Salzburg

The hills were really alive with me in Salzburg when I yodeled at the top of the mountain! Haha!

Friday was very nice and relaxing at the park. I felt like I was really a city European reading on a bench in a park as old men played chess on the giant chess pieces!

Saturday, I met Jackie in Salzburg. We went straight to the four hour long Sound of Music tour! It was great. We saw where they got married, the lake the kids fall into, the houses used, the gazebo! They played the music on the bus, and I definitely sang along the whole time! The tour was great, but being the Sound of Music junkie that I am, I didn't really learn any new trivia. We walked around the Mirabell gardens where the do-re-mi scenes were filmed afterwards and got some great pictures! For dinner, we went to a beer garden place so Jackie could see the typical Austrian dinner. We met some funny Swedish boys there who asked if I was studying skiing in Innsbruck! Turns out, it is the start of the Salzburg festival, so tons of people dressed in the authentic dresses and lederhosen. They rode around a statue in the city on horses cracking whips! Too bad we had no idea what they were saying because everything was in German!

Sunday, we got an early start. We went to mass, and the music there was incredible! Leave it to Salzburg for music! It made the mass an hour and a half, but it was really neat. In Venice, there were not many people at church and they all walked in late, but here, we had to stand it was so full. But then again, we were the few people there in our age group! Then we went to Mozart's birthplace, the famous Hohensalzburg castle, the abbey, and Mozart's other house. The best part was that we received audio guides in English along with our tours, so I actually felt like I was learning! (Mama, don't be so surprised!)

Last night, I gave Jackie a small tour of the city so she can get around while I am in class. I am so glad she is here because now I can do all of the tourist attractions in Innsbruck, plus we have lots of fun together!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I saw the Harry Potter movie last week, and I also finished the seventh book on the train! Yahoo!

Jackie and I imitating, "Stop. Don't stop!"

Who knew the headquarters of Red Bull are right outside of Salzburg? No wonder they drink it like Coke here!

Beautiful lake that is so clean you can drink out of it! Too bad the picture isn't great because it was starting to rain.

Church where Maria and the Captain were married

Salzburg's finest apple streudel with ice cream and hot vanilla sauce! Only 10 calories!

In Mirabell Gardens, singing Do-Re-Mi!

The garden was gorgeous filled with colorful flowers! (Note to Hale girls, they were begonias!)

Can you tell that we really like the Sound of Music? I'm not even adding every picture! We also took pictures at the abbey, the bridge, the Untersberg Mountain, and the ivy tunnel!

Mozart's birthplace

Salzburg at night! The castle is up on the hill and there are markets all along the river.

Part of the festival

View of Salzburg from the castle

This is the executioner's house- notice it's location. At least they have lush green grass!

Mozart's house later in life. This one was a better museum!

Fourth Week

This week basically entailed me recovering from Rome and working on stuff for school. I had to do a history presentation for English, which was difficult knowing that I had to find research in limited computer time. Luckily, everything went well! I am just worried because I have a project due in a week and a half that is worth 25% of my grade and I have to be creative! Hopefully that will go well with my limited art resources here! Everyone is freaking out that we only have two weeks left because we have so much we want to do in Innsbruck, let alone prepare for finals. These next two weeks are going to be very busy but really fun!

Hannah and I out Tuesday night!

Casey and I are both Sigma Kappas, except she goes to UNO. We are making our motto, one heart, one way!

Yesterday, I went with a friend to the lake after class. The lake was pretty cold, so I didn't stay in very long, but it was an interesting sight. It is interesting that in town, everyone wears jeans and long sleeves with closed-toed shoes when it is hot outside, but at the lake, men wear speedos and many women are topless. Don't worry- I didn't take any pictures! There is a New Orleans festival all weekend long in Innsbruck, so we went to it last night. According to my friend who is from New Orleans, the food wasn't really Nawlans style, but it was fun to listen to the bands!

Today, I woke up and got breakfast at a little bakery! (I would feel horrible about everthing I have eaten here if I didn't walk everywhere!) I strolled around Innsbruck and did some souvenir shopping. It is just really nice to be in the city without everyone else and to enjoy it without going to class! This afternoon, I plan on reading Harry Potter (I'm borrowing it from a friend!) at the park!

Tomorrow morning I am leaving to go to Salzburg. I am meeting my big sister from Sigma Kappa, Jackie, there. She is finished with her study abroad program in Prague, so we will be in Salzburg for Saturday and Sunday and then she will stay with me in Innsbruck for two days! I am really excited to see her! I borrowed my friend's computer and dvd to watch the Sound of Music the other day, so I am uber excited about going on the Sound of Music tour! It is one of my top 5 movies!

The famous golden roof!

Here is the shirt I bought. It cracked me up!

Innsbruck has linen shops everyhwere!

These ornament eggs are popular too!

A garden I found on my walk

Roma

Rome

Rome was the city I wanted to see most and am SO glad I did! A total of six girls who went- Patti from Spring Hill, Elisabeth from University of Florida, Hannah from Trinity Univerity, Yvonne from University of New Orleans, and Carrie and I from UGA. Elisabeth was the planner, and I was the navigator!

Thursday, we left at 11:00 pm to take the overnight train. It was not the best experience because I was really paranoid about getting anything stolen, so I did not sleep that well. The train was an hour late getting into Rome, so we missed our tour at the Vatican. However, that was the end of the problems!

Friday, we dropped off our bags at the hotel and went straight to the Vatican. We toured the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, the tombs where the popes are buried, and we even climbed what felt like 2,000 narrow steps to the very top of St. Peter's. I loved the Vatican. It was really moving to see Pope John Paul II's tomb. A bunch of people were praying by it. That night we went and saw the Spanish steps and then the Trevi Fountain lit up!

Saturday, we used the Rick Steve's guide to Italy, and it was fantastic! On Friday, we bought a Roma pass, which was 20 euros and lets you use any public transportation as much as you want for three days and gets you into your first two museums for free and then at a discounted price after that. We used the Roma pass to bypass all the lines in the morning at the Colosseum. The Colossuem was so neat. It is crazy to think that it was built right after Jesus died. They even had artifacts in there that were from 400 b.c. Then, we walked around the Roman forum and saw where people still put flowers on Julius Caesar's grave. We saw where all of the emperors used to live and how much the columns have weathered over time. After walking through Capitoline Hill and Circus Maximus (where they held chariot races), we went to the Boca della Verita. This is what Audrey Hepburn does in Roman Holiday! The legend says that if you stick your hand in the mouth, it will be bitten off if you are a liar. Luckily, I still have two hands! From there, Rick recommended for students to eat at this restaurant near the Pantheon. It was fantastic! I had a great panini- mozarella, lettuce, tomato, and salami with probably the best fruit salad I've ever had! If you are a student or if you leave Rick Steve's book on the table, they will bring you out complimentary wine! Then, we went to the Pantheon, which was pretty interesting but not my favorite. It was really cool to see all of the marble and Raphael's tomb. Of course, by that time, I was definitely in need of gelato, so we found the best gelato place! For two euro, you get two whopping scoops. I went for mint and nutella! That evening, we followed Rick's night walking tour and saw lots of piazzas, the Spanish Steps, and Trevi Fountain again. It was cool to see The Column of Marcus Aurelius because of all of the carvings on it. I was also really excited to see the Four Rivers Founatin, but they are restoring it, so it had scaffolding around it.

Sunday, three of us went to mass at the Vatican. This was definitely my favorite thing in Rome because we got to have mass sitting down in St. Peter's! It was very touching seeing tons of altar boys, priests, seminarians, and cardinals! The only problem was that everthing was in Italian! I went with Patti who is Catholic and Hannah who is Methodist. I told Hannah to cross her arms and just receive a blessing, but then she saw me take the communion and so she put her hands out too. Turns out the priest gave her communion, and I turned around and told her it was better for her to eat it if she wasn't Catholic than to not eat it at all. I was a little worried the priest would pick up on it, and I didn't want a Vatican priest the priest to get mad at us! Anyways, I was a little jealous that she got to have her first communion at St. Peter's. Then, at the end of mass, the pope will sometimes give a blessing at noon. I went up to one of the guards and said "pope... blessing... noon?" To which he replied, "The pope is in South Tirol" (which is a part of Austria near Innsbruck). So I dumbly said with my Ammerican accent, "Oh man, That's where I'm from!" It was a day full of laughs! After that, we walked around Rome and stopped by markets and of course had more gelato! After rushing from ancient ruin to monument, it was nice to just relax and enjoy the city!

Last night, we got to the train station, and they came on and said that there were some strikes so we should check the status of our train. I found the platform and time where we were supposed to be, except the destination said Monaco. Now, I know my Grace Kelly, and I was sure that this was a country near France, not Innsbruck. Luckily, I found a worker who informed me that Monaco is Italin for Munich- who knew! Our night train back was much better- this time with two locks on the doors and better air conditioning! Even though it got in an hour late (never trust Italian trains- German ones are right on time but not those Italians), we still made it to class on time!

I LOVED Rome, but I am definitely to be back in Innsbruck. I am so tired from walking and sweating so much and also from constantly worrying about being pickpocketed. Even though I looked like a dork with my purse over my head, I did not care because I did not have anything stolen! What a relief! Thank you for all your prayers- they helped!

Tomorrow I'm doing laundry for the first time (isn't that amazing!) and hopefully I will have time to upload pictures! Sorry this one is so long- props to you if you read all of it! Missing everyone!

Also...

PLEASE do not tell me what happens in the seventh Harry Potter! I am pretty sure that I will be picking up an English copy here, and I doubt ya'll would tell me, but in case I don't get to it for awhile, I don't want to ruin it!

Third week

On Monday night, the school had a party for us at the Hofgarten, the outdoor beer garden. They fed us soup, potatoes, and of course schnitzel. Schnitzel is what is Austria is known for. Basically, it is just any type of meat breaded and fried. It is like Bubba's take on shrimp.

After being really sick of eating meat and potatoes or pasta everyday, I went with some friends to the grocery Tuesday night and just got yogurt and some snacks and ate by the river!

Wednesday, I went tobagoning- summer bobsledding! We went up ski lifts and then went down this mountain on what look like box cars. It was about a 10 minute ride the whole way down. The first time I was a little hesitant trusting how this little metal strip could keep my car from turning over, but by the second time, I never used the brake! We had an amazing time!

Other than that, this week had been annoying because we had midterms today. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights memorizing for art history and preparing for essay writing in English. I'm glad they are over!

I am really excited about going to Rome this weekend! However, I am also really nervous about getting something stolen or lost. Then, on top of that, I find out that there is a train strike in Italy! Ah! Luckily, we are taking an overnight train tonight (Thursday night) to Rome and one back Sunday night. The strike was supposed to end an hour before our train left to come home, but they just cancelled it! Now, that isn't to say that they won't decide to strike again. Please pray for me to be safe and let everything work out! If all else fails, maybe I will get to stay an extra day in Rome! What a rough life...

Pictures of Venice!

Venice

What a city! Thursday, we got in at dinner time and luckily had a direct train. Our hotel was right near the train station, which was really convenient, and the breakfast was great! I hung out with two girls- one of whom is a student worker, so I was invited to go out for a nice Italian dinner compliments of the program! I had tortellini, my favorite pasta!

Friday we started touring museums and churches at 8:45 am! We finished touring with my class around lunchtime. Then, my friend Tori and I decided to go all around the city. We got really lost, but it was so much fun! I had a poor map, so I would say, I think St. Mark's is in this direction, and then five minutes later, there we were! We went over the Rialto, the famous bridge and saw tons of churchs, including St. Mark's! The pigeons (aka sky rats to Amanda!) were all over the place, definitely grossing me out! The weather was very hot, so of couse I had to eat more gelato! At night, the program had a dinner for us at a restaurant. The food was not too great, but they kept bringing out bottles of wine for us- of course cheap ones. It was crazy!

Saturday we went to more churches and neat small ones all around the city. The artwork in them was incredible. The program gave us free passes to ride on the vaporettas, which are boats that function as the metro, so we rode over to Murano, an island where they make glass. That night we ate at a small restaurant around St. Mark's, and I ran into a friend from high school, Julia Shull! What a small world! She is studying abroad in Tuscany and decided to go to Venice for the weekend as well! That night, there was a huge festival to celebrate the ending of the plague. It is religious in that I think they have it because they prayed for the plague to end, but now I do not see how it is religious at all. There were people and boats everywhere! The waters were really crowded. After sitting on stone by the water for three hours (we weren't really prepared with lawn chairs being in another country and all), there were fireworks! I was really glad to see these since I missed the Fourth of July! The best part was that they played American music the whole time- songs from Grease, heard it through the grape vine, all of it!

On Sunday, I was exhausted after walking so much. I went to mass right down the street at this beautiful church. It was different- most people dressed casually in jeans, there was not any air conditioning, and it only lasted 40 minutes. It was neat to know exactly what they were saying, except everything was of course in Italian. We took the train home yesterday afternoon and had to figure out how to switch trains in Verona because the older trains just saying that they are going to Munich. You have to make sure that they are stopping in Innsbruck.

I loved Venice! It felt like I was walking around in a maze. The only gross part was that since there are not any trees, the dogs can use the bathroom anywhere they please. The food was pretty good. My new favorite sandwich is tomato and mozarella! I even had some amazing pesto sauce for dinner one night! Carb city! The streets were so quaint. The paint was coming off of all of the houses, but they were all so pretty with their rooftop gardens and window boxes! This was the coolest field trip I have ever taken!

Oh and to the Hale clan- I've taught everyone the initial game for train rides, which they all love! If only we could play the alphabet game, I would use Uncle Chris' sneaky "quick release" tactics!

Gondola rides here I come!

I leave for Venice this afternoon (Thursday) right after class and will be back Sunday night! Sorry in advance for not returning emails until Monday!

I have made plans for what is going to be the best weekend yet- Rome! I am going with a group of six girls next weekend! I am oh so excited!

Miss ya'll!

My first slide show!

I forgot!

I am always in a hurry writing these posts, so among my mispelling and repetition, I forgot to mention some things that happened! In Munich, I ate butterkooken (probably the wrong spelling!), a buttered pastry with almonds on top. Delish! I also found brochen, which is my parent's favorite bread from Germany. It was good, but I definitely liked the pastry better! The only frustrating thing I found when traveling was having to pay for water and to use the bathroom! How crazy!

I have also had some people ask me about my room and stuff, so I thought I should fill ya'll in! We are in a dorm that is occupied by students from the University of Innsbruck during the year. My roommate and I were randomly placed together, and it has really worked out! We have also become good friends with a bunch of people on our hall, especially the girls next door! We have twin beds, two bookcases, a closet that locks, two desks, and our own private bathroom! Maids come twice a week to change everthing too!

Yesterday was my rooommate's birthday, so we went out to dinner with a big group of people! I tried bratwurst again but this time did not like it! Luckily, my roommate's mom sent her a cake for her birthday, so we will get to eat that! As the Austrian woman at breakfast says, no one leaves Austria skinny! Today, I am going on a tour of the Swarovski museum!

The weather is nice right now after raining this morning. It is suppossed to clear up and get up to 90 degrees over the next few days. Venice will definitely be hot this weekend!

Oh and if ya'll have done any traveling around this area and know of a good hostel/cheap hotel or some church that you loved, let me know so I will be sure not to miss it!

Munich

Friday night, most of the program left for Munich, but some of us stayed to meet Austrian students since our TAs organized it. We met them at a restaurant that is kind of like the Sundial but not as big or expensive. It is a glass building that stands tall, so we could see all of Innsbruck! Afterwards, there were two free outdoor concerts in Innsbruck, so we went to those! It was fairly easy to commuicate with the students as with everyone here. Most young people speak English, and they want to practice it with us. Their English is definitely better than our German!

Saturday morning, I rode on the bus with my class to Munich. We went to an art museum, the Alte Pinakothek. It was really neat to see such famous paintings that used to hang in old German churches. My three girl friends and I put our stuff up at the hostel and then went on Mike's Bike Tour all around Munich. If you are ever in Munich, I highly reccommend this! It was a four hour tour and we stopped at the Chinese Towers Beer Garden for a while. That was really fun because they broadcasted the global warming concert from Sydney on a big screen. The food was incredible! While everyone else drank huge beers, I had amazing bratwurst, potatoes, and a coke! (Amanda, you would hav loved it!) That night we went to a classy techno club. It was really fun to see a bunch of Germans dance all night to techno, and we of course joined in!

The hostel was definitely not the Marriott, but it was definitely worth it to save money! We had to share the room with three other people. On Sunday, we walked all around Munich. I saw the Hofbrauhaus and my favorite thing was the English Garden. It is a HUGE park in Munich that has a stream going through it. I loved going around and walking into every church I saw. They are all gorgeous! Right as it started to rain, we got on the metro and made it to the train station. The two hour train ride home was nice and relaxing- much better than a car because you can walk around and read without getting sick! (We'll see if I still feel like this after long overnight trips!)

Munich was such a great trip! It was comforting to know that I could get around a foreign city successfully with having to find the metro and buildings! I was homesick before, but now that I am really busy, it is definitely better!

P.S. Thank ya'll for all the comments! It is so nice to hear from everyone!

First week

Sorry I am just now updating everyone. It is hard to find time to make it to the computer lab. Even though it is just across the bridge on campus, we cannot go at night, and this week we have had extended class days.

Tuesday night we had the Opening Ceremonies. An old Austrian band greeted us! Then, we went and sat for an hour as the president of the universities and programs talked about how great it is that we are uniting our countries. UGA's president Michael Adams was even there. We had a nice dinner after that and then everyone hung out at the Hofgarten afterwards, which is the main beer garden in Innsbruck.

On Wednesday, we started classes. I am taking two- art history and an English course. My art history is pretty interesting. The professor is this really old man who is very passionate about art. Every day he just puts up slides and discusses them as we take notes. It doesn't look like it will be that difficult! My English class is autobiographical narratives from an international perspective. There are only three other people in my class! As one of the boys asked our professor, "it is going to be really obvious if I don't do the reading then huh?" It is going to be a lot of reading (we have to read a whole book by Tuesday and write a paper for it by Wednesday!), but I think it will be very interesting. Yesterday, we had a guest lecture from a professor at the University of Innsbruck. It was unique to talk about World War II from his perspective as an Austrian. He informed us that Austria was even more anti-semitic than Germany.

It had been nice getting acquainted with the city. There are only 113,000 people who live here full time, so it is a nice size that we can walk everywhere. The only problem is that it has not stopped raining since we arrived, and it is unusually cold! No one really packed for warm weather, so everyone is wearing the same clothes over and over. It is in the 60s everyday, and it is supposed to rain all next week as well, except for Saturday and Sunday! The rain is making it frustrating because there are so many things we want to do outside like go up a gondala to see the top of the mountain, but we have to wait for a clear day. Also, now I understand what they mean about mountain weather. Out of no where, it will just start raining and then you walk a block, and there is not a drizzle!

Tonight we have a chance to meet with Austrian students and then tomorrow morning I have a field trip in Munich at an art museum. Basically everyone is going to Munich this weekend for my field trip or another one to Dachau, a concentration camp, so everyone decided to stay Saturday night. I will have my first hostel and train experience this weekend, so hopefully it all goes well!

I'm here!

So I just finished typing a post that took me forever because the keyboard is different, and then I accidentally closed out of it! Here we go again!

I made it over the ocean! The flight was not too terrible but we did taxi in Atlanta for an hour without any air conditioning! Once we flew in, we took a bus from Munich to Innsbruck, which was a little over two hours. Then, I met my roommate, who is a sophomore from UGA. She doesn't know anyone on the trip either, so we have been hanging out a lot. Last night we walked all through Old Town Innsbruck, which is really neat with a bunch of little shops and tiny streets. I thought cars would be too big to drive on them, but then I saw a mean taxi driver barging through!

Tonight is the opening ceremonies for the program. We have to dress up and go the the Innsbruck Congress Center. Classes start tomorrow, so today we went on a tour of the University. We also met some students from the University of New Orleans, who I think we will be hanging out with a lot! We went with them today and walked across the whole town to the mall to buy a fan.

At first, driving from Munich seemed just like America. It's the small things that make it different- like for instance the lady next to me at the computer lab brought her dog in with her and having no idea what you are ordering at restaurants! Everyone bikes here, so hopefully I can go rent a bike one day! The best part about everything is that when we walk out of our dorms and cross the river to go to class or basically anywhere else, we see the main view of Innsbruck (the one that is the header of my blog)!

I'm off to get ready for the ceremony! Maybe soon I'll see if I can load my pictures to this German computer, so ya'll can see my room and such! Missing all of you!

ah geez...

My father, the engineer, wants to make sure everyone understands that I have the time set for Austrian time. Therefore, when I posted Saturday night, it appeared as Sunday morning. For the record, I leave Sunday, July 1!

And I'm off!

My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon and gets into Munich at 7:30 am European time, which is 1:30 U.S. time. Ek! From Munich, we take a bus to Innsbruck. Please pray that everything goes smoothly because we all know that I do not do well when I don't get enough sleep! I'm getting excited!!