Okay, I've been keeping track of what Gert and I have been up to for the past two weeks in a journal so that when I had some legit Internet time, I could update. About 20 journal pages later, here I am at my host family's house, ready to begin. I might not get to pictures just yet, so be patient.
Now, take a deep breath, and off we go....
Our first full day in Vienna was indeed quite full. We woke up non-jet lagged around 7:30, rearing to go. So Megan showed us the ropes on the public transit system, one of my first train adventures after my high school trip to Chicago. So, we get on the 39A bus to Jägerstrasse, get off at Hieligenstadt metro station (U-bahnhof). Take the GREEN line to Hütteldorf. Megan had some day-passes for us to use, so that was really easy. We hopped off the train at the Opera house downtown and walked into the heart of Vienna--the pedestrian shopping mecha surrounding St. Stephens kirche. There, Megan left us with instructions on how to return on a little slip of paper and headed off to work.
It was really cold in Vienna, with plenty of cloud cover, so everything turned a little gray... except for the green roofs and golden gilt statues. We just followed them around town and got pleasantly sidetracked each time.
We just kept walking and wandering--it's a wonder that we didn't catch colds. But I'm glad that I brought a scarf, because EVERYONE was wearing one--men, women, hipsters, well-behaved Austrian dogs, etc etc etc
Eventually we ended up by the Klimt museum--the one with the golden cabbage on top. It looked like some sort of odd Egyptian shrine to the vegetable... We chose not to go in, even though Austrians seem to adore Klimt. His paintings are on everything.
So we stumbled upon the Hoburg--the main palace of the Coburgs, ruling family of Austria for over 500 years. Their palaces are now museums, but quite lovely ones, of course.
We walked around all of them--Maria Theresa's square, the Hoburg, te Lipizanner stables, and we ended up at the Sisi museum, centered around Empress Elizabeth, fondly called Sisi by the population. The museum is located in the former apartments of Sisi and her husband. We wandered through a maze of different plates and silverwear (and gold, and ivory).
But aparently poor Empress Sisi was under so much pressure at court that she soped by becoming obsessed zith her own beauty--becoming anorexic to keep her tiny waist. Her hairwas down to her ankles and was often the main focus of her portraits.
Somewhere in all this mess, Gert and I found our way to lunch at Café Central, supposedly the best café in Vienna. I had what had to be a bowl of the best soup in the world!!! Some kind of potato soup with mushrooms and bacon, I just couldn't eat enough. But Gert bought a cookbook in Vienna with the recipe in it, so hopefully I'll be able to make barrels of it.
Then we went to the Albertina museum, which had a pretty decent Impressionist exhibit.
We walked through Stadt park too, checking out some lovely gardens and bridges, along with some statues of famous composers and a little fountain with a "basilisk," which looked like a cross between a rooster and "Matthew's Dragon."
We ate dinner at a little apple and potato restaurant, and then decided it was high time to go home. Which was a bit tricky. We went the wrong way on the train, towards Hütteldorf, not Hieligenstadt. Two H words with lots of German behind them, right? Yeah, well, we had lost Megan's instructions somewhere along the way, so we got to Hütteldorf and nothing was familiar in the slightest. But, after a consoling call to Chris and Megan, we just hopped on the train again, rode it all the way back, problem solved. And we were back around 11 pm.
And that's about all I can stand of this French keyboard at the moment. It's even further from mine than the German one! Odd, no?
Well, now I've got laptops all over the place, so I should be updating ,ore quickly. Maybe with some photos soon?
A bientôt!
Claire
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Vienna and Durnstien and Salzburg, oh my! What, Munich too? When was my last update???
Oh goodness, so many many things have happened since I got to Vienna! Only five travel days have passed, and there are soooo many things I have not said! Please ignore all manners of crazy punctuation and grammatical errors here, as I am typing on a German keyboard in our Munich hotel, where the z key is a y and the y key is a z.
So, Tuesday we took the u-bahn through Vienna, getting downtown to explore EVERYTHING we could possiblz walk to- the cathedrals, the museums, the palaces, et c etc etc. Crazy, right? I thought so too, and so did my knees! Oh I was soooo sore the next day. But I had the most phenomenal soup at a little (but famous) cafe downtown. It had potatoes and bacon and mushrooms and fairy dust. I could have eaten a barrel of it. We went to the Hoburg palace, the Sisi museum, the Albertina, a wine festival, and everything else. It was pretty awesome.
Sadly, we got on the right train to get home, we just took it in the wrong direction. In our defense, both stations started with H and ended with a bunch of German (Hielegenstadt and Hutteldorf). Soooo, we just took it back in the other direction when we realized that we did not get on the train by a highway with a walkway over it. We got back to Megan's house around, oh, 11pm. Thanks for waiting up for us, Chris!
Wednesday we slowed down a little bit. We got up kinda late and took the train to Schonbrunn, the Coburg family's summer palace and home of Maria Theresa, mother to Marie Antoinette and over 11 children total. Oh my. It was pretty phenomenal, and I'll be sure to update with photos once I get stable internet access (Lyon?).
On Thursday, our last day in Vienna, we took the train out to a little town called Durnstien, where we climbed a mountain to see some castle ruins, touched the Danube river, and had some really good strudel. And I ordered it all in German!!! Yeah, pretty proud that I memorized 'zwei strudels und zwei kaffees, ein mit zukker und zahne, bitte. Danke.' Yeah, Mrs Weathers, you taught me well. Then we got back to Vienna and wandered around the old Jewish neighborhood--Leopoldplatz, or something similar. I really need to fact check this thing in the future. It was fun, but then afterwards we went out to the wine equivelent of a beer garden--the name of which I won't even attempt to butcher. And that was reallz good. According to Chris and Megan, the Austrians don't import a lot of wine because they drink it all! And after having some, I can understand why!
Friday we left Vienna for a day trip to Salzburg, where the Sound of Music was set. We wandered around for quite a while, checking out the chocolate shops and climbing another mountian to the rather large medieval castle on top. The slopes up to the castle were pretty steep, and my poor calves were crying out for mercy halfway up. I don't think I will ever complain about the stairclimber machine ever again!
So we left Salzburg around 5 pm for Munich, crossing over into our second, or third, country, depending on whether or not you count England. Once we got here and checked into our hotel (the Hotel Opera, where our room was quite small, but really beautiful), Gert and I vetured out on the town and wound up in a beer hall where I tried some different wursts and we both drank some beer! I had two!!!! Oh dear, my German is showing. 0,0
So today, we wandered around Munich, window shopping and soaking up the sunshine (which finally did appear). Now we're sitting in our hotel, waiting to get a taxi back to the Haupbahnhof (train station) to take the overnight to PARIS, where we'll be staying for four whole days!!!
Thanks for reading everybody (the three of you that are)!
A bientot!
Claire
So, Tuesday we took the u-bahn through Vienna, getting downtown to explore EVERYTHING we could possiblz walk to- the cathedrals, the museums, the palaces, et c etc etc. Crazy, right? I thought so too, and so did my knees! Oh I was soooo sore the next day. But I had the most phenomenal soup at a little (but famous) cafe downtown. It had potatoes and bacon and mushrooms and fairy dust. I could have eaten a barrel of it. We went to the Hoburg palace, the Sisi museum, the Albertina, a wine festival, and everything else. It was pretty awesome.
Sadly, we got on the right train to get home, we just took it in the wrong direction. In our defense, both stations started with H and ended with a bunch of German (Hielegenstadt and Hutteldorf). Soooo, we just took it back in the other direction when we realized that we did not get on the train by a highway with a walkway over it. We got back to Megan's house around, oh, 11pm. Thanks for waiting up for us, Chris!
Wednesday we slowed down a little bit. We got up kinda late and took the train to Schonbrunn, the Coburg family's summer palace and home of Maria Theresa, mother to Marie Antoinette and over 11 children total. Oh my. It was pretty phenomenal, and I'll be sure to update with photos once I get stable internet access (Lyon?).
On Thursday, our last day in Vienna, we took the train out to a little town called Durnstien, where we climbed a mountain to see some castle ruins, touched the Danube river, and had some really good strudel. And I ordered it all in German!!! Yeah, pretty proud that I memorized 'zwei strudels und zwei kaffees, ein mit zukker und zahne, bitte. Danke.' Yeah, Mrs Weathers, you taught me well. Then we got back to Vienna and wandered around the old Jewish neighborhood--Leopoldplatz, or something similar. I really need to fact check this thing in the future. It was fun, but then afterwards we went out to the wine equivelent of a beer garden--the name of which I won't even attempt to butcher. And that was reallz good. According to Chris and Megan, the Austrians don't import a lot of wine because they drink it all! And after having some, I can understand why!
Friday we left Vienna for a day trip to Salzburg, where the Sound of Music was set. We wandered around for quite a while, checking out the chocolate shops and climbing another mountian to the rather large medieval castle on top. The slopes up to the castle were pretty steep, and my poor calves were crying out for mercy halfway up. I don't think I will ever complain about the stairclimber machine ever again!
So we left Salzburg around 5 pm for Munich, crossing over into our second, or third, country, depending on whether or not you count England. Once we got here and checked into our hotel (the Hotel Opera, where our room was quite small, but really beautiful), Gert and I vetured out on the town and wound up in a beer hall where I tried some different wursts and we both drank some beer! I had two!!!! Oh dear, my German is showing. 0,0
So today, we wandered around Munich, window shopping and soaking up the sunshine (which finally did appear). Now we're sitting in our hotel, waiting to get a taxi back to the Haupbahnhof (train station) to take the overnight to PARIS, where we'll be staying for four whole days!!!
Thanks for reading everybody (the three of you that are)!
A bientot!
Claire
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Welkommen!
We made it to Austria!!!
Barely.
So Gretchen and I took off from St Louis on Sunday afternoon, after arriving obscenely early at the Airport... apparently no one flies out of Lambert on Sunday morning. We got to Dallas in plenty of time for our two hour layover. However, after wandering and waiting for a bit, we glanced up to see the screen.
Departs: 4:40. Now: 5:40.
A bit confusing, no? Did we miss it? No... Oh, of course, Heathrow airport in London is CLOSED due to volcanic ash from mount fkje;iruceniuij;lkjuye80m, or whatver. So Gert and I grabbed some rather yummy food from a Mexican restaurant (not Mexican food, though) and waited. So we eventually took off for our nine and a half hour flight from Dallas to London, situated in the middle row of the 747, not knowing if the airport would even be open when we landed in the morning.
I have now been thoroughly introduced to airplane food (seems an awful lot like college dorm food)and a lack of sleep (also a necessary college experience). A long list of terrible movies awaited me for the ride, such as "The Tooth Fairy" or "When in Rome." But I survived on two episodes of Bones and one of The Office. Most of the time, Gert and I were watching the little plane go by on the screen, inching painfully slowly toward London... and around London... and then to London again. We still don't know why we had to fly up to Nova Scotia to get to England, but I'm no pilot.
So we got to London with 40 minutes between flights, but since the airport had been closed (I saw no ash cloud.), we didn't know where to go. So Gert and I stood in opposite lines at Heathrow, trying to figure out what we should be doing, until a very nice gentleman who works there told Gert the gate number and said that we'd have to "beat feet" to make it there in time. I plan on using that phrase in the years to come. So I ran like crazy (Gert calls it the "OJ run") to the gate, displaying more athleticism than I've had in my entire life, actually making it across the terminal in less than 5 minutes.
Mad skills. We are signing up for the Amazing Race.
So we got on the plane, and a very nice gentleman passenger (all Brits are gentlemen. It must be the accent, but I felt like I was in a James Bond audition the entire time.) helped me with my coat and into my seat, which I eventually changed to be by a window (I saw France!). More airplane food, but accomapnied by some yummy tea, which was much better than the coffee on our trip over (that coffee couldn't be "caliente" if you put 30,000 volts through it!).
We got to Austria, couldn't understand a word (It's real now, isn't it?), and couldn't find our luggage. Apparently, we ran faster than it did at Heathrow, and it had to come over on the 2:30 flight and be delivered to us. Which is quite nice, actually.
Chris met us at the airport (cousin Chris, of Chris and Megan Bartholomew), and drove us through some very lovely industrial areas to get to their house in Vienna, which has an adorable spiral staircase and a labyrinth of a garage system.
So Gert and I went for a walk to stay awake, and everyone is wearing scarves, walking dogs, and speaking German. I feel so international! Like Gidget, but not. :)
Chris, Megan, and the kids took us to a little Italian restaurant not three steps from their front gate, where I had the most delicious gnocchi (with white asparagus) I've ever encountered, and some sparkling mineral water (which reminded me of ginger ale, without the sugar and the aftertaste). Little Michael was sure to inform me of what the menu said, and reminded me of my choice several times while we were ordering. He was very helpful, not to mention adorable.
So I stayed awake for about 30 hours in a row, and finally went to bed at bedtime in Vienna (after the boys, thank goodness. I'd never live it down.). Got up fairly early this morning, and I'm ready to explore downtown Vienna!
Be prepared for some pictures in the next couple days, because I've got 5 gigs of memory and two flash drives and I plan on filling them ALL!!!
Tschuess!
Barely.
So Gretchen and I took off from St Louis on Sunday afternoon, after arriving obscenely early at the Airport... apparently no one flies out of Lambert on Sunday morning. We got to Dallas in plenty of time for our two hour layover. However, after wandering and waiting for a bit, we glanced up to see the screen.
Departs: 4:40. Now: 5:40.
A bit confusing, no? Did we miss it? No... Oh, of course, Heathrow airport in London is CLOSED due to volcanic ash from mount fkje;iruceniuij;lkjuye80m, or whatver. So Gert and I grabbed some rather yummy food from a Mexican restaurant (not Mexican food, though) and waited. So we eventually took off for our nine and a half hour flight from Dallas to London, situated in the middle row of the 747, not knowing if the airport would even be open when we landed in the morning.
I have now been thoroughly introduced to airplane food (seems an awful lot like college dorm food)and a lack of sleep (also a necessary college experience). A long list of terrible movies awaited me for the ride, such as "The Tooth Fairy" or "When in Rome." But I survived on two episodes of Bones and one of The Office. Most of the time, Gert and I were watching the little plane go by on the screen, inching painfully slowly toward London... and around London... and then to London again. We still don't know why we had to fly up to Nova Scotia to get to England, but I'm no pilot.
So we got to London with 40 minutes between flights, but since the airport had been closed (I saw no ash cloud.), we didn't know where to go. So Gert and I stood in opposite lines at Heathrow, trying to figure out what we should be doing, until a very nice gentleman who works there told Gert the gate number and said that we'd have to "beat feet" to make it there in time. I plan on using that phrase in the years to come. So I ran like crazy (Gert calls it the "OJ run") to the gate, displaying more athleticism than I've had in my entire life, actually making it across the terminal in less than 5 minutes.
Mad skills. We are signing up for the Amazing Race.
So we got on the plane, and a very nice gentleman passenger (all Brits are gentlemen. It must be the accent, but I felt like I was in a James Bond audition the entire time.) helped me with my coat and into my seat, which I eventually changed to be by a window (I saw France!). More airplane food, but accomapnied by some yummy tea, which was much better than the coffee on our trip over (that coffee couldn't be "caliente" if you put 30,000 volts through it!).
We got to Austria, couldn't understand a word (It's real now, isn't it?), and couldn't find our luggage. Apparently, we ran faster than it did at Heathrow, and it had to come over on the 2:30 flight and be delivered to us. Which is quite nice, actually.
Chris met us at the airport (cousin Chris, of Chris and Megan Bartholomew), and drove us through some very lovely industrial areas to get to their house in Vienna, which has an adorable spiral staircase and a labyrinth of a garage system.
So Gert and I went for a walk to stay awake, and everyone is wearing scarves, walking dogs, and speaking German. I feel so international! Like Gidget, but not. :)
Chris, Megan, and the kids took us to a little Italian restaurant not three steps from their front gate, where I had the most delicious gnocchi (with white asparagus) I've ever encountered, and some sparkling mineral water (which reminded me of ginger ale, without the sugar and the aftertaste). Little Michael was sure to inform me of what the menu said, and reminded me of my choice several times while we were ordering. He was very helpful, not to mention adorable.
So I stayed awake for about 30 hours in a row, and finally went to bed at bedtime in Vienna (after the boys, thank goodness. I'd never live it down.). Got up fairly early this morning, and I'm ready to explore downtown Vienna!
Be prepared for some pictures in the next couple days, because I've got 5 gigs of memory and two flash drives and I plan on filling them ALL!!!
Tschuess!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Four days 'til takeoff
Bonjour!
So, I'm officially leaving the country on Sunday, and I won't be back for quite some time.
The last few weeks have been a flurry of frustration, stress, and excitement, as I've been balancing final projects and exams, work, and planning for France all at the same time. A little crazy, I know. However, now that I've only got one little final, one shift at work, and a little bit of packing left (do I take "Freakonomics" or "Sherlock Holmes"? Hmm), things are looking brighter, even if it's still pretty dismal looking outside. It's going to clear up on the weekend right? RIGHT? Oh, and if that Icelandic volcano decides to throw another party, I think I will cry.
So I'm starting to initiate my "lessen the jet lag" plan by waking up early and going to bed early. Like, obscenely early for a college student. So hopefully I won't feel ill when I'm trying to explore Mad King Ludwig's castle. Let's all cross our fingers for that.
If anyone is willing to share their jet lag prevention tips, please, PLEASE, shoot me an email/comment/something. I will be most grateful.
I'm also trying to cram in some of my favorite American things before I hop the pond so I'll actually feel alright about returning to America. I've been munching on some Hy-Vee chinese food and watching some good old American television (Sad face, I do believe I will miss the LOST finale.... oh well, hulu will still exist when I come back)... so I'm ready for some sophisticated French cuisine.
Speaking of which, for my "Consuming Culture" class in Lyon, my project will be to create a blog, in French, about my adventures, including photos, interviews, videos, etc etc. As I do realize that most of you do not speak French, I will definitely try to keep this blog updated, perhaps once every week or two, filling you in on my culinary adventures, especially what I'm writing about for class. I'll even try to post links to that week's blogs, so even if you can't read it, you can still look at the pictures.
Oh, and one more note, I will NOT be taking my cell phone or my laptop to France with me. Instead, I will be using Internet cafés, the computer lab at my school, and a pre-pay phone that I will get in Europe. So, email or facebook are probably the quickest ways to get ahold of me. Just giving the heads up.
À bientôt!
Claire
So, I'm officially leaving the country on Sunday, and I won't be back for quite some time.
The last few weeks have been a flurry of frustration, stress, and excitement, as I've been balancing final projects and exams, work, and planning for France all at the same time. A little crazy, I know. However, now that I've only got one little final, one shift at work, and a little bit of packing left (do I take "Freakonomics" or "Sherlock Holmes"? Hmm), things are looking brighter, even if it's still pretty dismal looking outside. It's going to clear up on the weekend right? RIGHT? Oh, and if that Icelandic volcano decides to throw another party, I think I will cry.
So I'm starting to initiate my "lessen the jet lag" plan by waking up early and going to bed early. Like, obscenely early for a college student. So hopefully I won't feel ill when I'm trying to explore Mad King Ludwig's castle. Let's all cross our fingers for that.
If anyone is willing to share their jet lag prevention tips, please, PLEASE, shoot me an email/comment/something. I will be most grateful.
I'm also trying to cram in some of my favorite American things before I hop the pond so I'll actually feel alright about returning to America. I've been munching on some Hy-Vee chinese food and watching some good old American television (Sad face, I do believe I will miss the LOST finale.... oh well, hulu will still exist when I come back)... so I'm ready for some sophisticated French cuisine.
Speaking of which, for my "Consuming Culture" class in Lyon, my project will be to create a blog, in French, about my adventures, including photos, interviews, videos, etc etc. As I do realize that most of you do not speak French, I will definitely try to keep this blog updated, perhaps once every week or two, filling you in on my culinary adventures, especially what I'm writing about for class. I'll even try to post links to that week's blogs, so even if you can't read it, you can still look at the pictures.
Oh, and one more note, I will NOT be taking my cell phone or my laptop to France with me. Instead, I will be using Internet cafés, the computer lab at my school, and a pre-pay phone that I will get in Europe. So, email or facebook are probably the quickest ways to get ahold of me. Just giving the heads up.
À bientôt!
Claire
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