Mmm, food!

So this is what I ate on the last night in Budapest... nutritious and delicious! In fact, this was pretty much what I ate the entire week I was away (except replace the sausage with a hunk of meat, usually pork).

10 Days, 3 Cities, 200 Photos

So I just got back (okay, I got back on Sunday) from my week long trip to former communist countries! Central Europe is the best!! On Friday we went to Prague, then Monday we traveled to Krakow, Thursday to Budapest, then Sunday back to Wien. The vacation was incredible. We saw soooo many sights, ate many slabs of meat, and drank many liters of beer. I made some good friends, and bonded even more with my roommates. Wunderbar! However, by Sunday I was definitely ready to take a break from touring and come home. So because I can't possibly describe everything I did, I'll share some highlights.

Prague. On Saturday, we toured the Prague castle and saw the window where the Defenestration of Prague took place! However, it made me really wish I had brought my European history textbook so I could actually remember who was defenestrated... Then we saw the changing of the castle guard, in which the Czech soldiers were trying their best not to laugh during the ceremony and some Italian woman was rubbing up against me. Awkward! That night, we went to an opera, Rusalka, and then went to a club with 80's and 90's pop music!!!! Pretty much my dream come true. The next day we saw the oldest synagogue in Europe, the birthplace of Kafka, and took a nap in a park. We looked ridiculous sprawled out on the grass- like a cult that committed mass suicide or something. But it was totally worth it, because it prepared us for another dance party, only this time on a boat!

Krakow. Poland was great because it was so CHEAP!!! Our hostel looked like a mental ward, but that's okay. In the center of Krakow there was a wonderful marketplace where I bought many Christmas presents. I didn't really go out that much at night because I got a cold (I know, pretty lame). We toured a salt mine one afternoon, that was really interesting. I also had one of the most memorable experiences of my life: a tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau. It was a really hard thing to see, but I'm glad I went.

Budapest. Budapest was also a beautiful city. We toured many monuments and memorials, but by this time I was so "toured out" that not a lot sunk in. Oh well, I still have a lot of beautiful pictures. On the afternoon of the first day, my roommates and I (along with some other IES people) went to Turkish-style baths!!! It was quite an experience- there were a lot of naked ladies swimming and having massages. So my roommates and I decided to join the nude fun! It was great. Later, we met up with some friends, and then randomly ran into some more friends, and went to a communist-themed pizzaria! It was hilarious, the booths were separated by barbed wire. The power was out so we had to wait an hour to get our pizza. My favorite pizza name was "Pussy Pussy Monica and Bill," which really has nothing to do with communism but is amazing nonetheless. Continuing with the theme, we visited a communist statue park the next morning where Hungary banished all of the monuments erected during the communist era... needless to say I got some sweet souveniers.

So that's my week off in a nutshell! This week we started our real classes. So far I like them, although they are much different than in the US. Anyway, off to sleep.

(By the way, the picture at the top is me with my roommates on top of the cathedral in Prague.)

Writing coherently at 1:25am is hard... good thing this isn't a paper

Between German tests and the beautiful weather, it's been hard to find time to write. I think this whole "blog" thing will be better once I have real homework to procrastinate...

I have my intensive German final exam tomorrow morning, and then I'm off to Prague, Budapest and Krakow with IES for a week! I'm so excited!! However, I still have to survive my test tomorrow. As it turns out, Herbert (my ever-skillful German professor) did not teach us most of what will be on it. Sweet, that's gonna be a fun morning!

So last Friday my roommates and I had a dinner party!! It was very classy- it had placecards and everything. Lindsay made a casserole, Emily made chicken, and I bought the alcohol (of course). Let me just say that a bottle of beer here is rather large, or perhaps just stronger than in the US. After about 1 beer each, consumed while preparing the meal, the three of us were VERY excited to welcome our guests when they came!

The next day we woke up bright and early at 12pm. We ate some brunch, then went to the Danube and rented bikes. We rode up and down the Donauinsel (Danube Island) and admired the view all afternoon! Even though my butt hurt for the next two days from the uncomfortable seat, it was definitely worth it. We then ate a mediocre dinner at the waterfront, and got to the Prater right before sunset. The Prater is kind of like the Coney Island or Navy Pier of Vienna, only more European (surprise, surprise). Just as the sun was going down, we rode on the HUGE Ferris wheel and got an amazing view of the city!!

On Sunday, I went to my first Catholic mass. We went to St. Augustine's, right downtown, because we heard that there is amazing music every week. They have a full orchestra and professional soloists (we think the alto was the lead in The Barber of Seville). I'll say this about the service: the music definitely lived up to its reputation. However, Mom, I don't think you have to worry about me converting to Catholicism.

Afterwards, we were walking towards the U-Bahn when we randomly came across a country fair/festival, right in the same place that we saw the rollerblade road race the weekend before!! Hero's Square is apparently a very happening place. This fair reminded me of craft fairs on Whidbey Island, except that in place of crafts was food. Mmm, strudel and cheese!!! Which reminds me, I think I'm going to sign up for a Pilates class at the University. Either that or Tae-Bo, depending on what fits into my schedule. However, I don't think Tae-Bo is quite as appealing without the instruction of Billy Blanks.

Well, off to pack and sleep before my week off! Haha, I'm getting a vacation three weeks into school. I love studying abroad.

I've seen some weird stuff in Vienna...

This might be the strangest animal I've ever seen. I think it's an anteater...? It's from the zoo from last weekend.

I Wore Flip-Flops to the Opera

I did. I can't deny it. And I even had heels in my purse. However, I really couldn't see myself standing for three hours in strappy sandals and living to tell the tale.

So I went to see the Barber of Seville last night at the Vienna State Opera!!! It was amazing!!!! I paid 3.50 euros and had awesome standing room seats. Unbelievable. The performance was great, although the tenor was pushing a little. Even so, he was amazing. The opera itself was great- there was so much music that I knew, but didn't know where it was from. Standing room tickets are pretty sweet, although water is necessary because it was HOT. I spent about twice as much on water as I did on my ticket! Seeing opera with two opera singers (a.k.a. my roommates) is kind of a trippy experience. They keep using words like "glottle."

This week has been filled with a lot of studying German. However, I don't really feel like I'm learning anything... funny how that works. Today I sat in a park and conjugated verbs, then read. Then went shopping. It was the best day ever. It was sunny and about 75-80 degrees... perfect!

So... Vienna Fuckin Rocks

To those of you who actually read this: you might have noticed that I changed the title of the blog! The new one is shamelessly plagiarized from a postcard I saw on the street... which I may have bought two copies of. Anyway, I think it's very fitting given the number of blank stares I got when I told people I was going to Austria (or even Vienna).

But even though there are no kangaroos here, Austria turns out to be a pretty cool place. I've been in Vienna for about a week now, and it seems like there are about a billion things to do here! In fact, I feel like I've done about a million of them already, that's how tired I am. No matter how much sleep I get, it doesn't matter- I'm still ready to take another nap. It's probably because my senses are overwhelmed with the new atmosphere (wow, was that the dorkiest phrase ever? I think so).

ANYWAY, to give y'all an introduction to what I've been up to, I'll tell you about my first Viennese weekend. Friday was our first German test, followed by a field trip to a Viennese Café! I finally found out what all those weird foody things on the menu were... as it turns out, they're almost all made of some combination of cream, sugar, and flour, with the occasional chocolate filling (or apples or cream cheese) thrown in for good measure. Which reminds me, I need to join a gym... But anyway, after class I walked around the Ringstrasse, which is the boulevard that goes around the downtown area. All of the really impressive buildings are on it, and I have to say they really impressed me. It's really wild living in such a gorgeous city (wow, I live here!). So Friday night my roommates and I decided to try and find a Latin dance club I read about in a guidebook. However, we couldn't find it, so ended up walking around the downtown area for a while admiring the statues and palaces and stuff. You know, the usual. But when we walked to the Hofburg (the Hapsburg palace), there was a road race going on! It was about 10pm, and there were about a hundred people with rollerblades or bikes following this truck blasting German pop music. It was awesome. Anyway, we then met up with some friends and went to the Bermuda Triangle. Apparently, this is a square in the old downtown area with a whole bunch of bars and clubs. It is named (as the art history professor explained today) because when people go there at around sunset, they get "lost" until dawn. Sweet. The roommates and I, however, stayed for about 45 minutes or so before we got bored/the U-Bahn closed (the U-Bahn is the subway system of Vienna).

So Saturday we got up early (like 10:45!) and went on a bus tour around Vienna! It was great to drive around the city and get to know it better, because I felt as though I'd just been wandering around aimlessly. We hit the big touristy hot spots, and I of course took about 100 photos. Highlights were the Belvedere Palace and the Hundertwasserhaus (a crazy modern art-type house with trees growing out of it). We also drove through some vineyards (within the city limits) on the way to a great viewpoint in the Vienna Woods. After THAT, my roommates and I went to the Naschmarkt (a farmer's market type thing) and bought some Sturm, which is basically unfermented wine with bunches of sugar. Yum! Did I mention I need to join a gym? So after eating some more Austrian food, we went home. And then we went out again to a jazz club to watch an Austrian pop singer. She was amazing, but the guys who opened for her were AWFUL!!! So bad that it was actually pretty hilarious. The singer was from the Georgia and the guitarrist was from the UK, and unfortunately they heard us speak English so came up to us after their set to ask us what we thought. Umm... awkward... Emily, my roommate, was like, "You did fine." I told them that they had a good message, as most of their stuff was (badly written) antiwar songs. Apparently, that's an invitation to join a revolution, and to "see what Annie's up to" on some website. WTF, I have no idea. So after that we left, and were nearly molested by hispanic men on the street. After that, I decided I need more guy friends to walk around with at night. So then we met up with some friends and played Spoons in our apartment... the best game EVER!

Haha this post is so long, no wonder I'm so tired. But oh my goodness, THERE IS STILL SUNDAY TO SHARE! We wanted to get up early and go to church, as one of my roommates (Lindsay) is a Christian Scientist and Emily and I were curious. Unfortunately we couldn't find the church, as it's in the process of relocating. Oh well, we'll go in a couple of weeks. But then we went to the zoo! We saw pandas (apparently they're in love, that's what all the signs said), penguins, and ANTEATERS! They're pretty weird looking, I'd never seen them before. But penguins, bunches of penguins! They're my favorite!! Anne, you know what I'm saying. It wasn't quite as impressive as the New England Aquarium, but still pretty freakin sweet. So then we went home, and I had the best nap of my life. Later, we went to the Rathaus, which is German for city hall. In the summer, they show movies of operas and classical performances every night on a huge screen with amazing speakers, with the enormous gothic Rathaus as a backdrop! Sunday was the last night, so we thought we'd say a special goodbye by having dinner there. There are vendors there that have every type of food you could imagine- Japanese, Indian, American, Italian, and everything in between... including sangria!! Yummmm. The whole Rathaus experience really takes your breath away. The music mixed with the food and atmosphere is really very stunning, and distinctly Viennese. Nowhere else in the world do they love opera this much, and this kind of event would certainly never take place in the US. So the one good thing about the Rathaus movies closing down for the winter is that the real season begins!! Hopefully I'll go to a performance this week... hopefully La Boheme, my favorite!! (Also the only opera I really know.) I have a feeling that I'm going to get quite an education in classical music while I'm here. Did I mention both my roommates are opera singers? Yup.

So that's a little taste of life in Vienna! After a great weekend, I have to go do German homework now... It's only the second week of the semester and I'm already procrastinating. Go on Facebook and look at some of my pictures! They're pretty sweet, just like strudel.

Finally!

Yay! An internet connection and some free time, amazing!! Hopefully after today I'll have wireless internet in my apartment, but for now I am stuck using the computers at the IES Institute. The keys are a little bit different than on American computers, so forgive me if "z" and "y" are switched.

So I'm in Vienna!! I arrived last Thursday after a long night of traveling. It seems like from Tuesday night though about Sunday was just one stressful situation after another, haha. I did meet some people from the program on the plane coming over here, though, which was nice. There were about ten of us at the Vienna airport waiting for our bags to come. Right after we got our stuff, we went to the train station, met the other 140 people in the program, and went on our orientation trip to Mariazell. Needless to say, it was kind of overwhelming- especially after not sleeping at all the night before! After about 5-6 hours of traveling (one of the buses broke down!), we finally got to the hostel. Mariazell is a very picturesque town in the Alps, mostly used as a ski resort in the winter. It looks exactly like what you'd picture Austria to be like! There are flower boxes outside every window. The weekend was filled with meetings explaining various aspects of the program, as well as etiquette and other important information. We also had to choose roommates... a difficult task when you've known people for about 12 hours... but I think after much stressing, it all worked out for the best.

I'm living in the 14th district of Vienna right near the Hapsburg summer palace, the Schönbrunn. It's a really low-key part of the city with a bunch of restaurants and cute coffee houses. I have two fantabulous roommates, both singers (did I mention that about 65% of the people in the program are musicians?). Lindsay is from Westwood, MA (I met her on the plane, haha), and Emily is from Wisconsin. The three of us get along really well, and our apartment is adorable! We went to Ikea the other day to get stuff like throw pillows and bath mats... yeah, I'm a little obsessed, I know.

So about that whole German thing... it's coming along, slowly. However, I can count to 999,999 and order coffee! Honestly, what else do you need to know? The coffee here is AMAZING, but ordering it is so different than in the US. People here take their coffee seriously- the only place where you can get coffee to go is Starbucks! Oh yes, there are about 10 Starbucks places in Vienna. It's where the pickpockets go to steal money from American tourists. That's another thing- Americans here are so conspicuous! They all wear shorts and flip-flops with their L.L. Bean backpacks, haha. I could go on and on about cultural differences I've noticed, but for the first time in a few days, it's sunny! So clearly, I must go outside and explore the city. I haven't been able to do much of that so far because the weather here has been a little cold and rainy (much like Seattle, actually). Anyway, I'll post some pictures soon! Ta-ta for now!