I probably should've updated sooner...but I'm home! I got here Saturday!
That is, after staying up the entire night (got some good sunrise pics from the apartment) and barely sleeping on the plane. We left for the airport around 5:30 am, and got there in time for our 11 am flight. It was about 9 hours long and I was so sick of sitting by the end of it. However, I sat by the nicest, cutest old couple who were so nice to me. They were visiting Vienna, so we talked about everything they saw, where I studied, and of course the opera house. It's great to be home, I love being able to see everyone, and my puppy is absolutely adorable:)
So...now what? I guess maybe I'll update this when I feel like it? But who knows how often that will be...ha;)
-A
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Pretty much Home
For some reason I've felt compelled to write more the closer I am to leaving.
Today I woke up super early, ran some errands, and went to the Belvedere! Love that place-two palaces and huge awesome gardens, plus an art museum inside. After that I found my way to Ressel Park with friends where we ended up busting out some acappella stuff in the middle of the park. We made some change and a new friend (long story). Later, we walked around the park and then I headed to Schonbrunn for the last time with my friend Blair. We made it to the Gloriette-top of the hill of the gardens-and took tons of pictures. Oh and we went through the Naschtmarkt and got gelato on the way there. All in all a great day-now I'm home-super tired and procrastinating studying by preparing for our last apartment dinner, finding new music on itunes, and writing this post.
Went to dinner last night with some Austrian friends and some IES friends-It was pretty fun-one of them studied in America so she told us how she misses it, and listed all the things she misses (really friendly people, Coldstone, cars, etc.) which helped us all look forward to home a little more. It's still strange to be leaving-it feels like another weekend trip to France or something...gah.
Anyways, I should be productive.
-AC
Today I woke up super early, ran some errands, and went to the Belvedere! Love that place-two palaces and huge awesome gardens, plus an art museum inside. After that I found my way to Ressel Park with friends where we ended up busting out some acappella stuff in the middle of the park. We made some change and a new friend (long story). Later, we walked around the park and then I headed to Schonbrunn for the last time with my friend Blair. We made it to the Gloriette-top of the hill of the gardens-and took tons of pictures. Oh and we went through the Naschtmarkt and got gelato on the way there. All in all a great day-now I'm home-super tired and procrastinating studying by preparing for our last apartment dinner, finding new music on itunes, and writing this post.
Went to dinner last night with some Austrian friends and some IES friends-It was pretty fun-one of them studied in America so she told us how she misses it, and listed all the things she misses (really friendly people, Coldstone, cars, etc.) which helped us all look forward to home a little more. It's still strange to be leaving-it feels like another weekend trip to France or something...gah.
Anyways, I should be productive.
-AC
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
30 Hours in a Day would be better
If you couldn't tell from my last post, I have finished classes. It is currently Tuesday of finals week, and I have one final left. Today I had my last flute lesson at the University of Music and yesterday i took my music history final. I'm ecstatic to be done with all the work, but this week and last week have been INSANE so far. Everyone (myself included) has been trying to do/see everything we haven't gotten to earlier in the semester-which is a lot to cram in these last two weeks. There is so much to do and so many people to say bye too. Last night we had a party in some of the girls apartments and it was so much fun-I don't know how we are all just going to seperate places after this- I will miss them so much:(
But anyways, Tues, Weds, and Thurs are jam packed with tons of things to do. Friday we have our last German final, an IES farewell party, and then I come home to talk to our land lady about moving out, and pack up all my things. I am really excited to come home though-some reasons why:
1-I can drive (but not so excited about the gas sitch)
2-I can get a haircut
3-I can speak English
and
4- I can see all my friends and family...and MEET MY DOG.
The end here is getting really bittersweet, and it is SO strange that I'm leaving so soon. I can't fathom not seeing all of my Vienna friends at home...:( It makes me so sad that we all live so far away from each other.
Anyways, got to get going and sightseeing.
until next time...
-a
But anyways, Tues, Weds, and Thurs are jam packed with tons of things to do. Friday we have our last German final, an IES farewell party, and then I come home to talk to our land lady about moving out, and pack up all my things. I am really excited to come home though-some reasons why:
1-I can drive (but not so excited about the gas sitch)
2-I can get a haircut
3-I can speak English
and
4- I can see all my friends and family...and MEET MY DOG.
The end here is getting really bittersweet, and it is SO strange that I'm leaving so soon. I can't fathom not seeing all of my Vienna friends at home...:( It makes me so sad that we all live so far away from each other.
Anyways, got to get going and sightseeing.
until next time...
-a
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
First Last's.
Yesterday I had my first last class in Wien...weird.
It was our internship meeting class. The professor's name is Heidi and she's awesome. So enthusiastic, and took us on a field trip to the Alps, brought us traditional Austrian Easter bread, and so much else. We decided to pitch in and buy her flowers and card. So last night after the class we gave her the stuff and she started crying! Apparently no other class had ever done this and it made her so happy. (Our class is only 4 people...go music ed) So it was fun/sad.
Today I had two of my three teaching classes at the Gymnasium (school). I told them about marching bands:). (Did you know they've all seen American Pie? haha) Then I let them ask me anything...so that was pretty interesting. Long story short there were two great classes and I had to say goodbye to all the students, kind of sad. The second class told me they would come visit me at home so that was great.
It was our internship meeting class. The professor's name is Heidi and she's awesome. So enthusiastic, and took us on a field trip to the Alps, brought us traditional Austrian Easter bread, and so much else. We decided to pitch in and buy her flowers and card. So last night after the class we gave her the stuff and she started crying! Apparently no other class had ever done this and it made her so happy. (Our class is only 4 people...go music ed) So it was fun/sad.
Today I had two of my three teaching classes at the Gymnasium (school). I told them about marching bands:). (Did you know they've all seen American Pie? haha) Then I let them ask me anything...so that was pretty interesting. Long story short there were two great classes and I had to say goodbye to all the students, kind of sad. The second class told me they would come visit me at home so that was great.
Monday, May 9, 2011
A Day in the Life..
7:30 -Alarm clock goes off super early so I can get up and do approx. six hours of studying/paper writing before class. Ambitious? yes. Realistic? no.
That's why I press snooze four times
8:57- Actual wake up time. Check email and do stuff for school at home involving confusing PDFs on the computer. Always check email in the morning because most people from home email in the evening...aka middle of the night Wien time.
9:00- Eat cheerios. in a mug.
9:10-10:00 Get ready, pack bookbag, procrastinate
10:00-10:30- Walk to school. Pass by Theater an der Wien where Beethoven's 5th premiered and he used to live. Also walk through a Mile of Composers..stars in the concrete with their autographs-think Hollywood walk. Pass the infamous Naschtmarkt. Also pass Secession, some giant museums that look like palaces, and the Staatsoper (Opera house). Just to give you an idea of what the walk is like...
10:30-1:31 Go to study room, throw my 30 pound bookbag on floor. Take out computer and set up camp. I am currently occupying one entire four person table with books, computer, and water bottle. The agenda? -German take home test, Music History take home journals (500 hours of work here), and Music History listening practice.
1:31 pm Decide it's time to procrastinate. Get on facebook. Check email a lot of times. Start writing this blog.
1:35 Realize I can only write this far because the day isn't done yet. ....to be continued.
1:37 continues to "do work"
2:00 take advil because my neck hurts (Have I mentioned yet that pillows here are terrible? It's basically an air bubble that goes flat when you try to sleep on it... dumb.)
3:00 go to class
4:30 Go to coaching-We each have a coaching 1x a week with a pianist. We can work on our solo repertoire and they help us.
I stayed at mine an extra 15 minutes today because the girl after me had to cancel.
5:30- start the walk home. Stop at Billa (grocery store) to buy chicken, veggies, bananas and yogurt.
6:00 Home. Get on computer, realize that internet is being weird.
6:30 Started blogging...here I am now. Anddd I'll just make a prediction of what will happen tonight
6:37 Start to make dinner-chicken with tomatoes and shrooms.
7:00 Eat and all that jazz
7:20 Procrastinate
7:40- Start German take home test and brainstorm lesson plans for Wednesday
9:00 Probably won't have finished either but may decide to skype.
11:00 Finish both.
12:00 beddd
...And now you know.
That's why I press snooze four times
8:57- Actual wake up time. Check email and do stuff for school at home involving confusing PDFs on the computer. Always check email in the morning because most people from home email in the evening...aka middle of the night Wien time.
9:00- Eat cheerios. in a mug.
9:10-10:00 Get ready, pack bookbag, procrastinate
10:00-10:30- Walk to school. Pass by Theater an der Wien where Beethoven's 5th premiered and he used to live. Also walk through a Mile of Composers..stars in the concrete with their autographs-think Hollywood walk. Pass the infamous Naschtmarkt. Also pass Secession, some giant museums that look like palaces, and the Staatsoper (Opera house). Just to give you an idea of what the walk is like...
10:30-1:31 Go to study room, throw my 30 pound bookbag on floor. Take out computer and set up camp. I am currently occupying one entire four person table with books, computer, and water bottle. The agenda? -German take home test, Music History take home journals (500 hours of work here), and Music History listening practice.
1:31 pm Decide it's time to procrastinate. Get on facebook. Check email a lot of times. Start writing this blog.
1:35 Realize I can only write this far because the day isn't done yet. ....to be continued.
1:37 continues to "do work"
2:00 take advil because my neck hurts (Have I mentioned yet that pillows here are terrible? It's basically an air bubble that goes flat when you try to sleep on it... dumb.)
3:00 go to class
4:30 Go to coaching-We each have a coaching 1x a week with a pianist. We can work on our solo repertoire and they help us.
I stayed at mine an extra 15 minutes today because the girl after me had to cancel.
5:30- start the walk home. Stop at Billa (grocery store) to buy chicken, veggies, bananas and yogurt.
6:00 Home. Get on computer, realize that internet is being weird.
6:30 Started blogging...here I am now. Anddd I'll just make a prediction of what will happen tonight
6:37 Start to make dinner-chicken with tomatoes and shrooms.
7:00 Eat and all that jazz
7:20 Procrastinate
7:40- Start German take home test and brainstorm lesson plans for Wednesday
9:00 Probably won't have finished either but may decide to skype.
11:00 Finish both.
12:00 beddd
...And now you know.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Geburtstag in Vienna and Weekend in Graz
I'm 21! Oh the irony of turning 21 in a country where nothing changes at that age....
but it was still great anyways!
That morning I woke up around 6:30 to study for a German test...when my alarm went off, my roommate Megan rolled over and said "Happy birthday!" still half asleep-pretty impressive that she remembered at 6:30 in the morning when she wasn't even awake.
So I took the German test (woo), went to rehearsals, and watched part of the royal wedding. I proceeded to check my mail, to find a package from my best friend Liz at school. There was a card from about 30 of my friends at school, a letter from Liz, a Gburg t-shirt, and some candy. Such a great surprise! It made me so happy:)
I went to babysit that afternoon, and the mother had made a cake for me, and so we ate cake and had coffee together with the kids (so funny to watch a two year old eat cake...). Then her daughter presented me with a box of chocolates:)! I also met her mother, who also wished me a happy birthday.
I went home, and walked in the door to a strange scene...my roommates and a few other people were in the kitchen, and I saw a few other friends on the couch. I looked around for a few seconds and everyone kind of paused...then yelled SURPRISE. My roommate Megan had called everyone and planned a surprise party:) So we had wine, and a DELICIOUS cake that Bev and Nick made, and it was fantastic. After a few glasses of wine and champagne (I should mention...I opened the champagne and the cork hit one of the lightbulbs...RIP living room light) some of us went to TGIF for dinner. Yes, I did this birthday American style. We had a great time, and somehow they told the waitress it was my birthday...so after dinner about 6 waiters marched up singing that obnoxious birthday song with the clapping. One of the waiters told me I had to stand on the table. Seriously. I HAD too. Or else they were going to go away. So...I got on the table, and they handed me some massive dessert that had a sparkler (ON FIRE) in it and they sang to me. It was hilarious.
Sooo after that adventure we walked home and found out JUDE LAW WAS FILMING A MOVIE. IN THE NASCHTMARKT. ...So we hovered around that and saw him and that was also pretty fun.
Later we just slept for a few hoursand got up to go on the Styria (Graz) trip!
It decided to rain that day, but everyone still went to the outdoor museum. It was pretty cool...it was just a way of showing the different time period houses of different provinces in Austria...so just like a big hike around a moutain and you stop and walk through old-timey houses. Since it was pouring and I was wearing shorts, my friends Kevin and Rachel and I shared an umbrella. We walked in step and huddled together and it was so fun because Rachel says the craziest stuff and Kevin in the king of spontaneous one-liners.
Later we got a tour of the city of Graz--pretty much like Salzburg and Vienna combined-we loved it. Then we went to our hostel, had a good dinner, all that stuff.
Unfortunately Rachel and I fell asleep around 8-the plan was to take a brief nap and our other roommates would call us or come get us. But we slept through the phone call and woke up at 9am. 13 hours of sleep....new record? (That is way too much sleep if you ask me)
Then today we went to a thermal pool aka water park. AWESOME. There was a big giant pool, one outside, multiple hot tubs, two water slides, and a sauna. We spent most of the time in the hot tubs, and sauna. But anyways, I am pretty tired from today so I'm going to end it here. Unfortunately i don't have any pics because once again my camera decided to die. woo technology.
But anyways, the countdown to home has begun and I'm not sure how I feel about it.
The amount that I want to get home equals the amount that I want to stay.
Cognitive dissonance.
so yeah.
peace love and schnitzel.
-alyssa
but it was still great anyways!
That morning I woke up around 6:30 to study for a German test...when my alarm went off, my roommate Megan rolled over and said "Happy birthday!" still half asleep-pretty impressive that she remembered at 6:30 in the morning when she wasn't even awake.
So I took the German test (woo), went to rehearsals, and watched part of the royal wedding. I proceeded to check my mail, to find a package from my best friend Liz at school. There was a card from about 30 of my friends at school, a letter from Liz, a Gburg t-shirt, and some candy. Such a great surprise! It made me so happy:)
I went to babysit that afternoon, and the mother had made a cake for me, and so we ate cake and had coffee together with the kids (so funny to watch a two year old eat cake...). Then her daughter presented me with a box of chocolates:)! I also met her mother, who also wished me a happy birthday.
I went home, and walked in the door to a strange scene...my roommates and a few other people were in the kitchen, and I saw a few other friends on the couch. I looked around for a few seconds and everyone kind of paused...then yelled SURPRISE. My roommate Megan had called everyone and planned a surprise party:) So we had wine, and a DELICIOUS cake that Bev and Nick made, and it was fantastic. After a few glasses of wine and champagne (I should mention...I opened the champagne and the cork hit one of the lightbulbs...RIP living room light) some of us went to TGIF for dinner. Yes, I did this birthday American style. We had a great time, and somehow they told the waitress it was my birthday...so after dinner about 6 waiters marched up singing that obnoxious birthday song with the clapping. One of the waiters told me I had to stand on the table. Seriously. I HAD too. Or else they were going to go away. So...I got on the table, and they handed me some massive dessert that had a sparkler (ON FIRE) in it and they sang to me. It was hilarious.
Sooo after that adventure we walked home and found out JUDE LAW WAS FILMING A MOVIE. IN THE NASCHTMARKT. ...So we hovered around that and saw him and that was also pretty fun.
Later we just slept for a few hoursand got up to go on the Styria (Graz) trip!
It decided to rain that day, but everyone still went to the outdoor museum. It was pretty cool...it was just a way of showing the different time period houses of different provinces in Austria...so just like a big hike around a moutain and you stop and walk through old-timey houses. Since it was pouring and I was wearing shorts, my friends Kevin and Rachel and I shared an umbrella. We walked in step and huddled together and it was so fun because Rachel says the craziest stuff and Kevin in the king of spontaneous one-liners.
Later we got a tour of the city of Graz--pretty much like Salzburg and Vienna combined-we loved it. Then we went to our hostel, had a good dinner, all that stuff.
Unfortunately Rachel and I fell asleep around 8-the plan was to take a brief nap and our other roommates would call us or come get us. But we slept through the phone call and woke up at 9am. 13 hours of sleep....new record? (That is way too much sleep if you ask me)
Then today we went to a thermal pool aka water park. AWESOME. There was a big giant pool, one outside, multiple hot tubs, two water slides, and a sauna. We spent most of the time in the hot tubs, and sauna. But anyways, I am pretty tired from today so I'm going to end it here. Unfortunately i don't have any pics because once again my camera decided to die. woo technology.
But anyways, the countdown to home has begun and I'm not sure how I feel about it.
The amount that I want to get home equals the amount that I want to stay.
Cognitive dissonance.
so yeah.
peace love and schnitzel.
-alyssa
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Spring Break: Adventure to Paradise
AftThis is going to be a pretty epic post. Considering how awesome the trip was, I'm going to have to crack open my journal to remember it all, and even then I will have to give you the spark notes version.
Agenda: Croatia, 1 week.
Dubrovnik (southern Croatia) Saturday-Tuesday
Zadar (middle Croatia) Tuesday night-Saturday morning
Dubrovnik: Day 1...planes and stuff
Plane to Zagreb, catch connection to Dubrovnik. Sit in boring airport for three+hours. Get coffee. (Did I mention the flight was super early?..coffee was necessary) Reflect on how strange it is I'm in Croatia. When we planned this trip we were super ambitious and wanted to do Italy-Greece, and I joked and said 'Lets throw in Croatia too'....and it turned into 'Lets go to Croatia!' I journaled at the airport for a good hour. My entry was seven pages. Get to Dubrovnik to discover we had a sweeeet sobe/apartment. Settle in and pick our bedrooms, and go to buy food to cook later. (We had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dining room and kitchen and foyer).
Dubrovnik: Day 2-Exploring the City
Hanna, Kevin, and Harry had decided to take the train route to Croatia...so they arrived Day 2 around 7am. They'd traveled for over 24 hours. When they got in we all slept till around noon, and explored the city for the rest of the day. The Old City is the coolest place ever-it's all surrounded by giant castle walls, and there are ancient buildings and beautiful churches, and the whole city is paved with marble-ish tiles...so you almost feel like you're walking down a hallway, except outside...in Croatia. We also walked around the pier and harbor-amazing views of the islands and all the boats. Also, Croatia is ideal for pirates. Not even kidding. We saw a pirate ship...and in most of the Old Town the houses look like they're from the Pirates of the Carribbean ride in Disney. So awesome. We got pizza, because Crotian food is pretty much either seafood or Italian. And Italian is cheaper.
Pics from both days:
Oh, and we ate lunch in an underground cave that we found. And I got the worst sunburn of my life. But I recovered. I am happy to report I can now sleep on my left side again without my skin burning.
Travelling-Day 4-Dubrovnik to Zadar
Not much to write about...we took an 8 hour bus ride from Dubrovnik to Zadar...look that up on Google maps. We pretty much drove along the coast...on cliffs...on a giant bus....terrifying much? But the view was spectacular so that helped.
Zadar-Day 5-Nin
After makin pancakes for breakfast, we decided it was a beach day. So we travelled to Nin Lagoon to get our beach on. It was crazy...in Croatia this weather isn't considered warm enough for beaching right now (high 70s), so noone was at the beach...seriously...noone. We laid out and explored everywhere. There were medicinal muds so that was pretty interesting. And there were spots with tons of crabs and crazy lookin creatures too. Later, one family came and was trying to catch all of the crabs from one of the lagoons. After we were crispy, we went to explore Nin town. It was probably about 10 feet long and 10 feet wide. Not really, but it was pretty small. Later, we got taxis back to Zadar...the plan was to find information about going to Plitvice Falls the next day. (Beautiful world famous waterfalls...but you need to go with a tour group to get there basically). Sparknotes version, none of the tour places were open or had affordable tours. We ended up stopping in a sketchy rent a car place to ask about it there. The woman called her boss who said 'Oh yeah..I can drive them there tomorrow, I'm going too'...The price was awesome so we were ecstatic. Afterwards we got kebobs and ate a picnic near the harbor. Then we went home to make some cookies. Oh, and we realized that Friends was on in English on one channel every night at 10pm till 11. So this became a tradition.
Also, since technology hates me my camera somehow magically deleted all of the pictures it took from this day. If anyone else puts them up, there are some really good jumping pictures ;) I'll post em here if later.
Zadar-Day 6-Plitvice Lakes
So bright and early we got picked up by our driver and sat in a sweet van for 1.5 hours. Croatia driving is crazy...kind of glad I was in the back and couldn't see. Our driver was...shall we say ..a bit aggressive. But hey we got there fast. So we bought our entrance tickets and started to the park. The entire place has boardwalk-ish paths that go right through lakes..so you feel like you're walking on the water. It's absolutely gorgeous. At the biggest waterfall we saw a guy propose to his girlfriend. adorable.
It was really just a great day of hiking around enjoying each other's company. On the way back, our driver played the craziest music...some ABBA...and some techno versions of musical songs...and some other trippy stuff. That night we made pasta for dinner. And watched friends;)
Pics from Plitvice:
The Sea Organ...basically a set of steps built as an instrument...when waves crash against different parts of it, different tones sound through holes at the top of the stairs. It's awesome.
Day 7- Back to Vienna
Pretty much we woke up at 4:30, hopped in a cab, got to the airport...which didn't open until 6, even though our flight was at 6:50. We went through security to find out that there was only one gate at the airport....sooo uhh, we sat and then got on the cute little plane and we were back in Wien around 930 am.
Easter and stuff
Saturday (day 7...see above) we hit up the Easter markets in town, and bought some hand painted Easter eggs...so pretty! We also got food for Easter the next day.
On Easter Sunday we went to a Catholic mass auf deutsch in Stephansdome....it was beautiful, there was a full orchestra as well as choir, and one of the Cardinals was at the mass. Later, we went back to the apartment and made ham, carrots, broccili, green beans, bread, scalloped potatoes, and cookies for Easter dinner. That night some friends came over and we all ate together. It was so much fun cooking everything...and quite the experiment. But everythig turned out great. I even brought a bottle of wine from the vineyard we visited on the Wachau trip. good stuff.
That is all I can possibly type for now. If you made it through this beast of a post...gold star for you.
I'm off to write a lesson plan, do homework, and cook some din.
-Alyssa
Agenda: Croatia, 1 week.
Dubrovnik (southern Croatia) Saturday-Tuesday
Zadar (middle Croatia) Tuesday night-Saturday morning
Dubrovnik: Day 1...planes and stuff
Plane to Zagreb, catch connection to Dubrovnik. Sit in boring airport for three+hours. Get coffee. (Did I mention the flight was super early?..coffee was necessary) Reflect on how strange it is I'm in Croatia. When we planned this trip we were super ambitious and wanted to do Italy-Greece, and I joked and said 'Lets throw in Croatia too'....and it turned into 'Lets go to Croatia!' I journaled at the airport for a good hour. My entry was seven pages. Get to Dubrovnik to discover we had a sweeeet sobe/apartment. Settle in and pick our bedrooms, and go to buy food to cook later. (We had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dining room and kitchen and foyer).
Dubrovnik: Day 2-Exploring the City
Hanna, Kevin, and Harry had decided to take the train route to Croatia...so they arrived Day 2 around 7am. They'd traveled for over 24 hours. When they got in we all slept till around noon, and explored the city for the rest of the day. The Old City is the coolest place ever-it's all surrounded by giant castle walls, and there are ancient buildings and beautiful churches, and the whole city is paved with marble-ish tiles...so you almost feel like you're walking down a hallway, except outside...in Croatia. We also walked around the pier and harbor-amazing views of the islands and all the boats. Also, Croatia is ideal for pirates. Not even kidding. We saw a pirate ship...and in most of the Old Town the houses look like they're from the Pirates of the Carribbean ride in Disney. So awesome. We got pizza, because Crotian food is pretty much either seafood or Italian. And Italian is cheaper.
Pics from both days:
Me near the harbor...note the pirate ship...i wasnt kidding
the pier
myself and my friend Blair on the end of the pier
one of the main streets in Old Town
pier again...unbelievable view
Team Croatia! -me, because I took the picture
Dubrovnik: Day 3-Locrum Island
We decided to take the ferry to the nearby Locrum Island...it was absolutely fantastic. For anyone that reads this and has climbed the rocks near the lighthouse on the FPC Maine trip...it was like that...except above clear aqua water with palm trees and 75 degree weather. So basically we hiked around the island all day. Oh, and it was inhabited with wild peacocks. Don't be fooled, they are exceedingly annoying. They make you think they're going to attack you but really you could probably kick them and they'd fall over and not be able to get up because their tails are too big for their bodies. We also came across an old abandoned monastery, with beautiful gardens that are still taken care of today. Oh! and at the top of the island was an old fortress that we climbed on top of...we saw the rest of the island underneath as well as all of Dubrovnik from across the Adriatic sea. It was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately my camera died that day:(Oh, and we ate lunch in an underground cave that we found. And I got the worst sunburn of my life. But I recovered. I am happy to report I can now sleep on my left side again without my skin burning.
Travelling-Day 4-Dubrovnik to Zadar
Not much to write about...we took an 8 hour bus ride from Dubrovnik to Zadar...look that up on Google maps. We pretty much drove along the coast...on cliffs...on a giant bus....terrifying much? But the view was spectacular so that helped.
Zadar-Day 5-Nin
After makin pancakes for breakfast, we decided it was a beach day. So we travelled to Nin Lagoon to get our beach on. It was crazy...in Croatia this weather isn't considered warm enough for beaching right now (high 70s), so noone was at the beach...seriously...noone. We laid out and explored everywhere. There were medicinal muds so that was pretty interesting. And there were spots with tons of crabs and crazy lookin creatures too. Later, one family came and was trying to catch all of the crabs from one of the lagoons. After we were crispy, we went to explore Nin town. It was probably about 10 feet long and 10 feet wide. Not really, but it was pretty small. Later, we got taxis back to Zadar...the plan was to find information about going to Plitvice Falls the next day. (Beautiful world famous waterfalls...but you need to go with a tour group to get there basically). Sparknotes version, none of the tour places were open or had affordable tours. We ended up stopping in a sketchy rent a car place to ask about it there. The woman called her boss who said 'Oh yeah..I can drive them there tomorrow, I'm going too'...The price was awesome so we were ecstatic. Afterwards we got kebobs and ate a picnic near the harbor. Then we went home to make some cookies. Oh, and we realized that Friends was on in English on one channel every night at 10pm till 11. So this became a tradition.
Also, since technology hates me my camera somehow magically deleted all of the pictures it took from this day. If anyone else puts them up, there are some really good jumping pictures ;) I'll post em here if later.
Zadar-Day 6-Plitvice Lakes
So bright and early we got picked up by our driver and sat in a sweet van for 1.5 hours. Croatia driving is crazy...kind of glad I was in the back and couldn't see. Our driver was...shall we say ..a bit aggressive. But hey we got there fast. So we bought our entrance tickets and started to the park. The entire place has boardwalk-ish paths that go right through lakes..so you feel like you're walking on the water. It's absolutely gorgeous. At the biggest waterfall we saw a guy propose to his girlfriend. adorable.
It was really just a great day of hiking around enjoying each other's company. On the way back, our driver played the craziest music...some ABBA...and some techno versions of musical songs...and some other trippy stuff. That night we made pasta for dinner. And watched friends;)
Pics from Plitvice:
Day 7-Kornati Islands
On the first day we got to Zadar, we asked the land lady if she's heard about any tours for these islands...you can only get there with a tour group by boat. It just happened her next door neighbor was in charge of a tour, and he gave us a student discout. So on Friday we got to the boat around 8am, and hopped on. It was pretty much a cruise around Croatia. There were schnapps at 8am (why?....why not?) and breakfast and lunch...(fresh fish...it looked like they had just speared it). Around 2pm we stopped at one of the islands and were allowed to explore for three hours. I got attacked by beetles, but thats another story. After the cruise, we got off in Zadar Old Town and explored there....we got our last seafood dinner (pasta scampi...so good! and the waiters were super nice) and hit up a gelato stand. We also saw a church processional through the city, as it was Good Friday. This is a long blog and I'm getting tired so uh...here are some pictures.
on the island
Zadar!
seafood din
why is gelato so pretty?
Pretty much we woke up at 4:30, hopped in a cab, got to the airport...which didn't open until 6, even though our flight was at 6:50. We went through security to find out that there was only one gate at the airport....sooo uhh, we sat and then got on the cute little plane and we were back in Wien around 930 am.
Easter and stuff
Saturday (day 7...see above) we hit up the Easter markets in town, and bought some hand painted Easter eggs...so pretty! We also got food for Easter the next day.
On Easter Sunday we went to a Catholic mass auf deutsch in Stephansdome....it was beautiful, there was a full orchestra as well as choir, and one of the Cardinals was at the mass. Later, we went back to the apartment and made ham, carrots, broccili, green beans, bread, scalloped potatoes, and cookies for Easter dinner. That night some friends came over and we all ate together. It was so much fun cooking everything...and quite the experiment. But everythig turned out great. I even brought a bottle of wine from the vineyard we visited on the Wachau trip. good stuff.
That is all I can possibly type for now. If you made it through this beast of a post...gold star for you.
I'm off to write a lesson plan, do homework, and cook some din.
-Alyssa
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Things I never would have done before Vienna
Things I actually do now!...
1) Go to a cafe by myself to do homework, sit for hours, and also order in German.
2) Be decisive
3) Use German enough to make people think I'm Austrian
4) Teach a vocal class
5) Sing in public on a public street
6) Plan entire trips
7) Navigate large groups of people through foreign countries where they don't speak any language I'm even remotely familiar with
8) Ask random people for help when I'm lost and/or confused
9) People watch (seriously...some people are weird)
10) cook!
11) Get lost on purpose...and then find my way home again...without mass panic, and without a city map
I'm sure I could make this list a lot longer if I sat here for another few minutes, but the laundry is done and that's important...I need pants tomorrow.
1) Go to a cafe by myself to do homework, sit for hours, and also order in German.
2) Be decisive
3) Use German enough to make people think I'm Austrian
4) Teach a vocal class
5) Sing in public on a public street
6) Plan entire trips
7) Navigate large groups of people through foreign countries where they don't speak any language I'm even remotely familiar with
8) Ask random people for help when I'm lost and/or confused
9) People watch (seriously...some people are weird)
10) cook!
11) Get lost on purpose...and then find my way home again...without mass panic, and without a city map
I'm sure I could make this list a lot longer if I sat here for another few minutes, but the laundry is done and that's important...I need pants tomorrow.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Family and Spring!
I have been slacking on the posts lately...too much going on.
Last week my family visited! It was perfect timing because it was the point in the semester where the homework was piling up and everyone was getting peeved at each other for dumb things. So hanging with the fam was a pretty good escape. I found them during all my free time-showed them all the cool churches, palaces, went to a bunch of cafes. the usual. We saw the stables for the Spanish Riding School-I would love to see a show for real though.
Anyways, on Saturday, we decided to be super tourists and go on a tour of Salzburg with a tour company. We took a bus through the lake district (gorgeous) with nice picture stops along the way. In Salzburg the tour guide gave us an 1.5 hr tour through the city, then we had free time the rest of the day.
SUCH a pretty city...my fam wished I had studied there, I think they liked it better haha. But it's a smaller town, and being in a big city in Vienna is such a contrast to any where I would ever go that I think it's a really good thing I am there instead.
Anyways, we walked through Mirabell gardens, and most of the Old Town. We stopped for lunch in some Italian place to get pizza, and continued to walk around. We saw lots of places from The Sounds of Music (The catacombs and cemetary, to name a few), and went through the market street.
It was a fun way to spend the last day with my family before they went home. Hopefully Cole wasn't too bored in Vienna...most of the sites there are for music nerds and history geeks, but it's still really cool to say, 'oh, i think ill go to a palace today' and be at one in fifteen minutes.
Anyways, this week we are all counting down until spring/Easter break. Everyone as IES is soo antsy and kind of over the whole school work thing. The weather is finally nice! About high 50's to high 70s (yesterday it had to have been 80) and it's gorgeous out. I love walking through all the parks, and definitely want to get some people together for soccer or something before we leave.
Wednesday I had my internship at the high school, and got to talk to the students about their perspectives on their schools, versus what they know about American schools, and then I told them about schools at home and got to see their reactions. The first class was the older grade, and they had a lot to say about how their school could improve, and about what they liked.
For example, in schools here, each class is the same group of kids for every subject, every year. Also, they take 15 subjects at all times with about 50 minute blocks. Granted, I am teaching at a special music school so the same doesn't go for all schools...but generally most schools have a similar format.
In both classes, the kids asked me if American schools really have "cheerleader groups" that date the football players and hate everyone else...that kind of thing. I had to explain that since classes change, and there are a lot more clubs...people are generally a lot nicer, but there are still cliques sometimes. My favorite was when one kid asked if students really burst into song in the hallways when the bell rings...(High School Music, what have you done?)
The next day I went to the third classes I help teach, it's a private group vocal lesson with about 5 kids. This was the day it was about 80 degrees, and the kids were begging to go rehearse in Stadtpark (a city park by the school). The teacher rehearsed with them inside for a while, then decided we needed to go outside. We took the students, and sang two of the rehearsed songs as we walked through the streets of the first district. We got to one of the main streets, stopped, and stood on the side of the street singing four part harmonies. It was amazing. Some people stopped to listen. It was just so fun.
Anyways, this was by far the best week of my internship. Generally the teacher just assigns me a topic to teach about...and this school is lecture based so I stand up and lecture about music for the period. It's definitely not as fun as back home, but I'm also not used to it and haven't really explored different ways of doing things yet. If anyone has any good ideas of American traditions or music that I should teach, let me know...I'm trying to think of fun stuff to do that they would remember. So pleaseee let me know if you think of anything:)
Anyways, figured out courses for next year and housing this summer. I'm going to be a senior...what???
Also, I'm starting to realize I'm leaving here in a matter of weeks. It's so strange...I really miss home but I know I will miss Vienna so much.
Anyways, I'm currently preparing for an apartment dinner party type thing, so I've got to go make sure nothing's burning. If you read this entire thing, kudos, let me know of some teaching ideas. ;)
post script: ITS APRIL??! Let the birthday countdown begin. Celebration suggestions are also welcome.
Last week my family visited! It was perfect timing because it was the point in the semester where the homework was piling up and everyone was getting peeved at each other for dumb things. So hanging with the fam was a pretty good escape. I found them during all my free time-showed them all the cool churches, palaces, went to a bunch of cafes. the usual. We saw the stables for the Spanish Riding School-I would love to see a show for real though.
Anyways, on Saturday, we decided to be super tourists and go on a tour of Salzburg with a tour company. We took a bus through the lake district (gorgeous) with nice picture stops along the way. In Salzburg the tour guide gave us an 1.5 hr tour through the city, then we had free time the rest of the day.
SUCH a pretty city...my fam wished I had studied there, I think they liked it better haha. But it's a smaller town, and being in a big city in Vienna is such a contrast to any where I would ever go that I think it's a really good thing I am there instead.
Anyways, we walked through Mirabell gardens, and most of the Old Town. We stopped for lunch in some Italian place to get pizza, and continued to walk around. We saw lots of places from The Sounds of Music (The catacombs and cemetary, to name a few), and went through the market street.
It was a fun way to spend the last day with my family before they went home. Hopefully Cole wasn't too bored in Vienna...most of the sites there are for music nerds and history geeks, but it's still really cool to say, 'oh, i think ill go to a palace today' and be at one in fifteen minutes.
Anyways, this week we are all counting down until spring/Easter break. Everyone as IES is soo antsy and kind of over the whole school work thing. The weather is finally nice! About high 50's to high 70s (yesterday it had to have been 80) and it's gorgeous out. I love walking through all the parks, and definitely want to get some people together for soccer or something before we leave.
Wednesday I had my internship at the high school, and got to talk to the students about their perspectives on their schools, versus what they know about American schools, and then I told them about schools at home and got to see their reactions. The first class was the older grade, and they had a lot to say about how their school could improve, and about what they liked.
For example, in schools here, each class is the same group of kids for every subject, every year. Also, they take 15 subjects at all times with about 50 minute blocks. Granted, I am teaching at a special music school so the same doesn't go for all schools...but generally most schools have a similar format.
In both classes, the kids asked me if American schools really have "cheerleader groups" that date the football players and hate everyone else...that kind of thing. I had to explain that since classes change, and there are a lot more clubs...people are generally a lot nicer, but there are still cliques sometimes. My favorite was when one kid asked if students really burst into song in the hallways when the bell rings...(High School Music, what have you done?)
The next day I went to the third classes I help teach, it's a private group vocal lesson with about 5 kids. This was the day it was about 80 degrees, and the kids were begging to go rehearse in Stadtpark (a city park by the school). The teacher rehearsed with them inside for a while, then decided we needed to go outside. We took the students, and sang two of the rehearsed songs as we walked through the streets of the first district. We got to one of the main streets, stopped, and stood on the side of the street singing four part harmonies. It was amazing. Some people stopped to listen. It was just so fun.
Anyways, this was by far the best week of my internship. Generally the teacher just assigns me a topic to teach about...and this school is lecture based so I stand up and lecture about music for the period. It's definitely not as fun as back home, but I'm also not used to it and haven't really explored different ways of doing things yet. If anyone has any good ideas of American traditions or music that I should teach, let me know...I'm trying to think of fun stuff to do that they would remember. So pleaseee let me know if you think of anything:)
Anyways, figured out courses for next year and housing this summer. I'm going to be a senior...what???
Also, I'm starting to realize I'm leaving here in a matter of weeks. It's so strange...I really miss home but I know I will miss Vienna so much.
Anyways, I'm currently preparing for an apartment dinner party type thing, so I've got to go make sure nothing's burning. If you read this entire thing, kudos, let me know of some teaching ideas. ;)
post script: ITS APRIL??! Let the birthday countdown begin. Celebration suggestions are also welcome.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Vacation in the Alps
If you haven't been to the Alps, you need to go. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been and soo much fun even if you don't ski.
We stayed in a "Haus" which is pretty much a guesthouse. It was situated literally on the side of a mountain, luckily one of the warmer, green ones though. We got an entire apartment, complete with kitchen, dining room, and two bedrooms. It was soo nice. The guy who ran the place told us where to go to catch the bus to the mountain and also about some thermal spa/ pool place.
So, first thing's first. We needed to ski. The first day we got up super early and caught the first bus to the mountain. Obviously there are tons of mountains everywhere, so we picked one of the biggest ones and skied there the whole time. We all rented skis and equipment and headed to the bunny hill...I went with my friend Kitsa and Matt. I've skied for a long time, and Kitsa has been snowboarding for a while as well...but Matt has never done either...hence the bunny hill. So after yelling "PIZZA" and "SPAGHETTI" for a long time, several falls into the kiddy racing course, and many lifts later, Matt kind of sort of got the hang of it. We decided to go down some slopes on the actual mountain, and he did pretty well. When he took breaks Kitsa and I would go down harder slopes. Since it was so late in the season the snow melted really fast and it got pretty slushy towards the end of the days. Both days were super warm, and I ended up skiing without a coat on...aka just a Tshirt and sweatpants. It was glorious.
Afterwards we decided to seek out the sauna/pool that we had heard about. A "3k walk down the road" turned into a 7k adventure through town complete with various questions asked auf Deustch for directions. Eventually we found it...there were two waterslides outside. Good sign. There was a red one, in which you literally go upside down. (You start in the top, and the floor drops out from under you and you go up and around). And a spiral blue one. The slides were outside, but the entrances and exits to them were inside so they were open for us. Inside, there was a wave pool, a normal pool, and another pool that connected to a pool outside. The outside pool was the greatest...since it was chilly out and the pool was heated, you could see the steam in the air outside. In addition, this place was at the foot of the mountains so we admired the sunset from a steaming pool outside in the alps. Best.
We enjoyed the wave pool as well and some of the hot tubs. Such a great follow up to skiing Day 1. Then we went down a snake slide in the kiddie pool...good stuff. But this place was awesome, and made for a perfect vacation.
The second day it was about 2 degrees colder...meaning I got to ski without a jacket again. This time we went down a harder slope, and since it was so warm the snow was getting all mogul-ly, so ..not the best decision to take a beginner down that, but Matt did pretty well. After that Kitsa and I did a few runs by ourselves and decided to call it a day. It was kind of sad, leaving those amazing views. Every run was absolutely gorgeous and I loved every minute of it. It was such a relaxing break to get out of the city with a few friends and just chill out. I love nature and this made me super excited to go hiking when it gets warm out and running on Danube Island. I'm also thinking of running the U4 but we'll have to see what my shins think about that idea;)
We stayed in a "Haus" which is pretty much a guesthouse. It was situated literally on the side of a mountain, luckily one of the warmer, green ones though. We got an entire apartment, complete with kitchen, dining room, and two bedrooms. It was soo nice. The guy who ran the place told us where to go to catch the bus to the mountain and also about some thermal spa/ pool place.
So, first thing's first. We needed to ski. The first day we got up super early and caught the first bus to the mountain. Obviously there are tons of mountains everywhere, so we picked one of the biggest ones and skied there the whole time. We all rented skis and equipment and headed to the bunny hill...I went with my friend Kitsa and Matt. I've skied for a long time, and Kitsa has been snowboarding for a while as well...but Matt has never done either...hence the bunny hill. So after yelling "PIZZA" and "SPAGHETTI" for a long time, several falls into the kiddy racing course, and many lifts later, Matt kind of sort of got the hang of it. We decided to go down some slopes on the actual mountain, and he did pretty well. When he took breaks Kitsa and I would go down harder slopes. Since it was so late in the season the snow melted really fast and it got pretty slushy towards the end of the days. Both days were super warm, and I ended up skiing without a coat on...aka just a Tshirt and sweatpants. It was glorious.
Afterwards we decided to seek out the sauna/pool that we had heard about. A "3k walk down the road" turned into a 7k adventure through town complete with various questions asked auf Deustch for directions. Eventually we found it...there were two waterslides outside. Good sign. There was a red one, in which you literally go upside down. (You start in the top, and the floor drops out from under you and you go up and around). And a spiral blue one. The slides were outside, but the entrances and exits to them were inside so they were open for us. Inside, there was a wave pool, a normal pool, and another pool that connected to a pool outside. The outside pool was the greatest...since it was chilly out and the pool was heated, you could see the steam in the air outside. In addition, this place was at the foot of the mountains so we admired the sunset from a steaming pool outside in the alps. Best.
We enjoyed the wave pool as well and some of the hot tubs. Such a great follow up to skiing Day 1. Then we went down a snake slide in the kiddie pool...good stuff. But this place was awesome, and made for a perfect vacation.
The second day it was about 2 degrees colder...meaning I got to ski without a jacket again. This time we went down a harder slope, and since it was so warm the snow was getting all mogul-ly, so ..not the best decision to take a beginner down that, but Matt did pretty well. After that Kitsa and I did a few runs by ourselves and decided to call it a day. It was kind of sad, leaving those amazing views. Every run was absolutely gorgeous and I loved every minute of it. It was such a relaxing break to get out of the city with a few friends and just chill out. I love nature and this made me super excited to go hiking when it gets warm out and running on Danube Island. I'm also thinking of running the U4 but we'll have to see what my shins think about that idea;)
top of the mountain:
on one of the trails:
the lodge where we ate lunch:
the view from lunch:
the view from where we stayed:
the sauna/pool place:
not a bad view to wake up to:
it was so warm...hence the 90s- coat-around-the-waist thing goin on here:
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Midterms? No thanks..
This week is midterms! How much do I want to study on a scale of 0 to 10? Negative ten. How much will I actually study? Probably around a 3. ...I mean...I'm in Europe....
Actually we already had one midterm. The German midterm was Saturday..it was long and grueling but it's done now so I can forget about it and/or hope I did well and all that stuff you do after you take one of those tests in which you cannot gauge at all how it went.
Oh by the way...I hope you all celebrated Pi Day!! (March 14...) Me and my friend Blair decided we needed to do something in honor of the number, and sooooo we got pizza pies, and made a chocolate pie. It was the kind of pie you are equally happy and disgusted you ate. It was great/awful.
So this week I decided to celebrate being done with the German midterm by going to a soccer game with some IES people and Tobi! Rapid Wien is the local team, and they had a home game against Linz on Saturday. Sooo I bought the tickets a few days before online, and got a jersey at the Naschtmarkt, and then headed off to the game a little early. Soccer in Europe is probably the best thing ever...and this was only a local team. We got there about an hour early. There were tents and food stands everywhere, selling beer and giant hot dogs and pretzels..you know. So we found all of the IES people, and eventually went to the stadium. Instead of sitting in our seats we all stood at the top=better views. We weren't in the real fan section...but it was great because we got to see all of the craziness that went on there. They lit things on fire, had fireworks, had crazy cheers. In the second half we decided to go with the flow and got really into the cheers...usually we had no idea what we were saying so that made it even more fun. Sometimes we made up our own with our limited vocabulary...and sometimes we just shouted some of the few sentences we knew how to say (Personal favorite: "I would like to go on a walk with you") But anyways, Europe knows how to do soccer. It was perfect and I loved every minute of it. I can't wait to go again in April when its warmer (cross your fingers).
I also just got back from the Opera-we saw Aida. We got front center seats in the Parterre, so it was a great view. The opera itself was about 3 hours long....really long....and unfortunately the first two acts don't really advance the plot at all. However, the sets and vocalists were uh-mazing, and overall it was awesome. Now I'm back and procrastinating studying by seeing how long I can make this post.
I haven't uploaded any pictures to my computer in a whilllle but perhaps I will do that tomorrow, and add some here.
....time to study, urg
Actually we already had one midterm. The German midterm was Saturday..it was long and grueling but it's done now so I can forget about it and/or hope I did well and all that stuff you do after you take one of those tests in which you cannot gauge at all how it went.
Oh by the way...I hope you all celebrated Pi Day!! (March 14...) Me and my friend Blair decided we needed to do something in honor of the number, and sooooo we got pizza pies, and made a chocolate pie. It was the kind of pie you are equally happy and disgusted you ate. It was great/awful.
So this week I decided to celebrate being done with the German midterm by going to a soccer game with some IES people and Tobi! Rapid Wien is the local team, and they had a home game against Linz on Saturday. Sooo I bought the tickets a few days before online, and got a jersey at the Naschtmarkt, and then headed off to the game a little early. Soccer in Europe is probably the best thing ever...and this was only a local team. We got there about an hour early. There were tents and food stands everywhere, selling beer and giant hot dogs and pretzels..you know. So we found all of the IES people, and eventually went to the stadium. Instead of sitting in our seats we all stood at the top=better views. We weren't in the real fan section...but it was great because we got to see all of the craziness that went on there. They lit things on fire, had fireworks, had crazy cheers. In the second half we decided to go with the flow and got really into the cheers...usually we had no idea what we were saying so that made it even more fun. Sometimes we made up our own with our limited vocabulary...and sometimes we just shouted some of the few sentences we knew how to say (Personal favorite: "I would like to go on a walk with you") But anyways, Europe knows how to do soccer. It was perfect and I loved every minute of it. I can't wait to go again in April when its warmer (cross your fingers).
I also just got back from the Opera-we saw Aida. We got front center seats in the Parterre, so it was a great view. The opera itself was about 3 hours long....really long....and unfortunately the first two acts don't really advance the plot at all. However, the sets and vocalists were uh-mazing, and overall it was awesome. Now I'm back and procrastinating studying by seeing how long I can make this post.
I haven't uploaded any pictures to my computer in a whilllle but perhaps I will do that tomorrow, and add some here.
....time to study, urg
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Spring and Schonbrunn
This was actually one of the first weekends I've spent here without anything on the agenda...which is realllly nice. Especially now that it's warmish out! It's been in the higher 50's and soooo pretty out! This week was pretty easy because the school I'm teaching at went on a ski trip (jealous) so I didn't have to intern. I also had my second (gahh) lesson...i made her plan the last 8 lessons to make sure I would fit them all in...hoping that works out. I need 10 lessons for the credit. But anyways, it's been a good week. It's almost warm enough to start running outside, so I won't have to pay for the gym anymore!!:)
Yesterday I went to the first IES solo concert-Everyone here is just soo good, it was a great concert. Then I walked home because it was so nice out, and took the scenic route through the Naschmarkt. Later, I went back with some friends and we go falafel and some hungarian bread type thing that was delicious. After that I decided it was about time I saw Schonbrunn..so I hopped on the Ubahn and went. The palace itself is HUGE....but the gardens are sooooooooo cool. I wouldn't mind being a seasonal hobo there, in the spring of course. But they go for miles (I'm not kidding...miles) and remind me of Alice in Wonderland, especially now because nothing's quite in bloom yet. But even though the trees are kind of dead you can tell they've been cut into square shapes or whatever, and everything still looks amazing. It will be a great place to run when it's warmer. Plus it's free:) The only thing is taking the Ubahn to get there, which is a little pointless if I want to run...but I'd rather run in the gardens then to the gardens and back...
At some point I'll need to make it inside the palace...you have to pay, but I think it'd be worth it. Oh! And there's a zoo in the gardens too, and no I'm not kidding. An entire zoo....so I'll have to see that at some point as well. I've started making a list of all the things I haven't done yet...there are quite a few. I need some time here to be touristy. I feel like there is no way I'm going to see everything I want to...there's so much to do. But I'll tryyyy:)
Yesterday I went to the first IES solo concert-Everyone here is just soo good, it was a great concert. Then I walked home because it was so nice out, and took the scenic route through the Naschmarkt. Later, I went back with some friends and we go falafel and some hungarian bread type thing that was delicious. After that I decided it was about time I saw Schonbrunn..so I hopped on the Ubahn and went. The palace itself is HUGE....but the gardens are sooooooooo cool. I wouldn't mind being a seasonal hobo there, in the spring of course. But they go for miles (I'm not kidding...miles) and remind me of Alice in Wonderland, especially now because nothing's quite in bloom yet. But even though the trees are kind of dead you can tell they've been cut into square shapes or whatever, and everything still looks amazing. It will be a great place to run when it's warmer. Plus it's free:) The only thing is taking the Ubahn to get there, which is a little pointless if I want to run...but I'd rather run in the gardens then to the gardens and back...
At some point I'll need to make it inside the palace...you have to pay, but I think it'd be worth it. Oh! And there's a zoo in the gardens too, and no I'm not kidding. An entire zoo....so I'll have to see that at some point as well. I've started making a list of all the things I haven't done yet...there are quite a few. I need some time here to be touristy. I feel like there is no way I'm going to see everything I want to...there's so much to do. But I'll tryyyy:)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Paris, Je T'aime
I just spent the most amazing weekend in Paris with my friend Hanna! We left Friday, right from class around 1230, caught a flight at 330, and came back Monday morning on a 7:15 flight (got up at 3:45 to catch that one...fun times) Here's an overview of the trip...yes, overview...I know it's quite long but just bear with me friends:)
It was an awesome trip from the start-our flight went right over the mountains and it was gorgeous. There were clouds and then so many snowy mountain tops too. But anyways, we got to CDG, and figured out the metro. When we got to our metro station we had no clue how to get to the actual hostel. One really nice man came up to us and asked if we were lost, and he gave us perfect directions. He had a cross on his jacket so we're pretty sure he was a priest, or something. But that was such a nice, friendly way to start our trip.
Saturday morning we got up, had fresh croissants for breakfast at the hostel, and headed to the Eiffel Tower. Paris is about 10 degrees warmer than Vienna, so it was about 50 out and the sun was shining. The minute we saw the Eiffel tower from the metro we were excited...not to mention there was an accordian playing busking on the metro, so it was doubley Parisian. When we got to the tower, we took tons of crazy pictures, then headed off to find Notre Dame. We ended up getting sidetracked by some cute shops, and went shopping for a little. We also got lunch at a cute cafe with a really nice waiter...Croque Madames...french food is so good. After that we found the Notre Dame (you can't really miss it..) and walked around inside. From the outside it's beautiful, but if you ever go inside it's even more amazing. The stained glass in there is incredible, and there was a choir that was singing so it was really cool with that soundtrack too.
Next, we were off to find the Berthillon, a shop famous for its sorbets and ice creams. It was on a cute little street on the Ile, and we both got strawberry sorbet-it tasted almost like the actual fruit. We walked to La Seine and ate our ice cream in the sunshine on the river...it was kind of awesome. Then we fed some ducks our cones, but left before too many pigeons swarmed to us. We kept walking, and ended up on a market street, where we were taking pictures of more cute Parisian things. One older guy laughed at us for taking so many random pictures. Then, we got lost around a cute (what other adjective would I use?) church area...we walked back to the main market street and came across the same guy from the market. He asked us how we were liking Paris, and told us to enjoy our stay-then he handed us a bouquet of flowers to share. Totally made our day!
We continued to walk around, passing the Centre Pompidou. We got a bit lost because we were just walking around without any direction, so we figured it out with the metro, and went back to the hostel after the day was done.
Sunday was the day of perfect timing. The first Sunday of the month almost all museums are free in Paris..including Le Louvre. So we woke up early and got in line. The line was supposed to take 1 hour but ended up only being about 30 min, so we got in to the museum for free...saw Winged Victory, a real Sphinx, Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, Michelangelo sculptures...so beautiful. This is the part where my camera decides it's about to die. And as soon as we stepped in the Mona Lisa room, Hanna's camera also died. I saved the rest of my battery for quick strategic photos during the rest of the day.
We exitted the Louvre and walked through Jardins des Tuileries-amazing area, that place must be awesome in the spring. There's a giant fountain, creperies, running paths. It's awesome. We sat and ate lunch there then went to the hostel quickly. After resting, we went to Champs Elysees and walked toward L'arc de Triomphe. At the Arc we met Hanna's friend who is studying abroad in Paris, and together we walked back down Champs Elysees and went to the Eiffel tower. The plan was to go up to the tower for sunset.
We stood in line for about 30-45 min, and decided it would be best to go to the second level. By then the wind was picking up and we were already freezing, so we thought the third level would be a dumb idea, plus there was a delay on the second level so we'd be freezing and impatient..not good. We went up to the second level just in time to see the sun set. We walked around the shops inside, and there's also a little spot where you can look down at the ground from the center of the tower..scary but epic and awesome. My fear of heights is almost nonexistent these days :)
We walked back onto the deck of the tower to watch the sunset literally just as the tower lit up the first time that night. And when I say lit up..I mean it actually sparkled. They put on the sparkling lights only once every hour. It sounds not that exciting that it lit up and we saw it, so what, but it was a surprisingly awesome natural high and probably one of those moments I won't ever forget.
After decided we needed to leave because we were insanely cold, we took the elevator back down and went to a nearby cafe. We got quick dinner, and ran back to the Eiffel Tower to meet my friend Natasha, who's also studying in Paris. We met under the tower, and her family was also there, so it was great to see more Americans. We took tons of pictures..some of course to send to our flute studio at home, and then had to go back to the hostel to figure out traveling the next day.
Then there was mass panic after realizing the metro closes at 1am so we had no way to the airport. We asked the front desk staff who said they'd help us call a taxi in the morning. Sooo we got up at 3:45 am, called a cab, and went to CDG. We were there by 4:30 (it was a shorter ride than we thought) and had to wait outside the gates until they actually opened the airport around 5:30. Around 6 we were through security, and I was getting my coffee fix (yes...I have a coffee fix now) at a cafe. Soon enough we were on the flight home...super relieved that we had actually gotten to the airport okay and that our tickets had gone through (we thought for a hot sec that our online booking hadn't worked). We sat by a really friendly Parisian woman, who was flying to Vienna and back in the same day for a business meeting. Her English was great so she talked to us the whole flight about everything Paris, about the Montreux festival and Juan les Pins, America, the economy, politics, movies...it was awesome. There is nothing like meeting a local.
When the plane finally landed around 9:30 we raced out of the airport, caught a train back, hopped on the Ubahn and went home. Hanna went right to class at 11 (props). We were soo tired the rest of the day, but it was soo worth it. This was by far the best trip I've taken yet...if you're reading this and you haven't been to Paris, just go. You won't regret it. Also, it was a great way to review French:) Unfortunately, Professor Summesburger has done her job and now has me using German as my default language, so it was really hard to remember French. By the time it was coming back it was our last day there. ..my gosh I miss that language. It's so pretty and the words are a reasonable length, unlike German. But oh well. I got a lot of looks in Paris because they're not used to blondes, and here in Vienna I can usually pass for an Austrian (which is nice).
But here are some pics! enjoy:)
l'arc..
It was an awesome trip from the start-our flight went right over the mountains and it was gorgeous. There were clouds and then so many snowy mountain tops too. But anyways, we got to CDG, and figured out the metro. When we got to our metro station we had no clue how to get to the actual hostel. One really nice man came up to us and asked if we were lost, and he gave us perfect directions. He had a cross on his jacket so we're pretty sure he was a priest, or something. But that was such a nice, friendly way to start our trip.
Saturday morning we got up, had fresh croissants for breakfast at the hostel, and headed to the Eiffel Tower. Paris is about 10 degrees warmer than Vienna, so it was about 50 out and the sun was shining. The minute we saw the Eiffel tower from the metro we were excited...not to mention there was an accordian playing busking on the metro, so it was doubley Parisian. When we got to the tower, we took tons of crazy pictures, then headed off to find Notre Dame. We ended up getting sidetracked by some cute shops, and went shopping for a little. We also got lunch at a cute cafe with a really nice waiter...Croque Madames...french food is so good. After that we found the Notre Dame (you can't really miss it..) and walked around inside. From the outside it's beautiful, but if you ever go inside it's even more amazing. The stained glass in there is incredible, and there was a choir that was singing so it was really cool with that soundtrack too.
Next, we were off to find the Berthillon, a shop famous for its sorbets and ice creams. It was on a cute little street on the Ile, and we both got strawberry sorbet-it tasted almost like the actual fruit. We walked to La Seine and ate our ice cream in the sunshine on the river...it was kind of awesome. Then we fed some ducks our cones, but left before too many pigeons swarmed to us. We kept walking, and ended up on a market street, where we were taking pictures of more cute Parisian things. One older guy laughed at us for taking so many random pictures. Then, we got lost around a cute (what other adjective would I use?) church area...we walked back to the main market street and came across the same guy from the market. He asked us how we were liking Paris, and told us to enjoy our stay-then he handed us a bouquet of flowers to share. Totally made our day!
We continued to walk around, passing the Centre Pompidou. We got a bit lost because we were just walking around without any direction, so we figured it out with the metro, and went back to the hostel after the day was done.
Sunday was the day of perfect timing. The first Sunday of the month almost all museums are free in Paris..including Le Louvre. So we woke up early and got in line. The line was supposed to take 1 hour but ended up only being about 30 min, so we got in to the museum for free...saw Winged Victory, a real Sphinx, Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, Michelangelo sculptures...so beautiful. This is the part where my camera decides it's about to die. And as soon as we stepped in the Mona Lisa room, Hanna's camera also died. I saved the rest of my battery for quick strategic photos during the rest of the day.
We exitted the Louvre and walked through Jardins des Tuileries-amazing area, that place must be awesome in the spring. There's a giant fountain, creperies, running paths. It's awesome. We sat and ate lunch there then went to the hostel quickly. After resting, we went to Champs Elysees and walked toward L'arc de Triomphe. At the Arc we met Hanna's friend who is studying abroad in Paris, and together we walked back down Champs Elysees and went to the Eiffel tower. The plan was to go up to the tower for sunset.
We stood in line for about 30-45 min, and decided it would be best to go to the second level. By then the wind was picking up and we were already freezing, so we thought the third level would be a dumb idea, plus there was a delay on the second level so we'd be freezing and impatient..not good. We went up to the second level just in time to see the sun set. We walked around the shops inside, and there's also a little spot where you can look down at the ground from the center of the tower..scary but epic and awesome. My fear of heights is almost nonexistent these days :)
We walked back onto the deck of the tower to watch the sunset literally just as the tower lit up the first time that night. And when I say lit up..I mean it actually sparkled. They put on the sparkling lights only once every hour. It sounds not that exciting that it lit up and we saw it, so what, but it was a surprisingly awesome natural high and probably one of those moments I won't ever forget.
After decided we needed to leave because we were insanely cold, we took the elevator back down and went to a nearby cafe. We got quick dinner, and ran back to the Eiffel Tower to meet my friend Natasha, who's also studying in Paris. We met under the tower, and her family was also there, so it was great to see more Americans. We took tons of pictures..some of course to send to our flute studio at home, and then had to go back to the hostel to figure out traveling the next day.
Then there was mass panic after realizing the metro closes at 1am so we had no way to the airport. We asked the front desk staff who said they'd help us call a taxi in the morning. Sooo we got up at 3:45 am, called a cab, and went to CDG. We were there by 4:30 (it was a shorter ride than we thought) and had to wait outside the gates until they actually opened the airport around 5:30. Around 6 we were through security, and I was getting my coffee fix (yes...I have a coffee fix now) at a cafe. Soon enough we were on the flight home...super relieved that we had actually gotten to the airport okay and that our tickets had gone through (we thought for a hot sec that our online booking hadn't worked). We sat by a really friendly Parisian woman, who was flying to Vienna and back in the same day for a business meeting. Her English was great so she talked to us the whole flight about everything Paris, about the Montreux festival and Juan les Pins, America, the economy, politics, movies...it was awesome. There is nothing like meeting a local.
When the plane finally landed around 9:30 we raced out of the airport, caught a train back, hopped on the Ubahn and went home. Hanna went right to class at 11 (props). We were soo tired the rest of the day, but it was soo worth it. This was by far the best trip I've taken yet...if you're reading this and you haven't been to Paris, just go. You won't regret it. Also, it was a great way to review French:) Unfortunately, Professor Summesburger has done her job and now has me using German as my default language, so it was really hard to remember French. By the time it was coming back it was our last day there. ..my gosh I miss that language. It's so pretty and the words are a reasonable length, unlike German. But oh well. I got a lot of looks in Paris because they're not used to blondes, and here in Vienna I can usually pass for an Austrian (which is nice).
But here are some pics! enjoy:)
Plane ride there..
Eiffel Tower
Walking around the city, this is one of the markets we found
And this is the little church..
A fountain near Invalides
Notre Dame
La Seine and the view from where we ate our sorbet
Outside Le Louvre
Champs Elysees...you can see l'arc at the end of the street
l'arc..
Me on the Eiffel tower at sunset
When the tower lit up:)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Budapest Trip
Last night we got back around 830pm from Budapest!! It was a fantastic trip, that city is awesome.
We stayed at a hostel that was pretty nice-it was basically a huge apartment some guy rented out. The owner was awesome and told us all the perfect places to go in town. Oh and he gave us coupons to a restaurant down the street...we had giant meals for like 6 euro each, it was amazing. There was a guy in the hostel from London who was backpacking from there and hoping to get to Japan, and we met a girl from Australia who is working in Vienna now, so she came along with us on Sunday to sightsee.
Oh...I need to brag for a moment. I got us from the Hungarian train station, through the metro (everything is in hungarian...) and through town to our hostel, without getting lost. So proud:) ... kay, end paragraph.
On Saturday we walked across the bridge to Buda, and explored there. First we climbed a giant, enormous, steep, insanely tall hill for a while to get to the top of Castle Hill. There were flea markets on top so I got some souvenirs...it was a bonus that Budapest is pretty cheap compared to the Euro-they do Forints. So we bought too many scarves and postcards, took hundreds of pictures of the lovely view, then climbed back down to find lunch. We ended up in the cutest cafe. I got white hot chocolate-and it was basically melted chocolate, kind of awesome.
Side note: Europe knows how to do hot chocolate. I'm talking thick chocolatey goodness decorated all nice in a glass cup... It's awesome.
Oh and I got a Clark Salad...heh:)
So we went back to the hostel and rested up a bit, then went to dinner at the place the owner told us about (The Blue Rose...if you are ever in Budapest, go there). I had the best drink of my life there, i forget what it was called though. Afterwards our Australian friend took us to this ruins bar. It was called Simpla I think...but it was seriously awesome. The bar is in a house that was bombed in one of the wars, but not fixed back up at all. Walls are torn down, its just concrete, and pretty much looks like crap. And then they added graffiti and fire lamps and disco balls, there's a dj upstairs on a balcony type thing. Sounds awful, but it was really one of the coolest things I saw in Budapest. You have to go there to understand, I think.
After that, the hostel reception guy invited us out to a bar where there was a Carnaval party, so we hit that up too.
The next day we explored Pest. We went to the House of Terror-a museum about nazism and communism in Hungary. It was really interesting but mellowed us all out...sooo next we went to Heroes Square. It took 20 minutes to get there, all on the same road. We could see the giant statue in Heroes Square the whole time, so it felt like we would never get there. But Heroes Square is basically a pavilion in the middle of the autobahn (highway) that has these huuuge statues of Hungarian Heroes-it's quite cool. As we walked towards it we ended up seeing a flea market right next to that, so we went there. That was pretty sweet-we saw cute little Hungarian people making whatever food it is that they eat a lot...that I can't pronounce and could not identify but looked delicious...and some other things. Then we headed back, not before stopping to eat at an Italian pizza place (also delicious). The train ride back was scary at first- a lot of people had reserved seats for this particular train so we got kicked out of our seats 4 times before finding ones. But it was a 3 hour ride back, and it was nice to just rest after the full day of walking around.
Now I'm back in Wien trudging through the busy week. My schedule is insane, but what else is new. I'm currently debating where to go for Spring Break, and every other weekend:) Suggestions welcome!
Now....pictures:
Until next time,
Alyssa
We stayed at a hostel that was pretty nice-it was basically a huge apartment some guy rented out. The owner was awesome and told us all the perfect places to go in town. Oh and he gave us coupons to a restaurant down the street...we had giant meals for like 6 euro each, it was amazing. There was a guy in the hostel from London who was backpacking from there and hoping to get to Japan, and we met a girl from Australia who is working in Vienna now, so she came along with us on Sunday to sightsee.
Oh...I need to brag for a moment. I got us from the Hungarian train station, through the metro (everything is in hungarian...) and through town to our hostel, without getting lost. So proud:) ... kay, end paragraph.
On Saturday we walked across the bridge to Buda, and explored there. First we climbed a giant, enormous, steep, insanely tall hill for a while to get to the top of Castle Hill. There were flea markets on top so I got some souvenirs...it was a bonus that Budapest is pretty cheap compared to the Euro-they do Forints. So we bought too many scarves and postcards, took hundreds of pictures of the lovely view, then climbed back down to find lunch. We ended up in the cutest cafe. I got white hot chocolate-and it was basically melted chocolate, kind of awesome.
Side note: Europe knows how to do hot chocolate. I'm talking thick chocolatey goodness decorated all nice in a glass cup... It's awesome.
Oh and I got a Clark Salad...heh:)
So we went back to the hostel and rested up a bit, then went to dinner at the place the owner told us about (The Blue Rose...if you are ever in Budapest, go there). I had the best drink of my life there, i forget what it was called though. Afterwards our Australian friend took us to this ruins bar. It was called Simpla I think...but it was seriously awesome. The bar is in a house that was bombed in one of the wars, but not fixed back up at all. Walls are torn down, its just concrete, and pretty much looks like crap. And then they added graffiti and fire lamps and disco balls, there's a dj upstairs on a balcony type thing. Sounds awful, but it was really one of the coolest things I saw in Budapest. You have to go there to understand, I think.
After that, the hostel reception guy invited us out to a bar where there was a Carnaval party, so we hit that up too.
The next day we explored Pest. We went to the House of Terror-a museum about nazism and communism in Hungary. It was really interesting but mellowed us all out...sooo next we went to Heroes Square. It took 20 minutes to get there, all on the same road. We could see the giant statue in Heroes Square the whole time, so it felt like we would never get there. But Heroes Square is basically a pavilion in the middle of the autobahn (highway) that has these huuuge statues of Hungarian Heroes-it's quite cool. As we walked towards it we ended up seeing a flea market right next to that, so we went there. That was pretty sweet-we saw cute little Hungarian people making whatever food it is that they eat a lot...that I can't pronounce and could not identify but looked delicious...and some other things. Then we headed back, not before stopping to eat at an Italian pizza place (also delicious). The train ride back was scary at first- a lot of people had reserved seats for this particular train so we got kicked out of our seats 4 times before finding ones. But it was a 3 hour ride back, and it was nice to just rest after the full day of walking around.
Now I'm back in Wien trudging through the busy week. My schedule is insane, but what else is new. I'm currently debating where to go for Spring Break, and every other weekend:) Suggestions welcome!
Now....pictures:
Downtown Budapest
The bridge to Pest
Me at the top of Castle Hill
From the green, going clockwise: Mint white hot chocolate, coconut hot chocolate, white hot chocolate, and peanut hot chocolate...no words.
Budapest
View from the tram thing that we took up the incline
At the top of Castle Hill, near the Hungarian Museum of Art
It was so nice out:)
Hana taking a photo
Kitsa and Melissa when we were trying to get back
Sweet church
Coolest bar everr
Heroes Square
Up close
Alyssa
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