American Mexican Food

Today was our last day of classes and my last actual classes as an undergrad! I have a German final tomorrow and then my WWII history final on Thursday. Its so sad that everything is ending, but I think that I’m ready to come home! There is so much that I am going to miss about Innsbruck and Europe in general!

I was trying to talk Don into bringing Dooley to the airport when they come to pick me up thinking that it would just be perfectly okay to bring a dog into the airport because people take their dogs EVERYWHERE here. Literally everywhere… inside restaurants, shopping (like in the store). But they are all so well behaved I really don’t think much of it! As if I don’t already want to take Doo everywhere!

Everyone has been compiling their lists of what they are going to do when they get home so here is mine!

• Eat REAL American Mexican food!
• Steal a kiss
• Cuddle with Doo
  
• Take a long bath
• Get a pedicure and get my eyebrows waxed (out of control!!)
• Steak Saturdays
• Watch/Go to a Braves game
• Watch ESPN, HGTV, and TLC for HOURS
• Post pictures

Schloss Ambrass

Yesterday I went with the Modern Military History class, which is taught by my WWII history professor, up to the castle. We got to see the armoury and the Spanish hall which was beautiful! Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go in the residence, but it was really cool from the outside! There were peacocks just walking around the gardens!

The coolest thing I think I learned about was ambras syndrome. The Hapsburgs like to collect unique, curious things and in their collection there were three portraits of Pedro Gonzalez and his two daughters who suffered from it. It is a genetic mutation that makes a persons whole body be covered with hair. Its crazy! Wikipedia will tell you more, but for some reason I just thought that it was really interesting! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalized_congenital_hypertrichosis

3-2-1 Canyoning!

Finally—a relaxing weekend! At the last minute I decided that I would go to Interlaken, Switzerland this weekend. Best decision of my life! It was absolutely gorgeous and not too far away! I had my first experience staying at a hostel, but luckily Funny Farm is one of the most famous hostels in the world. There was an amazing pool with a RIDICULOUS ramp/slide. I did not try it but some people were really good at it! We got there Thursday night and just walked around the town a bit. It was much smaller than I envisioned but it was incredibly picturesque. It was similar to Innsbruck in many ways, but I felt like we were more out in the country. Everything smelled so clean and fresh, and there were flowers everywhere!

Since I decided to go last minute I didn’t book my room with the girls I have been travelling with, so I just booked the all female dorm room which had 6 beds in it. The first night my only room companion was a really sweet Japanese girl named Kanako. Before I knew her name, we were talking about how I was friends with a girl from Japan in high school and that her name was Kanako. Without missing a beat Roomie Kanako goes...(and you have to read this with an Asian accent) ‘How you know my name?’ It was so funny! We talked for a while, and it was awesome getting to meet her!

Friday we spent by laying by the pool literally all day. It was perfect! Very restful, and I got a little sun! For lunch that day we went to this really cool local restaurant called Utopia that had amazing, healthy, fresh wraps and delicious fruit smoothies. What made my advocado, brie, and sundried tomato wrap even better was that the huge flat screen TV was on ESPN America and there was a baseball game on. It wasn't the Braves but beggers can't be choosers!

Saturday was my friend Abby’s 21st birthday so we decided to start the day right by going canyoning. For those of y’all that don’t know. Canyoning is when you go temporarily insane and think that you WANT to repel down 200 ft cliffs, jump off of waterfalls, do zip lines where you have to let go at just the right moment so that you don’t fall on the rocks, and slide down rock faces into the glacier water below which may or may not be more than 5 feet deep. It was terrifying but one of the coolest things I have ever done! Afterwards, after a hot shower, I took a nap. After that nap we got dressed up and went to Hooters for Abby’s birthday. It was my first time at Hooters, and I have to say I was less than impressed. My ‘hot’ wings were not that spicy and not that good. Boys… your cover is blown! After Hooters we went to our friends hotel and hung out at the bar there. They had made friends with the bartender who has won tons of awards for her creative cocktails and since Abby is a cocktail girl it was perfect! Our friend Jack, who has been to bartending school, even created his own drink that was so good it is going to be the drink of the month in October! It was a really fun night!!

Sunday we slept in and then headed back to the pool! We finally had to leave to come back to school; however, I was very tempted to drop out and just stay there for the next week.

Medieval Feast and Salzburg

Last Tuesday one of our friend’s classes was going to a medieval feast in Hall, so, thinking it was going to be like Medieval Times, a group of us tagged along. It was not like Medieval Times but it was lots of fun in other ways! The food was amazing and I was full for like 2 days afterwards. About half way through the meal the guy came in and picked Jack to be knighted. In order to be knighted he had to perform tasks such as chug a beer (success) and let out a terrifying war cry (moderately successful). He then had to pick a maiden and recite poetry to her. It was hilarious! Not going to lie… I think we all expected more from William Faulkner’s great-grandson. Just kidding!

The next day Berri, Abby, and I decided to take a day trip to Salzburg. When I came to Europe in 10th grade Salzburg is was made me fall in love with Austria and why I wanted to do my study abroad here. I was so excited about going back! It was just as beautiful as I remembered, maybe more. We saw the Mirabelle gardens, Mozart’s residence and birthplace, hiked up to the fortress, and did a bit of shopping. We had a nice little dinner in a shaded courtyard and then it was time to go home! It was perfect afternoon!

J'Adore Paris

Paris was AMAZING! Once again we had train difficulties, but this time it was definitely all my fault. I misread our ticket and instead of our train leaving at 6:20pm like I thought it was going to it left at 6:02. Yay dyslexia! UGH! It was awful.. And we realized this at like 6:05. I felt absolutely awful!! But thanks to some quick investigative work we realized that there was still a way for us to get there by like 8 the next morning. After sprinting to the next train that was leaving we began our journey to Paris which took us through Stutgartt (sp?), Plochigen (sp?), and Metz. Luckily we were able to get a couchette from Plochigen to Metz so we were able to get a little bit of sleep.

We made it to Paris at 7:48 that morning and after checking into the hotel and showering we were still able to make it to the bike tour on time! The bike tour was fun though we didn't see quite as much as I thought we were going to. It was really cool though because our tour guide was a 20 year old guy from Atlanta who was just living in Paris for the summer. How cool!

After the bike tour we went to the Louvre. We spent a good 5 hours there and still only saw 2 floors. It was HUGE!! It was so incredibly cool seeing all of the paintings I learned about in Art History!

As we were leaving the Louvre guess who I ran into! Chelsie!!!!! She and Austen were in Paris for the weekend also and apparently she had been trying to get in touch with me on the internet but I didn't have internet, only a phone, but she didn't have a phone. Apparently God really wanted us to get to see each other while we were in Europe! Paris is a GIGANTIC city and the Louvre is a HUGE museum.. What are the chances!?

After the Louvre, we got some coffee and sandwiches and we went and sat with our aching feet in the fountain beside the big glass pyramids. It was a truly amazing experience! After our relaxing dinner we went to the Arc de Triomphe. However to get there we first had to J-walk across the Champs Elysse. Another cool experience. Once there we couldn't resist climbing it and we got to see a beautiful sunset from atop the Arc de Triomphe! Next we headed to the Eiffel Tower where we got to watch the the twinkling light show and we of course had to climb it too!

I definitely need to go back to Paris with the boy. It is a very coupley city and I found myself being a bit bitter and missing the boy!

The next day we headed to Versailles. ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!! and GIGANTIC! We spent about 5 hours there also and we explored the Palace and the grounds. We ate lunch there and then took a nap by the big pond. It was perfect! After Versailles we headed back to Paris and went to Mass at Notre Dame. It was all in French but even though I couldn't understand a word of it, I definitely got the gist of it. It was a truly awesome experience. After mass we looked around the inside a bit and then decided that we needed to climb to the top of it as well. Another breathtaking view! After Notre Dame we ate dinner at Hard Rock and then ventured off to find he Moulin Rouge. It was actually really close to our hotel, so we went a took some pictures and then called it a night.

That next morning it was time to head back to Innsbruck. We got on the train at 10:30am and didn't get back to Innsbruck until 9:30pm. Needless to say we are sick of trains and need some sleep.

I think I'll sleep now!

Bavarian Classics like Sweet Home Alabama

I have had a very exciting week in Innsbruck! On Monday we took the gondolas up to the VERY top of the mountain! I got to climb some rocks and make everyone nervous. The view was absolutely breathtaking and it was so cool getting to see what is on the other side on the mountain that we see everyday! We even got to play in the snow!!

On Tuesday my German class took a field trip to Bozen/Bolzano, Italy. Bozen is in South Tirol which is a part of Italy that used to belong to Austria. All of the signs there are in both German and Italian! It was a really cool thing to get to see, not to mention, the city is absolutely beautiful! While we were there we went to the museum that has Ötzi, a man from 3000 BC that they found perfectly preserved in the mountains on the border of Austria and Italy. The museum was basically about mummification so there were lots and lots of dead bodies which was kind of creepy, but it was really neat getting to see that much history! After the museum, we went shopping in the open air fruit market that takes place everyday! It was extremely cool!

On Wednesday, most of the girls I hang out with were going to go on a hike, which wasn’t happening for me. I was talking to some people at breakfast and they mentioned that they were taking a day trip to Munich to do a bike tour. How could I pass up an opportunity to do another bike tour??! We had an AMAZING time!! We went on the Mikes Bikes tour—the same company we did the one in Amsterdam with. I am happy to report that I did not wreck which is impressive seeing as how we stopped at a beer garden! Just kidding! I got to see a completely different side of Munich, learned a lot about the history of Bavaria, saw an old, naked man in the English gardens, and met some really cool people from Denmark and California! All together… successful day!

In a few minutes two of the girls I have been traveling with (Abby and Berri) and three other girls that we have been hanging out with (Lydia, Kim, and Erin) are heading off to Paris for the weekend! I am unbelievably excited! We have lots of stuff on the agenda! I’ll fill y’all in on all of it on Monday!

Au Revoir!

Train Debacles and Praha

Last weekend we set off for Prague with the intention of going to Berlin on Saturday. On our way to Munich our train breaks down and we (as in our group and all 150 of the American students in our program that were also on their way to Prague) were diverted to a new train that went to Vienna. At that point we were already going to miss our train in Munich, so hoping to still get to Prague that day, we jumped on that train (pun intended). However, our train to Vienna was slowed significantly due to weather and when we arrived all that was left to Prague were over night trains—an adventure we were not looking to have spontaneously. It looked like we would be staying in Vienna for the night.

At some point on the train to Vienna we realize that since we wouldn’t be getting to Prague until midday Friday that Berlin wasn’t happening and that we needed a place to stay in Prague on Saturday night. So begins the telephone marathon. First I call the Prague Marriott to see if we could cancel or reservation for Thursday night and to see if we could make a reservation for Saturday. Then I had to call the Berlin Marriott to cancel for Saturday and to see if we could get the number for the Vienna Marriott. Trusty ole’ Marriott! We were in luck! We were able to book the Vienna Marriott for the night, which made me SO HAPPY! When I am at home I take for granted the things that really make me feel human. I miss taking a bath everyday. Sure, we have showers, but its not the same! I really look forward to our weekends in Marriott beds with Marriott bath tubs!! Friday morning we were able to look around Vienna a bit and it is BEAUTIFUL!! I loved all of the architecture!!

We finally got to Prague at about 2 on Friday! After trying to convert our Euros to Crowns, we left the train station loaded with thousands and thousands of crowns… i.e. Monopoly money. Friday we explored the city on our own and did a lot of shopping. That night we did a Pub Crawl that ended at a 5 story disco-tec where each floor had a different theme. It was CRAZY!! However there were some very nice Canadians that we made friends with. One even had played baseball at Shorter! It’s a very small world!

After literally no sleep, the next morning we ate breakfast at the cute little restaurant that literally smelled just like my house! Cue homesickness… After that we ventured off on a bike tour which is obviously our favourite way to see a city! It was really cool! Prague had lots of interesting art and sculptures! But more about that some other time! After that we walked/hiked up to Prague Castle. The castle part had closed, but we were able to see the Cathedral which had some on the most beautiful stained glass I had ever seen!

The next day we had to catch an early train back to Innsbruck, but all and all I think it was a pretty successful weekend! It was quite stressful at times, but we got to see it all and we had a blast doing it!

Its crazy how much coming back to Innsbruck at the end of the weekend really feels like coming home! When I am on the train and I see those mountains I get really happy! Maybe its because I’m tired of being on a train, but I think its because Innsbruck is an amazing place to live and study!