! We didn't know this, but Salzburg and Hallein sit right at the beginning edge of the Alps. Needless to say, I was extremely excited - like 5-year-old-kid-at-Disney-World excited. Even though it was pretty rainy when we got in, I still got some good pictures. That night, we found a fantastic, cheap gelato place in the center of Hallein, which we visited again Saturday night as well.
Saturday was a very long day, but worth every minute. We had to be up somewhat early, in order to make it into Salzburg in time for our tour of the city. Let me just say that Salzburg is probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen. The buildings are all very old-world like, and very pretty, and the city is surrounded by the mountains, giving it gorgeous scenery. Even the signs for the shops were unique. We were lucky, and while the day started off somewhat cloudy, it kept improving throughout the day, and by about noon we had sunshine! During the tour, we were shown many important places in Salzburg, including the main shopping street, the cathedral, the fortress, and sites from the Sound of Music, including Mirabell Gardens, and the old stables, which were turned into a performance hall. I also went down to the Abbey where Maria VonTrapp was a member before marrying Mr. VonTrapp. If you didn't already pick this up, the VonTrapp family lived in Salzburg, and much of the movie the Sound of Music was filmed there. Did I mention that I love that movie? After having some fantastic pretzels for lunch, we headed over into Germany for a tour of where Hitler lived while he was Chancellor of Germany. The drive to that place was basically fantastic. Why? The view! We drove deeper into the Alps, which basically left us with jaw dropping, fantastic views of the mountain (see the picture). The museum was located at the top of a mountain in Obersalzburg, Germany. It was somewhat humbling to see the things in that museum, and it seemed to be contradictory to the setting of the building. You would never guess that one of the most ruthless leaders in world history would have lived in such an idyllic spot.
Today, in the morning, we visited the salt mines, through which the city of Salzburg gained its wealth throughout the ages. It was pretty fun. We had to put on these hilarious white suits over our clothes - we looked like oompa-loompas. Once we got into the mine, we had a hilarous tour guide, who at the end told us that he was glad he got us and "not the group of 50 asians." Oh my goodness, that was funny. While in the mines, we got to slide down these wooden slides that the miners used in the past to maneuver the mines - this was SO fun! After the salt mines, we ate lunch, and then went to Malthausen - a concentration camp in Austria. That was a humbling experience. We got to tour the grounds, see the barracks where the prisoners stayed, look through the gas chambers, and other holding rooms, and walk down to the rock quarry where most of the prisoners worked until death. The camp was set upon the top of a small mountain/hill, and the surrounding area was beautiful, making it contradictory to the horrific events that happened here. Walking through this was a heavy dose of reality. We've all read and know about the things that happened at the concentration camps, but it is so much more powerful to stand on the ground where these events took place. You can see a picture of the steps the prisoners had to walk up from the quarry, carrying the stones up with them.
Alright, well this is entirely too long, but hopefully we'll post again soon. We've got our 2nd full week in Vienna ahead of us... who knows what will happen! We'll inform you on our adventures sooner rather than later, I promise!
Until we write again,
Molly
Before I discuss this weekend, I just want to mention that we went exploring on Thursday, and found a fantastic park to go hiking in. Its part of the small mountain (some might say large hill) by our house. We saw Austrian deer there (they are the size of goats) and also wild boars. No, I am not kidding. They completely freaked me out, but Amanda and our friend Taylor that was with us didn't have a problem with them. It turned out that they were practically half domesticated, because when Taylor threw a stick they ran after it like dogs, thinking it was food.
On Friday, we stopped about halfway through our drive at Melk Abbey, which is the oldest monastery in Austria. This place was absolutely huge, with complete with a ballroom, library, and a beautiful, massive church. The pictures of the church do not do it justice, as it was elaborately decorated with paintings all over the walls gold adornments everywhere. It practically glowed. After that, we continued on our way to Hallein. (by the way, it was raining for most of the day.... again) On the rest of our drive to our hotel in Hallein, we saw two exciting things. The first is the church where they filmed scenes from the Sound of Music. The second is the MOUNTAINS! We didn't know this, but Salzburg and Hallein sit right at the beginning edge of the Alps. Needless to say, I was extremely excited - like 5-year-old-kid-at-Disney-World excited. Even though it was pretty rainy when we got in, I still got some good pictures. That night, we found a fantastic, cheap gelato place in the center of Hallein, which we visited again Saturday night as well.
Saturday was a very long day, but worth every minute. We had to be up somewhat early, in order to make it into Salzburg in time for our tour of the city. Let me just say that Salzburg is probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen. The buildings are all very old-world like, and very pretty, and the city is surrounded by the mountains, giving it gorgeous scenery. Even the signs for the shops were unique. We were lucky, and while the day started off somewhat cloudy, it kept improving throughout the day, and by about noon we had sunshine! During the tour, we were shown many important places in Salzburg, including the main shopping street, the cathedral, the fortress, and sites from the Sound of Music, including Mirabell Gardens, and the old stables, which were turned into a performance hall. I also went down to the Abbey where Maria VonTrapp was a member before marrying Mr. VonTrapp. If you didn't already pick this up, the VonTrapp family lived in Salzburg, and much of the movie the Sound of Music was filmed there. Did I mention that I love that movie? After having some fantastic pretzels for lunch, we headed over into Germany for a tour of where Hitler lived while he was Chancellor of Germany. The drive to that place was basically fantastic. Why? The view! We drove deeper into the Alps, which basically left us with jaw dropping, fantastic views of the mountain (see the picture). The museum was located at the top of a mountain in Obersalzburg, Germany. It was somewhat humbling to see the things in that museum, and it seemed to be contradictory to the setting of the building. You would never guess that one of the most ruthless leaders in world history would have lived in such an idyllic spot.
Today, in the morning, we visited the salt mines, through which the city of Salzburg gained its wealth throughout the ages. It was pretty fun. We had to put on these hilarious white suits over our clothes - we looked like oompa-loompas. Once we got into the mine, we had a hilarous tour guide, who at the end told us that he was glad he got us and "not the group of 50 asians." Oh my goodness, that was funny. While in the mines, we got to slide down these wooden slides that the miners used in the past to maneuver the mines - this was SO fun! After the salt mines, we ate lunch, and then went to Malthausen - a concentration camp in Austria. That was a humbling experience. We got to tour the grounds, see the barracks where the prisoners stayed, look through the gas chambers, and other holding rooms, and walk down to the rock quarry where most of the prisoners worked until death. The camp was set upon the top of a small mountain/hill, and the surrounding area was beautiful, making it contradictory to the horrific events that happened here. Walking through this was a heavy dose of reality. We've all read and know about the things that happened at the concentration camps, but it is so much more powerful to stand on the ground where these events took place. You can see a picture of the steps the prisoners had to walk up from the quarry, carrying the stones up with them.
Alright, well this is entirely too long, but hopefully we'll post again soon. We've got our 2nd full week in Vienna ahead of us... who knows what will happen! We'll inform you on our adventures sooner rather than later, I promise!
Until we write again,
Molly
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