Israel and on

I'm in Israel (after some delayed baggage and missing one connecting flight) and am having a blast. It is so nice to be surrounded my family after being without for the past 3 months.

I'm here for 10 days and then a quick stop back in Vienna before I head back to the US.
Its been real:)

Lydia

Last week..

I have 1 oral exam, 2 papers and 3 finals, all of which are this week. I'm a bit stressed, which is not helped by my procrastination but I know I will get everyone done in time. I packed up some of my belongings today while I was procrastinating and will probably weigh my suitcase Friday. I'm crossing my fingers that it is just a little overweight.

On a positive note, Cyd finished the mural! Bibi was nice and took us out to dinner to celebrate the completion and to thank Cyd. Things have gotten better here but I am looking forward to being back in Eugene in my own place.

Weihnacht Markt

Other than having some minor issues with my host situation, this week has been good. Markus, the Vienna 1900 teacher, took us to St. Michael's Crypt. It was so interesting to see the mummified bodies and the coffins, only a little bit beneath the church's floor. We couldn't take any photos so I'm sorry I can't post any, but the guide showed up bodies with lace or silk clothing still intact, and even some women with intact high-heeled shoes! We saw little baby coffins, which were sad to see. They call them "Engel" which means angel.

Afterward, Markus bought us some hot Orangen Punsch, which I think is made from orange juice, rum, spices, tea and sugar. I did not think I would like it since Orange punch sounds kind of gross to me, but in this cold weather, there is nothing better than a delicious drink that warms you up:) I am going to look for the recipe so I can make some back home during the holidays!

On Friday, Ian, Cyd, Rose, Alice and I went to the Weihnacht Markt (Christmas Market) and walked around. Unfortunately it was raining so we did not end up going to the other markets around Vienna.

Tonight, Alice and Rose invited some of us over for dinner at their place. I am excited to see their place since it is in a different part of the city that I haven't really explored.

As of right now, I only have 12 days until my program ends and 28 days until I am back in the states. This has gone by so fast and I've had so much fun, but I will be really happy to be back home. The only thing I am stressing about right now, besides my upcoming finals, is my baggage. I know my bags are going to be overweight but if my checked bag is over too much, they could charge me a small fortune. ARGH! So sometime next week I am going to try packing all of my belongings up and weighing them so I can be prepared to pay and maybe get rid of a few things I do not need to bring home. It pays to under pack! Hopefully next time I will listen;)

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Punsch Recipe for those who might want to try it at home:

3 litres/12 cups of red wine
1 litre/4 cups of water
0,12 litre/ 0.5 cup of Austrian rum (80vol% alcohol)
                         (if you have to use carribean rum, use 0,25 litre)
0,75 litre/3 cups  fresh orange juice
250 g/1 cup of sugar
2 sticks of cinnamon, a few cloves (you will just need gloves to hold the hot cup !)
some orange peel

Put everything into a big pot, just heat, do not boil !!

Retz: Lower Austria

Our site director and another teacher took us on a day trip to Retz. It is a cute town in wine country almost on the border of the Czech Republic. 

We arrived in Retz around noon and walked to the center of the town. Our teacher, Markus, explained the history of the town and the architecture and we climbed up to the top of the tower. I was a little nervous at the top but the view was so incredible that I forgot about how high up we were.

After the tower we hiked in the vineyards towards a windmill, but somehow we ended up no where near it. Armed with ammo from the brush, we had a few berry wars, throwing them at each other and having to stock up whenever another bush was nearby.

It was very windy but absolutely breathtaking. It made me want to go hiking more in Eugene when I get back home.

walking through the vineyard

Once we were back into the town center, we went on a tour of the wine cellars of Retz. They gave us these silly phone like devices that had english translations of what our tour guide was saying. Afterward we each got a free glass of wine. I got a glass of white wine and it was very crisp and light. Very refreshing after a long day of walking around!

After walking towards the Heuriger where we had dinner plans, it became evident that we were taking the long way. Once we were back on the main road, the owner of the wine tavern saw us walking and offered to give us a ride there. So we gladly took him up on his offer.

I had a great time eating little platters of ham, blood sausage, liver pate, bacon, cheese slices, some aspic (which is meat encased in gelatin), and some pepper cheese spread, all with delicious rolls. My mother would be proud, I tried a little aspic AND the blood sausage. After having some Wein Gespritzter (red or white wine diluted with mineral water) and Weiß Wein (white wine) we taught each other hand games and chatted until it was time to leave for the train station. Overall a really amazing day in Austria!

the Heuringer

Amsterdam

 I had a really great time in Amsterdam. My only regrets are that I was not able to meet up with my friend, Alison, as well as my hostel being way out in the boonies. I stayed at StayOkay-Zeeburg hostel, which I booked through STA Travel. While overpriced in my opinion, it was clean and provided breakfast. I just wish I had my own room instead of sharing it with 4 other guys:/

Small car, even by European standards!

Outside of Centraal Metro Station

Rembrandtplein

Cyd, Ian, Andrew and I went to the Rijks Museum of Art and History and walked all around the city. The public transportation system, minus the buses always being late, was actually quite easy to use. We all bought little metro passes that you have to swipe to get down to the subway, but could also be used for the buses and trams in the city.

The city was really beautiful with all the canals and little bridges, but I was happy to be home in Vienna after a couple days in Amsterdam.

l.Alice, Annie and I at a Paddy O'Brien's Pub

My friend Annie visited me this week in Vienna. She is studying abroad at St. Petersburg, Russia and had a week off from school. It is so interesting to hear about her program. She goes to school at St. Petersburg University and her program has around 70 people. Mine only has 11 people. While I am happy with how my program has turned out, I think her study abroad experience involved a lot more immersion with locals and has allowed her to increase her understanding of the language and culture.

We went to a concert with my school group on Tuesday. It worked out that one student was not going so Annie got his ticket and did not have to pay! It was the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo. I have not been to any concert recently but this was amazing. We had a balcony view overlooking the stage and we were able to see the orchestra clearly. We had to climb a million stairs or so to get to our seats but it was well worth it:)

 Annie left today to head to Slovakia to meet up with some relatives from her father's side of the family, but will be back on Saturday to catch her flight out of Vienna, so I will probably grab dinner with her then:)

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Only one month and eight days until I am back home. I cannot believe my time here has gone so fast! My program ends the 2nd of December and I leave for Israel to visit my relatives on the 6th. I head back to Vienna on the 16th and fly home on the 18th. Hopefully these next couple weeks will force me to update more frequently, seeing as it has been a while since my last post:)

Ljubljana and the Wien Tiergarten

Last weekend (10/15-10/17) we went on our class trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia (pronounced "looo-bleee-yaaawn-nah"). While I did not enjoy waking up at 6:30am to head to the train station, it was a fun weekend.

group photo

The Funicular!

We arrived in Ljubljana after a 6 hour train ride. After getting our room assignments (girls in a 4 bed room and the boys split between another 2 rooms) we made our way to the Ljubljana Castle. We took the funicular up, which is like a little tram, and walked around the grounds. Our guide pointed out the different parts of the city from the top tower of the castle, and showed us the oldest grape vine in the world. It was freezing cold at the tower so I ended up buying a scarf. There are dragon statues all around the town and the castle.                                                       

romantic

 Ljubljana derives its "dragon history" from Jason and the Argonauts. I found out that the story of Robin Hood was actually based in Slovenia in that Castle. We also stumbled into a Slovenian wedding party. How amazing and romantic would it be to get married at a castle?

After a couple hours at the castle, we walked towards a restaurant. It turned out to be an Olympic themed restaurant, showcasing the year that the Olympics came to Slovenia (I think 1987?). After some Bosnian beer, we had some Cevapcici and bread (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%86evap%C4%8Di%C4%87i). After walking back to our room, we stayed up until 10:30pm, watching movies on my laptop. Such a wild night! ;)

The next morning our art history teacher, Markus, gave us a small tour of the Slovenian architecture and then we were free to roam for a couple hours. Ian, Cyd, Andrew and I got some delicious and inexpensive food and then wandered around for a bit. Later on we regrouped with Alice and Rose and went shopping at the booths that were set up along the river. 

For dinner, we went to a great pizza place and then listened to some live music before sitting at a bar and drinking beers.

at Cacao Cafe

Lots of grafitti in Ljubljana, lots of it was this cute pony:)

Sunday morning we walked around some more but it was raining so I was less enthusiastic and was ready to head home to Vienna. Cyd and I got home at 11pm, but we saw snow on the train ride home so it brightened my night.

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London 2008

I had my 4 year anniversary with Cheyney this Thursday! It doesn't feel like its been that long, it just feels natural. Seeing his smile on skype makes me happy, so it must be love ;) He is enjoying his program and I think is really settling into the Santa Cruz life, though he misses Duck games and Eugene. It is hard being away from him and I miss him like crazy, but I am having so much fun over here and every week goes by so fast, I know I will see him before I know it:)

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I wish my summer residence looked like this?!

Today I went to the Tiergarten, or Zoo, with Cyd and Ian. It is based at Schönbrunn Palace, which is only a couple U-Bahn transfers away from our neighborhood. My camera died near the end, so I don't have many pictures of the Palace from atop the hill, but it was breathtaking.

Elephants!

sleepy Orangutan

Giraffes (made me think of Cheyney's mom, Ellen:) I heard they are her favorite animal

The Zoo was so much fun. Cyd and I loved seeing all of the baby animals and I think Ian was just amused at our baby voices that we talked to the animals with. We started out by seeing a Rhino and made our way through Polar Bears, Ringtailed Lemurs, Cheetahs, Penguins, Water Buffalos, Elephants, and Giraffes.

We got lunch at the Kaiser Pavilion and I had Schnitzel and Pommes (fries). Well when we got to the bear pit, I realized I still had my leftover fries in a little package. I went to grab them out and as I did, I flung the packet of ketchup into the bear pit we were overlooking. The bear promptly got out of its little bear swing (if my camera hadn't died, I would have taken lots of pictures of this. Such a cute bear swing). It took him a couple minutes, but he found the packet and devoured the ketchup. Ooops!

lemur

sea lion

Overall it has been a great week. I have my history midterm and my international organizations class midterm on Monday, which stinks. So I will probably spend tonight studying. I also have my German midterm on Thursday, but after that Cyd, Ian, Andrew and I head off to Amsterdam for the long weekend. I'm excited to meet up with my friend Alison there. She is studying in Germany for the year so this will be one of my only chances to see her for a long time. We plan on checking out the Rembrandt museum, as well as the giant AMSTERDAM word structure, and maybe I can convince Ian and Cyd to rent bikes with me and check out some of the country side:)

 

rhino eating leaves

Peccary (mom and baby)

And the weather changes as time goes on...

It has been getting colder and colder in Vienna and it reminds me of Halloween time in Eugene. While I loved it being in the high 60's when I first got here, I am settling in to the cold temperatures that I am used to. Almost makes me feel more at home:)

The beer fest in Leoben was a lot of fun but I have to remember how potent Austrian beer is. It'll be a little bit before I drink any more beer ;)

We didn't end up going to the Hundertwasser Haus last weekend. I'm hoping next week we can go. This week was pretty busy and we leave for Ljubljana, Slovenia tomorrow at 7:39am.

I am pretty excited to go to Slovenia with the group for the weekend and will make sure to take lots of pictures and upload them!

Today, my International Organization class went to OSCE, which is the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. It was really interesting to see how 56 countries can come together through the OSCE and come to peaceful resolutions. They stated that none of the agreements are legally binding, which I think is unusual for many organizations want to be able to legally hold the country responsible if they violate an agreement. But I guess the OSCE is all about discourse and having an open line of communication so that countries' diplomats can yell and scream in person rather than having disagreements escalate to military clashes between countries.

Cyd has been doing a lot of work on the mural in our room. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but our hostmom, Bibi, as soon as she found out Cyd likes to do art, said that she could paint one of our bedroom walls. We are keeping it a surprise from Bibi until Cyd is finished but I will upload pictures of the progress because I think it looks cool!