Visits!!!!

Well, I have been SUPER duper lucky and I have had two wonderful visits this week!!!

FIRST: My friend Kayla from camp!!!!!!! I have not seen Kayla in about 5 years, since our good ol' times at Gwynn Valley summer camp! Well, Kayla is backpacking around the world basically right now and she stopped through here!!!!!! It is super fun to see familiar people in Wien because it feels like you are at home, but your in a completely different country! It really is insane! We galavanted (did I spell that wrong?) around Wien yesterday and did super touristy things! Which is always awesome and I love doing with not only visitors but with myself! We ate sachertorte, and went to Schonbrunn and walked around, and even ate some yummy Austrian food!! Can you say NOM?! Kayla got sausage, with cheese in it...all wrapped in bacon, need I say more?

TODAY: My Grandparents came!!!!!!!!! I picked them up super early from the airport this morning and completely looked like a crazy person when I extended my arm all it could go and waved at them when they came through the gate. We got them checked in and walked around Wien! They were super tired so we did some sunbathing at cafes mostly...which is not considered lazy or anything by the people here, just a way of life! We also went to the Imperial Treasury! Which was super cool and I had not been in yet! Everything in there was amazing and beautiful and so pretty! I can't imagine how it could have been on people! And we ended the night at my favorite Italian restaurant in Wien. NOM! I'm so excited for them to be here!!! :)

Now for something completely different...

Well, this has nothing to do with Austria, but last night I saw the list of room draw numbers for the senior class of 2012 and I nearly vomited! It was the first time that I had seen seniors class of 2012 written out like that on something! Ugh! I am soooo not ready for that.....

Today I realized that I am slowly starting to like coffee...which is not really a good thing! Everyone always says that they started drinking coffee in college! Well, I am in my junior year and that has not happened yet! However, Wien is the coffee capital of the world! And coffee here is not a caffeine source like it is in the U.S., it is a culture and way of life! People sit in coffee houses, un-bothered, and drink their coffee and eat their cakes and other delicious foods! It is just so lovely! So, I am not too bothered by the fact that I am trying this way of life! Indulging in coffee culture...? I think yes

Dear Wien, I still love you

Perhaps time for a SUPER DUPER LONG UPDATE???

I think yes J

Getting back from the Alps just kept my week on a super high! The next evening I went to a REAL MASQUERADE BALL!!! It was quite possibly one of the coolest things that I have ever seen! This ball had more people my age, probably because it was put on by one of the organizations at the University. People were dressed to the nines once again, but this time with masks! It was like a strange scene right out of a movie! We got to see opening ceremonies this time, which was so awesome! The room was filled with debutants once again! Each of them carried a balloon that they had to dance with! And then they had ballerinas from the opera house come and dance! Which was really super cool! After the opening ceremonies we walked around the Palace…haha yes, it was in the palace again! The rooms were the same for the most part again, jazz, swing, current music, and then there was what I called the “frat party room” because I felt like I was in a frat party only filled with people in dresses and tuxes! My friends and I danced away and had a blast! One of the coolest things was they did this HUGE line dance type thing in the main ballroom at midnight, when the women took their masks off! The room was sooo full! It reminded me of contra or line dancing! There was a woman on the mic calling out steps to do with the music, and every once and a while, people would sing along because they all somehow knew the chant? It was like a pre-choreographed dance scene from a movie! People here sure do know how to dance! The ball was a huge success and it was especially fun because it was the last big ball of the season! The ball season ends on fat Tuesday night at midnight, so that everything stops on ash Wednesday!

Side note: Fat Tuesday is called Fashings here! I think that is how to spell it, but I’m not exactly sure…anyways, it is the equivalent of fat Tuesday! They sell Kraphens!!! NOM!!! Kraphens are apricot filled doughnuts! They love apricots here! Normally, I am not a fan of mixing any sort of fruit with dessert, but I have to say, these are super delicious! They also have them in chocolate and vanilla flavors! YUMMY!!! Have I said how much I love the food here? Because I seriously do! Mostly the dessert, but isn’t that the only food that matters? According to the fine way that I was raised the answer is yes!

GIANT Ice skating rink!!!!!!!!

In the winter, they set up a HUGE ice skating rink in front of the Rathaus, which is the city hall. I mean, this thing is seriously gigantic!! It has paths going along the side and everything and then 3 big rinks in the front! And not only are people here serious dancers, but you better not get in their way when they are skating either! They WILL take you out! The skating was so much fun! They played fun music and my friends and I all skated around and had a blast!! Afterwards we got nutella crepes NOM and I tried a Viennese dessert, dough noodle shaped things with poppy seeds! Strange it sounds, and stranger it looks! It kinda looks like chocolate, but also kinda like a weird bug that Darwin forgot to write about. Poppy seeds, like fruits, randomly show up in desserts and especially bread based pastries here! So you have to be careful! This was a strange dessert, but now I know what noodly covered poppy seeds taste like! Open eyes!

In that same week, MY PARENTS CAME!!!!!!!!! It was sooooo amazingly wonderful to see them!!! I was just so soo SOOO excited!!!! I brought them Kraphens when they got here, since they came on fat Tuesday! I met them in their hotel and it was just so great! We hung out there for a while and sat, and then left to walk around and go get dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant! It was so weird seeing them in my current “hometown!” The next day they walked around Vienna some while I was in class! We did so many great touristy things while they were here and ate some super great food!! We walked allll around Vienna! And even went to Shonbrunn at sunset, which was beautiful!!! Shonbrunn is this beautiful palace home with HUGE gardens!! It is so crazy how right now it is in the middle of the city, when before when it was built it was completely open area since it was away from the main city ring! It was soo great to see them! I know that I keep saying that, but it was really so much fun! My parents left on Friday morning and then I went to BUDAPEST!!!!

I went to Budapest with my two friends Kristen and Kaitlin! We went via train on Friday and got all checked in and everything and went to bed early so that we could really hit the sightseeing hard the next day! The next day we covered EVERYTHING! We went to the Buda side, or the older side, and saw everything over there! We saw the castle, the parks, and even went in an underground maze old wine cellar! It was all super fun! It was soooo freaking beautiful! Just so stunning! And we could not have wished for better weather either! It just added to the wonderfulness of it all!! We also went to the House of Terror on Saturday, which gave me a new perspective on war and post war life in Hungry. If it is one thing that I have realized while being in Europe, is that the way things were after the war here were so different. I mean, I know I should have realized that in my head before because obviously the American soldiers came home. But for the people here, they went home to more destruction, political feuds, dictators, protests, more war. It was just a completely different environment here that we never realize or learn about since we were on the other side of things. So that was something that challenged me while I was in Budapest. All in all, the weekend was perfect and wonderful in every way! We had a great time, ate some great food, and saw some amazing sights! Success I would say!!!

Other happens:

IT’S GELATO SEASON!!!!!! Ok, so maybe I’m not in Italy, but the gelato here is seriously AMAZING!!! I had had some in the winter from a popular place, but boy when this new place opened up for season (they are closed in the winter) it was HAPPY HAPPY DAYS!!!! I went on opening day, of course, do you know me? And it seriously changed my perception of frozen treats! Even my friends who have been to Italy say that it is seriously amazing and comparable to the Italian gelato they had! NOM NOM NOMMM!!!

It is also WARMING UP HERE!!!! Sort of…I mean, nothing really comparable to the southern spring like I am used to right about now, but it’s getting there! I’ve started to wear my chacos outside J J happy day! Even though it is still kinda in the 40s, but hey, it’s sunny! If the sun is out, I am going to wear chacos!

Last Monday I went to Shonbrunn and walked all the way up to the pavilion on top of the hill and had a picnic with myself and admired the beautiful view while basking in the sun! I even fell asleep for a little bit! I can’t wait to go back when everything has bloomed! That is also the place where they host the Easter markets!! Which are going to be wonderful I know!

Last Wednesday was a fun night! I was going to go to a jazz club with some friends, but we ended up riding the citybikes, which are bikes you can check out for an hour for free! Awesome!!, around the Prater amusement park! The Prater, which is also host the most intense club place I have been to in Vienna thus far, also houses the oldest fairest wheel in Europe!! The amusement park was everything that I expected a strange park to be! There were oddly themed rides, fun houses, and creepy statues of circus people! Fun times indeed! J I had not ridden a bike in so long that it was just so much fun to ride one!!

Well, I could go on and write more, but I think it might bed time! Today has been a super long day! I had 2 midterms! YUCK! Other happenings to write on:

-soccer game

-Aida

-St. Patrick’s Day

-Previously listed things I didn’t talk about…opps…

In other news: I GET TO SEE PEOPLE THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!! My friend Kayla from camp is coming ON WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have not seen her in 5 years!!! Should be awesome!! And my GRANDPARENTS are coming ON THURSDAY!!!! So much fun times!!! J

In other other news: I am so completely obsessed with Wien and living here and everything!! I just love love LOVE being here!! Still!!!

High on life from the ALPS!!!

HOKAY!

So, I realize that I need to post about lots more things! Mini list:

-Prague

-The best ballet EVER

-Seeing my Grandparents

-Berlin trip highlights (I know, super late!)

-my frustrations with public transportation

-Did I mention all the chocolate I'm eating?

-My education internship

-Other small tidbits here and there!

Well, for starters, I just got back from the ALPS! Yes, the Austrian alps! It was just as amazing as anything, actually, more amazing than anything that I could have ever compiled into my head! I have been really lucky and I have gotten to ski in some really amazing places in the U.S., but this was just absolutely phenomenal!!!

We got to the hostel at night on Friday and went straight to dinner! I had some delicious schnitzel, potatoes, and krapfen!!! Krapfen is a seasonal doughnut which is filled with, traditionally, apricot jam! Sounds gross, but super duper delicious!!! I roomed with my friends who went on the trip and we all got into out bunks in our 8 person room and were so excited for the next day!!! I have to be honest, when I saw the mountain lift the first time, it seemed small, and it was not what I was expecting. However, this was quickly fixed the next day!! We hung out in the gym at the hostel that night just playing around! There is another girl here who plays volleyball so we both got to play some, which was sooo amazing! I have missed playing so much and it was making me so happy to play! Even if we were playing with an indoor soccer ball!

Saturday we got up early and ate a super big breakfast to prepare us! We got on the mountain and I was super eager to start going!! We went down a couple of runs to get our ski legs back in order and then we wanted to head over to the other mountain where there were more intermediate runs and stuff!

We head over to the mountain, after getting lost on the bus route, and it was SO AMAZING!!!! Pictures or words could not describe the beauty that I was surrounded with. We literally were all stopped on the top of the mountain just looking around! It was by far one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen! We were blessed with gorgeous weather! Blue skies and not one single cloud! :) It was perfect! The whole rest of the afternoon was spent skiing down everything! I even did a black!!! (Which was the highest level!) And then a funny thing happened...so we had to catch a bus back to get back to the hostel. So we go down to get the bus and realize that there is no connecting bus to get us back to the hostel because that bus has already run its last run. And even though we could take the bus to the other mountain and ski over to our hostel, the lift would be closed....well, oh no! Long story short, we were dropped off at a post office in the town that our hostel was in. A 45 minute walk later, while wearing boots and carrying skis, we returned home! Despite the bad situation, I was in the best mood! That day put me on the most amazing natural high I have not experienced in a while! Granted, being in Austria is like a natural high, especially when I exit the subway station and the beautiful state opera house is there! But this was different! I'll explain more later. Dinner was great that night! More traditional Austrian food! Then I went in the sauna with some friends and sat in the pool and rested. Bed time came super early that night because we were zonked!

Today we got up super early again, packed, and ate and hoped on the bus to go straight over to the larger mountain (with the sick views!). We stayed there the rest of the day skiing and taking a glorious lunch break! We also took a break just to lay in the sun on the side of a run gazing at the view! Today the weather was so perfect!!! I was so sad to leave!! :(

This weekend was so great for so many reasons!! It was by far the craziest skiing experience I have ever had! Normally, I am a pretty timid skier, but for some reason this weekend, I was much more daring! I was daring to go fast, which is rarely the case, daring to ski down moguls, which is really rarely the case, and I had this thirst that I have never had before skiing! The whole weekend made me miss my dad so much! Who I luckily get to see, along with my mom, who I also miss very much, in 2 days!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) I associate skiing with my dad. It is something that the two of us can go and do and enjoy! It is something that I love doing with him, even if he leads me into a black covered in moguls on "accident." I wish that he could have been there with me because I know how much he would have enjoyed it! I also wish he could have seen this crazy daringness that was happening! I was on such a natural high this whole weekend! Even sitting here typing this, I a so happy, so content!!! This weekend was amazing! I cannot even stress it enough! I had the best time with everything! It was all so wonderful!!! The weather, the snow, the slopes, the VIEW, friends, laughing, and general good times! Everything about it was so great! So many times this semester have I thought to myself, "How is this real? How is this my life right now??" This weekend was one of those times! Tomorrow my unrealness will continue with a real masquerade ball!!!!!

I am so in love with life right now! And I will be so much more in love if it warms up soon!! :)