Rome!!!

           Becca, Bri, Kendal, Stephan, Shelly, Mary, Kiersten, Heidi and I went to Rome for a short weekend trip. We left Vienna at 7:30pm and rode a train all the way to Rome. It was a long ride, but we didn’t have to umsteig (change trains), so we didn’t have to worry about anything until we arrived in Rome. Six of us were in the same compartment on the train so we didn’t have to worry about being with strangers. We put the seats down and played a card game called scum for a long time. We arrived in Rome around 9:00am. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel then walked around. We could hardly believe how nice the weather was. We didn’t have to wear a jacket which was nice because it was freezing in Vienna. We went to the Roman forum and walked around in them. We saw the colosseum from the forum ruins then walked around inside it. It was so exciting to see the places we learn about. We had pizza and gelato for lunch. The gelato was great just like people said it would be. We walked to the pantheon and got to go inside. We had dinner at a restaurant across the street from our hostel. We all got pasta for only three Euros! It was so cheap! After dinner we were tired from wandering around all day so we went right to bed because we were going to have an early start the next day.

Bri, Camille, and Kiersten at the Colosseum

Colosseum

Mary, Kiersten, Camille, Shelly, Becca, and Bri at the Pantheon

Eating italian gelato!!!

roman ruins

Stephan, Shelly, Kendal, Bri, Camille, Becca, Kiersten, and Mary

Catching the train to Rome!

Good morning... we're in Italy!!

waiting for our pasta

            The next morning we left our hostel at 7:00am. We went to the Trevi fountain first and were the only ones there. We then went to the Vatican. It wasn’t full of people because it was so early in the morning. We first visited St. Peter’s Basilica. It was huge. A few of us climbed to the dome at St. Peters. The stairs were super steep and little so it was scary to climb at some parts. After a tense experience trying to buy a ticket to see the Sistine Chapel I wandered back alone to the fountain in front of St. Peters. I met up with Bri and Kendal later and tried again, this time successfully, to get a ticket to see the Sistine Chapel. It was not what I expected, but still cool. The three of us then walked to the Spanish steps and saw three girls from BYU on the way. We knew they were from BYU because they were wearing the study abroad backpacks like ours. We talked to them for an hour about their experiences in Spain. I love seeing other BYU students because you have an instant bond with them. We caught the 7:05pm train back to Vienna. We arrived at 8:30am the next morning and got home by 9:15.

Camille at the Trevi fountain

St. Angelo's

sweet columns at St. Peter's

St. Peter's in the background

Vienna, classes, old mine, christmas markets

            A group of us visited the Hofburg and saw the Sisi museum and the Silberkammer. It was fun to see all the dishes and silverware the nobility used. In the museum about Sisi I learned that she was stabbed to death. I was surprised to learn this, but everyone else I was with knew that already.             Becca and I had dinner with our Hausfrau and roommates again. It is always an event because it lasts for several hours. Frau Papis told us stories about her husband’s mother and his grandmother. We laughed quite a bit. We learned that Hopscotch is played not only in America, but also in Austria and Japan. After dinner Becca and I had a great time learning basic phrases in Japanese from our roommate Riko. It was an adventure trying to learn Japanese through the German equivalents. Guten Abend = Konbanwa, eins = ichi, zwei = ni, drei = san, vier = si, fünf = go.

Becca, Camille, and Riko ---asian pose

Becca and Camille---american pose

            Our friend, Sarah, came to visit us and to get experience doing research in original records. It was great to see her. While she was in Vienna we met Felix Gundacker. Herr Gundacker has compiled several record indexes for the city. He has also written several books.

            For Austrian History class we went to the National Library. They had a large pre-1850 book collection in a room that reminded some of us of the library from the movie the Beauty and the Beast.

            A few of us stayed in Vienna over the weekend and went to an old mine. We took a train and a bus to get to the mine. During WWII some prisoners from Mauthausen were relocated to the mine to build airplane parts. The mine was a prime spot for the little factory because it was so far underground it wouldn’t get destroyed by bombs. We got to take a short boat ride around part of the mine where it was flooded. We were told that part of Disney’s 1999 version of “The Three Musketeers” was filmed in the mine. I wonder how Disney found out about the mine and why they did it there…

Mary, Riko, and Camille

            Becca, Sarah, and I walked around the first district and visited several churches. We went to Karlskirche, St. Michael’s, St. Augustine’s, Stephansdom (St. Stephan’s Cathedral), St. Matheus’, St. Peter’s, and Annakirche. It was interesting going to all the churches and seeing the different styles they were built in. Some of the churches were filled with tourists while others were quiet and peaceful. We even got to hear someone playing the organ in a few of the churches. I have a greater appreciation for organ music when I’m in sitting in the beautiful churches than if I were to listen to it in my apartment.

            The Christmas market in front of the Rathaus opened on November 12^th. Opening day was packed, but we looked around anyway. I tried roasted chestnuts for the first time. They weren’t horrid, but I don’t think I will eat them again. I bought a giant schoko Krapfen (similar to a doughnut). After walking around the market for a bit we went back to our apartment for hot chocolate.

Christkindlmarkt in front of the Rathaus opening night...

Becca, Mary, Camille, and Sarah... good thing I was wearing my Berlin hat because it was super cold out!

            Becca and I had dinner with our hausfrau and roommates again. Our roommate, Baiba, brought her friend Kristaps Bergs to dinner. He and Baiba are doing a concert together in a few weeks. We started dinner around 8:00 pm. We started with a soup then moved to the main course of a salad, roasted potatoes, carrots, and ham with a chive sauce on top. We had a nut cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. It was very good as always. After dinner Becca and I hung out with our roommate, Riko. We got to listen to her play the piano. She is so good! It was cool to see her fingers fly across the keys as she played. Becca and I both played a bit for her, but she is way better than we are. Riko played “Waldstein” by Beethoven. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ5QKjmkinU) I love that song! It reminded me of Caralynn because we both used to listen to it a lot.