Vienna & Budapest Outing

So sorry that it has taken soooooooo very long to post again…with a report to write about our trip, a trip to Munich, and finals on TOP of that, it has been hard to find time! Now that I’m in Innsbruck finally, and have about 12 days to myself (the others went traveling), I have more than enough time to fill you all in on what has been going on J.
On Friday the 14th, we made our exciting whirlwind trip to Vienna and Budapest. (Brace yourself, this is a LONG, LONG post!)

Directly after class, we took our oversized backpacks (filled to the brim) and headed once again to the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (train station). We didn’t get into Vienna until about 8.30 that night, and when Guertler asked us whether we wanted to out for a drink together or go it alone, there was a resounding “JA!” for hitting the town with Gernot Guertler. He took us to a restaurant, whose owner he seemed to already know (a trend which has become more and more apparent…). The restaurant was great – definitely off the beaten path, and not overrun by tourists…well…until we got there. Herr Guertler and I bonded a bit as soon as he realized that I was a “beer woman.” Let’s just say I became the butt of a few jokes following that night J. After our drink with Guertler, he turned in the towel but the rest of us wanted to experience Vienna a bit more before bed. We had to search a bit for a non-sketchy café (after first walking into a bar in which there was a dog tied up in the back, and one of the owners was passed out). We did however find one, and had one more drink before resting up for the next day.

The following day, we woke up to our first Jugendherberge Frühstück (youth hostel breakfast), and at precisely 9.30 am we started our tour with the world-famous Gernot Guertler. For approximately three hours we went at Guertler speed (very…VERY quickly) throughout Vienna. The man has the map of Vienna memorized in his head, so needless to say, he knew all of the shortcuts. It was easy to see how Vienna had been the central point of the Holy Roman Empire, as went by the Rathaus, the Hofburg Theater, the national library, the opera house, and the University of Vienna (to name a few landmarks).
After our tour, we were free to explore Vienna on our own for a few hours before our gemeinsames Essen (dinner together). My friends Al, Madelaine and I decided to check out the Naschmarkt. This is basically a very crowded market, whose vendors stretch about a mile in length. The vendors cry to potential customers, and sell pretty much anything you could possibly want – fish, meat, cheese, fresh produce, spices, dried fruits, nuts, etc. It was also interesting to see the eastern influence as Kebap stands were mixed in among the others. One vendor was particularly vying for our attention, and started to sing a rap song in English to us…are we that obviously American?!?
After our leisurely walk through the Markt, we met up with some others from our group and went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum). The museum was AMAZING. The building itself was a work of art – every minute detail. The museum had impressive collections of Egyptian and Roman artifacts. On the second floor, every room was filled with paintings. Some of the more notable artists were Rembrant, Peter Paul Ruebens, Van Dyke, and Rafael. We spent about three hours in the museum, and I still felt like we hadn’t done it justice.
After our individual outings, we had dinner together (at another restaurant whose owner Guertler also knew). After eating as much as we could, a few went to the Opera house and were able to bum tickets off of those who left early, and the rest of us went directly back to the Jugendherberge to collapse.

The next day (Sunday the 16th ), we woke up early and boarded our next train at the Vienna Hauptbahnhof. It was about a four hour train ride to Budapest, and the train itself was actually different. Rather than the stereotypical European trains with compartments, the seats were open. As we crossed the border into Hungary, it was odd to see how much the stereotypes of Eastern Europe were fulfilled. Especially as we got closer to the city, older run-down buildings left over from the Soviet era were mixed with newer structures, VERY much influenced by western capitalistic culture.
When we got off the train in Budapest, we were (unexpectedly) greeted by our group of host students from Pazmany Peter Catholic University. They went all-out with a sign, and were extremely friendly. We then boarded a bus for our one-hour ride to Esztergom, and on the ride got to know our host students better. Their English was very good, and everyone got over being shy right away. Thank goodness their English was so good, because Hungarian is one of those languages in which one can be completely clueless. For example, we went to get some food at one point, looked at the menu, and had NO idea how to even pronounce anything on it, let alone what it was to begin with!
Once in Esztergom, we were given a tour (in German) of the Esztergom Basilica – the largest church in Hungary. It seemed to have popped up out of nowhere! The city itself wasn’t that impressive, but then suddenly you see this HUGE structure on top of a hill. It was a beautiful church, and overlooks the Danube. Directly on the other side of the Danube is Slovakia, and a bridge nearby (Maria Valeria bridge) was just built in 2001 to connect the two countries. (A few from our group actually walked over it) The basilica itself is host to a crypt and many religious artifacts, including relics and religious garb. After our tour, a few of us went to the top of the basilica. Retrospectively, a good decision. HOWEVER, one of the scariest experiences of my life! Imagine marble stairs about three feet wide (maximum) spiraling up hundreds of feet, very cramped, people coming DOWN those stairs as you are going UP, and hardly any windows. Yes, Mary was scared sh*tless. However, the view from the top was fabulous, and I have pictures to prove it!
After our time in Esztergom, we were shuttled back to the University’s campus. It’s located about 50 kilometers from Budapest, and the grounds themselves were used as a soviet military camp up until 1992. In fact, the building that a few of us stayed in used to be a prison. On our walk to the central part of campus, we passed several run-down soviet buildings before seeing several very impressive and very modern university buildings.
That night we were in for a special treat. Not only did they have a special authentic Hungarian dinner laid out for us, but there was also a folk music group AND a dance instructor! Incidentally he spoke no English other than “left, right, left, right…” and “one, two, three, four” but that was more than enough to get by! After dancing with our new Hungarian friends, we went out to a local bar with them. It was definitely an experience! Most of us tried this type of shot that is a favorite in Hungary – fruit flavored liquor with honey mixed in. We also learned that in Hungary, you aren’t supposed to clink your beer glasses – this is because after Hungary was taken over by Austrian forces, the Austrians apparently did so in celebration. Now, the only time when it is appropriate to do so, is if you say (doing my best with spelling…) “basomik Hino!” which means (roughly translated) “screw Hino!” who was the Austrian commander.
The next day was absolutely FILLED, so I’ll do my best to summarize it without being too long-winded. We started off with a lecture, and then had a tour of campus led by one of our favorite people – Laszlo, a prof at the Uni. He gave us some info about the architecture of the new buildings (incorporating nature), and then went into more detail about the soviet buildings around campus.
Immediately after our tour, we got on the train with Laszlo and went into Budapest. The following tour was about five hours long, but absolutely amazing. We were able to see some of the bigger landmarks like the parliament building, Saint Stephen’s Basilica, as well as the only Soviet memorial standing in its original spot. (The rest were moved out of the city) The reason that this memorial remained standing is because it didn’t support communism, but rather stood as a memorial for fallen soldiers. It was protected by a large fence, because apparently people would still try to damage it.
The great thing about Laszlo’s tour was that he also was able to point out a lot of the smaller details. For example, we were walking down a seemingly random street, and then he pointed out a bomb shelter door near the pavement. There was also still remnants of a white arrow that pointed down to it, so as to be able to find the door if there was a lot of rubble. He also told us how to tell the difference between which conflict bullet holes in the sides of buildings came from (either WWII, or the revolution in 1956).
After the tour, we met up with the Hungarian students in the city and went out for dinner before going to the bars. The bar we went to was perhaps the weirdest bar I have ever seen. You walk in through a seemingly random door, go through a couple sparsely furnished, run-down rooms, and emerge in a court-yard filled with picnic tables and lined on one side by a surprisingly nice bar. It was definitely a first.

Our last day in Hungary was fairly uneventful – we had to wake up early for two more lectures, and had to leave immediately afterwards to make the train on time. In our last half-hour in Budapest, we frantically tried to spend as many of our Forints (Hungarian Currency – it’s about 250 Forints to one Euro) as we could. We then said goodbye to our Hungarian friends after exchanging emails, and boarded the train for our 6-hour ride back to Salzburg…yes, all this happened within four days.

As soon as I can, I’ll post about Oktoberfest and arriving in Innsbruck!!!

ps - apologies for no pictures. for some reason the website isn't letting me post them. i'll try to do a post of just pictures sometime in the future...

Pope-Mania!!!

So on our latest outing as a group...we actually went to see Pope Benedict in Vienna. It was originally a choice that the group had to make together (kind of an all-or nothing thing), so I consented, and I was definitely regretting the decision when I had to wake up at 4 in the morning on our ONE day off from classes that week...considering that 1. I'm not necessarily a fan of the guy, and 2. I'm not a Catholic, it didn't seem to make much sense to me at the time. However, everyone managed to drag themselves out of bed and do the 45 minute hike to the train station. (At Herr Guertler's speed, mind you, which is about twice as fast as my little legs can go) Btw - on our rather brisk walk to the train station, we passed a club that was STILL GOING from the night before. Yeah, it was THAT early.

Once on the train, several of us were immediately reminded of scenes from Harry Potter (yep, we're nerds) and started reciting lines from the movies. Needless to say, it was a great first experience with the European Railway system!

Once we arrived in Vienna, we had another brisk walk to the "Dom," or cathedral. It was definitely pooring outside for a good part of our walk - Mary didn't have a raincoat of course! Luckily Aaron was nice enough to share his umbrella for part of the walk!

Once we got near the Dom, IT WAS LIKE A CATHOLIC REVIVAL. They were handing out pope bread, pope water, pope ponchos, etc etc etc. There were screens outside because obviously there was no way that that many people would fit in one cathedral. The mass lasted about two hours, entirely in German, and then the pope made a brief appearance outside the dome. I honestly wasn't paying attention to a word he said, which was the case for most of the people around me - we were all scrambling to try and snap a photo while dodging other cameras in the air or the occasional kid hoisted on their parent's shoulders...

After the mass, we were allowed to go out on our own for about three hours. We were starving, so immediately went to a stand and got some Burenwurst and some Sturm to drink. BY THE WAY - Sturm. Everyone must try it at some point in their life. Its a type of white-wine-ish drink that hasn't been fermenting very long so it tastes very citrus-y and is as easy to drink as water.

Even though we knew very well that the next weekend Herr Guertler would be taking us on a tour of the city, we managed to take umpteen pictures of Vienna. It was such a beautiful city, and considering I'm obsessed with statues and such, it was good for me. I even got to take a picture with the man himself...Mozart!

So after a long and tiring day in Vienna (Wien), we somehow managed to make it back to our hotel, the Heffterhof, which we still regard as heaven on earth. (Even though the cleaning ladies STILL have not given us new tissues since we got here!!!) We immediately had to start on our homework for the following day, but it felt great to get off our feet.
Tonight we're studying feverishly for our weekly test tomorrow (Friday)..."wait, i thought plural accusative adjective endings were "e" only??? What does anhand mean again? GAH!", but at least we know that tomorrow evening we take off for yet ANOTHER trip! We head off to Vienna for a tour - Herr Guertler style (which means a lot of talking slowly in LOUD German, followed by a sprint to a new area with another loud quasi-speech - GOD I love the guy! If only everyone could have a Herr Guertler in their life!) and then on Saturday we go to Budapest to hear some lectures and party it up with some Hungarian students. We'll end up back at the Heffty on Tuesday evening (probably with some homework to do...) but hopefully another blog will come soon after our return :) Tschuss!

One week down...wait? only ONE WEEK???

So as unbelievable as it seems, one of my four weeks in Salzburg ist vorbei (gone, for those of you who do not speak German)! It seems like I've been here ages, considering how much my understanding of German has improved! There have definitely been times when it has been frustrating, but the group (there are 14 of us from Notre Dame) is such an awesome and fun group of people.

Salzburg is a gorgeous city, even despite the fact that it has rained every day we have been here except for ONE, luckily the one in which we went on a walking tour of Salzburg. This pic is of Herr Guertler, doing his thing - he's a history professor and is also in charge of our program here.

The culture here has taken some getting used to, but it has been VERY educational. Austrians are extremely punctual, but once you get somewhere - dinner for instance - you tend to stay there for a while. I'm starting to think that they love nothing more than having dinner with friends, drinking wine, and talking for hours.

The hotel we're staying at is pretty much fabulous. Every day we have breakfast and lunch provided for us. Lunch just happens to be three courses every day (soup, entree, and dessert), and is better than anything I've ever eaten in my life. Not only that, but if I stand on my balcony, the Alps are visible if I glance to my left. Like last year's group told us, the Heffterhof hotel really IS heaven on earth!

As you probably could have guessed, the group has indeed made a few trips into the Altstadt to have a beer or two, and to further explore the city :) There is a brewery called the Augustiner Brauerei, which also has a Biergarten (we were able to do that on the ONE day without rain...). You pick either a half-litre or litre sized mug, wash it out, and then take it to get filled. Big surprise...I was the only girl who joined the litre club that day!!! In the hallways you can go and buy various things to eat - the most popular of course being the giant pretzels or "Brezen."

Oh...and we DO have class too! It's a bit difficult, but it should help quite a bit once we get to Innsbruck in October. There's a lot of writing to do, but hopefully it will be easier and easier to write...

That's about all the updates that I can think of for right now...we're going to see the Pope in Vienna on Sunday, the following weekend going to Vienna and Budapest, the weekend after that going to Oktoberfest, and then the weekend after THAT we move to Innsbruck and have 12 days free to travel! Needless to say, there will be much more to write about...