So I'm back from Wien and on my laptop, so I have much better internet and a normal keyboard! Wien was a lot of fun. Today we went to the St. Stephens church and toured the catacombs, which was really crazy, there were bones from people from the bubonic plague, at the time the people in the city were so scared they just dropped bodies down a huge pit under the city. They also still bury high ranking priests down there and there are different urns with actual human organs from different famous royalty, sealed in alcohol..it was very interesting. We also walked up the South Tower of the church and it had something like 363 steps, which doesn't sound like much but it's very narrow, winding and steep!! It was a pretty good view from the top though. At the end they were having mass so it was cool to think they are still using this beautiful and very gothic/creepy looking church today.
Otherwise in Wien we visited the Hofburg and Schoenbrunn Palaces. I have been to the Schoenbrunn before and it's just as beautiful as last time! The Hofburg was nice too. It's always amazing to imagine people living in such immaculate places.
I have also had a chance to try some traditional Austrian food. Basically Austrian food all seems to be rich, meaty, and salty. I got Kaesespitze which is like a very heavy cheese gnocchi with bacon in it..I ate a lot of it and then didn't have dinner because I was so full! We had "torte" or cake as well, which Vienna is famous for. And I also had Huhneschnitzel which is basically breaded chicken, I'm sure a lot of you have heard of Wienerschnitzel which is the same thing with pork, but it's a very traditional Austrian meal. It's also considered weird here if you don't get beer with a meal. It's such a big part of their culture here. I got a soda instead of beer at the restaurant we went to for lunch yesterday, and the waiter literally thought it was weird.
The trains here are also super convenient, and really scenic. Coming back from Vienna we had a really pretty view of the Austrian countryside. The people in Salzburg I have found are much friendlier than the ones in Vienna. Vienna is pretty but it made me appreciate Salzburg, because it's smaller and more manageable city! I still don't know where I'm going but soon I think I'll know it very well!
Anyway, it has been a lot of fun but I'm glad we're headed to our actual Studentheim tomorrow so I can stop living out of a suitcase and actually settle into my dorm! All of the girls are planning a trip to Ikea to get a comforter, hair straightener, and other little room necessities. Tonight I think we're going to Internationales Kollege, another dorm here, to visit Jack and TC, the other two people in our group for the New England program.
Well, I'm going to go get ready to hang out with some friends, but I miss everyone! Check for updates soon!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
here in vienna
so im at a computer in vienna and it is confusing because all the symbols are in different places, the z and the y are switched places on the keyboard, and the time and all the commands are in german...AHHHH. we are in vienna and its been fun so far. i apologize for the weird punctuation and spelling, this keyboard is terrible. we met a really funny lady last night that reminded me of chelsea handler. best quote of the night from her was "and then 3 kegs later i was rolling around in a pool of chocolate pudding.." out of context its not so funny but she is hillarious and should be a comedian. anyway we hung out at the bar at the hostel for a little bit and that was fun to meet people. my group is really funny to hang out with. today we went to a palace and walked around the city. well this keyboard is annoying but i will add more later. bye everyone!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
i'm heeeere :)
So everyone, I have finally arrived, after all the planning and preparing, in Salzburg! I left Logan with Ashley at 4:15 pm on the departure flight (after saying goodbye to my family which was very sad!!) everything was pretty simple and went smoothly in terms of security and getting on the flight. The flight itself was of course long, but nobody was sitting next to me so I got to make a fool of myself by twisting my body into some very ridiculous positions in an attempt to get comfortable. The food on the flight was pretty good too, I mean there was...a salad with shrimp on it, pasta, and even mousse with strawberries..pretty high class if i do say so :p
After we got off the flight Ashley and I had a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt where we landed. It was boring and we had to get our passports stamped by a scary guy who asked me where I was going and WHY. I felt like I was being interrogated. Then they searched my carry-on to a point and told me they needed to test my laptop for "explosives" and Ashley's little keyboard piano that she brought. So they brought us out back and tested them, which sounds scary, but they were really funny and nice so it was ok. They were cracking jokes the whole time. They can't even open the cover of your laptop to inspect it, they make you do it for "insurance reasons." I think it was just a random check thing that they picked our stuff...I mean obviously because my laptop with the purple case is highly suspicious for explosives...but anyway, after that we just wanted to cry cause the layover was SOO boring. Then, at the boarding call, instead of just getting on the plane, we had to get on our bus that took us to the plane which was tiny and made me feel queasy! But then we FINALLY landed in Austria...and it was the weirdest feeling ever to finally be here after all this planning and talking about it constantly.
So my friend Josh Maxfield from high school is here with a different program and he met us at the airport and we took a taxi to the hostel where we're staying for 3 days (Yoho) until we can move into our Studentheim. We couldn't check in to Yoho until 12, so instead we walked around the city and took a bus to the "old city" and saw some different random sites including an ancient Catholic church, the fortress on the hill, and the birthplace of Mozart. It was fun and made me really excited to walk around and actually live in a city for four months! Because it is a small city and it definitely has that city feel, all without being too big. Then we got Dönnerkebabs which are just...really, really delicious shaved meat on bread with sauce and spices and it's soooo good. And it was pretty inexpensive too!
Now Ashley and I are suffering from major jetlag and very tired. I took a shower, and now we're hanging out until we go to dinner with the rest of the group from the New England Universities in Salzburg (NEUS) program. We're getting picked up at 5:45. I guess it's an authentic Austrian restaurant with good food and beer...apparently beer or wine is cheaper to order at a restaurant than soda here! I found that very interesting/strange.
Well, I guess I'll go socialize with some people and try to keep my eyes open for dinner so I can meet everyone else in my program! After that I'll be hitting the hay early so I can have more energy for tomorrow! :) more updates will be coming soon!
After we got off the flight Ashley and I had a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt where we landed. It was boring and we had to get our passports stamped by a scary guy who asked me where I was going and WHY. I felt like I was being interrogated. Then they searched my carry-on to a point and told me they needed to test my laptop for "explosives" and Ashley's little keyboard piano that she brought. So they brought us out back and tested them, which sounds scary, but they were really funny and nice so it was ok. They were cracking jokes the whole time. They can't even open the cover of your laptop to inspect it, they make you do it for "insurance reasons." I think it was just a random check thing that they picked our stuff...I mean obviously because my laptop with the purple case is highly suspicious for explosives...but anyway, after that we just wanted to cry cause the layover was SOO boring. Then, at the boarding call, instead of just getting on the plane, we had to get on our bus that took us to the plane which was tiny and made me feel queasy! But then we FINALLY landed in Austria...and it was the weirdest feeling ever to finally be here after all this planning and talking about it constantly.
So my friend Josh Maxfield from high school is here with a different program and he met us at the airport and we took a taxi to the hostel where we're staying for 3 days (Yoho) until we can move into our Studentheim. We couldn't check in to Yoho until 12, so instead we walked around the city and took a bus to the "old city" and saw some different random sites including an ancient Catholic church, the fortress on the hill, and the birthplace of Mozart. It was fun and made me really excited to walk around and actually live in a city for four months! Because it is a small city and it definitely has that city feel, all without being too big. Then we got Dönnerkebabs which are just...really, really delicious shaved meat on bread with sauce and spices and it's soooo good. And it was pretty inexpensive too!
Now Ashley and I are suffering from major jetlag and very tired. I took a shower, and now we're hanging out until we go to dinner with the rest of the group from the New England Universities in Salzburg (NEUS) program. We're getting picked up at 5:45. I guess it's an authentic Austrian restaurant with good food and beer...apparently beer or wine is cheaper to order at a restaurant than soda here! I found that very interesting/strange.
Well, I guess I'll go socialize with some people and try to keep my eyes open for dinner so I can meet everyone else in my program! After that I'll be hitting the hay early so I can have more energy for tomorrow! :) more updates will be coming soon!
Friday, February 18, 2011
and so it begins!
Hallo everyone :) welcome to my new blog which will describe all my travels in the coming months! At the moment I'm laying on my bed in Scarborough, Maine, and there are only 5 days until i leave for Salzburg, Austria to study abroad for Spring 2011! Or as they call it in Austria, "Sommersomester."
For the last couple months, I've been here in Scarborough working at the wonderful Ace Hardware and saving up money for my trip! I've also gotten to spend time with my family and some good friends, which has been a really great thing. At the moment, my time is being used for packing all my luggage into one suitcase (which can't weigh over 50 pounds, that should be interesting), figuring out financial stuff (I hate the exchange rate right now!), reviewing some German, and basically just doing whatever I can to be prepared for my trip.
We're headed down to Logan Airport on February 22 so I can fly out at 4:30pm! I'm flying over with another student from UMaine, Ashley, so it will be nice not to fly alone! We're due to arrive in Salzburg at 9:40am on Wednesday morning, no doubt with lots of jet lag and ready to crash into bed! But our orientation starts the next day on February 24, and we're headed out to Vienna for 3 days, to get to know the rest of our group and see another part of Austria! I've actually been to Vienna before and it was a great city, so I'm looking forward to getting back there again!
Our classes start on March 1 and I will be taking 3 classes in Salzburg, one is a German language class and the others are more specific to Austria and history, and maybe a film class. I'm not exactly sure what those other two classes will be covering but I'm sure they'll be interesting! Once I'm done this semester I'll have successfully finished my German minor at UMaine :)
In case anybody was wondering that's reading this (if you didn't already know) I'm living in an apartment called a "Studentheim" which is basically student housing in Salzburg, although it's not owned by the university. My apartment is at Mozart Studentheim. I'm living in a suite, so I'll have my own bedroom but I'm sharing a bathroom and a kitchen with another suitmate..or two..i'm not really totally sure how many other people are in the suite. The "fun" part will be shopping for some bedding and kitchen supplies because apparently none of that is supplied by the Studentheim so I'll hopefully be able to find some pretty fast so I won't be sleeping on a bare mattress! For the first two nights I'll be staying at a hostel called Yoho because we aren't allowed to move into our Studentheim until March 1..then we're spending 3 nights in Vienna, then 1 more night in a hostel until I can settle into Mozart! I guess my building is pretty much right in the city center so it's a great location to be in, it's a bit of a walk to the University of Salzburg, but we're encouraged to buy an inexpensive bike over there!
Well, I think this will answer any questions anyone might have had up until this point, but if you have any more feel free to ask :) I also have Facebook and Skype (and email, obviously), so if you'd like to keep in touch any of those ways just ask. I know it will get busy over in Europe but I'll try to update this blog as frequently as I can! Right now I'm feeling excited, nervous, and everything in between! I think it's time for a good night's sleep because tomorrow involves a trip to two different banks, a few different visits to family members and even more packing and organizing! My to-do list seems to be growing as fast as I cross things off it...so I better get to bed. Bis später :)
For the last couple months, I've been here in Scarborough working at the wonderful Ace Hardware and saving up money for my trip! I've also gotten to spend time with my family and some good friends, which has been a really great thing. At the moment, my time is being used for packing all my luggage into one suitcase (which can't weigh over 50 pounds, that should be interesting), figuring out financial stuff (I hate the exchange rate right now!), reviewing some German, and basically just doing whatever I can to be prepared for my trip.
We're headed down to Logan Airport on February 22 so I can fly out at 4:30pm! I'm flying over with another student from UMaine, Ashley, so it will be nice not to fly alone! We're due to arrive in Salzburg at 9:40am on Wednesday morning, no doubt with lots of jet lag and ready to crash into bed! But our orientation starts the next day on February 24, and we're headed out to Vienna for 3 days, to get to know the rest of our group and see another part of Austria! I've actually been to Vienna before and it was a great city, so I'm looking forward to getting back there again!
Our classes start on March 1 and I will be taking 3 classes in Salzburg, one is a German language class and the others are more specific to Austria and history, and maybe a film class. I'm not exactly sure what those other two classes will be covering but I'm sure they'll be interesting! Once I'm done this semester I'll have successfully finished my German minor at UMaine :)
In case anybody was wondering that's reading this (if you didn't already know) I'm living in an apartment called a "Studentheim" which is basically student housing in Salzburg, although it's not owned by the university. My apartment is at Mozart Studentheim. I'm living in a suite, so I'll have my own bedroom but I'm sharing a bathroom and a kitchen with another suitmate..or two..i'm not really totally sure how many other people are in the suite. The "fun" part will be shopping for some bedding and kitchen supplies because apparently none of that is supplied by the Studentheim so I'll hopefully be able to find some pretty fast so I won't be sleeping on a bare mattress! For the first two nights I'll be staying at a hostel called Yoho because we aren't allowed to move into our Studentheim until March 1..then we're spending 3 nights in Vienna, then 1 more night in a hostel until I can settle into Mozart! I guess my building is pretty much right in the city center so it's a great location to be in, it's a bit of a walk to the University of Salzburg, but we're encouraged to buy an inexpensive bike over there!
Well, I think this will answer any questions anyone might have had up until this point, but if you have any more feel free to ask :) I also have Facebook and Skype (and email, obviously), so if you'd like to keep in touch any of those ways just ask. I know it will get busy over in Europe but I'll try to update this blog as frequently as I can! Right now I'm feeling excited, nervous, and everything in between! I think it's time for a good night's sleep because tomorrow involves a trip to two different banks, a few different visits to family members and even more packing and organizing! My to-do list seems to be growing as fast as I cross things off it...so I better get to bed. Bis später :)
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