I got a 2 on my midterm! The Austrian grading system is number based 1 through 5, and 1 is the best. According to UMaine standards a 2= a B+. wooo! Pretty proud I pulled that off, it was a hard test!
Not too much to update on really. This weekend I went to the Mozarts Geburtshaus (Mozart's birth house) because Sunday was free museum day. Almost every major museum in the city was free for entry, just for that one day. Nobody else wanted to go out really (it was raining) so I had to go by myself but I was glad I went. I saw: Mozart's first violin, a piece of his hair, and of course the house where he was born. The funny part is that Mozart didn't really like Salzburg..he much preferred Vienna, Austria. But the City of Salzburg makes a lot of money off of him, so there the museums will stay!
I didn't really run for the last couple of days because my leg was sore but I'm going running after I finish writing this and doing laundry which is halfway done now...I was almost out of socks, so it was time to do some. Plus I need clean clothes for Paris!! We're leaving on Friday morning, taking a train to Munich, and then flying to Paris! Finally I don't have to travel alone somewhere..Paige and Erin are traveling from Salzburg with me, and we're meeting Kris in Paris. So far I think we all want to go to most of the same places, so that's convenient for sure. I also have to do a little bit of homework for Thursday, but for the most part I've worked ahead and don't even have anything due for next week! It will be a fun weekend to get away from school again :)
Last night Ashley, Erin and I made steak and cheese subs out of hamburger meat..so I guess it wasn't technically steak but it was still yummy. And we had french fries with it. I feel like I haven't eaten anything that greasy in a while! Although Austrian food, traditionally, is really greasy, I haven't had any Austrian meals in a while..but, next Monday Gisela will be here and we're all going out to dinner together, pretty sure the program is paying :) I'm so excited to see her!
Today is the nicest day of the week here so far, sunny and 75! I don't want to jinx anything but the weather for Paris looks pretty good so far..we'll see how it turns out! One of the few conversations I had with my roommate, since we barely talk, she told me I'll love Paris. I'm hoping she's right, she is from France after all!
For the past couple days a few people were in bad moods..little things kept piling up. It can get really annoying being around angry people all the time..but things are looking up now I think, the weather really does have a big effect on mood..drives me nuts! The rain is a downer, but still..we're in Austria people :) Sometimes it feels like I'm going to get home and feel like all of this was a dream, I still can't believe I'm here sometimes and we're over halfway through. I have mixed feelings about leaving..I'm excited to see family and friends but really sad because I'll miss being here :(
Well, I'm going to go get some more things done, hope it's sunny back in the US!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
long awaited update
Here's an update for the last week. My midterm went by successfully…we’ll see how successfully it was when I get my grade. But I did my studying and pretty much just did the best I could so hopefully it all turns out well. One thing I noticed in Austria, is they are a lot more serious about spreading people out for the test so nobody can cheat. Our teacher had us sit with two seats in between each person, and had everyone also sit every other row so there was an empty row between each set of people. It’s funny, because in the US we sit with everyone all crammed in together, but I think it’s because in some of our college classrooms there is no way they could spread people out that much.
The rest of the week was spent divided between relaxing and doing actual work. I had a presentation in my literature class Thursday (on the author Stephan Zweig, who we're reading in class) so I’m glad that’s over now. Thursday when trying to get to class (Erin, Ashley and I all wait at the same bus stop) there was a random huge 20-minute rainstorm. Salzburg is famous for those I guess. The rain was POURING down and I was wearing a raincoat, but didn’t have my umbrella. So my jeans got soaked, and really all of us were soaked. So we usually get the bus at 4:09 to go to class and it didn’t come, didn’t come, so it was 4:30, when our class starts, and no buses had come, and no traffic coming from that direction, as well as sirens. We had to text our teacher and tell her we would be really late, and we ended up getting to class a half hour late and soaking wet. It wasn’t a very fun class…and I had to do my presentation after I got there.
Other than that rain, it’s been great weather all week! One day it was even sunny and 78 degrees! I love how summer starts earlier here. I’ve been running and going outside. We sat by the river one evening and just hung out. We’ve watched a few movies inside in the evening, and we also went to IK (another dorm) to visit Paige where she lives and to have dinner outside in their patio area. We ended up with 12 or so people just hanging out. It was really fun! It’s great to just be spontaneous here and randomly decide to do different things.
This weekend I have one essay to write, I already did one Thursday. Other than that, it’s pretty much up in the air and I can plan to do whatever I feel like doing for the next couple days! Less than a week from today we’ll be flying to PARIS.. I’m so excited!! I can’t wait to see Paris! I’ve had a picture of Paris since I was 7 or 8 I think and told Mom I wanted to go there, so I guess it’s finally coming true J
It turned out that we didn’t go to the Eagle’s Nest Friday, because we didn’t get signed up in time for the trip...so Gabriella is going to take us in our own group. Also, we’re still going to the Eisriesenwelt (ice caves) field trip and Gabriella said there might be some extra money for us to take one more trip somewhere, but she has to check with the program. Gisela, my German teacher from UMaine, is coming to visit us on the Monday after we get back from Paris for a few days!! I’m so excited. She’s the program director and she’s really an amazing person. It will be a lot of fun going to dinner with her! J
Friday night Ashley made us "beer batter chicken" which is basically fried chicken (her Mom's recipe). We also had rice, garlic bread and bundt cake for dessert! It was our first REAL meal for a while...sooo yummy! Being here has definitely demystified cooking for me, now I feel like I could go cook some fried chicken no problem if I wanted to. I guess I'm branching out my horizons in that area. Erin and I went for a little walk after dinner and that was fun. Today (Saturday) it's raining so I might just be staying inside today..I pulled a muscle in my leg running so I don't even think I should run today :/ well, that's all for now but more updates soon!!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
cool moments in austria
Just had a really cool moment here in Mozarthaus, my dorm. Some cleaning ladies came in because they're going around cleaning all the windows, and they only spoke German. So it was a little awkward, because we had to move all my stuff out of the way so they could climb up and clean both windows, but they asked where I was from, how long I was here, what I thought of Austria, and if I had brothers and sisters. They were like, "some americans come here and they cant speak a word of german, or it's bad german." honestly my german wasn't perfect but it seemed they were happy I could converse, it was a fun conversation and then they told me I had a pretty face :) haha! fun little moments and compliments can definitely make your day! Only one more class and then the weekend, which will be spent studying for the most part, but going to a Maifest on Sunday for May Day (they do it on the first Sunday of the month here, and people try to climb the May Pole that they set up. Should be fun! Talk to you soon :)
Sunday, May 1, 2011
last day of spring break!
Well, I'm safely back in Salzburg now and had a lot of fun with Kris on our adventures in Mallorca and Barcelona. The traveling back and forth was long and exhausting but it was well worth it. I'm proud of myself cause I flew by myself both ways and figured out the train with no problems this time :)
I saw some other sites in Barcelona including: the Barcelona Cathedral, La Rambla (a big shopping/tourist street), a beach in in the Barceloneta area, and the Magic Fountain which plays music and lights up with colors in the evening. We also went to an open air market and a nice park, so I'd say I got the tourist experience :) I bought a t-shirt and then for 5 Euros on the street, there are people who are artists and write your name in a sortof Oriental style, with letters in the shape of birds and different things, so I got one of those. It was fun :) we also got some sand in Mallorca and 2 little bottles so we're each going to fill the bottles with sand and some shells we found as a souvenier.
It was weird because in both Barcelona and Mallorca there were topless women on the beaches, they're a lot more casual about it over here in Europe so I have heard, but it was still very strange to me. It was fun being in Barcelona because of different cultural things, like different foods at the market (new vegetables, different kinds of meat are more popular..like chicken with the head still on it..gross!)
I have a midterm a week from tomorrow! This week is going to be a lot of studying so I can do well on the midterm, because it's a very challenging class. It probably won't be the most fun weekend of my life but it will be worth it to get a good grade.
Also, Happy May! For May traveling plans I have coming up: a day trip to Hitler's Eagle Nest not this weekend but the next, which was his mountain hideaway. It's in Germany. The next weekend, May 20-22, is PARIS! and then the weekend after that, our resident director signed us up for a trip to Eisriesenwelt which are ice caves in Austria, and it's an overnight trip with a few other places as well. I'm excited! After the midterm I will be a little bit less stressed :)
Well, I'm skyping Mom at 3, and then doing some laundry hopefully, except one of the washers is broken. Then I hope to go running if it's not raining, it looks pretty cloudy. It's a laid back Sunday which is nice, a little bit sad that my lovely vacation is ending, but overall it was lots of fun !
I saw some other sites in Barcelona including: the Barcelona Cathedral, La Rambla (a big shopping/tourist street), a beach in in the Barceloneta area, and the Magic Fountain which plays music and lights up with colors in the evening. We also went to an open air market and a nice park, so I'd say I got the tourist experience :) I bought a t-shirt and then for 5 Euros on the street, there are people who are artists and write your name in a sortof Oriental style, with letters in the shape of birds and different things, so I got one of those. It was fun :) we also got some sand in Mallorca and 2 little bottles so we're each going to fill the bottles with sand and some shells we found as a souvenier.
It was weird because in both Barcelona and Mallorca there were topless women on the beaches, they're a lot more casual about it over here in Europe so I have heard, but it was still very strange to me. It was fun being in Barcelona because of different cultural things, like different foods at the market (new vegetables, different kinds of meat are more popular..like chicken with the head still on it..gross!)
I have a midterm a week from tomorrow! This week is going to be a lot of studying so I can do well on the midterm, because it's a very challenging class. It probably won't be the most fun weekend of my life but it will be worth it to get a good grade.
Also, Happy May! For May traveling plans I have coming up: a day trip to Hitler's Eagle Nest not this weekend but the next, which was his mountain hideaway. It's in Germany. The next weekend, May 20-22, is PARIS! and then the weekend after that, our resident director signed us up for a trip to Eisriesenwelt which are ice caves in Austria, and it's an overnight trip with a few other places as well. I'm excited! After the midterm I will be a little bit less stressed :)
Well, I'm skyping Mom at 3, and then doing some laundry hopefully, except one of the washers is broken. Then I hope to go running if it's not raining, it looks pretty cloudy. It's a laid back Sunday which is nice, a little bit sad that my lovely vacation is ending, but overall it was lots of fun !
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Mallorca and Barcelona!
So, my Spring break started when Mom was here visiting! We had so much fun going around Salzburg. We went to the Hallein salt mines, the Festung castle, Mirabell gardens, up and down the river, Hellbrunn Palace and Sound of Music Pavilion, Mirabell Market, and she tried lots of yummy food as well including kebaps, gelato, Sachertorte, Wienerschnitzel, pastries, different drinks and some pizza! She saw the Augustiner Beer Hall and we watched some movies at night to wind down as well, and had lots of fun times. It was rainy for some of the time but she got two solid fair weather days, so I'm glad she saw Salzburg in the sun as well :) I'm just so thankful she was able to come visit and that I could see her almost exactly halfway through my stay! It definitely makes Europe less lonely.
No, I didn't forget about my blog I've just been really busy traveling with Mom, and then after that with Kris! The day Mom left I packed my bags and left to meet Kris in Barcelona the next day. It was one of the longest days ever..I had to get up in the morning, take a train from Salzburg to Munich, take an S-Bahn from the train station to the airport, had a 4 or 5 hour layover, flew from Munich to Zurich, had to wait another 2 or 3 hours, and flew from Zurich to Barcelona. It was a very, VERY long day, very tiring and I couldn't sleep because I was alone and nobody to watch my luggage. I slept for maybe a very short time on the planes, but not much at all. It was my first time flying alone, and it's a little scary, but nothing I can't handle. I was proud of myself for figuring everything out!
Kris and I only had about 4 hours in between when I arrived in Barcelona, before we flew AGAIN to Mallorca, Spain! It's an island about a 50 minute plane ride from Barcelona, and it is beautiful. It was totally worth it, but let me tell you, I was overtired for the first day or so after the constant traveling! We didn't have perfect weather in Mallorca at first but by the end of our trip we got some nice sun. Luckily it never constantly rained or anything like that. Mallorca was just what I wanted though. It had an island feel, turquoise/blue water, white sand, everyone relaxing, on vacation and ready to hit the beach. Almost everyone we met was really friendly, and the cool thing about the beach area we were at, El Arenal, was that it has a heavy German influence, so there was a mix of Spanish and German. That was pretty cool since Kris is studying Spanish, and I'm doing German. We spent as much time as we could on the beach, laying around, attempting to swim (I only waded because the weather wasn't the hottest, but the water was definitely at least a little warmer than the Atlantic..it's still early though) shell collecting (I found some pretty ones!), going to a few restaurants, and also one day we rented bikes which was a really great decision, and biked about 18 miles total to Palma and back, which gave us some BEAUTIFUL views, good exercise and we got to see Palma, which is where a cathedral and the castle are (I think it's the capital of Mallorca, and it's a big city compared to where we were). That was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad I got to see more of the island that way!
I was really sad to leave Mallorca, but also excited to see more of Barcelona! Since I hadn't even seen Barcelona in daylight before, it was nice to finally see it. We haven't been doing a lot of crazy sightseeing because I think we're both pretty worn out from all the traveling before, but I have seen so far, Park Guell, which is a park designed by the famous Gaudi architect (unfortunately I hadn't heard of him before being in Barcelona, but he does a lot of cool work) basically it's a park you can walk through with lots of pretty tile work, sculptures covered in tile, and cool shaped buildings, tunnels and stairs. There's also a famous dragon that everyone is obsessed with for some reason. It was pretty cool.
Also this morning Kris and I went running and ran to La Sagrada Familia which is a huge Catholic church in the middle of Barcelona (also designed by Gaudi) it's really beautiful and so unique. The interesting thing about this church, is that Gaudi actually passed away in the middle of building it, so it's still in construction today and being finished according to his plans. I think it's pretty amazing the way it is but apparently it's going to be even larger. I looked it up and it's anticipated to be finished in the year 2026. He started adding his design to the church in 1883 and died in 1926, so that can give you just a small idea of how complex the church is. It has sculptures just covering it and a really intricate shape, I can't really describe it but I got pictures! I also looked it up and apparently the Sagrada Familia has divided some people in Barcelona because some people say that it's not necessarily being built the way Gaudi would have wanted, as well as that it may overtake another Barcelona cathedral, the Santa Eulalia, which I also want to see.
Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 75 degrees with a 0% chance of rain, so I think we're going to the beach in the morning before Kris has his internship. Other things on my list are, La Rambla, which is a famous street in Barcelona with street performers and other stores, the outdoor market, the Magic Fountain which plays on weekend nights and has a light show that goes with the fountain part, as well as hopefully the Casa Batllo, which is another Gaudi building.
The culture here is definitely very different from the German culture, I guess not really in a way I can describe in words, but the people are obviously different as well as the language. Some of the people here dress very nicely but others seem more casual (sweatshirts, etc) wearing things you would never see in Austria. The people seem..louder? There are more pushy street vendors trying to get you to buy things, the people just seem to talk louder in general. I have heard that stereotype before, and I think it's partly true. It seems like a pretty laid back culture, but I think that might be true for Europe in general. Barcelona is also a HUGE city, it's the second largest in Spain with 1,621,537 people (I just looked that up) so it's a lot different than Salzburg, which has about 145,000 people...just as a comparison Portland, Maine has 66,194 people. For some reason I thought Salzburg was smaller than Portland, but I guess not. Anyway, I really like the size of Salzburg. Someday I wouldn't mind living in a city about the size of Salzburg, but probably not any larger. Who knows though! Europe has really opened my eyes to many different styles of living, and I always have been intrigued by living in a city, so you never know.
Anyway, I'm glad I have seen some Spanish culture in my travels. Now I've experienced German/Austrian culture, Italian, and Spanish. Up next in May..French culture! And I'm hoping I have enough travel money left to get to London and Berlin, Germany as well, but we'll see how it goes! London is my top priority for June before I leave!
Well, I suppose I'll do a little homework and relax before Kris is out of his internship. I will try to update again sooner rather than later!
No, I didn't forget about my blog I've just been really busy traveling with Mom, and then after that with Kris! The day Mom left I packed my bags and left to meet Kris in Barcelona the next day. It was one of the longest days ever..I had to get up in the morning, take a train from Salzburg to Munich, take an S-Bahn from the train station to the airport, had a 4 or 5 hour layover, flew from Munich to Zurich, had to wait another 2 or 3 hours, and flew from Zurich to Barcelona. It was a very, VERY long day, very tiring and I couldn't sleep because I was alone and nobody to watch my luggage. I slept for maybe a very short time on the planes, but not much at all. It was my first time flying alone, and it's a little scary, but nothing I can't handle. I was proud of myself for figuring everything out!
Kris and I only had about 4 hours in between when I arrived in Barcelona, before we flew AGAIN to Mallorca, Spain! It's an island about a 50 minute plane ride from Barcelona, and it is beautiful. It was totally worth it, but let me tell you, I was overtired for the first day or so after the constant traveling! We didn't have perfect weather in Mallorca at first but by the end of our trip we got some nice sun. Luckily it never constantly rained or anything like that. Mallorca was just what I wanted though. It had an island feel, turquoise/blue water, white sand, everyone relaxing, on vacation and ready to hit the beach. Almost everyone we met was really friendly, and the cool thing about the beach area we were at, El Arenal, was that it has a heavy German influence, so there was a mix of Spanish and German. That was pretty cool since Kris is studying Spanish, and I'm doing German. We spent as much time as we could on the beach, laying around, attempting to swim (I only waded because the weather wasn't the hottest, but the water was definitely at least a little warmer than the Atlantic..it's still early though) shell collecting (I found some pretty ones!), going to a few restaurants, and also one day we rented bikes which was a really great decision, and biked about 18 miles total to Palma and back, which gave us some BEAUTIFUL views, good exercise and we got to see Palma, which is where a cathedral and the castle are (I think it's the capital of Mallorca, and it's a big city compared to where we were). That was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad I got to see more of the island that way!
I was really sad to leave Mallorca, but also excited to see more of Barcelona! Since I hadn't even seen Barcelona in daylight before, it was nice to finally see it. We haven't been doing a lot of crazy sightseeing because I think we're both pretty worn out from all the traveling before, but I have seen so far, Park Guell, which is a park designed by the famous Gaudi architect (unfortunately I hadn't heard of him before being in Barcelona, but he does a lot of cool work) basically it's a park you can walk through with lots of pretty tile work, sculptures covered in tile, and cool shaped buildings, tunnels and stairs. There's also a famous dragon that everyone is obsessed with for some reason. It was pretty cool.
Also this morning Kris and I went running and ran to La Sagrada Familia which is a huge Catholic church in the middle of Barcelona (also designed by Gaudi) it's really beautiful and so unique. The interesting thing about this church, is that Gaudi actually passed away in the middle of building it, so it's still in construction today and being finished according to his plans. I think it's pretty amazing the way it is but apparently it's going to be even larger. I looked it up and it's anticipated to be finished in the year 2026. He started adding his design to the church in 1883 and died in 1926, so that can give you just a small idea of how complex the church is. It has sculptures just covering it and a really intricate shape, I can't really describe it but I got pictures! I also looked it up and apparently the Sagrada Familia has divided some people in Barcelona because some people say that it's not necessarily being built the way Gaudi would have wanted, as well as that it may overtake another Barcelona cathedral, the Santa Eulalia, which I also want to see.
Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 75 degrees with a 0% chance of rain, so I think we're going to the beach in the morning before Kris has his internship. Other things on my list are, La Rambla, which is a famous street in Barcelona with street performers and other stores, the outdoor market, the Magic Fountain which plays on weekend nights and has a light show that goes with the fountain part, as well as hopefully the Casa Batllo, which is another Gaudi building.
The culture here is definitely very different from the German culture, I guess not really in a way I can describe in words, but the people are obviously different as well as the language. Some of the people here dress very nicely but others seem more casual (sweatshirts, etc) wearing things you would never see in Austria. The people seem..louder? There are more pushy street vendors trying to get you to buy things, the people just seem to talk louder in general. I have heard that stereotype before, and I think it's partly true. It seems like a pretty laid back culture, but I think that might be true for Europe in general. Barcelona is also a HUGE city, it's the second largest in Spain with 1,621,537 people (I just looked that up) so it's a lot different than Salzburg, which has about 145,000 people...just as a comparison Portland, Maine has 66,194 people. For some reason I thought Salzburg was smaller than Portland, but I guess not. Anyway, I really like the size of Salzburg. Someday I wouldn't mind living in a city about the size of Salzburg, but probably not any larger. Who knows though! Europe has really opened my eyes to many different styles of living, and I always have been intrigued by living in a city, so you never know.
Anyway, I'm glad I have seen some Spanish culture in my travels. Now I've experienced German/Austrian culture, Italian, and Spanish. Up next in May..French culture! And I'm hoping I have enough travel money left to get to London and Berlin, Germany as well, but we'll see how it goes! London is my top priority for June before I leave!
Well, I suppose I'll do a little homework and relax before Kris is out of his internship. I will try to update again sooner rather than later!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
more of our Austria adventures!
I'm kindof tired and don't feel like writing right now, but this is a basic list of the things we've been doing in Salzburg this week!
Friday (cloudy with some rain, but we made the best of it):
-we got up in the morning and had yogurt and cereal for breakfast
-headed to the train station and bought tickets to Hallein
-arrived in Hallein and toured the salt mines! it was fun and yes "Salzburg" does mean "Salt Mountain"... even though the salt mine is outside of Salzburg, the reason Salzburg has all the beautiful architecture and buidlings is because of the rich salt miner guy Wolf-Dietrich. And, we got to ride into the mine on a train, take a boat through the mine, and slide down slides to get to each descending level!
-took the bus and then train back to Salzburg
mom got her first kebap!
went to the shoe store (I got a pair of sandals and some sneakers)
came home and had snacks and watched Secret Life :)
Saturday (started off beautiful, got a little cloudy and chilly):
woke up, had delicious bread and nutella for breakfast! seriously the bread here is so delicious, I will miss it when I'm back in the US.
went to Mirabell Gardens which was sunny and beautiful! Mom got to see the Sound of Music hedge, and other parts of the gardens where scenes were filmed (the song Do Re Mi). We also went to St. Peter's Abbey which inspired one of the scenes in the movie. The Residenzplatzsquare statue is also where Maria ran by when she sang "I Have Confidence" :) racking up the Sound of Music references!
took the S-bahn car up to the Festung (the big castle on the hill)
toured the Festung! It was a really cool castle, which they began building around the year 1072 or something like that.
went back into the Altstadt (old city) and got sausage and a pretzel..first Austrian sausage for Mom!
found a wool store where mom got pretty wool for a scarf
Mom bought us stein charms (we both have charm bracelets)
went in St. Peter's Kirche (church)
walked back home and rested our tired feet :) doing laundry which is in now!
Well that's about all the update for now, but more will come later and also tomorrow we are touring the Hellbrunn Palace and going to the zoo!! :)
** EDIT 5/1/11**
I just found a note of some of the things Mom and I did on Sunday before she left, and wanted to add it to this entry!
-we went to the Hellbrunn Castle, where we saw the trick fountains that the Archbishop had set up there. Some of them were really cool..and the tour guide definitely sprayed us with water a few times. Luckily it was a pretty nice day and not cold/rainy! We also wen't inside Hellbrunn, but it wasn't super impressive. There are some nice park grounds there which you dont have to pay to see, so maybe I'll go back sometime!
-We walked on the Mozartsteg bridge, which has Sound of Music connections (it goes over the Salzach)
-Mom tried Sachertorte (chocolate cake) and Gelato..mmm:)
-We didn't get to go on the grounds because they were private but we saw the Leopoldskron castle from across the lake, and it was gorgeous there. It was the castle used for the Von Trapp home in the Sound of Music!
-We walked on the Mönchberg which is the huge hill overlooking all along Salzburg, that was a nice evening walk with good views of the city :)
-we looked for the abbey used in Sound of Music, but couldn't find it. We went to the Augustiner Beer Hall, we didn't get anything but I wanted her to see what a traditional beer hall looks like!
-we got stalked by Mormons..who wanted to give me a Bible..haha they went on the bus with us and talked to us.
We also watched 27 Dresses and 13 Going on 30 the last two nights. The next day we went to the Mirabell Garden and walked along the river. Mom bought a picture of Salzburg, and we got gelato one more time before she had to leave :(
I had sooo much fun with mom visiting :) it was so great to see her! Just wanted to update with the other list I had set aside of what we did!
Friday (cloudy with some rain, but we made the best of it):
-we got up in the morning and had yogurt and cereal for breakfast
-headed to the train station and bought tickets to Hallein
-arrived in Hallein and toured the salt mines! it was fun and yes "Salzburg" does mean "Salt Mountain"... even though the salt mine is outside of Salzburg, the reason Salzburg has all the beautiful architecture and buidlings is because of the rich salt miner guy Wolf-Dietrich. And, we got to ride into the mine on a train, take a boat through the mine, and slide down slides to get to each descending level!
-took the bus and then train back to Salzburg
mom got her first kebap!
went to the shoe store (I got a pair of sandals and some sneakers)
came home and had snacks and watched Secret Life :)
Saturday (started off beautiful, got a little cloudy and chilly):
woke up, had delicious bread and nutella for breakfast! seriously the bread here is so delicious, I will miss it when I'm back in the US.
went to Mirabell Gardens which was sunny and beautiful! Mom got to see the Sound of Music hedge, and other parts of the gardens where scenes were filmed (the song Do Re Mi). We also went to St. Peter's Abbey which inspired one of the scenes in the movie. The Residenzplatzsquare statue is also where Maria ran by when she sang "I Have Confidence" :) racking up the Sound of Music references!
took the S-bahn car up to the Festung (the big castle on the hill)
toured the Festung! It was a really cool castle, which they began building around the year 1072 or something like that.
went back into the Altstadt (old city) and got sausage and a pretzel..first Austrian sausage for Mom!
found a wool store where mom got pretty wool for a scarf
Mom bought us stein charms (we both have charm bracelets)
went in St. Peter's Kirche (church)
walked back home and rested our tired feet :) doing laundry which is in now!
Well that's about all the update for now, but more will come later and also tomorrow we are touring the Hellbrunn Palace and going to the zoo!! :)
** EDIT 5/1/11**
I just found a note of some of the things Mom and I did on Sunday before she left, and wanted to add it to this entry!
-we went to the Hellbrunn Castle, where we saw the trick fountains that the Archbishop had set up there. Some of them were really cool..and the tour guide definitely sprayed us with water a few times. Luckily it was a pretty nice day and not cold/rainy! We also wen't inside Hellbrunn, but it wasn't super impressive. There are some nice park grounds there which you dont have to pay to see, so maybe I'll go back sometime!
-We walked on the Mozartsteg bridge, which has Sound of Music connections (it goes over the Salzach)
-Mom tried Sachertorte (chocolate cake) and Gelato..mmm:)
-We didn't get to go on the grounds because they were private but we saw the Leopoldskron castle from across the lake, and it was gorgeous there. It was the castle used for the Von Trapp home in the Sound of Music!
-We walked on the Mönchberg which is the huge hill overlooking all along Salzburg, that was a nice evening walk with good views of the city :)
-we looked for the abbey used in Sound of Music, but couldn't find it. We went to the Augustiner Beer Hall, we didn't get anything but I wanted her to see what a traditional beer hall looks like!
-we got stalked by Mormons..who wanted to give me a Bible..haha they went on the bus with us and talked to us.
We also watched 27 Dresses and 13 Going on 30 the last two nights. The next day we went to the Mirabell Garden and walked along the river. Mom bought a picture of Salzburg, and we got gelato one more time before she had to leave :(
I had sooo much fun with mom visiting :) it was so great to see her! Just wanted to update with the other list I had set aside of what we did!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Guest Blog from Mom
Hello everyone!! We have been very busy and having lots of fun. While Alisha is at a class (the last before her break begins) I thought I’d sit down and do write on her blog. So much has happened already!
The trip over was very long and I was very relieved when I finally reached my destination. As some of you know, my flight from Frankfort to Salzburg was cancelled due to a strike at the airline I was supposed to fly on. They had me fly to Munich and then go by bus to Salzburg. The Lufthansa airline was very helpful because when I got off the plane in Munich there were two airline women waiting with a sign that said Salzburg. The group gathered (about 12 of us), got our luggage and headed out to the bus. It was a two hour bus ride to Salzburg and I wouldn’t have chosen to go by bus. However, it was quite a treat to see the country-side of Austria. The season is a bit ahead of us so everything was green and blossoming. Villages of houses would be grouped around farmland (I’m guessing lots of haying because the ground wasn’t dug up). There were also the houses way up on the sides of the mountains…picture Heidi….just not in the Alps….smaller mountains. There were long winding roads that lead to them. They must have good plowing here! The farms were very neat…much like Canadian farms. Not a rusting car or truck to be seen!!!!
Alisha was a very welcome sight when I got off the bus! We headed right to her place on the city bus. Once we got my suitcase taken care of we went for lunch. We chose to walk and went along the river and I saw the scene of the picture of the fortress on the hill. It’s so big and amazing. We had decided on pizza and it was delicious. Picture this…sharing a pizza in a small restaurant…finishing and paying…and me tripping and turning my foot as I exit the place on a little step down that I missed!! Yes, it’s true! In Salzburg for about an hour and a half and I go and do that! The very good news is that it could’ve been so much worse! It feels much better after an icing and a couple of days. It turns out to be bruised. My Clarks sandals have been a footsaver!
Alisha took me to her grocery store and we watched Survivor on her computer. I struggled to stay awake towards the end of that but it was a fun evening.
Wednesday morning we visited St. Peter’s Church (the one Alisha told us about with the six organs) and had some yummy pastries for breakfast. The weather was very cold and was still spitting rain. The day before had been steady wind and rain so we were glad that had passed. We spent quite a bit of time at the church so it was time to head to Alisha’s class. I had intended to go to class but ended up a small café on the next street. I was there for about an hour and a half writing in my journal and nursing a hot chocolate. I was worried I’d overstay my welcome and would’ve braved the cold but took my cue from two women that were there when I arrived. They left only ten minutes before Alisha came back to get me. I felt very European!!!
We ended up going into some shops that Alisha wanted me to see and then we went back to her room until it was time go to IKEA and then meet up with Erin and her mother and sister. They arrived on Wed. We met to go to an authentic Austrian restaurant. I had the traditional Wiener-Schnitzel with potatoes and Alisha had bacon wrapped pork and potato wedges. I tried a white wine spritzer and Alisha had Radler that is half beer and half lemonade. I wasn’t crazy about either one…too much after taste. The meat dishes and potatoes were very good with lots of salt as Alisha has told us. For dessert we ordered a Salzburg Nockerl. It was awful!!! It smelled like egg and was the texture of custard with the meringue on top. We’ve decided to stick with the other delicious pastries and chocolate!!! One thing to note, here the server doesn’t bring your check until you ask for it! He had checked in to see if we were doing good but we ended up sitting a while until we asked for the check!
We ended our day skyping with Fred and gabbing.
This morning, Thursday, Alisha had a class so I did some much needed stretching and wrote in my journal. When she got back we went to the Farmer’s Market they have on Thursdays. It was a cross between our traditional markets and the Fryeburg Fair. There were food booths selling hot cooked food like the fair, cheese, sausage (many, many kinds of both cheese and sausage), fish, pastries and loads of fresh flowers and plants. We shared a cream roll and a pretzel. This is a great (?) place for me because I love pastry and bread! After this we walked back up to the Altstadt where we went into the church and visited the St. Peter's Cemetery and the shops. It’s a bit warmer today and so it was much more pleasant. I saw Mozart’s birthplace and some other statues and interesting tourist spots like a giant chess set in the square. We also stopped at St. Peter's Bakery, the oldest in Salzburg, and got some warm straight out of the oven bread!
Alisha helped get me back to her room before her class. I’d wanted to go by myself but she insisted. I would’ve had a little extra ride because I think I would’ve gotten on bus one instead of bus three. I would’ve noticed what I’d done but it’s just as well she helped me!!!
A few more random thoughts…we saw Stephen King, Agatha Christie, and Mary Higgins Clark books (to name a few) in German. There were English books and I thought it might be fun to buy one here but they’re more expensive plus the exchange!!!
The people here do not say excuse me…we’ve been in three different grocery stores and we hadn’t moved out of the way as they came up behind us we might’ve been run over!!!!
I don’t want my gravestone/marker to say RIP.
Bottled water isn’t too expensive when you buy it in the grocery store.
I’d say most of the people have initially spoken to me/us as we’ve been out and about in German but have no trouble switching to English when they see my blank look!!!
I know we are all aware of the good head on Alisha’s shoulders. She continues to use it. Now that I’m here, I’m even more aware of how much she’s had to learn and adjust to in a very short time. She’s done extremely well and I’m very impressed!!! What they say is proving true…the young lady we sent to Austria will not be the one that comes home!! She’s doing GREAT!!!!
We’ll be back to blog again before I leave. The next three days will be busy as there’s still a lot we’d like to do together. Today we decided not to take the time to do a day trip to Munich because I can say I’ve been there (Ahem!) and we’re hoping the weather will warm up, the rain will go away and we’ll get to do the many other things on our Salzburg list!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)