My New Homebase--Vienna, Austria

     I now live in Vienna, Austria. I live in the first district between Stephensdom and Karlsplatz. I live in the best part of the city because I am only a few minutes away from the State Opera House! During the month of September they set up a large screen outside the Opera House so you can watch some of the operas on certain nights of the week. It is a great time and it is free!

"Hungry in Hungary"

          Twelve of us (Maddie, Becca, Mary, Ali, Elysse, Lyndsi, Stephen, Chris, Josh, Naomi, Ashley, and I) went on a two day trip to Budapest, Hungary. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves in to when we arrived. We got out of the train station and thought Hungary was super underdeveloped, grungy, scary etc... We had to change our Euros to Forints at a Bank which took forever for all of us to do. It was super discouraging because everything was in Hungarian and they had almost no signs in English. This was a change for us, because in Vienna lots of signs are in English. We bought tickets for the subway and rode it to the center of the city. When we arrived the first thing we saw was the Parliament building. I think it is a neo gothic building, because it is huge and has spires and pointed arches. It is my favorite building in Budapest. We changed our minds about Hungary being an awful place after we saw the building. We were excited again!



Mary and I in front of the Parliament Building!

We had lunch all together at a small restaurant by the Danube River which runs right through Budapest. Budapest was created by merging the cities of Buda and Pest together. I ordered a bowl of goulash because it was the only Hungarian thing I had heard of. It was simple, but tasted good. They gave us bread too! Everyone else got pasta or European pizza. We were so hungry because none of us had eaten a big breakfast because we left so early. We had trouble when were paying for the meal because they put our orders together. We had to ask several times before they would let us pay separately.

Mary and I eating Hungarian goulash!

           After lunch we separated in to two groups. Maddie, Becca, Ali, Elysse, Stephen, Naomi, and I walked across to the other side of the city to a large hill with a monument called the Liberty Statue. It is a girl holding a palm leaf. We then walked/hiked down the hill to the Matthias Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion. The hike down the hill was quite the experience because it was so steep it was more like we were sliding down the hill. We got a bit dirty, but no one got seriously injured.

Liberty Statue

St. Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion

          A few of us walked back across the river so we could see the Parliament building lit up at night. It was beautiful! On the way back to the hostel we walked by a fountain where people were dancing. It looked like it was a dance class. The people looked elegant as they danced. I now understand why people want to learn to dance.

The following day we had a few hours before we were to head back to Vienna so Becca and I went to see the Cave Church. It was interesting because we had seen many churches around Budapest and we thought it was odd that one would be built in a cave.

After an incident in which several people had to pay a fine for not validating their subway tickets, we made it to the train station. We found our train after a bit of confusion then settled ourselves in two compartments. We had a great time talking about a variety of subjects and had a marvelous time. After our trip to Budapest together we felt more comfortable around each other and had a chance to bond.

Tübingen Week 2 & 3

     During my second week in Tübingen we went to the Bodensee with our German class. We left at 6:40am. We ate breakfast at "Der Hohentweil". The ruins of the castle there is the largest in all of Germany. For breakfast we had rolls, fruit, jogurt etc. I didn't put jam on my roll because there were so many wasps flying around. We then drove to the city of Konstance. We walked around for a bit before it got really hot. We then put our feet in the 'Bodensee' (Lake Constance).

Camille in the 'Bodensee'

Tiffany, Yu, Romy, Amelia, and I

     We took a boat ride across the lake to Friedrichshafen, which is the second largest city on the lake. It took about two hours to get from one side of the lake to the other. Once we reached the other side we loaded back on the bus and headed to Weingarten. We got to listen to a short organ concert in a Basilica. It was so cool because the building was in the baroque style and we were listening to music from the same period. After the concert we drove to Berggasthof Höchsten where we ate dinner. The food was really good, but my favorite was the cucumber salad. It was just like you make Liz!! It made me so happy!

     The next day our group wen to Heidelberg for two days. We saw Schloss Heidelberg. It is super old. We also walked around the city and passed a few churches.

Me with Schloss Heidelberg in the distance

     Back in Tübingen a group of us went boating on the Neckar River. It was fun except for when some of the people in the boat thought it would be funny to rock it. I did not think it was funny and thought I might fall out.

Cassie and I boating on the Neckar River

     I bought "Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen". (That's the first Harry Potter book.) It is so fun to read!

     I also went to Ölbronn. For details see my post---Ölbronn!!!

Tübingen-Week 1

     Our group arrived in Tübingen (a city in southwest Germany) on August 1st. Each of us got our own room, but we shared a bathroom and kitchen with five other people on our floor. My floormates were hardly ever home so I didn't have much interaction with the people I supposedly lived with. We had German class Monday through Friday for several hours each day. Our classes were put on by Tübingen University. 

Me in my little dorm room

     The Sommerkurs had a few fun things planned for us to do with our classes. One day after our lesson my entire class went bowling. I won by a long shot with 144 points the first game and 146 points on the second game. The next highest bowler got 107 points. Everyone was saying how amazing I was, but I guess I did have an unfair advantage, because I was the only one who has bowled more than ten times and I did take a bowling class last fall at BYU. But still... those numbers were higher than normal for me and the last time I went bowling was over a month prior to then when I was in London. One girl had never bowled before so she had no idea what to do. I may have laughed a bit as I was trying to teach her what to do. 

     On Saturday the majority of the BYU group went on an adventure. We met at the bus stop outside our dorms at 3:15am and rode it to the train station. We then took several trains (we had to 'umsteig' four or so times) to a town called Füssen. Most of us fell asleep on the trains because it was so early and we were exhausted. It was super cold at first because the sun wasn't up so I was glad I brought my jacket or I would have froze. We then took a short bus ride to Neuschwanstein. We had to hike up the mountain to get to the castle, but it was only about 10:00am so it wasn't too hot yet. The view from the castle was beautiful. Once we got to the castle we hiked up behind it to a bridge. We only stayed for a couple hours, because we had to catch another train headed for München a little after 1:00pm.

Trying to stay awake while waiting for our train

Huddle for warmth! I am the one in the back left with the hood on.

Walking up the mountain...

The group

Me in front of Neuschwanstein

     We slept most of the way to München becasue we were still exhausted and by that time it had gotten really hot. In München we walked from the train station down a long street past a huge fountain and the 'Rathaus'. We at dinner at the Hofbräuhaus--a huge pub. It has been in that same spot since the 1500s. We saw the little figures on the tower of the 'Rathaus' move when the clock chimed on the hour.

'Rathaus' in München

Sign at the Hofbräuhaus--Thirst is worse than homesickness

     We left München around 6:30pm and arrived in Tübingen around 11pm. By the time we got back to our dorms we were beat. I fell asleep as soon as I got in bed. It was a fantastic day.

Eisenach und Nürnberg

      The day we left Berlin it was pouring rain so it was like deja vu of the day we arrived, but backwards. Once we got on the train I stared out the window for most of the trip. It was nice to see little towns and hills covered in trees, because that's what I had always imagined Germany to look like. Thankfully when we arrived in Eisenach it wasn't raining. We took turns taking a taxi to the hostel. Once we got checked in I walked around the city by myself for a bit. That night we were getting ready for bed and the fire alarm went off so we had to go outside. We stood out there for a good half hour by the time they came and when they left after checking to see if it was safe.
     The next day we hiked up to the Wartburg! We took a steep trail through the woods to get there. It is where Martin Luther translated the New Testament from Greek to German. 

The Wartburg

Houses in Eisenach

     We left for Nürnberg where we stayed in another hostel. At this one we had triple bunk beds so we had six girls to a room. These cool churches were just down the street from where we were staying!!!

Lorenzkirche

Flying Buttresses!!!

Frauenkirche an der Hauptmarkt

Schönebrunnen

Inside Sankt Sebaldkirche

We found the fortress!

     For class we also went to the Kongresshalle which was built by the Nazis. It is now used as a museum. It was very depressing. The following picture is what most of the inside of the museum looked like. The harshness of the bricks added to the eerie feeling of the building.