Day Trippers

On Thursday, Andreas and I didn't have any classes, so we decided to take a day trip and do some hiking and exploring. We traveled west about an hour to Puchberg am Schneeberg, home of lower Austria's highest peak, the Schneeberg. While we could have taken a rail car-this funny looking green thing with yellow spots (called the salamander for obvious reasons)-to the base of the peak, but we decided to take a slightly more leisurely route and instead followed the Puchberger Rundwanderweg, on the Romerweg through the Prater to the Sebastianwasserfall (Sebastian water fall), then to Maumauwiese, to Losenheim and on the "Lehrweg" in the Schneebergdorfl, through the Au and Knipflitz to Hengstberg and back to the town. This route was one of about 15 different "tours" that I received upon request from my German teacher. He is so incredibly helpful! We couldn't have asked for better weather, it was a gorgeous day. We woke up at about 5:30 AM in order to catch the 6:30 bus, and then the 7:30 train. We arrived in Puchberg about 8:30 AM, and stopped at the information desk before embarking on our journey. As instructed, we walked about an hour through town to reach the Rundwanderweg trail. The scenery was truly breathtaking, almost as if I had stepped out of reality and into a make believe fairytale land of cookie cutter houses, unbelievably bright flowers, and bright green grass (not to mention the castles!) We passed several fields of cattle, which were protected by electric fences (see picture of Andreas) Also, many of the cows actually had bells. We hiked for a short time before reaching the first waterfall, the Sebastian Waterfall and then the Sebastiane Hutte, where we stopped to have a quick snack. I brought fruit for snacks, and Andreas packed lunch. We continued on, and stopped for lunch at the Maumauwiese, which looked like a lake on the map but was actually only a restaurant. Andreas had made some yummy sandwiches and another "sandwich" consisting of white bread, honey, and cheese. An interesting combination, but man did it hit the spot! Too bad that the bees enjoyed it too....but luckily the food was all gone before the bees could snatch anything away. The lush greenery, the mossy rocks, the smokey mountains on the horizon, and the good company all contributed to a fabulous day in the woods. All of the trails were marked by bright paint marks-of primary colors only-on the trees of only primary colors. In order to make it back to Wiener Neustadt before nightfall, we tried our hand at the map reading skills once again on the way back down. We ended up having to ask some local Austrians for directions at one point, only to see a sign shortly afterward. Just when we were about to get worried about the possibility of having missed a turn, I heard the rumble of the salamander train and even caught a brief glimpse of the yellow and green vehicle in a blur as it whizzed down the mountain. After about six hours of hiking, it was a challenge to stay awake on the train ride back. While we were both extremely tired, it was a day well spent.

Vienna By Night

Vienna truly is an elegant city with so much historical background. Since we had only walked by the outside of the Vienna Operahouse during our day-time visit, it was time to experience Vienna at night. While it would have been amazing to attend Madame Butterfly, one of the most famous operas of all time, the only tickets available for the Saturday night cost around 200 Euros. However, the Neue Welt Des Ballett (which means New World of The Ballet) was playing on Friday night, and there were something like 150 tickets for 8 Euro remaining the day before. So, a large group of us got dressed up, left Wiener Neustadt directly after classes, and high tailed it to Vienna for the show. Even a couple of brave guys decided to go with us (Since it was a "New World" ballet, the music was more modern, and the dances were not as traditional). Walking into the Wiener Staatsoper was a truly breathtaking experience. The rich hues of golds, reds, and the elegent green velvent staircase leading up to the balcony seating coupled with the dim lighting all contributed to the grandness of the event and evening. Once we reached our seats, the view out across the audience was amazing as well. We were seated in the balcony, stage right. However, once the show started, we moved to the standing seating section which gave us a perfect view of the entire stage. I was expecting the show to last at least three hours, but it was surprisingly only two hours long. After the show, we decided to go to a cafe. The desserts in Europe will surely lead to my demise. Europeans sure know how to do dessert the right way! I ordered a Tiramisu flavored sundae which was amazing. The evening was so nice that we apparently did not want it to end...we did not arrive in Wiener Nuestadt until about 2 AM!

Vienna By Day

Since Vienna is only a hop, skip and a jump away from Wiener Neustadt, it only makes sense to travel to the city as often as I can. Last Thursday, Nicole, Olivia and I traveled to Vienna for the day. We stopped and got a coffee first of all, and then made our way towards the Museum Quarter. On the way, we took in the majestic sights of the Belvedere Palace, a baroque style palace built in the early 1700s. We also walked through the Burggarten near the Hofburg Palace and took in the sights and sounds that a summer day in Vienna could offer. There were lovers lounging in the park, locals walking their dogs, and artists deep in thought, contemplating the next stroke of their brush. I could not imagine the beautiful weather. Some day I want to just bring a book and nothing else, come to the Burggarten park, and lounge on the sloping terrace all afternoon wrapped up in the comforts of a story. Hopefully the weather will remain nice for awhile so I will be able to do just that. We ended the perfect afternoon with ice cream from Aida, the McDonald's of Viennese desserts. I can't wait to go back!

Roomies!

I somehow knew that my roommate situation would work out for the best, and boy am I thankful! Justyna is from Katowice, a town just northwest of Krakow in Poland. I couldn't have asked for a better roommate. She is extremely outgoing and has this fabulous sense of humor that you have to witness to understand. Our personalities are similar in the manner that we both take school seriously, but want to have fun at the same time. She has expressed her love of shopping, so I'm excited to go shopping in Vienna with her sometime. She loves to cook, and has offered me some traditional polish dishes on several occasions, such as breaded pork cutlets that her mother sent with her. She is a great friend, even when she acts like a mother. There are also two other Polish girls (Laura and Magda) from Krakow who I have gotten to know. One night they invited me to their room for Kisel, a popular polish dessert that reminded me of jello, but a thinner consistency. They also served tea with a kind of berry syrup poured into it, which was truly delicious. The two together (along with cookies) made for an extremely sweet meal. Just this past weekend, the girls got together to host a polish party. They made Pierogi, one of the most famous polish entrees. Pierogi consists of boiled dumplings with various ingredients. Not only did they provide us with some food, but also some drinks. Let's just say that the polish vodka helped me along on my quest to find my "tipping point," although I have yet to reach it. Justyna also enjoys traveling, so we are in the process of planning several trips. Right now, Budapest, Munich & Florence are at the top of the list. Hopefully everything will fall into place!

Roundtrip of Austria

For our first organized group trip, we took a "round trip of Austria" and traveled to Innsbruck, Salzburg, and Hallstadt. We traveled on a tour bus, and stopped halfway to Innsbruck in a small cafeteria where I proceeded to buy a famous Austrian dessert, sacher torte (a rich chocolate cake) and arrived in Innsbruck in the late afternoon. We checked into our hostel (my first hostel ever!) before going out on the town. We mainly meandered around the streets, checking out the shops and just exploring the town in general. A large group of us stopped for pizza, and I ordered my first beer, a rattler (which isn't even a full beer: it's only 50% alcohol & 50% lemonade!) The next day we had a bus tour of Innsbruck and then walked around the town a bit more before heading to Salzburg. In Salzburg, we arrived quite late in the afternoon and just had time for a walking tour of the city before going back to check into our hostels. It is truly amazing to be in such an old city, known for it's Old Town and baroque architecture. We walked through St. Peter's cemetary and the city stage where scenes from The Sound of Music were filmed. I also got a scoop of ice cream inside Mozart's birthplace. Random fact (and probably all that I retained from the historical tour, since I'm so terrible with dates & names): there are more sales from Mozart signature chocolates than from his music! Pretty sad, but unfortunately true! The Salzburg Cathedral, the site of Mozart's baptism, was truly breathtaking. I could not help but gawk and stand in awe at the height of the ceilings and the intricate depictions of biblical scenes intricately displayed across the ceiling and walls. There simply are not words to describe the beauty of such a sacred place. After checking into the hostels, we went back into the city for an authentic German meal of wiener schnitzel, which is fried and breaded pork. It is great with lemon and (after taking the suggestion of a Hungarian friend) dipped in jam. After dinner, we took a leisurely moonlight stroll along the Salzach River before heading back to the hostel. The next day we traveled to Hallstadt, an adorable little market town. We took a tour through the Hallstadt mines, the oldest mines in the world! There were a few lights, but I can't imagine what it must have been like to work in the mines back then. We had a nice little lunch before leaving (I ventured to try dumplings and sauerkraut: the meal was ok, there was meat inside the dumplings but the sauerkraut wasn't that tasty). After lunch, we boarded the bus and headed home. Most of us used this time to catch up on some much-needed sleep. Overall, the trip was great! Even sitting on the bus and looking at the beautiful Alps surrounding us was a wonderful experience.