This is Vienna

Wow! That's really all there is to say about Vienna! What an incredible city!! Every street, around each corner there is something spectacular to see, something that's not even in the tour guides because it's just another beautiful building in the city.

We arrived in Vienna around 1 on Saturday. We needed to bum WIFI off someone to find our hostel, so we "treated" ourselves to some classy McDonald's-- after all, what's more Viennese than that?! :) When we got to our hostel, we were, at first, pretty confused. From the outside, it looked like any other building. We had to ring the door to be let in and then again when we were inside. There was no welcome desk or anything! The voice at the other end of the "check-in" told us that we were in beds A, E, G, and H. I thought, oh dear.. the Broadbent family vacation luck has followed me to Europe.. we're in different rooms and I requested a private room! When we got inside, we realized there were only 2 rooms in the hostel. It was a small apartment. We walked into an entry way, to the left was a kitchen/shower room, straight ahead was a living room and two bedrooms. Ours was the 8-bed room and there were 2 others in our room. I was so bummed at first... we buzzed the check-in desk again and ensured that it was correct and that we weren't paying for the private room... we ended up only pay 19 euro per night for a room. After the first night, we were the only ones in the room and Joe got to stay the last night too. By the end of our stay, I was really impressed with the hostel. I really had no problems getting into the shower in the morning like I worried I would. It was quite cozy and homey and the staff was friendly when they arrived in the mornings.

We set out on our adventures but realized that... although the Web site for our dorm made it sound like it provided city maps for us... we were without maps. We had to find a kiosk to buy a map and then still mostly wandered aimlessly, especially as it was almost 5 and everything in Austria closes around 5. We ended up coming across a beautiful church, which we originally thought was Stephansdom or Karlskirche, two of the most famous churches in Vienna. A man told us we couldn't go in because of a movie (??), so we wandered around taking pictures outside. I turned around after taking a picture to see Audrey and the rest of the group freaking out a bit. Audrey had stepped in some, well... unpleasantness and was frantically trying to get it off her shoe. I laughed at her, only to be repaid by karma... my shoes was covered! We scrapped off what we could, but you know how that goes!... A few minutes later, we were told the church was now open and I, shamefully, went in. It was great! The architecture in Vienna is just incredible... a lot of the lights were off in the church so it was a bit hard to see but.. what we could see was just amazing. We went back to our hostel to change (especially our shoes...) and went to dinner and to get drinks. We thought Mexican sounded great (yes, I know.. another GREAT Viennese meal!), but ended up getting a bit lost. When we finally made it to the restaurant (about 40 minutes after we should have), it was basically an Austrian Chipotle. Okay but not quite the Mexican food I would have liked! Sam had heard of a bar called "Wunderbar" (wonderful in German), so we went on another mission to find that. We walked in circles for ages... asking everyone we passed for directions. One man knew exactly the bar but we missed a small alleyway and were entirely lost after that, most people had never even heard of the street. We gave up and finally went to a little bar... as we sat there, I kept worrying that we smelled like the unpleasantness from before... After about an hour, we stood up to find that, somehow, Audrey and I (and only Audrey and I) had once again stepped in some... The first time, it was on my left foot and her right, and now it was switched.... It was chasing us! I know-- random, gross story.. but that will definitely be a memory of Vienna for me.. and it was pretty funny looking back! :)

Our next day in Vienna was much more productive (and less smelly!). We woke up early and planned to buy tickets to a musical, Rudolf. It's about the crown prince, Rudolf, of the Hapsburg monarchy. We found the theater only to discover they only sell tickets 2 hours before the show begins so we had wasted about an hour walking to the theater for nothing!! Our next plan was to find the real Stephansdom. Absolutely stunning. Stephansdom is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna, so it's probably the most significant religious building in the city. We managed to get there right before noon, when a mass was starting but they only let tourists in to a point before blocking it off. So we walked down to find the Stadttempel-- the only synagogue in Vienna to survive Kristallnacht. Built in 1825-6, the Emperor had passed an edict that only Catholic churches could be built facing the street. We literally walked past the synagogue the night before and had no idea! It looks like an apartment, maybe a library but definitely not a synagogue. Who would have thought that anti-semitic laws would actually help it so? Pretty impressive. After we found the synagogue, we returned to Stephansdom and were able to take an elevator to the top of one of the towers. The view was absolutely beautiful. It was a bit scary but totally worth it!

We also found Karlskirche, which was originally completed in 1737. This was one of the most incredible buildings I have ever seen. It's completely different than the churches we think of when we think of European catholic churches but it was entirely breathtaking. My pictures will do no justice to this church.

We only ventured to one castle while in Vienna, sadly. We went to the Belvedere in the center of the city. We were a bit disappointed to discover that it's mostly just an art museum. What a waste of an incredible building and a great opportunity to share the history of Vienna and Austria... I know nothing about the building itself because there is literally nothing about at the location. Sad. The art was very nice but...

After the Belvedere, Audrey, Amy and I rushed back to the Raimund theater to try to get tickets to the musical... we had hoped to make it back to the hostel to change, as well, but we had no time for that. I felt so embarrassed-- at the theater in Vienna in jeans! But, I was in luck, and there were many people dressed worse than me... and the musical was really nice! I know I missed a lot because it's hard enough to follow German in every day situations, much less in a musical!! But it was still very interesting and what I followed was good!

Our last day in Vienna was much more laid back. We went to Karlsplatz and wandered across to Heldenplatz and the museum quarter. At the Leopold Museum, there was an exhibit of Edvard Munch and quite a bit Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. That was definitely great to see up close!! Finally... we made our way out of town to the Hundertwasserhaus. An apartment complex built in the 80s. It was designed to avoid any "ugly buildings" from being constructed in the spot. Floors are uneven and trees grow through walls and windows! The outside of the house is painted in different colors and the walls are not smooth. Tourists aren't allowed inside but it was still worth seeing.

I really wasn't quite ready to leave Vienna. I don't feel like I saw enough to do justice to the city! But I will be back :)

Now I'm packing my things to jump on another train.. this time to Freiburg to say goodbye to Katharina and Till before they go to Australia for two months! I am dreading this train ride.. 10 hours by myself-- wish me luck! Time's flying and will definitely continue to do so if I'm only in Klagenfurt for a few days at a time!

I had to use another program to make a slide show because of my EXCESSIVE amount of pictures.. I hope it works!!

More to come soon! :)

Inspiration

This is an entirely random note but thoughts going through my head and I figured that I’d put them out here.

After the Mozart museum, I felt so entirely moved—raw talent and not only in one way— he wrote, played, he was truly “genial.” To have talent that ensures you popularity… but not just popularity but honest fame, notoriety, and respect for hundreds of years, it’s unfathomable. My mind starts reeling. Imagine that in your life, you’ve known someone with incredible talent—no matter how impressed you are with them, would you for a second stop to think that in 200+ years, people will still respect, memorize and analyize their talents? Can you imagine how someone who grew up with Mozart felt in his presence though? Did they assume he’d be incredible, travel around playing and not only playing, but creating and then not only for his contemporaries but for all time?

Those thoughts were strarting to drain from my mind when I put on one of my favorite bands’ music today. Not really one of my favorites, I guess, but in a way. One of my favorite bands is Something Corporate, which doesn’t exist but the lead singer is now in Jack’s Mannequin. As I was listening to the words of a song the lead singer, Andy, wrote about his struggle with cancer, I just got chills. Most likely, in 20 years, no one will know Jack’s Mannequin or Andy McMahon, but still what incredible talent. To be able to write chords, lyrics, and put it together and create a finished work that has an impact on the life of someone that you will never meet, that you know nothing about, have, perhaps, nothing in common with—it’s so powerful. There is no single word that I could use that would do justice to what I want to say about it.

And maybe you’re reading this thinking, Sure, but isn’t that what song writing is about? Shouldn’t any halfway decent artist be able to put words to a melody that is infleuntial and strikes deep within a majority of people? Maybe. But does it usually actually have that outcome? What power…. what raw talent.

This may sound like a tribute to Mozart and Andrew McMahon… but that’s not in any way what it’s meant to be. I guess what it is would be a call to myself, to you, to whomever, to find that inspiration in ourselves, to find that talent in ourselves and to cherish it… or nourish it. Whether the talent is musical, philosophical, linguistic, or interpersonal or whatever it might be—it’s there, don’t forget that. At the same time, I think it’s a reminder to recognize that which we see in others, the glimpse into genius, into something real that we may overlook or react jealously to…. Maybe none of us will go down in history books, but at the very least, we will go down in the memories and in the hearts of those we are blessed to meet, and we should be willing… no, we should be ecstatic to be given the opportunity to present ourselves in the best light possible, and to do so, we need to reconigze what that is exactly.

So… that’s my rambling. I know it’s not quite what you expect to come across when you visit my travel blog… but it’s what is in my heart/head right now, so I’m sharing through the venue that I have at my fingertips.

Love you all.

Salzburg, Austria

I’ve finally done it— instead of sitting in Klagenfurt all weekend, I traveled to Salzburg, Austria! Audrey, Amy, Sam, Joe, and Tommy went by train to Salzburg for 2 days. The forecast looked great, so we were all very excited but when we got there, we were greated with a constant rain! Only Joe had thought to bring an umbrella, so that was fun…. I got to buy an umbrella but, I suppose, there are worst things to have to buy. It was definitely worth it, as both days were a mixture of drizzle followed by constant downpour! There were only a few times that we were able to walk without an umbrella! So sad….but we still had a great time!

I think we all assumed we’d be able to pick up maps of the city at the train station but none of were able to find any… so we started our adventures randomly. We walked in whatever direction we were drawn to, I guess…but luckily, ended up pretty much exactly where we wanted to be! (Love that!!) We had lunch in a cute little café, and then as we were trying to find out how to go about getting to our Pension (guesthouse), we came upon a place that offers tours, which Amy, Audrey and I really wanted to do. We thought we had enough time before the tour to run to our Pension and put our bags down and get back for the tour, but after we got to the Pension and found a bus back into town, we missed the correct stop and were LITERALLY running through town and managed to get back to the meeting point for the tour with 3 minutes to spare. WHEW! The guys thought €24 was expensive for the tour, but it lasted an hour and a half and pointed out so many things that I would have had no idea about otherwise: Christian Doppler, who is credited with the Doppler Effect, was born in Salzburg; Albert Einstein presented on the theory of relativity at a congress meeting and it was one of the first times that Einstein received good reviews; etc. etc. The tour was also really nice because it was in a van—no walking around aimlessly in the rain!! Along with our tickets, we were able to go to the Mozart Wohnhaus Museum. Salzburg PROUDLY is home to both the birth house and residence of the Mozart family. There are museums in both houses, but we only went to the Wohnhaus. All of the family’s furniture has been lost over the years, but it was still soo incredible to read about W.A. Mozart, Leopold Mozart, and W.A.’s sister, Nannerl, who was also incredibly talented. The relationship between Wolgang Amadé Mozart and Franz Joseph Haydn was also really interesting to read about. I definitely wish I had kept studying piano over the years!!

All in all, I was really impressed with our trip. Some things didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked, but what is a trip without a bit of that?! Our Pension was soo cheap (€28/person/night including breakfast!), and was actually really nice and cozy. We had a nice Chinese dinner, walked through the city and got to see some cool things, and to Amy’s joy, a lot of Sound of Music spots throughout the city! So, I think our trip was a total success and I cannot wait to go to Vienna, Venice, Berlin, etc. etc. etc.

Sorry that a lot of pictures don’t have explanations—the tour went so quickly that I cannot remember everything but… they’re still neat to see, I hope J

Let's play catch up...

It looks like I don’t write as often as I had intended… sorry!! J

Klagenfurt has been mostly uneventful. Still dealing with little things but nothing “to write home about.” J The best thing was that Katharina and Till came down Saturday to visit me and meet everyone. SO much fun!!

Luckily, the youth hostel is only a few blocks away, so we were able to spend a lot of time together. We walked to the lake, explored a bit of Klagenfurt, did some shopping, and spent some time with Sam, Audrey, and Amy. The time flew soo quickly and I was definitely not ready for them to leave Tuesday but, thank goodness, we figured out another time to meet up before she is off to Australia (lucky girl!!). In a few weeks, they are having a going-away party in Freiburg and I am going to try to make it up for that, which actually works great because the Monday after that is a holiday so it will be an EXTRA long weekend!!

We are officially planning our first trip out of Klagenfurt (finally!!!). Tomorrow Amy, Audrey, and I are going to the trian station to get our Vorteilungskarte, the discount card for train travel, and then we will book a train to Salzburg for this Saturday and Sunday. We found a really cheap Pension for around €30, which is GREAT! We’re also hoping to take a guided tour called “City Tour: On the Traces of Mozart” that will take us to most of the main attractions, as well as Mozart’s residence and birth place, and it only cost €24!! CRAZY! Then the plan is to head to Vienna the next weekend, and there’s certainly PLENTY to see and do there! My list is much too longer to list just now!

I took some pictures of the Welcome Party at the university this weekend, as well as some pictures from the weekend. The mountains are breathtaking! It’s incredible that I wake up and see mountains each day!! Now that it’s getting colder, there are even more clouds around the peaks, and it’s just incredible. Hope you enjoy!!

Downtown Klagenfurt

So... we realized the other night that we've been here for 4 weeks and haven't properly taken pictures of Klagenfurt yet. So, Audrey, Amy, and I decided to take care of two tasks in one-- we went into town and did some shopping and took a bunch of pictures of the Alter Platz, where most of the shops are. We went into a couple of churches-- one was really impressive and the other was very simple. Hope you enjoy the mini-tour of Klagenfurt :)

One month...?!

I left the KC airport 31 days ago... wow!! I can't believe how quickly everything's going-- first my week with Katharina flew by and before I knew it, I was in Klagenfurt and now it's 3 weeks later and I still can't really even believe I'm in Klagenfurt half the day!

We've added an American to our group :) Amy's roommate arrived last week and she is also from Iowa (what are the odds?!). For some reason, at every event we go to the girl that heads the Entree exchange student program makes a comment about the English speakers hanging out together and how we need to branch out and speak more German but when I look across the room, the people that speak Italian are together, the Turkish are together, etc. etc. etc. I think it's because there are a LOT of people that speak the other languages and only the 5 of us though. And we definitely do talk to other people...And no one will speak German with us because we speak English! Even in the dorms, when the other students ask a question in German and I try to answer or didn't catch what they said, they realize I speak English and that's all they speak after that!

Classes start Monday! My language course will be on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 to 9 (yuck!), my grammar and phonetics courses won't be decided until after the first night but they will be in the evening Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, and my other courses are Survey of Austrian Culture (Wednesdays from 2:30 to 4) and Issues in Second Language Acquisition (Tuesdays, 12 to 2). It's going to be pretty rough, huh?! No classes on Thursdays or Fridays.. no class Monday until 5... I don't know how I'll manage!! It's hard to believe that is worth the 15th hours I signed up for at Washburn... but I won't complain!!

I've started making a list of places to travel to... and knowing that I have 4 day weekends every week makes it even better!! Hopefully someone else will have long weekends as well and we can travel together. I think the top 5 places I want to go are: Vienna, Berlin, Venice, Prague, and....okay, I don't know what my 5th one is but that's definitely a good start! Wicked the Musical is playing in Stuttgart-- in German!-- so I really would like to go see that one weekend. It's expensive but if I could go to a matinée, it wouldn't be that bad-- and how awesome would it be to see that?! I know all the songs by heart in English, so even if I wasn't positive about vocabulary, I would be able to figure it out and it would be really interesting to see how they adapt it! I think it's kind of a must! :)

For now my homesickness is very much subsided! I'm getting to know Amy and Sam better and I really like Amy's new roommate, Audrey. There have been a lot more welcome and "meet and greet" events for us this week, which has been a lot of fun and has helped us meet more people-- most of whom I will never remember the names of! I am still dealing with some culture shock but I am reminding myself that I have to just adapt to it for now and in 3 months... it won't be a problem anymore! While it's frustrating that they are closed and don't seem very bothered to be helpful, the concept of the whole system is a good one.... maybe I'll end up a fan-- we'll see!

Here are some pictures from one of the welcome parties this week: