The Break!!

It's called that because it eventually breaks you. I am sick right now, with a cold, and it's not that bad, but I'm leaving to go travelling again tomorrow. Bleeeeeeh. However, I did see some awesome places and have fun. Let's begin, shall we?

Thursday 14th 23:15- Forrest and I make our way to the train station. Dominique eventually meets us there as well. Forrest and I have an interesting time trying to see where the heck our train is leaving from. We get on a night train to Venice that actually stops in some other city before Venice and separates in half, and only half the train continues to Venice and the other half goes somewhere else. Hungary, I think. In any case, we three board a train, and meet our cabin-mates, two German ladies who are going to Venice to surprise a friend for her birthday. We put up our bed-things and I'm on the top. The two German ladies decide they're going to stay up and talk until about 3 in the morning, leaving the light on. I was a little annoyed. Eventually, however, they did go to sleep, and then the police came in to check our passports, and then the train people came in to check our ticket, and then it's 7:30 in the morning and time to face the day.

Friday 15th 08:30- Arrive in Venice! Huzzah! Next issue: finding our hotel. We have directions and a GPS. Do we find it? Nope. We finally enlisted the help of some guy off the street. We never would've found the hostel in any case, since the sign is in 12 point Times New Roman. Really sketchy-looking when we first walk in. We're not sure, but, well, we deal, and leave our stuff in a room and leave to wander around the city until we can check in.

We have lunch in some square cafe thing that's an Irish pub (they are everywhere), and Forrest and I realize that Spanish and Italian really don't help each other at all, because I try to order water, "tambien", which means too, and the waiter brings me a beer. I try to tell him I don't want beer and he starts yelling at me in Italian. Soooo I paid for a 5 euro beer I didn't drink. (It was really gross beer.)

In any case, we check into the hotel, and the rooms are actually quite nice, and not sketchy at all. Alex, the guy who owns the B&B, is so nice. We go wandering around Venice for the rest of that day.

Saturday 16th- We get up early and head to the train station, where we buy vapporetto passes, three day passes for 18 euro. I likes it. The vapporettos are easy and perfect. We go by vapporetto to San Marco, see the square, the Bascillica, and the Campanile (the belltower, the highest point in Venice). We head back to the hotel for some reason, and meet this awesome English (he makes a point of assuring us he is English, not British) dude named Nick. (He is now our friend on Facebook.) He was staying at the same hotel, and couldn't find it. We take him out with us, and help him get a vapporetto pass, and take him to San Marco, and then take him on our Night-Time Vaporetto Tour of Venice. It starts to rain. Boo. We tried to go to a nice restaurant, but it was overbooked, and so we ended up eating Chinese food instead. Haha.

Sunday 17th- More wandering around Venice in the rain. We went to the islands: Murano and Burano and then gave up because it was raining too grossly. I bought two presents for people, and then we split, and Forrest and Dom and I found the airport for Forrest and Dom and timed it and stuff. We had reservations that evening at the Nono Risotto, a fantastic Italian resturant, and I had really really really good pasta. Nom nom nom.

Monday 18th- Julia found us early in the morning. Boo early morning. We went to the graveyard island and I saw Stravinsky's grave and couldn't find Ezra Pound's grave. Ah, well. Then we went to the eastern part of the Island and wandered around in the green space and had really good pizza made in a stone oven for lunch, then returned to the hotel so Forrest could pack while we ladies went shopping. I bought a third gift. Forrest leaves. We get to bed early-ish, then get a call from Forrest, who's in the airport still, his flight cancelled because of riots in France and Spain. Ooooh, no. Poor guy. He spends the night in the airport.

Tuesday 19th-The four city day. Julia and I take a train from Venice to Milan, and find that Nick is on it too! Small world. The train station in Milan is fantastic in and of itself: mosaic floors, greek/roman statuary of the constellations everywhere, and a pigeon with a hurt foot. Poor little rat-with-wings. In any case, we three take the Metro to the Duomo, where we walk around for a bit. Nick leaves to catch his flight, and Julia and I find La Scala, and then catch a train to Bergamo, where our flight is leaving from. (If you're keeping score, today we went on: a vaporetto to the train station in Venice, a train to Milan, the Metro twice, another train to Bergamo, a bus to the airport in Bergamo, and then a plane to Ireland.) We land in Dublin! Huzzah! Land of the English-speakers. We find our hostel easily enough (luckily I'd thought to print out those directions, hmm, Miss-Oh-We-Don't-Need-Those?). Beeeeed.

Nick in front of the Duomo! It was so beautiful-- the Duomo. Very funny, peeps.
A better view of the cathedral.

I will sing here...one day... (La Scala!)

The double-layer train from Milan to Bergamo.

Wednesday 20th- Hi, Dublin! You are so fantastic! Lots of free stuff. We see some modern art in the exhibit hall in Parnell Square, the park there, statues on O'Connell Street, etc, etc, we take a free tour with Mark at New Europe (fantastic, absolutely amazing, I know so much Irish history now), and see the Charles Beatty Library. (Skip the Book of Kells and see the Beatty exhibit for free, and so much better than two damn pages.) We went around with this girl named Charlotte, from Melbourn, Australia. Fun. We split, and we were going to meet for dinner before a pub crawl, but Charlotte ditched us, so we had dinner, then pub crawl. No, we did not get shamefully drunk, but I did have a nice Blue Lagoon (it was blue! Blue!!!). Then we walked back in the chill to the hostel.

The river.

The Castle.


The Ha'penny Bridge.

Memorial of the Blight.

Thursday 21st- Late train to Limerick. Why did we go again? I have directions for the hotel, but they fizzle out, so we stopped in the Absolute hotel for directions, and we're walking along this sketchy stretch of road, so I finally ask an older couple out walking, and they fuss over us, and let us know that the hotel we were heading for is in the opposite direction and we were actually going out into open country, where there isn't anything. Sooo we got a taxi, and there is no way we could've walked to the hotel: it was through several roundabouts and stuff. Nooo.

Friday 22nd- We tried to take the bus to see the Castle in the morning; it never came. So we just laid in the room and watched TV. Then we went to Cork. Cork was awesome. We took the bus to the street right beside our hotel's, and found it pretty easily. Then we went out. Everything was closing, and it was only 5:30! So we went to one museum, and then found a Tesco's, bought some sandwich stuff, and spent the evening in the hotel room watching "Scrubs" and "Friends." No, I mean, we went out drinking and I got so drunk I had to be carried back to the room. Yes.

Saturday 23rd- We got up early and went walking to find the Gaol. It didn't open until later, so we walked around the University College of Cork campus-- beautiful, and saw an art exibit by students there. Modern art. Julia doesn't like art. Fie on her, I wanted to see it, and there was nothing else to do. Then we checked out of the hotel and caught a bus to Dublin. It took forever. I was really sick by this point, so it was terrible. We brought the rain from Cork, and it was terrible when we arrive in Dublin. We returned to the same hostel as before, went out and got some dinner, and hit the hay.

Sunday 24th- Going home day! Julia wanted to find a bookstore. None were open. She didn't want to go to any more museums, and there was nothing else to do, so we just went to the airport. There was a bookstore there, and she bought half the bookstore while I bought one: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was a great movie, and the book was fantastic as well. We flew into Memmingon, which is by Munich. We had to take yet another taxi from the airport to the train station, as the freaking bus wasn't coming for 2 hours-- which was ridiculous. We caught a train into Munich, and then from there into Salzburg. We met this grandma on the train to Salzburg, and we spoke with her in mostly-German for about 2 hours. It made my head hurt. Then we caught another taxi to the leherhaus because it was raining really hard and there were no buses running at 1 in the morning. Pooooop.

Monday 25th-Siiiiiick. Wash everything I own. Oh, look, it's snowing. Man, I don't want to go to Vienna tomorrow.

Tuesday 26th- Go to Vienna. Quick orientation walk that does nothing to help. Lot's o' meat for dinner, a ballet, "The Jewel of the New World." It was pretty awesome. Then, STARBUUUUUCKS!!! I got a Venti Mocha Frappachino, and it was a 9$ drink (after exchange rate), but I don't care. I needed my fix. Now I'm good.

Wednesday 27th- I think we went on a tour today. And the Noschmarkt. Naschmarkt? One of those. We decided to stay in tonight and watch "The Sword in the Stone" and part of "Robin Hood." The Disney versions. Haha, LAME.

Thursday 28th- Tour of the Operahouse! I sang in the audition room. It was echo-y. Then we went to the Austrian Nationalbank, where this dude put us all to sleep with this lecture, and then we took a tour of the museum there, and that was awesome. We also got books of all the other designs for the Euro. (Because they, of course, held a contest. Haha.) Then we went to the Documentation center of the Viennese Resistance. That was interesting. I recommend that. That evening, we saw "Rusalka." Yaaay!

Friday 29th- We went to Schonbrunn Palace and learned Sissy's secret (of how she was so skinny)-- she never ate food. Haha. Then we had free time for the whole rest of the day, so Memory and Melissa and I went back to the city center and had Sachertorte! It was okay; I mean, I wouldn't turn a slice of it down, but the cake part was just so-so, although the fudge-topping stuff was fantastic. Then we went to the train station and caught a (late, as in the train didn't arrive at the time it was supposed to) train back to Salzburg. Then I haunted my rooms for the rest of the time until now. It's NANOOOOO! So there's that. Now I've updated. The end.

ALSO

Meine Deutsch ist okay jetzt. Die Leute ich zu sprechen, sagen, "Oh, Ihr Deutsch ist sehr gut!" Und es ist nett dass ich spreche mit Leute. Auf Deutsch. Und dann, sage ich etwas dumm, und facepalm ich. (Hahaha.) Aber, jetzt ich weiss Vergangenheit und Future tenses, welche machen Gesprache spass. Huzzah! Wir werden unser test am Mittewoch haben, und die test werdet mündliche sein. Du glaubest ich bin bereit? Ich hasse adjective endings und Artikles sind noch terrible. Doch, ich glaude, werde ich gut machen. Ein bischen? Ich hoffe.

(Ich habe mit nur ein kleiner Hilfe von Google translate geschrieben, lol. Oder etwas.)

Finally Updating

Sorry for the long wait.

Rewind a long way back. The week starting with Monday the 2oth. Note to self (and all that I'm saying): stay away from Irish pubs. The bartenders are unnecessarily helpful. Tuesday was miserable because of the helpful Irishmen, and we went to Hellbrunn.

Hellbrunn is the summer palace of the Archbishops. It is awesome. We took a tour of the fountains, and let me just say that you should visit Hellbrunn on a nice day because you will get wet.

Case in point.

Awkward statue.

That weekend I did nothing, I think. I think I did nothing. I can't remember. Oh-- on Sunday I sang in High Mass at the Dom. We did the Mozart Credomesse. I'd never seen the music before. I got the music an hour before Mass, at which time I sight read through most of it once before heading to the choir loft in the rear of the cathedral, at which time I sight read through the entire thing a second time with orchestra.

Needless to say, all I was hoping for was to come in at the right time and be somewhere in the correct chord.

Also, I think that was the weekend of the Midterm. I worked for at least 12 hours on that thing. Got a B. Effing class.

The week of Monday the 27th. Umm. We went to this Agricultural School and talked with a class and toured the grounds. It was fantastic. Sara, a girl in our group, is interning there after the break. She was so excited, and I am excited for her. There were horses, and cows, and piggies, and ducks and geese and chickens and a Scene rooster (he wasn't emo, just Scene, according to Memory), and a dog that was rather mean to the animals but still adorable. We tried apple Schnapps (wheeeeeew was that strong) and I bought half a loaf of still-warm-from-the-oven bread for about 1,50. Nom nom nom.

That was the week of the Salzburg College 40 year reunion. On Thursday the 30th, there was a kick-off thing at the Augustinerbrau (the beer brewery of the monks), and I went and met with Laura McRainey (from my school) and won Mozartkugeln. Friday, there was a wonderful lunch at the College (I ate too much), after which was an address thing at the Residence by the Governor of Salzburg (the state, and she was awesome), and the founder of Salzburg College, and all these people. The Residence was beautiful.

The Gov.

This staircase just begged for picture-taking time. This is my Vogue pose.


Dominique being dramatic. Again. Haha.

Forrest's "Inception" pose. Although I still think he looks like an Undertaker.

Eventually, we dragged ourselves away from the Amazing Staircase of Wonders.

I was supposed to go out to the Salzkammargut (again) with the Alums, but I decided to sleep in instead.

This past week we went on Tuesday to the Freilichtmuseum. It is the Open Air Museum. They have all these old farm houses and gradens the way they would've been, and although the day started off rainy and gross, it wasn't too bad at the museum. There was a nice bus ride there, too.

House!

Hey, we have one of those!

Aaaaaaand we went on this train. Haha, so easily amused.

Memory and I went on Thursday to the public library and got library cards and books! I was so excited. I got the score for Berg's opera "Lulu" plus the DVD of it, and then the second Bridget Jones book and "The Eyre Affair" (in English!). I nearly died. I swear. The books are due today, but I don't think there's a drop-box, sooooo...

Friday we walked the Monk's Mountain. It's literally right behind the college. And it was awesome. I don't know how I missed this before. I'm walking up there like every day, I swear. Umm, pictures will be forthcoming.

Also that Friday, there was rehearsal for the concert we had last night. We sang Mozart's Messa in c with orchestra and 4 fantastic soloists. I almost cried when I heard the soprano because I was like "I'll never sound that goood waaaaaah." Amazing. Really. The chorus? Less than so. Singing melismas in a place as live as the Dom isn't very good. It's a mass of sound. Hi, Ligeti.

In any case, after rehearsal on Friday, Memory and I went to our newest favorite place, the Afro Cafe. I had orange iced tea, a wrap with tomatoes and feta and gruner salat and gurkins (which are cucumbers, not pickles, I learned), and then I had hot tea and we shared waffles for dessert. We wrote a haiku about Hitler's Harelip, which I will now give you:

"Hitler's Got a Harelip"

Hitler's dark harelip:

Dirty cockroach on a wall.

Would you like a drink?

Hahaha. What fun.

Saturday night (after the concert) Dominique, Forrest, and Julia (newly moved into the lehrerhaus) had a movie night. We watched "The Bourne Identity." It was a lot of fun. Especially with my commentary. Everyone's favorite line was: "That was evil......I like it." Hahaha.

Aaaaand today I am being lazy. "Doing homework." Bettina, my awesome amazing roommate, had to go home for her neice's church-thing-confirmation-majig. All alone. So I'm writing this. And another song. And "doing homework."

Coming up this week is the start of our independent travel period. I won't be posting my plans here because I don't want any crazy stalkers, but you will hear about it as I do it because I think I'm taking my laptop. I'm travelling for 4 days with Forrest and Dominique, and for 6 days with Julia. I'm seeing two countries (and at one point three cities on one day, haha), and I am so excited about it. Hopefully I'll get back to you before I return home for good, haha, at the rate I've been updating.

My Interesting Weekend

I know it's still Sonntag, aber I'm feeling blog-y. So there.

Friday we were supposed to go on a hike around the Wolfgangsee. I set my usual two alarms. I slept through both of them and woke up at 9, with the bus scheduled in 19 minutes to leave from Mirabelle, which is at least 25 minutes sprint from the Lehrerhaus. I called a friend who got Phoeobe on the line, and I apologized profusely. I got off the phone and cried for about twenty minutes, and then pulled myself together, determined to have a good day anyway. I ran some errends in the man city that morning (went to the bank, went to the Eurostore-- the dollar store, basically-- and bought some bus tickets). I returned to the Lehrerhaus for lunch, and then set off to find the correct bus to get to the Europark.

I found the Europark! I wasn't very impressed with the mall part of it, since I live five minutes from the Mall of Georgia in the States. I almost bought a nice knitted scarf in wool from Pimkie, or Pimplie, or whatever that store is, but I didn't after all. After I walked around the mall part, I went to IKEA!!!! Huzzah!



I really really really like this couch. Funny story: this is the picture I took the second time through the store because the first time, this lady happened to be sitting there, and she came up to me and was all like, "WHY DID YOU TAKE MY PICTURE, ERASE IT AT ONCE, BEEEOTCH!" and I was like, "Sorry, ya know, I just liked the couch and you just happened to be sitting there?"

This chair matches the sofa that will be sitting in my living room. And yes, it is as comfortable as it seems.

It's a moose. I thought it was so random and cute I had to take a picture of it.

After I'd walked through the store twice and bought tupperware (DISTANS, 2,48) and a cup-thing for my toothbrush (BEHALT, 0,49), it was only about three-thirty, which is really early for dinner, but I'd wanted to eat dinner at IKEA anyway, and so I bought spinach crepes, a cake thing that was deeeeelicious, and the soda fountain thing, which was 1,14 or something for unlimited refills. Needless to say, I sat there for about an hour, constantly refilling my drink.

You see the empty seat across from me? I was stuffing my face and this business-dude come up and asks, in German, if he can sit down. My mouth full, I motion with my fork, "Uuuh, okay, sure," and he leaves his briefcase and coat in the chair while he buys some coffee. Now, I'm not mean and creepy and going to take anyone's stuff or let anyone else steal it, so, whatever. But it seemed very strange to me. I mean, I wouldn't do that in the States. He returns with his coffee, drinks it, says, "Ciao," the only words other than asking if he could sit, and leaves.

Odd.

Saturday! I hadn't planned on hiking to the Ice Caves, but I thought since I'd missed the trip on Friday I should go. We met our guide, Alex, at the Bahnhoff at 8 that morning, and he led us onto the train. The ride was about an hour, and the mountains just got bigger and bigger.

We also got crazier and crazier, as Dominique demonstrates.

Once at the correct stop, we got off the train and found a little bus thing waiting to take us up the mountain a ways before the trail began.

And we got some great views, but these are nothing compared to what we saw later.

This is before we began hiking. I was happy. We were all happy.

Half an hour later, we were tired, but we saw these views.

Another hour went by, and we were getting done. It was cold on the mountain, and we could see our breath streaming white in the air as we gasped our exertion, and I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pushed up to my elbows.

However, we got views like this.

Me all bundled up to go into the Ice Caves!!


You weren't supposed to take pictures, not officially, but if you turned off your flash it was okay. I tried to hide my camera, but other people were taking pictures in full view of the tour guide. Who was really cute. This is the polar bear. Oder Eisbär!


And this was the Elephant, obviously.

Going down the mountain was so much easier than going up, although it was scarier, because there were rocks and gravel on the trail, and you'd slip and slide, and you were right on the edge of of the mountain, and so there was much imminent fear of death. Aside from all that, I was glad I went.

Heute (Sonntag): I was going to the Franciscan Church to hear something Mozart. However, when my alarm woke me up at 8:15 I wasn't ready to get up, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. I woke up later, and did absolutely nothing much for the entire rest of the day. (Except for now, of course, haha.) I went and sat outside on the patio of the Lehrerhaus, and read in the sunshine. I wanted to make something different, and I had sugar and milk and rice, so I made spartan rice pudding like such:


It is fantastic! How you do it: boil the beejesus out of some rice until it's cooked and all the water is gone. Add milk and sugar and a little bit of Nutella for depth, and then add more and more sugar. Cook the mess for about twenty minutes, making sure to stir from the bottom so that it won't congeal there. When you think it's about done, add a little more milk and sugar and one more little bit of Nutella, cook for a few more minutes, and then it's done.

I was very proud of myself. :)

Poem For UA

Why is a river needed? you ask.
Why do we need to eat? you might say.
Well, since this assignment is my task,
I will try to find a way.
The Salzach River, Two-hundred twenty-five kilometers long,
Beautiful, and clear, and clean,
The current is quite strong,
And all the plants it can make green.
The Celts, so very, very long ago,
Used it as their trading route.
The Romans followed too its flow,
Using it for long commutes.
White gold, they say, in longing tones, is salt.
It made the city rich.
It made the poor exalt.
It made the wealthy twitch.
Without the river, diverted through,
The dream of white gold would not come true.
Without its shining, flowing tides,
All thoughts of riches would only have dried.
Many animals live in there,
Unmolested by pollution.
In the 70s, it was almost despair,
But today, they have thankfully found a solution.
Flooding, however, can be quite a pain.
All the old buildings underwater—oh, no!
They built high walls the water to contain,
So now the waters aren’t quite such a blow.
Although water is quite dangerous,
It isn’t, in this case, all traitorous.
The Salzach River: flow ever, ever on,
Even after I have come and gone...


(I wrote it this way to disguise the fact that I really didn't know anything about the river. Mwahaha.)

The Views

From my bedroom window:

From my classroom window:

Yes. You should be jealous. It's okay. These feelings are natural.

Nuremberg Day Two (ish), and Salzburg Parts One and Two

The next morning we packed up all our stchuff and schlepped it to the bus and then had breakfast right off the main square in Nuremberg. We got extra money from the hostel because apparently the boys had found bedbugs in their beds! Uck. Luckily, none of the girls had any bedbugs.

After a nice large breakfast, we met our tourguide: Diane, who was scottish. Funny. She was fantastic and full of lots of great and interesting information, and told us all about the square, the church, the fountain (where we all turned the golden ring and made a wish), and then led us uuuup the hill to the castle. (I forgot my camera on the bus. Yes, you can kick me if you wish, but rest assured that I have kicked myself a lot already.)


The thing I remember the most about the castle was Diane's story about this knight, who was especially nasty. After the wars, knights had nothing to do except for steal, and this particular knight was sentenced to death. His last wish was to sit on his horse. So they brought his horse, and he's sitting on it, on the top of this mountain. There is a dry moat surrounding the castle, and it was at least thirty or forty feet down to the ground. Lore has it that this knight jumped his horse off the wall, down into the moat, and escaped. (He was later executed.) Diane said, "I don't know if this is true, but if you look right here, there's the imprint of a horseshoe on the wall." And there was, and I touched it! It kinda freaked me out. It was awesome, but I sort of suspect it was put there for the tourists. Too bad...

We saw this really odd statue of this misshapen rabbit, and it was all about how we need to keep a hold of the environment. We also learned a lot about the different types of building styles: classical, baroque, gothic, tudor. Tudor style is fairly popular in Nuremberg, and almost every house has a bay window (which started out as an area for a shrine, but then the rich people wanted to have one, so it developed into something just for appearance). The churches almost all have gothic spires on their towers (I think-- correct me if I'm wrong, since I can't go look at my pictures, sad day.), and the towers on the wall that surround the city are all round except for one.

I could go on and on about Nuremberg, but we didn't really spend much time there, and so I'll go back and write more on it later. I bought some lebkuchen in the markt before the church, and then we got on the bus and went to the old Nazi Party Rally Grounds, after passing quickly by the courthouse where they had the Trials (I did get pictures of that). The Nazi Party Grounds are a huge complex (4 kilometers square, with a lake and large zepplin field thing as well as the main building, which is based on the Roman Colleseum, and probably just as big).



The colleseum housed the documentation center which was a museum, and we went in and sat in this auditorium thing and had an introduction by this professor dude before we went on the audiotour. I'm sure he was very interesting, but he spoke softly, and his accent was thick, and it was all we could do not to fall asleep, so, sorry, I didn't catch much of his speech. My bad.

The audiotour was interesting, and rather long. I had to skip some stuff, otherwise I wouldn't've made it out on time. It follows Hitler from the first Pusch all the way until after the war. I couldn't even begin to tell you everything I learned. One thing I remember that was particularly interesting was the movie "Triumph of the Will", which Hitler himself named. It was a movie made during a Rally in Nuremberg, and follows Hitler around through all the speeches and specticles of that. It won first prizes at the Venice Film Festival in 193-, and it now banned today from having public showings of it. It's pretty powerful, and such a beautiful and interesting film about someone and something that turned out to be so awful.




After we made it out of the museum, a few of us had just enough time to walk around the lake to the Zepplinfeld, the Zepplin Field, where Hitler inspected troops and working men and spoke to the Hitler Youth. I stood in the exact spot where Hitler had. And the Zepplinfeld was huge! I just had to imagine it crowded with people, and it was really amazing to think of it. What a show.

Back on the bus, and we were headed, finally, to Salzburg! Huzzah! Our busdriver had a treat for us: we watched "The Sound of Music" to help pass the time! Since the trip was about 4 hours, it worked out perfectly since Phoebe would start pointing out mountains and interesting stuff half an hour before arrival in Salzburg. I watched and and took many pictures of the German countryside, with the Alps in the background. Phoebe laughed at us, but the scenery was so picturesque that I couldn't help but want to take pictures. My favorite was when I could catch a kirche against ein Berg, because of the juxtaposition.

Anyway, the Untersberg was hiding his face, so none of the German side, but I got some pictures today of the Austrian side.

We arrived at the Lehrerhaus around 6:30, after passing the house they used as the back of the von Trapp's house, and also a statue of Abe Lincoln riding a horse in the back of the Lehrerhaus-- very strange.

The Lehrerhaus is yellow, and is currently being used as a little bit of a hostel until Monday, and then is being renovated. On the second floor (third floor) is where we three are, Forrest, Allie, and I, and the single rooms are great: huge and the beds are comfortable and the showers are great, the internet is fast (although I've been spoiled by wireless at home all summer-- now I'm back on the wire, sigh), there's a small gym area downstairs in the basement as well as a pingpong table and the laundry rooms, they prefer to hangdry their clothes, there's a large backyard area (with the statue I mentioned) and a comfortable patio, the kitchen is great, and we get pots and pans and cutlery and dishes, as well as our own locked compartments for fridge and shelfspace, there's two common rooms on the first floor, one for non-smokers and another for smokers, there's a library with some English books in it, two practice rooms with pianos in the basement which are soundproof, and it's just going to be amazing. There is so much shelf- and closet space, and I can't wait until I get to move into the double, because I have no doubt it's going to be as awesomely arranged as the singles are.

Because shops close around 6 on Saturdays, Iris, Phoebe's friend, had bought each of us a small box of food to last through Sunday (because the shops don't open at all on Sunday). I got cereal, milk, lots of fruit, cheese, cheese spread, turkey, a loaf of bread, green tea and sugar (wahoo!), some "Knusper-" something or other (nibble bars!), OJ, and plus I still had some lebkuchen from Nuremberg, so I didn't have to buy anything at all yesterday evening or today.

I woke up this morning fairly late (10:45) and took an amazing shower (the water pressure is fantastic) and blowdried my hair before heading off with Forrest into the city. Allie was so excited she took off by herself. Forrest and I waited at the Lehrerhaus for a bit because Julia said she wanted to meet us there, but she never showed up, so we just went. (I later found out Julia had done stuff with her Frau instead. Good. Then we hadn't left her stranded.)

To get to school, we have to walk over a mountain. It's a small mountain, but it is a mountain nonetheless. Then you cross the street very carefully and go through a chilly tunnel, and appear on the other side by this fountain of horses, with horses painted all over the wall behind it. We took the wrong way, and went up this really touristy street (I had to give my map away later, and the ones I have now don't show it, but I will find out) and over to Franz-Josef Strasse, which runs right along the river, and we followed that until we found the college. There is an easier way to get there, though, and we will take that route tomorrow morning.

There at the college we actually found Allie, who was starved, and she went to lunch in an Irish pub right down from the college while Forrest and I headed back to the dorm-- Forrest was thirsty, and didn't feel like spending a lot for water. We checked our email, and then set out, this time from the back of the dorm, and we were going to walk basically around Salzburg, heading out a ways and then up to the Augistiner place, where they brew beer and there's a nice biergarten there. We somehow ended up walking off the map completely. Eventually we found our way, but it was interesting. We saw some pretty flowers, like this:

And this:

So it wasn't all bad. We also found some stuff that wasn't marked on the map, like this Gerburtshaus:

And this WWI/WWII memorial set randomly into the side of the mountain.

Anyway, we eventually made it back to the dorm, and I really have to do homework now. (Uuuuuugh...)

Munich Day Three (ish) and Nuremberg (also ish)

We got up early and stuck our luggage in the storage room, before taking the underground to der Olympiapark, where they held the 1972 olympics. The BMW plant is right beside it, and we went inside and took a tour of the plant. It was sooo awesome, and I really want a BMW now! You have a 1.5% chance of getting the same exact car as someone else, so basically you get a BMW that no one else in the world has. Awesome.

After that, we went up the big tower in the Park, and I took lots of cool city-scape pictures. We trekked back to Munchen center on the subway (European trains are awesome, btw). Dominque, Forrest, and I went back to der Viktualienmarkt wieder, and to the same bakery too, and I got ein kase-bretzel und ein schokolade-creme croissant for about 3 euros. (That's a cheese-covered pretezel and a chocolate-creme croissant for you non-German types.) Nom nom nom! Forrest then wished to visit the big Football Stadium for the Munich team, and so we took the subway all the way out to the stadium. We had some issues coming back (namely, we didn't plan enough time for the return trip, and we came out the wrong side of the Hauptbahnhoff, and we panicked) and were about 15 minutes late for the bus. :( I hate to be late. I was so tired, too, since we basically ran up all the stairs and across streets and down sidewalks and everything-- basically, we ran.

In any case, once on the road to Nuremberg, Phoebe called us up to recieve our rooming assignments. Allie, Forrest, and I got dorm rooms, and I'm very excited. For the first week we'll have to stay in single rooms because the dorms are being renovated, which suits me fine because it'll give me some time to get used to Salzburg and also get more German under my belt, so in case my roommate doesn't speak much English I won't be completely lost. So. Sehr gut fur mich.

Once in Nurembeg, we checked into our hostel (which is a little sketchier than the Wombat, but the internet is suuuuuper fast, so it evens out) and then hit the streets. I thought we'd go out together, but it ended up that just Julia and Sara and I went out for dinner. We wandered around for a bit, me trying stupidly to figure out the map the front desk had given us, before we ended up at a Mexican place. It was fantastic, believe it or not. The prices were a little expensive, but it was totally worth it since everything tasted very good and the portions were huuuuge. The restaurant was called Sausalitos (do you say it mexicanly? or germanly?) and I totally recommend it. I had the Sonora quesadilla (which is Blattspinat und kase-- spinach and cheese-- I didn't know what blattspinat was) and it came with a salat und Kartoffelecken (salad and potato wedges) and it was excellent.

Our waitress was very nice, too. She came up to our table and started jabbering away in German, and I caught the last word: "minuten." I figured she meant "are you ready to order, or do you need a moment?" so I answered, "um, minuten, bitte," and then she gave a little, "oh" and switched to perfect English. I swear she didn't even have a german accent at all. It was crazy. Another crazy thing that happened was, while we were on the subway earlier, just three of us, this German lady came up to us and started asking where a station was. I said, "Sorry, ich weiss nicht," and gave her my map of the underground. Very funny.

In any case, Julia and Sara and I walked around for about ten minutes after dinner, but we were tired by then, and it was about eight, so we came back to the hostel, and here we are. I need to take a shower, but I'm scared, because boys and girls are supposed to use it? And everyone else is being chicken, but it is not an option for me: I need to take a shower. So I guess I will.

Oh, one more thing: if I get back to Munchen, I want to go to the Biergarten in the middle of the big park by the old palace, the chinese tower one. We meant to go today, but obviously we ran out of time. Ah, well.

Munich Day Two

Life is so much better without jetlag. It is so much better without jetlag. I cannot reiterate it enough.

We woke up this morning about 7:15-- well, we'd been woken up a few times that night due to rowdy-ness-- but this is a hostel, and in Munchen. But we slept very well (went to bed at 8-- we were laaaaamoes). We got up, had breakfast, and then met our tourguide for the morning, Alle. She took us aaaaall over Munchen, and we saw der Alten Botanischen Garten (the old Botanical Gardens), the hotel where all the Middle Eastern royalty stay when they visit Munchen, she explained the Gates to us (the city middle used to be enclosed), the city hall where the glockenspiel plays every noon (which commemorates the story of King Wilhelm's marriage to Renata), St. Paul's Kirche, several different palaces, the old and new Palaces of Justice, the Parisian and English gardens (with the beergarten in the middle of it), the Operhaus (and the story of the water above the stage), etc. etc. We walked for three hours!

We had lunch in Viktualienmarkt, which is the huge market thing right off the main drag of Munchen. I had eine bretzel grosse und ein apfel I'd stolen from breakfast that morning. The pretzel was huuuuuuge! It was also delicious.

After lunch, we went to the Deutches Museum. It was actually interesting. Our tour guide, Bruno, was fantastic, and we saw old engines and turbines and the pendulum and the electricity show (I have some awesome video from that-- sehr laut!) and old airplanes and space stuff...The tour was almost three hours long. Our feet were killing us at this point; I hope Bruno didn't think he was boring us, the way we pounced on every opportunity to sit down. Ahh, it felt good to sit down!

Near the end of the tour, Phoebe skipped out, because we were supposed to find our way back to the hostel ourselves, in time for interviews which would decide where we stayed in Salzburg. A few of us had signed up for 16:00, and we were on our way out the door, Bruno still explaining stuff, at 15:40 because we didn't think to keep track of the time. We literally ran across the city, Allie being our wonderful navigator, and we still arrived about twenty minutes late. Things I Learned in Munchen Number 4: When you have to be somewhere, leave half an hour before you would usually leave, as it's farther than you think. In any case, Phoebe wasn't mad we were late. Had interviews, and then Julia and I went on an adventure to find a notebook. We didn't. Oh, well.

Back to the hostel, we sat around for a bit until we got too hungry to wait, and then we went to the pizza place right up the road. I had marghartia pizza, and water, and then we went to the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station) for some gelato (I had Schokolade-- nom nom! And the guy who served us was very nice, auch.). Then Memory and I went back to the hostel before 20:00 because we got a free drink in the hostel bar during happy hour. We both had rotwein, and met this guy named George who had actually mooched off our tour in the Deutches Museum earlier in the day. He was here on vacation because he'd come off a round-the-world work tour thing. We talked for a bit, and then I escaped and came up here to my room to write this. I am exhausted. Walking hurts!

We've got to be up early tomorrow: ready by 7:30-ish, ick. We're going to see this very famous car company, and then we're heading to Nuremberg. Tonight, I will organize my stuff, and then watch Pocahontas. As you can see, I'm really living it up in Munchen: watching a movie and organizing. Well, give me a few days. I lost the cap for my deodorant somehow. I can't wait to get to Salzburg, because I am so disorganized. I know, I know: "You're so disorganized anyway, Sarah!" There's disorganized, and then there's disorganized and living out of little bags. Difference? I think so.

Pictures not coming until Salzburg, as usual. I have some awesome video of the electricity show at the Deutches Museum. I can't wait to share it with you. Anyway, Guten Abend!

Hallo From Munich

But first, a backtrack to my Newark Travails:

"There is no free wi-fi in Newark, so I can’t get on the internet. Poop. I also cannot get my phone to work. I did the code the way the paper says, but it doesn’t work still. Oh, well. So, the parentals will not be getting a call from me, and I will not be posting this online for a little bit. I can do other stuff: like type this, and transfer some more music to my mp3 player, and maybe compose a little bit, though, and transfer some pictures I’ve already taken onto here, so it’s not a complete waste.

Just a little bit of one.

The flight here was uneventful, except for one thing: they fed us! Now, granted, it was a slice of dry turkey on a roll alongside a piece of what I think was meant to be lettuce, chips, and a mini candy-bar (I had a Twix), but it was unexpected. I had orange juice to drink-- gotta try to not get sick, breathing other people’s air for eight hours. So, mom, your sandwich is still uneaten. It won’t go to waste, but I wish I’d eaten it this morning for breakfast instead of that muffin.

I had a whole row of seats to myself. Fantastic! I doubt the Munich flight will allow me that pleasure, though. And I’ll have to buy some three-dollar headphones, as the jack is the stupid two-prong thing, and I refuse to spend eight hours without something to watch, or listen to. So, first expense, headphones.

I took some pictures on the plane, which I’m sure you can see. I took pictures of something I thought was New York, but is most certainly not; and I took pictures of the New York Skyline. You can sorta see it through the clouds and gross window. I also took a little bit of a nap. I tried not to, but I was soooo sleeeeeepy. I probably slept for about twenty minutes, and man, I get what my dad says about power naps. Unfortunately, I don’t want to be energized. I want to be exhausted, so I’ll sleep on the Munich plane. I don’t think I’ll have a problem, however.



ARG. I wish I could GET ON THE INTERNET. Grrr. Then I could call my parents. But, no, they want you to pay for it. Oooh, RUN, SKINNY GIRL, RUUUUUN. I love people watching in airports. She looked like a model, and she was sprinting. Huh.

So, ta for now. I will post this when I get the chance (probably once I’m in Munich, and then I will post another thing about that flight as well. Even though I’m sure no one really cares. But I am documenting, dang it! So deal.)."

Two things: one, how do you spell 'Newark'? Newark? Or Newerk? Who cares. Secondly, I didn't have to buy headphones for the second flight.

I walked nearly all the way to my gate, skipping only one section, and I saw this awesome Zimbabwean art. (See Facebook for additional images; this wi-fi is reeeeally slow.)

Flight to Munich. Very back row of steerage. Bleh. The bathrooms weren't there, luckily. but the flight attendents yammered on and on. I watched the remake of "The Karate Kid" (verdict? fantastic!), ate their "chicken teriyaki" (I think that was chicken, but it didn't look like it), and then dozed off for at most two hours, at least an hour. Not bad.

Note to people studying abroad: read what they send you. I had recieved an info email about my arrival in Munich, but only skimmed it. I got out of the gates, expecting to see someone holding a "Salzburg College" sign. I wandered around for an hour and a half, growing more and more upset, finally culminating at calling my parents back in the states, who were wonderful and didn't mind that I'd called at three in the morning their time. In any case, I eventually read the email info, and found where I was supposed to go. I met everyone, sweaty and red-faced, and, yeah, crying a little.

We went to the Hofbrauhaus for lunch, and I had the vegetalish (sp, I know) special, which was fried swiss cheese with accompanying cranberry sauce (made with real cranberries-- mm!) and a side salad. I also had my first german beer, and I ordered one with "lemonade", which I hadn't remembered was actually a sprite-like drink; so I had beer with sprite, and it wasn't too bad. I'm glad I started with that, since I wasn't sure I'd like the straight beer. As it was, it was very filling, and I only drank about a quarter of my glass, and ate hardly any of my delicious meal-- when I travel, I can't eat that much the first few days. So, it was a good experiment, and the Hafbrauhaus was great and our waiter was fantastic too. He allowed us to practice our German on him.

After lunch, we walked back to our hostel (the "Wombat Munich"-- I kid you not!) and got into our rooms, and then at 1600 we had an orientation meeting. I'll be taking Beginning German II, which suits me fine, since I can't remember any of my German. Sorry, Dr. McFry. Being around here, though, has allowed a bit to come back, and listening to my fellow students has really helped. I'll blog about them tomorrow. (I already have homework-- ugh.)

We went off on our own to find a grocery store (to many a "I wish there was Wal-Mart"), and we finally did, and I bought a full sized shampoo and conditioner for just under 5-euro. Not bad, I think, and the shampoo smells really nice.

I'm exhausted now. I walked all over Munich Airport (and the city center), and am now crashed out on a woven chair with a large comfy pillow behind my head. The lure of sleep is almost too much for me to handle. Let me do my German homework for tonight:

Ich bin jetzt in Deutchland. Ich esse zu Mittag im Haufbrauhaus. Ich mag Kasse. Das Internet ist langsam. Ich benutze Google Translate das zu schreiben. (At least I'm honest.) I don't know what to write. Give me a few days of German, and I think it will all return to me. Hopefully.

Einz

Here is my horoscope for tomorrow: "When was the last time you walked on the wild side? Make a date with destiny today."

And indeed I will.

One day left, folks.

Three Days-- Or is it Two? Zwei oder Drei

Packing issues. Ugh. I feel like I'm taking the bare minimum, and yet I still want and need to leave stuff here. Ich weiss nicht! Waaaah!

So. We've got the rest of today, and tomorrow, and Monday, and then I leavest upon Tuesday morning. Well, technically, Tuesday afternoon, since I leave at something like 12:23.

Whatever. Packing left me in a bad mood. Tonight, dinner at Cracker Barrel (my choice, because I feel like it), tomorrow, chicken on the grill and eaten on the deck. It's beautiful outside.

Getting Down to the Wire

Well, folks. Here we are. I have tonight, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and I leave Tuesday just past noon. Two legs: ATL to Newark, and then Newark to that beautiful city Munich. Well, I'm guessing it's beautiful. It'd better be, all the money I'm paying to get there. (I kid, I kid.)

I got a new pair of cute glasses today, although they're a slightly newer perscription and making me a little sick. I also took my cat Lucky to the vet; he wasn't so lucky and had a thorn stuck in his paw plus a broken toe and got himself gassed to sleep while they took an X-ray. Poor baby. He does look funny, trying to walk with one leg all bandaged up.

I still don't have a pair of flats. Whatev. I'm pretty okay about it. I'm ready to get this show on the road, and then at the same time I'm not. What shall I do? Have the time of my life?

Only thing to do.

Oh! My sister finally got engaged! Random, I know, but I am quite excited. Bridesmaid dress-ville, here I come.

16 Days and Counting!!

I got my Ugg knock-offs-- and they are so beautiful! I can even stuff my jeans inside them. Perfection. I've got two new bottles of Witch Hazel to take me with-- to clean my face with, ya know. Hairdryer, about ten scarves, six pairs of leggings/tights.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to do a preliminary packing-of-the-suitcase, just to see how I stand. I think I'm going to be following this list here, for the most part: http://voiceoftruth.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/basic-packing-list-for-study-abroad/. I may make a few changes, but I'm going to print it off right now so I can do some packing in the morning. I think, also, after the packing, I will move some of the huge plastic tubs that have taken up residence in my room down to the basement. Who knows? I may have something in them I need. No point in moving them and freaking out: "Where is [such-and-such]? I can't find it!!!"

Heading back up to school on Wednesday! Voice lesson with new teacher, help people move in, say goodbye. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nuxp8Rgryk

22 days and counting

I am counting. And how! Many things to do, including find a pair of boots (Ugg knock-offs), visit friends and say goodbye, clean room so parents don't go berserk after I leave when they're painting said room, finish up my last week of work (done this Saturday! No more employee discount. But I shall return at Christmastime), etc., etc.

Where does time go? Wasn't it only yesterday that it was May, and I was composing Zelda pieces for Billy Valentine? And I was bemoaning the fact that I had to wait for an entire summer before I absconded to Europe? And now I am rushing around to get the last few things, like more rechargable batteries, and worrying if my laptop will survive the flight in just a little sleeve, and worrying if my laptop will even fit into my carry-on bookbag. Also, will taking a lot of black clothes suffice? And: I am not studying German. At all. Oops.

Enough of this. I need to go fill Deborah, my car, with gas, and get a haircut. Perhaps get those batteries.

Flight, Rail, and Other Tickets

I.... BOUGHT MY AIRPLANE TICKET TODAY!

Well, my mom bought it, specifically.

There's no turning back now.

Also, I got my German placement test. Ugh-oh. I looked over it. I can guess at most of the stuff, but do I actually know any of it? Nope. I took a year of German, but it was pretty much a fail. Oh, well.

Hello! Guten Tag!

This will probably be my only post for a while. My other blog and I had a deep, heart-to-heart chat, and we decided that people tracking all over it in search for my Austrian adventures wasn't in its best interest (bad heart, you know), so I made another specifically for Austria. Brand-spanking-new, folks! (My other blog is sad, but I promised I would still visit from time to time, pick up laundry, take it out to dinner, that sort of thing.)

So, hello! Or, guten tag! I will be learning German. Bear with me. It'll be a bumpy ride, but I'm so glad you decided to tune in!