Hohenwerfen Fortress and Hellbrunn Palace

Hi! Another week of not doing too much just site seeing around Salzburg. The weather has been iffy all week, with pouring rain for 10 minutes then sun and that seems to be a constant cycle during the spring. Friday I went with my friend Katherine and her host mom and host sisters to the top of the Giesberg which is a mountain the overlooks Salzburg. We drove up (thank god) but there were many hikers and bikers we saw on the way up. Hiking I could have done, but riding a bike up that incline must take months to a year to accomplish! The day wasn’t the greatest so the view of Salzburg was a little hazy, but it was still amazing to be so high up and we could make out where the school was, where our houses were etc.. There were many paragliders who would just run and jump off the side of the mountain! Even if I had a parachute like they did, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to run and jump off the side of a mountain that big! We didn’t stay long because it was kinda cold, and there was still snow at the top! It was a fun after class excursion though.

Saturday Kristen and I stayed in all day to get the massive amount of papers we had done. I can proudly say I finished my last paper this morning and now all I have left for the semester is 2 final exams! (This is why I can now blog!) Sunday our host family took us to Hohenwerfen fortress which is about a half hour outside of Salzburg by car. We packed up the kids and left early to hike up the mountain and also see a bird show they put on every day. It was a relatively easy hike, only taking 20 minutes to get to the fortress. The fortress is on a small mountain surrounded by GIGANTIC mountains. At the angle we were at for the bird show we were staring at what seemed like a wall because the mountain was so close and went up so high. It was the perfect day with beautiful sun and we didn't need a jacket most of the day. We watched the bird show with men dressed in old Austrian hunters attire bring out huge falcons and eagles and they did tricks with them like stimulating a hunt or making them catch food in the air. I saw a bald eagle for the first time! (Funny that I saw it in Europe and not the US) After the show we took a tour of the fortress which was really cool. We saw a really really reaaaaly old clock that is still working today with only minor work done to it. We got to go up to where the bell rings which is the highest point on the fortress which had an amazing view of the surrounding mountains and towns. The fortress was used as a prison at some points in its history so it had many trap doors and dungeons and things like that. The old movie, Where Eagles Dare with Clint Eastwood was filmed at this fortress. We had lunch in the sun on the lawn and had a great time with our host family! And we finally got a picture of the family which is below!

Tuesday the school took us on another field trip to Hellbrunn Palace. It was built by this king (or someone important) who was a jokester and liked to play pranks on his guests. Around the palace he built a beautiful garden with many fountains and ponds and such. However, there were water tricks set up all over the grounds that would go off during the tour and get everyone wet! And you never knew where they would come from or when they were coming! It was a fun thing to do with our group and the rain held out for our tour so it was awesome. The grounds were beautiful and already green and flowers were blooming. The other cool thing about this place was that the Gazebo from the Sound of Music is here! (They filmed the S.O.M at various places all around Salzburg, they even filmed the front and the back of the house at different palaces) I was excited to be able to go in it and run around it singing, "I am 16 going on 17...” however I guess many people before me had this idea and too many people got hurt falling off the benches so they locked it :( Oh well, it was still awesome to see it!

So that's about all I've been up to this week because of all the papers we all had. We haven't been able to get together too much... But Thursday marks (almost) the end of the semester because that's when most of all our papers are due... And finals week is the first week of May so next week should be a fun week where all of us will be able to hang out and spend some time together before we leave. The weather is looking like it's going to get nicer too! There are still many sights to see in Salzburg! Friday our host parents are taking us out to this Sushi/Chinese resteraunt for our goodbye dinner/ Sabine's birthday. No kids allowed! These next 2 weeks are going to fly by! It's so bitter sweet... I'll be home before we all know it! Love and miss you all.


hangin out at Hellbrunn

Sound of Music Gazebo!
some of the group at Hellbrunn
trying not to get wet!
people getting sprayed with water
Hellbrunn
the family at Hohenwerfen fortress
me and leona
alex!
trying to get a good picture with the kids...
kristen and me at the top of the bell tower
view from the top
kristen, leona, and sabine
mountains everywhere!
view from the top of the Giesberg
katherine me and her host sister on the Giesberg

Back to Salzburg!

Hello all! It feels great to be back in Salzburg, especially because we only have 3 weeks left! The first week back we had great weather, and me and my friends laid out by the river every day after classes to get some sun! I also started riding my bike to school which is great! It's actually quicker than the bus because there is a short cut we can use, and it's great exercise everyday! It takes about 10-15 minutes to get to school depending on how fast I ride. And now that I have the bike my friends who also have them go for rides along the river or through the town in between classes. It's an old, creaky bike but it does the job! It's currently raining today though, so I will not ride my bike to school.

This weekend Kristen, Elizabeth and I hiked up a small mountain (more like a hill) to this monastery and old house that had an amazing view of the city from a different angle we see it from at school. The weather wasn't that nice which is why we didn't do much outside last weekend but we have big plans for this weekend! There is a mountain close by that is supposed to be a great (and somewhat difficult) hike, so hopefully we can do that this weekend. And there is also the Fortress that Salzburg is famous for that we see every single day but have not been to yet! But we have been saving it for a nice day, so again, hopefully this weekend! We were surprised at how warm it had been the past week, and wondering when the rain was ever going to come (Salzburg is known to be very very rainy) and I woke up this morning and here it is!

Yesterday the school took us on a fieldtrip to this place a little outside of town that took apart old buildings and farm houses and churches and stuff from all over Austria and re constructed them in one huge area. Some date back to the 1600's and they are all situated together in their different regions. Like the houses from Salzburg would all be together, the ones from Upper Austria would all be together, etc... So you can get a feel for the differences in the buildings from different regions. It was pretty much like Sturbridge Village, except there weren’t people dressed up doing things like they used to when these buildings were built. We had a really cool tour guide though and we learned a lot and got to go into all the buildings. This week seems to be going by so slow which is somewhat a good thing because our time is winding down but somewhat a bad thing because we are all anxious to go home! Sorry it's been a boring week! The next week will probably be even more boring since I have about 20 pages of papers to write in the next coming weeks so I'll be very busy with that! Hope all is well at home, miss you guys... and the countdown begins... 22 days!

Rome, Florence, Venice.. LOVE Italia :)

Here is the link to the pictures form my break! just click on it and there should be an album for every city I was in and you can look through them all! Copy and Paste it into the browser and hit Enter, or Go.

http://community.webshots.com/user/lynnieg14?vhost=community

Hello! So sorry for the delay.. I wanted to get all the pictures up onto a website so you guys can see them all instead of just 5 or 6.. And classes started again today so I have been busy with homework, but here it is! So we got to Rome after a long night staying up in the airport, but as soon as we entered the city I fell in love!! We were in a hot, sticky, noisy bus coming from the airport but none of that mattered when I saw the green trees and old houses and roman ruins on every corner! We found the hostel, and immediately I was asked about my last name by the receptionist, asking me if I had family in Italy and where, and if I knew who St Maria Goretti was.. I felt at home! Our hostel was nice with big rooms and comfy beds, and we met some cool people studying in London for the year and they gave us some tips on what to see and where to go since they had been there a couple days before. The only minor crisis I had the whole trip was when I got to Rome my credit card didn’t work! I freaked out for about an hour, thinking someone had stolen my number and the bank shut my card off and I was going to be stuck in Rome with no money and I would have to cut my trip short.. low and behold I was just out of money. Whoops! So when I got that taken care of, we went to the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Paletine Hill, which were all in the vicinity of one another and you could buy a combined ticket for all of them. I could have spent hours walking around all the ruins, and it did actually take us a long time because they were so beautiful and so much detail you just wanted to look and take a picture of every single thing! (which is why I probably have so many pictures, sorry!) I was amazed at how much is actually still standing. Like, do you know how old that stuff is? It’s crazy to think its preserved so well and was built so well that something like the Colosseum is safe enough to have thousands of people walking around in it every single day. So this took all afternoon and then we just walked around a little more to get to know the city, which you would think was huge but you really could walk everywhere, except the Vatican. But we were so tired from traveling we took a nap in the hostel and got ready for dinner and to go out for the night. But I ended up being so tired I couldn’t even go out, so I stayed in and read and caught up on some sleep, cause we had to wake up early the next day for a tour of the Vatican.

So the next day is what I had been waiting for all trip! Tour of the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel. We bought tickets in advanced online, THANK GOD! When we got there, the line was (no exaggeration) at least a quarter to a half mile long, wrapping all around the outside of the Vatican walls. When we finally found the entrance we got right in, had to go through security, found our tour, and spent almost 3 hours in the museum and Sistine Chapel. The Chapel was at the end of the tour, so they totally take you through this (what seems like a) maze to get there. So many galleries and outdoor gardens and stuff that eventually you just wanted to get to the Chapel cause that’s what you paid for! The whole museum was amazing but the Chapel was breath taking. You weren’t supposed to take pictures or even speak in there but there were so many people so there was always a low hum in the room, and I even snuck 2 pictures which are in the albums. Then we went to St Peters Square which was so different than I ever thought it looked like in movies or pictures I had seen! It was amazing, we sat there for a while just watching people and taking it all in. Then it started to rain! So we still had the rest of the afternoon so we hopped on the metro and decided to just pick a place on the map and go there.. So we went to some random square which was also beautiful and walked around the expensive shopping area and got some gelato.. and legitimately ran INTO the Spanish Steps, which we were trying to save to do the next day. We walked all the way up them not knowing it was there until we got to the top. It was pretty funny actually. So that night we had a free pasta dinner at the hostel and then I watched an old movie I hadn’t seen for a while with some girls I met in the hostel, cause again we had another long day of traveling the next day! We saved the Pantheon, Fountain di Trevi, and other small things for the last day in Rome, so we took our time and walked everywhere instead of taking the Metro and hit the major points then a couple random things on our map. The day was beautiful and the fountain was definitely my favorite of the day! The Pantheon actually was somewhat of a letdown, it was under construction and it was packed in between all these buildings and it was just not what I was expecting. That night we got on a train and went to Florence to meet some more people who just got there!

When we got to Florence it was dark and late and we actually ran right into our friends on the street, so we put our bags away and went out to dinner (a very late dinner for us but you know for the Italians it was normal). This was really the only good, authentic Italian food we had in all of Italy. We went to bed early because we were going to see the statue of David early the next day! We bought tickets for this online also which was a huge help so we didn’t have to wait in line. I HIGHLY recommend doing this if you ever go to these major monuments, even though it’s a bit more expensive because nobody wants to be spending their vacation in line, and especially during the summer it’s so hot there. So I really wasn’t expecting much from David, ya know, he’s famous and he’s this big naked guy, I figured it was just some tourist thing I had to see while I was in Florence. Boy was I wrong. I was BLOWN AWAY at this statue. First of all, it was HUGE. Second of all, he was PERFECT. I can see why people make such a big deal of David and Michael Angelo for making him. It was the most perfect person I had ever seen, and the detail of his whole body was incredible. You could see his veins in his hands, his tendons behind his knee, the balls of his ankle. Everything was perfect. Even his stance was exactly how we stand. My friend Elizabeth and I just sat there staring at him for a good half hour, talking about how perfect he was. I know it sounds SO silly, but it’s just something you have to see, then you would get it. Ok so enough of that.. We walked along the river in Florence and ended up at the Ponte Vechhio which is the famous bridge in Florence which was the only bridge to survive the bombing of WWII. (actually Italy asked to not have this bridge blown up, like many countries asked for famous churched and stuff to not be blown up, and everyone abided by these rules) It was where the expensive shopping was. Florence is known for its leather so we could definitely not buy anything on this bridge. However they did have a leather market (not only leather there, so much stuff) and we went to this the next day. This is where I did the most damage. I actually bought some presents for a lot of people  And I must have learned from the best (dad) because I bargained the prices down on everything I bought.. I did the old technique of offering half the original price, he says no and doesn’t go down too much, so I say no and only go up a little, then he said no again, so I start to walk away, and I can barely turn around before he changes his mind and sells it to me. A true master! Our last night in Florence we climbed up all these steps to this special spot that overlooks the city. Boy was it beautiful. We went around sunset to watch it, and it was the most amazing sunset I have ever seen (even better than the ones on the beach down the cape). You could see for miles, and see the beautiful city surrounded by mountains in the back with the sun setting over the city and I almost couldn’t help but want to cry (which I almost did because it was just so beautiful). This was definitely the best part of Florence, and maybe even the highlight of the whole trip. The next day we were off to Venice, the last stop on our trip!

As soon as I stepped out of the train station in Venice all I saw was water and I immediately fell in love! Amsterdam supposedly has more bridges and canals than Venice but they were NOTHING like each other. Because in Venice, everything was built on top of the water, unlike in Amsterdam where there were streets where cars could drive and there were sidewalks and stuff. Not in Venice. All the streets were narrow and the houses bordered the water. Most parts of the city smelled like fish because of all the fish markets and there were so many people around, probably because it was Easter weekend. The day we got to Venice we had to hurry up and get ready and didn’t have much time to see the city because one friend I was with, Kristen, was meeting her pen pal from Italy there who she has been writing to for 6 years! She is also my roommate in Salzburg and I helped her get a hold of him about a month ago and they planned to meet in Venice, and he was brining friends so me and Elizabeth went along with Kristen. We waited in St Mark’s square with thousands of people around and we were sure we would never find him.. but he found us! We went to a café to have a drink and it was hard to communicate because his English was not so good and my Italian is not so good either.. but it was surprising how well we could understand each other with the little language we knew and hand gestures, and also our waiter who helped translate for us! It was a really awesome experience to sit down and talk to Italians who are actually our age! We were grateful that Kristen shared this experience with us because it was special to us all. So we only stayed one night in Venice because it was the most expensive place to stay and we wanted to get home a day early to get settled back in Salzburg before classes began. So we went to church early on Easter at St Marks Cathedral and it was all in Italian and even though I couldn’t understand anything, it was absolutely beautiful to hear. So then we ran to our train (cause we almost missed it) and traveled 8 hours on Easter Sunday and switched trains 3 times to get back to Salzburg. It was a hectic day and there were some problems with our Eurail pass that we bought (you buy it for a certain amount of countries and a certain amount of days of travel and it’s supposed to save you money) but we made it back to Salzburg and our family was SO happy so see us and we were equally as happy to be “home.” And then I got to skype with my whole family at home which was amazing! It was so nice talking to you all and it made me much less homesick!! Well it’s late here and I’m still trying to catch up on sleep from the trip, so I will end it here.. there are some things I’ll blog about later like my favorite places and differences I noticed and people I got to speak to (nice and mean) and stuff like that.. Hope you all enjoy the pictures.. I will try to put captions on them so you know exactly what everything is but there are so many so it might take me a little while! Love you all.. Be home in 4 weeks!!! Ps- check your mailboxes soon I sent out a couple of post cards!

Barcelonaaa

Ciao! I am currently in Roma, and loving every second of it.. :) But I will blog about that in a couple days since it's not over yet! So Barcelona was a fun city.. 2 and a half days was definitely enough there though, especially the time of year it was.. I can see how people can spend a week there but its because of the beaches. We got to go to the beach but it was still too cold to be in a bathing suit and too cold to go in the water! (even though some people swam, and some people were naked!) So I got there Friday night after a long day of traveling from Sweden, but I met up with my friends and also met some kids staying in our hostel room from Boston College, so they knew a couple people I knew who go there. All of us went out on the town that night which was fun and easy since employees of the hostel took us out. They are all young and the hostel was really nice and hip and a fun place to be. Barcelona is known for its night life and it was definitely a blast! Couldn't do it all the time like they do though..

Saturday we got up and went on a 2 hour boat tour around Barcelona harbor and around the coast. We saw the beach and beautiful mountains! When I was flying into Barcelona I was shocked at the amount of mountains there were.. I never thought of Spain to have mountains, mainly just beaches! But it was an amazing mix of both which I loved. The tour was very relaxing and it was nice to be near the ocean again! Then we went to the beach and sat there for a couple hours, soaking up the sun. We were constantly bombarded by locals trying to sell us stuff. For those of you who have been to Mexico, you know what I mean.. However this was still different. People in Mexico atleast leave you alone if you look like you're sleeping.. NOT IN BARCELONA! and they also aren't selling jewerly or hats or cigars.. They are selling beer, "smokes", or women selling messages.. And there is one every (no lie we timed them) 45 seconds. One of the most annoying things I have ever experienced!! We found a nice Irish Pub to eat in (I know I know, we can't stay away) and actually ate lunch there both Sat and Sun we loved it so much! As I was sitting down to eat, all of a sudden I heard someone say my name! It was 2 girls sitting next to us who go to Saint Rose with me and who are studying in Florence! I was SHOCKED to say the least.. because just that afternoon I was telling my friends I was surpised nobody has run into someone they know yet randomly in one of these big cities! We talked for a little while and I am actually going to meet up with them when I go to Florence in these next couple days.. The rest of Saturday we just walked around and didn't do much. We had heard about this water and light show they do on Fri and Sat nights at this huge fountain, so we took the subway there to catch the 830 show. We saw the end of the 8 oclock show but for some reason they never played one at 830!! So virtually we went down there for nothing, but we still got to see a different part of the city and it was beautiful at night.

Sunday we didn't really have anything planned since there is not many sites to see in Barcelona, but I had to go to an art museum from my modern art class so I got up early and went to the Joan Miro museum. I am writing my semester paper for art on him and I got some good notes and saw some of his best works. The museum was on top of a huge hill so the view from the top was incredible.. Mountains, beach, housetops, blue sky! (Again I don't have pictures yet because I'm on a public computer again but I will put all the albums up when I get home (ha when I say home I mean Salzburg) and post the link) so we went to the beach again on Sunday for a couple hours and like I said didnt really have anything planned so we just walked a lot and went on the famous street las ramblas (sp?) where all the shops are and stuff.. There was many souviener shops and street preformers, therefore many tourists. I found a Dunkin Donuts on this street! I got an iced coffee and it was amazing :) We were leaving for the airport Sunday night to take an early flight out Monday morning to Rome, so we got our stuff at the hostel, said goodbye to the friends we had met, and headed to the airport. We were so burnt from the sun and tired from walking! We slept (or tried to sleep) there that night, with many other people who had an early flight. Needless to say we were so tired when we finally go to Rome but it was so worth it because Rome is amazing! I want to keep writing about it becuse Ive been here for 2 days already but I'll save it for next time!! And I'm missing you guys so so much! I didn't realize traveling could be this stressful and tiring.. I'm walking around every day in Rome seeing families together and it makes me wish my family could be here with me!! Hopefully someday we will be able to! Tomorrow afternoon it's off to Florence! Meeting 3 others from our group from Salzburg there and I can't wait to see them I've missed them so much already.. 5 weeks til I'm back in the good old US of A! Hope all is well, take care.

Sweden and Denmark

Greetings from Barcelona! Got here last night after 5 days in Sweden! Monday we went to a dinner party at Daniel's friends house which was really fun. I got to meet and talk to a lot of people who were so nice and they all spoke english since I was around to make me feel welcomed.. Their parties are much different than ours in the states that's for sure! Tuesday we travled to 2 cities, Lund and Malmo. Lund is a small mainly student city which basically shuts down during the summer because the population decreases so much without the students there. Daniel had studied there before he came to the states to study. Then we went to Malmo that same day which is one of Swedens bigger cities. We realized there was a profssional soccer game going on that night so we got tickets and went. It was the 100 year anniversary of this team being created so they gave us all these huge blue and white flags to wave and the fans were just crazy! Everyone was singing and chanting and the team ended up winning 3-0 so everyone was very happy.

Wednesday we went to Copenhagen, Denmark since it is so close to where he lives in Sweden. We took the ferry over which reminded me of how people take the ferry from the cape to the islands.. Copenhagen was awesome! it was bigger than I thought and very beautiful. We walked around the whole city and went to Nyhvn which is a famuos street on the harbor which has all these beautiful buildings all painted different colors. Then we went to see the palace where the King and Queen lives and we got a little surprise when we got there.. there was a parade going on with the Danish army in their big furry hats (think of the guards in London) they marched and played some cool music, we watched them for a while. Then we went and saw the famous statue of the little mermaid which is something Copenhagen is famous for. It was beautiful and we took a lot of pictures. Later we went to this Ice Bar which is all made of ice! Its owned by Absolute vodka and you pay money to get in and you get these huge jackets and gloves to keep you warm because the walls, charis, bar, and glasses are all made of ice.. it was quite the experience! we couldnt stay long obviously we were freezing!

Thursday we just stayed around Helsingborg, where Daniel lives and us and one of his friends went to the beach and this lighthouse.. it was so beautiful! I dont have any pictures right now because im using a piblic computer in my hostel so i cant post pictures until I get back to Salzburg next week.. But yeah then we made tacos that night and went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D.. which was awesome, I highly recommend it! So Friday morning I flew out of Copenhagen to Barcelona, which is where I am now! I just got back from a boat tour and laying on the beach for a couple hours! Will post more about Barcelona when I get to Italy.. leaving early Monday morning for Rome! Love and miss you all so much.. sorry about the pictures!!

Amsterdam

Hello all, I got to Sweden yesterday after 3 days in Amsterdam. 3 days was definitely more than enough, and we did all the tourist attractions. Thursday night we took the overnight train and arrived Friday morning around 10. We went to the Van Gough musuem which was packed with people. I had to go for my Art class but the boys joined me and actually really enjoyed it. The building as really cool, it was 4 floors of all Van Gough, even though some of his most famous paintings were not there. We spent a lot of time there and then just walked around the city and got realy lost because every street looked the same! Even with the map it was hard to find our way arond, since there are over 200 bridges over many canals and the buildings all look basically the same. But it got us to know the city, so we knew how to get around the next couple days.

Saturday we woke up early and went to see Anne Frank's house. We had to get there early because we heard if you go in the middle of the day the line takes hours to get through. We got there around 10am and only waited for about 20 minutes, but if we had gotten there any later we would have been in line forever, it wrapped the whole way around the corner and down the street. The house was where her and her family hid while the Nazis were taking all the Jews from the Netherlands to the concentration camps. 8 people lived in this tiny tiny space, and they couldnt open any windows or talk to loud. They lived like this for 2 years, and we found out and taken to the camps a couple months before the war was over. Anne was killed a month before her camp was liberated. Her father was the only one to survive and he's the one who found the diary and published it because it was her dream to publish a book when she got older. It was really sad seeing videos of her father and child hood friends talking about her and that whole time during the war. they had quotes on all the walls from her diary pertaining to different rooms in the house. I read the diary play when I was in 8th grade but never the actual book so thats on my to do list in May when I get home.. for only being 14 she was an amazing writer.

After Anne Frank's house we went on a canal boat ride, since again they have so many. There are actually more canals in Amsterdam than in Venice, which I did not know until I was reading up on it before I went. The canal ride was cool because it tied in History and the beauty of the city. We had tours planned for us by the school every trip we went on so it was nice we planned our own tour to get to know the city on our own. It would have been perfect if it was a sunnier out because it would go from sun to rain all day back and forth.. better than all rain I suppose! Saturday night we sat outside on a patio of a bar and just talked and watched the night life around us. It was definitely the biggest and most touristy city I had been to yet, and it was even a little scary at times, which is why I'm glad I had 3 boys with me!

Sunday 2 of my friends left for Paris so me and my friend that was left just walked around the city because it was such a nice day out. We walked for about 3 hours just taking random turns and streets, it was cool to be able to just wander and not have tours and things to do. Sunday afternoon I got myself to the Amsterdam airport by a train and took only an hour flight to Copenhagen. Got into Copenhagen around 7 and met Daniel, my friend I'm staying with that I met at college my freshman year while he was studying abroad. We couldn't stay and see Copenhagen because it was dark and too late, but we are going there on Wednesday for the day so I can see it. His house was only about an hour away from the aiport. So that's where I am now! We are going out tonight to his friends house for a dinner party because today they have their last test of college because they are graduating soon. Hopefully will update before I get to Barcelona or while I'm there.. This trip just keeps going by faster and faster... by the time this 2 week break and travel period is over I only have a month left in Europe.. Crazy! Love you all!












the red light district
pretty

the wooden shoe's Holland is famous for

Anne Frank's house

moveable bookcase where the family hid

swans everywhere!

I AMsterdam

Munich and Neuschwanstein Castle

It's been another great week! Tuesday instead of having my History class in the morning, my professor invited us to a lecture at this prestigious school held in the palace where some of the Sound of Music was filmed. There was a college from Miami who came to Salzburg for a week and listened to these lectures by many famous and prestigious professors and scholars, then at the end of the week had to do some kind of presentation. The lecture we heard was by Dr. Martin Luther King's granddaughter and she spoke about social entrepreneurship, which was interesting but since I am not in the business field is was a little out of touch for me. But many of the kids in my class are majoring in business or marketing so they got a lot out of it. We got to meet her and had some great discussions with her. She is in the McDonalds business and could tell you anything you'd ever want to know about McDonalds! We had coffee with the 100 students from Miami and their professors and they were all so impressed by us students from Salzburg College that they invited us back that night for a dinner in the palace. Of course we accepted! So 5 of us went back for dinner and interacted with the students and again had a great time. After that they invited us to this dance they put together, and it was all Salsa dancing! So I learned how to salsa a bit and we stayed for about an hour and even the guys had a great time! After that the 5 of us went to another Irish Pub called Shamrocks and sat around and had a beer and talked about the day we had and all the cool people we got to meet.

The rest of the week was a bit stressful with midterms and papers and such, but we got through it and on Friday we all left for Munich for a trip the school put together. Everyone had different museums they had to go to for certain classes, like I had to go to 2 art museums for my art class, but the marketing and PR classes had to go to this really cool BMW museum. (I wish I could have gone to that instead of art, but oh well) The first art museum was kind of boring, all the art seems to start blending together for me now since we've been required to go to so many museums on the same sort of topics. The second museum however was more modern, pop art and it had some cool exhibits I'll put some picture up of. Like one work looked like a medicine cabinet and inside it had 26,000 pills of all different kinds. They were all lined up strategically in order and the purpose behind it was that the artist was trying to show people that we are in such a "medication driven" society and we think these medications will help us prolong our life, yet if we took too many of them it could kill us. There were other cool works like a short film that we watched that made absolutely NO sense at the time, but now thinking about it it had some really deep meanings that make you think. After the museums I walked around Munich a bit, and went to some different parts of the city that I did not get to see last time I was there.

Friday night me, Katherine, Kim and Trevor took the train to a town called Fussen, which is where the famous Neuschwanstein castle is, which is the castle that they modeled the Cinderella Castle in Disney after. It was built by King Ludwig who was supposedly insane and spent all the towns people's money on multiple castles, some in which he never even got in live in because he died before they were finished being built. There were even some rumors that he was gay because he never took a wife and some of the designs and painting he had around his castles were very provocative. We stayed in a hostel Friday night and went to the castle Saturday morning, which it was a very good thing we went in the morning because there weren't as many tourists there as when we were leaving in the afternoon. We had to hike up the mountain about 45 minutes and it was definitely the most "touristy" place I have been to so far. We met many Americans and people from all over the world. There were a lot of Asian groups, all with their SARS masks on, which was absolutely ridiculous since they were in a place in the world were the air is probably the freshest, on the top of a MOUNTAIN in the ALPs! But hey, it was funny to see. We took a half hour tour of a part of the inside of the castle but we couldn't take any pictures and we didn't get to see too much, so we were a bit disappointed. But it was cool to say we've been there and we got a great day out in the fresh air and we had fun with our friends so the experience was definitely worth it!!! We came back to Salzburg last night, and I got a great night sleep and now I'm trying to get all my homework for this week AND the week after the break done so I don't have to do much HW while I'm traveling, or the night I get home. I leave on Thursday March 18th for Amsterdam, and come home from Venice April 5th, so I will be spending Easter in Venice with some of my friends! I love Easter at home and I will greatly miss spending it at Aunt T and Uncle Jeff's house with my family!! But I'll be there in spirit and I'll be thinking about you all!! I won't have much internet access during these 2 weeks but I will try to update at least once or twice so I don't have a 10 page post when I get home from it, because I'm sure I'll be seeing and doing so much!!! Hope all is well at home and I miss everyone so so much, and it made me sad to miss the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Albany with everyone!! But I'm almost at the half way point in my adventure and I'll be home before I even know it, it’s crazy!! Love and miss you, hope all is well at home..


Me, Trevor, Katherine at the castle
A different castle on the mountain

model of the castle
some scenery
hehe

me putting my foot in "the devil's footprint" in Munich
close up pills
pills further away.. there were more to the right

Another week has gone by! Didn't do much this week, its midterm time so everyone is stressing out and all we have been doing pretty much is studying and writing papers. My friend Katherine and I took a study break to try out a cofffee shop in town, because there are so many and we haven't been to one yet! We went to this place called the Afro Cafe.. it reminded me of the 70's.. all the bright colors and patterns, but it also had a spanish feel to it with flowers and other cool designs. There were a lot of people in there on a Thursday afternoon, meeting friends or getting a bite to eat. We are going to start trying out more coffee shops around the city since its the culture here to meet your friends and chat and have a coffee. It's also nice to have Katherine who is very much like me personality wise and I click with her well and we always have great conversations and have fun together.



Friday Kristen and I had a quiet night in, just watching movies and catching up on some sleep. Saturday we woke up to a SNOW STORM! which was very disouraging because it felt like Spring was right around the corner a couple days ago.. And since I was planning on going to a Salzburg Red Bulls Futbol match that afternoon I was not too happy about all the snow. I ended up going to the game which I'm glad I did! There weren't many people there but the crowd was still crazy. I can't imagine how that place is when it's packed.. It was freezing and we only made it half way through the second half because we could not feel our fingers and toes anymore!! We then met up with the group at O'Malley's, since it's been weeks since we've been there! It was a fun night and we met some kids studying abroad in Salzburg from southern Cali so it was cool to meet more Americans!


And today, Sunday, we slept in and had a family dinner with Sabine's brother and his girlfriend, and the whole family.. It reminded me of our Sunday dinner's at home :) We had roasted chicken and potatoes and Sabine made a delicious dessert with home made whipped cream! And today I'll be studying all day, I have my first mid-term tomorrow.. I have my whole 2 week break planned out.. I leave in 12 days I'm so excited! Here's where I'm going.. Amsterdam 2 1/2 days days, Copenhagen 1 day, Sweden 4 days, Barcelona 3 days, Rome 3 days, Florence 3 days (Maybe Pisa), Venice 2 days (Easter weekend) Then back to Salzburg on April 6th!! Going to be an amazing, but very tiring 2 weeks!! Love and Miss you all.. Only 2 months until I'm back in the Good ol' USA!!






They serve beer at McDonalds! and it's cheap!!
Alex, me, Trevor at the Red Bulls futbol game

Me and Katherine

Definitely not as big as Gillette Stadium where the Revs play!!

Mauthausen, Melk, Vienna

Well it's been a crazy week!! So much has happened and the trip to Vienna was so amazing this post might be long!! We left Friday at 8am, and stopped on the way to Vienna at the Mauthausen concentration/death camp. What a way to start off a trip.. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, I always said I wanted to visit a concentration camp since WWII and the Holocaust is my concentration in History. I still don't know how I feel about it to be honest. It was awful and sad and eye opening and I really can't explain it in words. I think it's something everyone someday should see because if they did then something like this would never ever happen again. Before we even did the tour I had an awful feeling about being there and was emotional from the start. I'll say this much, it was the first bad day I've had since I've been here. So we took the tour and saw the camp and saw the memorials put up by various countries which all meant something different since there were so many countries affected by this horrible tragedy. We saw the rock quarry where the prisoners had to work and the so called, "stairs of death" which went all the way up the mountain and workers had to carry hundred pound rocks on the backs and you can imagine how weak they were, if one guy fell, they were all going down.. And it happened a lot. Then we saw where they lived, and where they ate (if you can call it eating) etc.. Then it was time for the gas chambers. I almost couldn’t go inside. It was awful and sad and the statistics our tour guide told us just made people cry on the spot. Again, I couldn't explain the emotions I had. I guess it’s because there were no emotions, I just felt numb and couldn't think of anything else but "how the hell did this happen? Why did people let this go on as long as it did".. And things like that.. I'll put up some pictures but I don't think you guys want to look at them just as much as I don't so I won't put up a lot. I could write a book about what I saw and learned that day but I'll spare you all the more gruesome details.


From Mauthausen it was on to Melk, a small town outside of Vienna that has a famous monastery and palace. It was cool but I honestly was in such a bad mood from Mauthausen I didn't really care much about what I saw/ didn't want to be there so I can't tell you much about it. It would have been boring even if I was in a good mood..


Then we reached Vienna Friday night and had a small tour of the city and we just played some cards in the hostel and went to bed early because we were so tired from waking up so early and we had an early day the next day. Saturday we had a THREE HOUR walking tour of the city. Sounds bad, which is what we thought, but it was actually a lot of fun!! It was the first sunny/warm day we had and it was beautiful and everyone was in good spirits and we learned a lot and learned our way around the city. We did a tour of the Habsburg burial grounds which is where most of the family of the famous Empire of Austria the Habsburgs are buried. The Empire actually just ended when WWI had started. We walked around the Nacht Market for lunch which is very famous and because it was a Saturday, it was packed!!! You could buy fresh fruit and veggies, some I had never seen or heard of before. You could get Chinese food on the go or sit down for a classy/expensive meal (which I did not do). Then we sat in a park and ate lunch and basked in the sun.. Saturday night some of us went to what is called the "Bermuda Triangle" which is a couple streets full of bars and clubs. We went to the most famous club in Vienna, which was right on the river. It was the typical European club.. Nothing I'm used to at home. It was fun but not my style so I won't be going to many more of those.


Sunday morning I woke up and went to church early to see the Vienna Boys Choir sing! We waited in line for about an hour and were supposed to have standing room because we did not buy tickets however not all the seats were taken so we got one! It was nice to go to mass and see the famous choir sing.. They were so so so soooo adorable and absolutely amazing! I have a picture but I will also try to upload a video I took. Sunday we had a free day so me and my friend Katherine checked out some cafes because Vienna is known for their coffee culture where people spend hours talking or reading books. Sunday night we went and saw the movie, Valentine’s Day, because we could get it in English in Vienna since it was a bigger city than Salzburg. It was nice to enjoy an American movie, kinda felt like I was home for those 2 hours which was nice :)

Monday we had more tours and museums to visit.. Some were interesting and some were boring but we made it through all the walking and boring lectures. We went to the Imperial Palace of the Habsburg Empire and boy was it IMPRESSIVE! The grounds were huge and we only saw about 1/5 of the palace, if that.. But was amazing. The gardens were huge, and were still beautiful even though it would have been much more beautiful in the spring and summer. Then a couple of us went to a local amusement park that was mostly closed since nobody goes on a Monday in March.. But we did one ride and got to see the Ferris wheel that Vienna is famous for so it was cool. By Monday night we were all dead from the walking and late nights and not getting good nights of sleep in the hostel beds.. But it was my friend Lynlee's birthday so we all went to dinner at a place called the 12 Apostles, and ironically enough we had 12 people with us! We ate then went back out to the Bermuda Triangle for some bars so we had another fun night.

Tuesday we had one tour. The MOST BORING tour of my entire life. The guide could barely speak English and it was at the National Bank, so you can only imagine. Wasted hour of my life most definitely.. Then we had a couple more hours of free time in Vienna and we were back to Salzburg! We were all very happy to get "home sweet home" We went to bed very early and started classes again today. We have so many papers/projects due because of this trip and before we go on our 2 week break in a couple weeks. We are going to stay in Salzburg this weekend since we have traveled every weekend since we got here almost! We haven't done the "touristy" things around here yet, like visiting the Fortress and the Salt Mines and stuff.. And we need to study for Midterms and rest up. I hope I remembered everything and I hope it wasn't too long!! Miss and Love you all.. Happy Birthday Casey! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you girls..

Trying to be the Spice Girls..
Katherine and me at the palace

Kristen, Elizabeth, me, Lynlee, Kim, Katherine

one of the world's biggest coins. worth 100,000 Euros

Lynlee being sang to for her birthday..

Robert, me, Kim, Katherine

Ferris wheel

Me overlooking the palace

Basking in the sun!

Some of the girls

At the cafe.. best coffee I've ever had!

Vienna Boys Choir

Basking again..

Nacht Market

St. Stephens Cathedrial

The group :)

Concentration camp

Again