Salzburg to Hallstatt to Dorfgastein

pictures at kateskraftykorner.blogspot.com

This week has been full of travel. We had the week off of classes and were able to travel around Austria as a group. Thus we went from Studying Abroad to Vacationing Abroad. On Friday we took the train to Salzburg where we stayed at the Gastof Turnerwirt. This hotel was situated just outside the main city with easy public transport in and out. Once we checked in we took a 3 hour guided tour of the city as a group where we saw many of the sites from the Sound of Music. We also saw a restraint that opened 1200 years ago in the year 803. St. Peters Restaurant is right next to the church and opened to serve meals to travelers in that time, our tour guide made sure we knew that over time the menu has of course changed and so have the cooks. After the tour and some dinner we headed down to the river and did another river cruise. The countryside is so green out here. Every hill is covered with long green grass. On the river we got to see the city and place to visit on our stay. A few of us headed to Mozart’s Birth-House after the tour. It is crazy how much the worship Mozart in this country. They have chocolate in the shape of his head, he is on the back of the Austrian Euro and everywhere you look there is some sort of Mozart item.

On Saturday we went up to the fortress that overlooks the city. Because the city was built in the Medieval Period there are only three roads between the river and the fortress. Everything else is built for walking pedestrians. The buildings are super rectangular because owners were only taxed on the side that touched the street. At the top of the hill is the Festung Hohensalzburg (which literally means high Salzburg fortress). Once we got to the top of one of the towers we were able to see a 360 degree view of the city and countryside. It was amazing; I would not mine living here forever. After the fortress we went to the Schloss Hellbrunn (Hellbrunn Palace) which was built for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg as a day residence in the summer. The main attractions here are the trick fountain conceived by Markus Sittikus. Hidden around the grounds are fountains that can be turned on at any time. For example the Prince had a table in which all of his friends sit around and drink on a hot summer day. Little known to them is the fact that a fountain shouts up out of the middle of every seat except for the Prince’s. Unfortunately I volunteered to sit at the table before I knew what was happening I got a lot of water up the backside of my pants.

Sunday morning we attended Mass in the Salzburg cathedral. It was the start of the Salzburg Festival so all of the music was a tribute to Mozart. Only one of the five organs in the Cathedral was used for the mass. That’s right there are five organs that are still in use today in the cathedral. Although mass was in German it was very entertaining to look around at all the art work and sculpture work all over the walls. I am amazed and the talent and skill the people have in those days to produce such grand pieces. Later that evening we went to dinner with the group to a typical Austrian Restaurant. Katelyn and I ordered the family meal (which we now believe was meant for a family of 5). Needless to say we ate all of the traditional Austrian dishes in one sitting—Schnitzel, Pork, Goulash, Mashed Potatoes, Bread Dumplings, Apple Strudel and Chocolate Cake. And yes we finished it all.

Monday morning we packed up and took a bus to a small lake town in the Alps called Hallstatt. This is a small village nested between a Glacier Lake and the side of a mountain. Inside the mountain is the oldest salt mine in the world. All the economy here is based on tourism and the salt mine. Monday was full of souvenir shopping at all of the little shops along the only street in town. Tuesday we were able to take a tour of the Salt Mine. We wore these special red suits that were reinforced on the back side with leather. This reinforcement came in handy when we went down the wooden slides within the mine. In order to get from one level to the next we slide down. One of the slides was 209 feet long and Katelyn and I reached a speed of 27.4 kilometers per hour. We were told that mining in this area has going on at the same time the Egyptians were building the pyramids. After the salt mine we went and saw the “Bone-House”. There was not enough space in the cemetery to continue to bury people so the church would pull the bodies out ten years after the burial and clean the bones and paint the skulls. The bones were then stacked in a room with the skulls displayed above. The day ended with the traditional Polar Bear Plunge. Around 10 pm we ran from our hotel to a park along the lake and jumped off the diving board into the freezing glacier water. Even our program director participated.

After all that fun in Hallstatt it was time to hit the road again and head the Ski Resort town of Dorfgastein. The town has a population of a couple hundred and is very popular in the Ski Season. Being summer and all there are not very many tourists or travelers around, just the locals. Here we have had a lot of down time. It is really nice. We can just chill and enjoy the beauty of the green mountains surrounding us. Thursday morning we hiked up to the Strohlehen Alm where they make cheese. They started from scratch and showed us how they go from start to finish with a block of cheese. On Friday we walked up to another Alm where they make bread. We were able to make our own sourdough loaf of bread. I shaped mine like a “Y” to rival Daniels, the lone Utah student with the group, “U” shaped dough. Both alms provided exquisite views of the Alps and the green Austrian country side. Later today we are going to take the train “home” to Vienna where we have only a week and a half left in this wonderful adventure.

Strudels, Schnitzels and Sausages

This week was filled with lots of German Study and free time to visit sites on our own. On Monday we started off our week with a trip to the Belvedere. This is a former palace turned into an art museum. Amongst all the art there was a marble hall with elaborate decorations. The best thing however was that the seats were velvet covered yoga balls. Who knew you could do yoga while looking at art. Later in the evening we had dinner at FHE and played games with the group.

Tuesday we had a regular Humanities class, studied German, and had a Peppered Potato Pancake Panda Party. We went to the Isaak’s apartment and had dinner, which included a mix of potatoes and peppers with a side of pancakes. After taking care of Study Abroad housekeeping stuff we watched Kung Fu Panda in German. It was really nice to have a relaxing yet fulfilling day here in Vienna. So far we have been leaving the apartment around 8:30 and not coming home till 10:30 or 11 so we can explore all this wonderful city has to offer. Before the Party something we went to the Stadtpark (City Park) and walked around. They had a beautiful decorated fountain with bronze sculptures on top. Then I realized that it was actually a drinking fountain. Needless to say things are a little classier over here.

Wednesday morning we spent our time studying for our big German test on Thursday. In the afternoon we relieved some stress and checked out the natural history museum. The dinosaurs we out traveling until October, but everything else was really cool. They had an exhibit of the Venus of Willendorf. That wood carving was soo old and tiny. They had an entire dimly lit room set apart just for it. Its amazing to thing about how old civilization really is and how far we have come technology wise. After the museum we decided to go to the Volgsgarden before eating a late dinner at the LDS institute. This was built as a public garden during the Hofburg Empire. It is very elaborate with flower gardens and sculptures. It has a replica of the Temple to Athena in the middle. On our way we passed the Hofburg Palace and stuch our head into St. Michaels church. Once again it was amazing. I loved this one because it had some original work and walls from the 1200’s as well as paintings from the same time period. I was in awe that I was touching something that was around 900 years old.

Yesterday, Thursday, we headed to the Schöbrunn Palace were we attended a cooking class and sampled their royal Apple Strudel. We will see if I can replicate it when we get back to the statesw. The dough was spread really thin and thrown about like a pizza. I guess if it doesn’t turn out I will have fun throwing dough around the kitchen. We then headed over to the royal carriage museum which had carriages used by Franz Joseph and Maria Teresa. My favorite was the “hunting” carriage used by one of the princes. It had a revolving seat and his servants would round up game and herd it towards him. It seems a little lazy even to an American like me. Afterwards we headed to a local Café where Katelyn was able to get warm soup (it was cold and rainy). I had Schnitzel Sandwich. It closely resembles a decked out thin breaded chicken breast sandwich. The portions were very large and the bill for both of us including the tip was six and a half euros. Sometime this we I also had a bratwurst hotdog which was juicy and fantastic. The food here is amazing and there is so much variety that we can try new things every day. Now I am on a train heading to more fun in SALZBURG.

Vienna Week Four and CASTLE

This week was full of a lot of German study and field trips for Humanities. On Tuesday we went on a tour of the Austrian Parliament. The building itself has a heavy Greek and Roman influence. It is interesting that they still do not use technology when they take a vote, if one vote’s yea they stand up and if they wish to note nay, they stay seated. Then they simply count the number of people standing and sitting. One of the assembly halls is insanely decorated with Greek statues and large murals. After the tour and German class we got some rest before seeing a Harry Potter double feature as a group. The English theatre showed Part 1 of the seventh movie at 9pm and then the Midnight showing of Part 2. That’s right we saw it 2 days before it came out in the states. It was really fun to go as a group and even though I didn’t get into the books, I really enjoyed the both movies.

On Wednesday we went to one of the former apartments of Beethoven. There was not very much original stuff; however they had a time period piano and such. It was a really hot day so we went to get Ice Cream, Viennese style. We went to a café and had what they call Spaghetti Ice Cream. They take vanilla ice cream and run it through a grater so is looks like spaghetti, then they topped it with a strawberry sauce and shredded coconut chips on top. On Thursday we had a big German test so we studied all morning. In the afternoon we went as a group to Café Central. It was one of the oldest ones in Vienna until destroyed in the war. It was rebuilt and opened again in the 1980’s. I was like a five star restaurant specializing in Hot Coco, Coffee and Cake. The building was supper fancy much like most of the royal building we have been going to.

On Thursday we also ate at a random Mexican place that we found. Four of us started talking to the waiter who didn’t know English so I talked in Spanish and made conversation. After a while we found out that he was actually from Brazil. I found it really funny that we were eating at Mexican place in Europe with a Brazilian waiter (Note the representation of 3 different Continents). Needless to say we had some really good chicken tacos. On Friday we ate dinner with our Host Mom. She feeds us dinner once a week, and it is always a three course meal. This week we had soup, gulasch, and cake. The closest thing to gulasch in the states would be a thin stew. We are starting to understand her better now that we know some German. (She doesn’t speek English very well and mixes words between English and German).

This weekend we went on a Bike Trip to a town about an hour outside Vienna called Melk. We took a bus to Melk Abbey, which is a school / monastery / museum. It was so amazing. In the Museum part they had a different room for each era of history as it related to the history of the Abbey. There were around 400 rooms and 1365 windows in the connecting buildings that make up the building. It was massive. The highlight was the Cathedral. The only way to describe it would be Baroque architecture on steroids. There was gold everywhere and on top of that they had just had a celebration so there were massive rose circles hanging from the ceiling.

After the tour of the Abbey we went to a local hotel and rented bikes. We rode on a 23 mile bike trail (similar to the Centennial Trail in Spokane or the Provo River Trail). It was really cool because we rode through some really small towns and villages. The houses were really small and the streets were very compact and skinny. Some of the way was paved with cobble stone. Let’s just say that I have a new appreciated for the difficulty on stages in the Tour de France that have cobblestone. The best part about the bike ride was the Castle we found. We parked our bikes at the bottom of a hill along the trail and hiked to the top where there were remnants of an old castle. I thought it was sooo cool. One of the towers still had the original stairs and we also walked down into the dungeon. I found is amazing that a structure built so long ago without today’s technology and on such a grand scale would still be standing.

When we got back to Vienna we headed to a pasta place that makes the sauce right in front of you. They have all the fresh ingredients in front of them (I mean really fresh as the herbs were growing in pots and they just picked them off). They mix the ingredients into the sauce you want and mix in the pasta, then you take it to your table and enjoy. It was delicious.

And as always, because internet is very slow here and we do not have access to it very much all the pictures are posted on Katelyn’s Facebook as soon as possible.

Prague Trip Part 2

I found it easier to just type up my blog at home and paste upload it when I have internet. Lots ( and i mean lots) of pictures are on Katelyn's Facebook if you want to check them out.

Trip to Prague Part 2

This weekend we had Friday off of school so we headed off to Prague in the Czech Republic. It was such an amazing city. Early Friday morning we boarded a train in Vienna. The seats were separated into compartments of six people. Katelyn and I had 2 others from our group with us (Alyssa and Rachel). The rest of our group (8 people) sat in the adjoining compartments. It was so cool to ride a train. The countryside we passed was so green and there were random sunflower meadows. A guy from New York, who had been living in Europe was sitting in our compartment and told us that Prague was going to blow our minds. We arrived and were astonished that he was right.

Once we got to the train station we purchased 3 day metro passes and headed straight to the hotel. We did not know exactly where the hotel was, all we knew was that it was closed to Krizikova subway station. Being professionals at public transportation we arrived without problem at the Hotel Brno. The hotel turned out to be exactly was we expected. We got the room for really cheap and read that is was a great location but nothing great as far as the hotel itself goes. The room barely fit two twin beds pushed together and the shower had no walls so the bathroom got wet every time we used it. The only thing above average for this hotel was the great continental breakfast. This was great because we left early in the morning and came back late at night each day and only used the hotel to shower and sleep.

Friday night after we checked into the hotel we wandered around the city a little bit and found the Spanish Synagogue. We were not allowed to take pictures, so I spent my time cherishing the magnificent nature of the building. There was gold everywhere and elaborate and vibrant colored stained glass. I still cannot explain how much I love the stained glass in all of the places we have been going. The colors are nothing close to today and the detail cannot be matched. After the synagogue we decided to take a walk to find somewhere to eat. We found the perfect restaurant, an Italian restaurant on a boat anchored on the side of the Vltava River. From our table we could see the water, Charles Bridge, and Prague Castle which overlooks the city. The food was once again amazing. And our favorite part was paying in the Czech currency. Our bill was 500 k. I paid with 200 k. bills and felt like I was throwing down some serious money, that is until I did the conversion and realized that I had only spent 22 Euros on a scenic dinner for two. After dinner we went on a one hour 9 euro river cruise. The tour took us around the main city along the river and we were able to see where a lot of the main attractions were.

Saturday we got up early and guided ourselves around the city looking at local monuments and churches. We went to St. Nicolas’s Cathedral where I joked that Santa must have been catholic and Czech. We walked around the Old Town square and did dome shopping. In the afternoon we joined a walking tour that walked through the city and up to Prague castle. The cathedral that is part of the castle complex was the most stunning building there, our guide told us that it took over 600 years to construct. There was a lot of original Stained Glass which I loved. (A lot of the stained glass in the cathedrals we have been going to was destroyed in World War 2). Saturday night after the tour we at a typical Czech restaurant where I had pork with bacon wrapped green beans. Around 8 we walked down to the rived and rented pedal boats to cool off and have some fun. We ended the night with a almost daily ritual…an ice cream run. The ice cream in Prague was really good, just one problem. When they say one scoop, what they really mean is that they are going to take a small ice cream scooper and fill it with ice cream then flatted off the top so it’s just a hemisphere. To put this into perspective my waffle cone fit 2 scoops without getting to the top of the cone. I am grateful to be back in Vienna where the ice cream is just as good and way bigger.

Sunday morning we headed to church. Church was in the first floor of the mission home. It was really nice because they have headsets to translate into English. There are a lot of international people in the branch and the most common language other than Czech is English. After church we rode the metro up to the observation tower on the other side of the river and spent the afternoon enjoying the large rose gardens up overlooking the city until it was time to take the train back home. On the ride home there were 3 of us with seats in our compartment and the others were empty. We folded them all down which created a large flat bed and had a very comfortable ride home.

Prater and Prague

The first couple of pictures are of our 4th of July Party at the local Theme Park. We ate as a group at the park. They gave us the leg of a pick (in first picture) and we cut the meat right off. It was good food. The highlight of the night was not the food but the crazy rides. I am pretty sure the bumper cars were banned from the states and shipped over here. They had pictures of American landmarks including Utah. The cars went supper fast. There were times when we got airborn with head-on collisions. Everyone got bruises on there legs from getting thrown around the car. It was soo fun. Not to mention that half the time our car could only go backwards. We then found another ride that seemed to dangerous for the states. Many amusement parks have swings that spin in a circle. This was the same type of thing expect it went up to a max height of 400 feet above the ground!!! Our group was screaming so loud that our coordinator heard us from the other side of park and came to take a few pics. Further down I have pics of our trip to Prague.

This weekend we took the train to Prague and spent 3 days exploring the city and taking a break from classes. The first pic is in the St. Nicolas Cathedral. I guess Santa is catholic and Czech. We took a walking tour in order to see the sights we took a walking tour. We got a picture at the John Lennon wall, which is also the only legal place for graffiti. If you look inside the first "L" you can see a BYU tag that we found from a previous group. There are also pictures of downtown and Charles Bridge from the view of our rented pedal boats. We also ate on the river, the crazy thing is the exchange rate between Czech Krowns and the euro. Our dinner for two on the river was 500 Krowns. That's right we paid with 3 bills worth 200 a piece and spent only 22 Euros.

Our group in the Daily Universe

Here is a link to the story published in the Daily Unierse about our trip.

http://universe.byu.edu/node/16495

Vienna

We arrived in Vienna on Monday and stayed in a hotel the first night. We started school today. I can now count and say the days of the week in German. YAY! Yesterday we went to the market and ate some Turkish food. It was the first time I ordered anything in German, but they understood. Maybe it was because 9 of us were all getting the same thing. Theses are basically lamb, lettuce, tomato, onion sandwiches topped with a yogurt sauce and spices, put in a pita bread. Its called a Doner Sandwich. We have basically been shopping by looking at pictures and pointing. Its been way fun. Well we are off to the opera.