Vacation!

   This travelling and semester abroad stuff is hard work- so what better way to escape it all than with a vacation! The Fakultäten (departments) at TU Graz have a tradition of taking interested students on Excursions during the semester to show them applications of what they are learning. I signed up for the Wasserbau (Hydraulic/civil Engineering, paid €25, and was swept off on a 2 day, all inclusive tour of water projects:
Montag, 23.05.2011 (click read more)

Diagram of the dam- we were inside!

• 7:00 Abfahrt: TU Graz, Institut für Wasserbau und Wasserwirtschaft We were given a sack breakfast of fruit, snack bar, and two Austrian-style breakfast sandwiches (cheese and meat on fresh rolls) and loaded onto the bus. I sat next to Rosie, a girl who I had met at the Wasserbau stammtisch a month or so before. She preferred to speak German, so we did! Fantastic!
• 8:45 Ankunft Speicher Koralpe (1) A rock fill dam with asphalt cutoff wall in Kärnten/Carinthia 
• KW Lavamünd (2) The power plant (KW is short for Kraftwerk) is part of a project which pumps water up to a series of reservoirs and then lets it down through turbines. Relatively green energy storage!
• 12:15 Ankunft Mittagessen, Lavamünd A video presentation of the construction of the KW that we had just toured at a Gasthaus. Schnittzle and pommes all around- the lady didn't understand vegetarian and brought Rosie a mountain of french fries. I took the schnitzle plate and gave the meat to the guys :)
• 15:30 Ankunft KW Moste und Zavrsnica (3,4) Slovenia's oldest dam. The origional powerhouse is still there as a sort of museum- reminded me of Grandpa's shop, somehow!

Cremeschnitte- my weakness

• Einchecken im Hotel Krim (Bled), Ljubljanska cesta 7, 4260 BLED Three star hotel on the main drag, short walk from the water, and I scored my own room. I also scored at a store sale in downtown Bled- 3 shirts at 60% off

• ca. 19:30 Abendessen: Bar und Restaurant Chilli Big fantastic dinner with my friend Lars and a couple of Austrian guys, finished off with Cremeschnitte and and sitting out on the patio with KWB classmates. 

Dienstag, 23.05.2011

• 8:30 Abfahrt Hotel Krim (Bled) Woke up early to sunrise over the east edge of the alps and went on a stunning morning walk around Bled. Breakfasted with department chair Prof. Zenz, Geog, Johann, and another Cremeschnitte. We talked in a mix of english and deutsch- Geog told me that if I really liked staying here so much I needed an Austrian boyfriend ;)

• 9:30 Ankunft Universität Ljubljana (5) huuuge model that Prof Zenz laughed at me when I spashed through the huge  model river with my rolled up jeans and chacos. 
• 12:15 Ankunft Mittagessen in Ljubljana MORE amazing lunch. Strudel for dessert. Yikes!
• 15:50 Ankunft Grenzmur (6) Basically the waterway had been heavily straightened, they put it back in a natural state. and then built a huge double helix tower so that people on the bike path could check out their work.

• 19:20 Ankunft TU Graz, Institut für Wasserbau und Wasserwirtschaft  the bus was sooo hot... 

It was really hot, but for me the vacation was just what i needed. I spoke more deutsch in 2 days than I do normally in a week, saw so many cool engineering things, ate too much really good food... My body was exhausted and stuffed, but my mind was refreshed :)

Pancake breakfast

Sunday brunch in Top 24

Click on the slideshow to go to the album.

Becks visits Budapest

Monday, Me: "have any plans for next weekend?"
Ruth: "no, why" "'cause i was thinking about going to Budapest."
As we were falling asleep Wednesday, Ruth asked "is there anything that would keep you from going this weekend?"
"No, but my KWB project is due Friday. But if we can finish it tomorrow and go Friday/Saturday..."
   Thursday evening I left the Zeichensaal at 9.30 with the KWB project finished.
Ruth: "I'm not going to lecture tomorrow. Budapest?"
And so began the adventure...
   By now the train system is routine for me. Get up at 6.00, leave for the station by 7.00, train leaves at 7.25. Arrive in Vienna at 10.00. I was a little slow pulling things together and we were both running on around 6 hours of sleep, but we parked our bikes and bought our tickets with plenty of time to spare. Four hours later the landscape flattened out and the announcements started coming in Magyar, Deutsch, and English- our first minutes in Hungary! We snagged a visitor's guide (German, they were out of English) from the info booth at the main train station and stepped out into the bustling streets of Pest. (Click read more)

   We had a rough idea of where to go and pointed ourselves towards Andrássy Út, one of the main boulevards. Even along the tree-shaded sidewalks it was rather toasty (80°) and after pulling 10,000 Hungarian Forints out of an ATM we were pretty set on finding lunch. BarLadino was just the ticket- Great food (I enjoyed my salad and bacon-johgurt sauced Hungarian Spätzle almost as much as Ruth did her Chickenburger) at a great price, €15 for both of us. We were really liking Budapest!

The rest of Day 1 involved a lot of walking: to the Basillica, over the Danube, up to the statue of St. Gellért, along the bottom of the Castle district to the mall, through the mall, and towards our hostel... at least, we thought we were going to our hostel. Ruth booked Grand Hostel Budapest and I had found its location on google maps before we left. But after 30 minutes of walking we were jumping at every yellow building near the road. The folks that we asked in the park and at the tram stop directed us towards Grand Hotel Budapest 500 m down the road... a km or so later we followed a sign to a pension, where the kind fellow at the desk directed us back to the main road we had been following. After 2 hours of  wandering we were finally there- a free welcome drink (mojito) never tasted so good! Despite loud neighbors and nearby trams, Ruth and I both agreed that we slept better that night than any other first night in a hostel.
   I jumped on the free WiFi before bed to check e-mail and Dad was on Gmail chat. I think I suprised him when my message popped up on his screen, "hello from Budapest," because his response was "Budapest?" "I thought Mom would tell you..."

   We went to bed so early last night that when day 2 started at 7.30 both Ruth and I felt completely refreshed. We rode the tram 5-10 minutes back to town and had fruit and local pastry in the park where we had asked for directions the evening before. Then we walked up the hill to the Castle district. Mathias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion are stunning! Neo-gothic stone work accented with a colourfully tiled roof for the first and rounded, organic towers and walks for the second. The view over Pest and the Danube aren't bad, either!

    There must have been some sort of even going on today, because first we saw a small cavalry unit dressed for show, then a military unit, then a brass band as we walked along the hill crest towards the "castle." The actual castle is only ruins, but the palace had a festival market outside selling hand crafts and food (read: more Hungarian pastries).
   Ruth and I had some successful shopping (besides pastries) and then stumbled into an archery field in the castle ruins. My first reaction when I saw the setup was "Hey Ruth- Butts!" which i realized a split second later was not the thing to say to someone who was not a student of medieval history. I couldn't resist giving it a try, though- what fun!
   We climbed down the hill, crossed the Danube on the Chain Bridge, and after a long walk finally made it to our next destination: the Grand Market. This buidling and market make Granville and Pike's Place look second-rate. Beautiful iron work and lines of stalls selling fresh fruits and veggies, sausages, pork knuckles and heads, and paprika (peppers) however you'd like. Dried and braided, sweet, spicy, ground, sauce... Paprika is a major ingredient in Hungarian cooking, as we discovered at lunch. Amazingly good! The upstairs was mostly a tourist market, but nevertheless fun to walk through. Hand-stitched table cloths and runners, leather and wood work, painted wooden dolls and eggs. So many bold colours and geometric designs.
   From the Grand Market it was just a few blocks to the national museum. Again, we found a festival market set up on the grounds all around the museum. There were hands-on historical and cultural activities for kids, food, artisans, traditional costume, and music. As a bonus, the museum was free that day! It was great to take off our backpacks and steep ourselves in over 1000 years of Hungarian history. I saw everything stirrups from aroudn 1000 AD (Hungarians were some of the first Europeans to use stirrups) to an ear and hand from a massive Stalin statue which had been blown up in a revolt after he died. It was especially interesting to see the Hungarian point of view concerning the Austrian empire, having already visited Vienna and hearing the Imperial stories.

We finally walked from the museum back to the train station caught the 17.10 RailJet back to Vienna. Unfortunately we were slow across Hungary and we had to wait for a later train from Vienna, which puts me at where I am now: sitting on the familiar train to Graz, just now approaching Bruck on der Mur. In an hour I will be back home, post this, and crash. Tomorrow I am making (American) pancakes for a bunch of people, studying, and re-couping before I take off for the water engineering department's 2-day road trip through Slovenia.
Hope all is well, leave me a comment!

A little history...

Some background on the Magyar people
Originally, Buda and Pest were separate cities occupying the west and east banks of the river Duna (Donau/Danube). The Romas had a settlement there which was followed by a town. Parts of medieval Buda, including the Mathias Church, sit on a hill which was fortified in the 13th century by king Béla against invading Turks. When the Turks finally overran Hungary in the mid-1500's, they turned the church into a mosque. Not all of the 150 year occupation was a bummer for the Hungarians. When the Turks were ousted they left behind a series of naturally heated baths and ornate aribesque-like art. The next major occupation for Hungary came when it joined the Austrian empire in the 19th century. Maria Theresa's portrait is in many halls in Budapest! Many of the Neo-Gothic constructions and renovations date from this period, including the Mathias church re-model, the Fisherman's Bastion, Parliament, and the Chain Bridge (which connected Buda and Pest in 1849).
Unfortunately the dual-monarchy meant that Hungary was dragged into WW1. In 1919 it was its own state, which really didn't mean much to the Germans and Russians who rolled back and forth through the region 25 years later. Most of the major buildings and bridges have been re-built at least once as a result of the wars. Post-war Hungary set origionally had free elections, but the elected government formed a coalition with the Communists and were eventually edged out. Despite a revolution in 1956 the communist party ran Hungary until 1989, when the barbed wire fence separating Hungary from Austria was finally cut.

I just discovered Google Maps...

Check it out! Where I have been so far...


View Semester Travels in a larger map

And tomorrow morning, off to Budapest! G'night, all!

Eastern Styria: Castle Riegersburg and Zotter chocolate

   It's time for the Weekend Update! This Saturda's Ausflug went to eastern Styria, a land of green hills draped with small farms and orchards. The landscape is dominated by the castle Riegersburg, which sits at the tip of an old volcanic outcropping. We took the cable tram up the hill and walked over to the raptor park which is on the hill's lower slope. There was a show with owls, a falconry demonstration, vultures, and the first bald eagle I have seen in five months. Really beautiful birds! The show was completely in German, but I understood more than 80% without a problem- woot!

   After the show we went up to the fotress itself. Riegersburg was one of the border fortifications against Hungarian and Turkish invasions starting in the 13th or 14th centuries. From the 16th to 18th centuries it was the site of several witch hunts and trials. We walked through the Hexenmuseum and I was surprised that the witch phobia was sweeping through the northeastern American colonies at about the same time. Today, the castle is owned by a "von Lichtenstien". Yes, the nephew (or cousin or something like that!) of the royal family in the country of Lichtenstien! The aristocracy is alive and well in Europe!

   Our third and final stop was at the Zotter chocolate factory a few km away. After touring the "edible zoo" (a collection of animals that we eat, built to raise awareness that at one time the meat in your hamburger was alive) we entered the factory, museum, and Genussweg (pleasure path). We sampled cocoa beans, liquid chocolate from 10-100% cocoa, compared different bar chocolates with everything from flowers to yoghurt to green tea to pumpkin seed mixed in, flavored drinking chocolate (stirred into hot milk), chocolate balls rolled around pieces of fruit/nuts/whatever in miniature copper cement mixers, and finally bars where a flavored filling was sandwitched between the chocolate layers. Everyone had a little bit of a chocolate hangover on the way home!

101 days of Europe

   The highlight of my 100th day in Graz was Marietje's birthday party. Marietjen (middle in the photo) taught us all a series of traditional Belgian dances, complete with live music! The first two of were in a circle and we rotated partners so that all the girls danced with all of the guys- I can now say that I have danced with a dude wearing Lederhosen, lol. 

   I can still hardly believe that it has been  as long as my calendar says. I have just crossed the triple-digit line for time spent on the east side of the Atlantic. So, I started thinking about what has happened since February 2nd... 

   My first impressions of Graz and Austria have certainly changed. I didn't really like Graz when I first stepped off the train (or Vienna, for that matter!). It was cold, gray, and smelled (PM, NOx, SOx, ozone... for my Sci friends). None of the streets are parallel, so my usual map-making system could not fit everything onto a convenient grid. Now I appreciate the treasures tucked into the crooked corners and am always amazed at how lovely (but balanced) the weather is. Really, coloured buildings pop against a blue sky, rather than gray!

Back to "normal"

   Well, classes have started again. Two new ones on my schedule: my project management course is in a four hour block on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, and technical writing is through WSU Online. They should be balanced by the two courses that I am wrapping up at TU Graz in the next week or so. If I pass, I will have fulfilled my design and lab requirements at WSU. Woohoo! The next step is to petition to have my Austrian Lanugage and Culture course count for my multi-cultural studies credit at WSU. How can studying abroad not get you cross-cultural credit? Especially when your classmates are from literally all over the world- Japan, Macedonia, Russia...
All this work is making me wish that I was back here:

Even so, it feels good be back in Graz and into some form of my normal routine!

Leave me a comment, they make my day!

Family tour of Graz and Salzburg

   I just said goodbye to Mom and Dad at the train station here in Graz after two and a half days in Graz and two days in Salzburg. Tuesday morning we snagged some Kuchen at the market and took the tram out to Schloß Eggenburg and toured the museums and houses. The gardens around the big yellow building are full of blue peacocks. In one corner of the grounds there was an archeology museum with pieces from the Hallstatt period through the Romans. Dad had a great time translating grave stones! The palace also had beautiful "State" rooms, an art collection, and a coin museum because the builder was head of the Hapsburg mint.
   On our way back into town, we stopped by the "Friendly Alien" for a quick walk through the modern art exhibits and a lovely view over Graz. (click "read more")

   Wednesday morning Mom and Dad took a walk around town and then we went up Scloßburg. The sunny day and gardens were lovely. The rest of the afternoon was spent touring Graz. Mom, Dad, and Ruth went into the Landeszeughaus while I replaced the cell phone that I lost somewhere between Vienna and Bilbao.
   Thursday morning we took our rented Skoda Fabia and drove south to Leibniz for a quick visit to the only Roman ruin in Styria and to pick up bread for our picnic later on. Then we turned around and drove northwest through the Salzkammergut to Salzburg. We dropped our bags at Hotel-Pension Adlerhof and then went up to the Mozart Geburtshaus (birth house) and the castle Hohensalzburg.

   Friday we were up early, had breakfast at the Pension, and walked through the Mirabell gardens on our way to the Panorama museum... visited the old catacombs built into the Monchsburg... ate Bretzen in Universitätsplatz... saw the horse fountain, which is the medieval equivalent of a modern car wash... shopped... visited Mozarts living house...
   The first of our last two stops on the way out of Salzburg was at the Untersbergbahn, which we rode up to the top of the mountain. To the east the Monchsberg and castle looked almost flat, but to the south and west the Alps were at eye level. Ruth's and my phones both informed us that we were practically in Germany!
   Our very last stop was at Schloß Hellbrunn. This time we did not do the trick fountain tour, but just enjoyed the grounds. Mom was a little sad that the Sound of Music pavilion was locked, but the grounds were still wonderful!

   Well, now Mom and Dad should be on their plane heading west. Hugs to all!

Wiener Parents, ja!

   Mom and Dad were subjected to essentially the same Vienna tour that I did with my friends about a month ago, so you should recognize the locations of some of the pictures! We took the U-Bahn into downtown and did a walking tour around Stephansplatz and the Dom, down the main shopping streets (Dad was not as amused as Mom and I that "douglas" is the name of a makeup store chain), past the Oper (where Mom met a charming gentleman selling Mozart tickets), and through the Hofburg.

   In the afternoon we headed out to Schönbrunn and walked up to the Gloriette through the gardens. The weather started out clear and sunny, but by the time that we reached the huge summer palace it was a little cloudy, though not unpleasant! Mom and Dad went on a tour of the imperial apartments while I explored the Carriage House- Ana, it is definitely going on our list! 

   Over the next 24 hours we also made stops by the Hundertwasser houses, Belvedere palace and gardens, the Nachsmarkt, parliament, Stadpark, Manner chocolate store,  and espresso and tortes (including Sacher) at a Viennese Café/Konditorei... by the time that we finally got on the train to Graz, Mom and Dad were pretty exhausted!

  

Donostia/San Sebastian

   Kike invited us to visit him at 'work' in San Sebastian Friday morning. I had never been in a studio before and was amazed by the brightness and business of the MKLZ set! There was so much going on at the same time, both obvious  and behind the scenes. People running around controlling cameras and cueing the audience, sound and video mixing in the upstairs booths (sooo many buttons!), and Kike and his co-host Ilaski talking while a producer was whispering into their ear buds. A guy named Julian gave us a tour of the entire studio building, including the sets of a news program, tv show, and even a green screen stage. Afterwords we watched them film an episode of MKLZ and got to walk around the set. Basically we were given the vip treatment- and it was so much fun! A huge thanks to the MKLZ/EiTB/Amonarriz crews for their hospitality and the experience!
    After lunch at home we drove back to Donostia to explore the city. It is really different from what I have seen anywhere else. The buildings are "new" compared to others in Europe, having been re-built after the Napoleanic wars. They are a warm sandy colour and arranged along straight, orderly streets. The windows above the street level are lined with flower pots and have flags hanging from them. After months of the twisted passages and painted facades in Austria, Donostia was a little bit of a shock. I think that to really appreciate the city I would need to go back and spend a few weeks, maybe a month, living it. (click read more)

   Liere (Sister 3) came back from a week of hiking in the afternoon, and while she recovered from her adventures Mom, Dad, and I stopped by the Tolosa puppet museum and explored town. When I finally wandered back to A-Z HQ, Mom, Gurutze, and Jone were busy in the kitchen making Nanaimo bars. It brought back so many memories of the last two summers! That evening we all went out for dinner (less Sister 1, who had to work) at the restaurant that we visited my first day in Tolosa. More Kroketas and cider!

   Saturday, being our last day with the A-Z family, we decided to go and take a more relaxed morning in Donostia. After a tourist's pilgrimage to the Peine de los Vientos sculpture, Dad and Kike split to visit another fishing town just east of Donostia. The five of us girls went to a fabric store- although not before stopping for a coffee first! Mom and Gurutze found some inspiration and supplies for new projects, and I found a small Basque-English dictionary at the fantastic bookstore next door. A few hours later we met up with Dad and Kike for a last meal before leaving for the airport. It was, of course, pintxos at a nearby bar :) With many an Eskerrik Asko (thank you) and goodbye hugs, we said our final goodbyes at a rest stop where the highway splits between Tolosa and Bilbao.

First day with the parents- Bizkaia

   Mom and Dad got in to Tolosa around 10 pm Wednesday evening, just in time for another dinner. Kike opened a bottle of local cider, which was shared over shrimp and a seafood and rice dish prepared by Gurutze (really, she is a fantastic chef!). After our meal, she and Jone took us over to Kike's sister's new house, which they had prepared for us to sleep at. We all crashed within a few minutes and slept like logs.
   Thursday morning launched another whirlwind tour of the basque country, this time in the province of Biskaia. We started with a visit to Gernika (Guernica), the historic seat of the Basque government which was bombed in 1937 by the Luftwaffe as a sort of pre-war target practice. Next, we walked through Bermeo and introduced Mom and Dad to pintxos and pelota. The sun was out and it seemed like most of the town with it- the waterfront park was packed. Kike hosts a show called MKLZ on the Basque television, so wherever we walked people would recognize him and stop to chat. I realized why the Amonarriz family goes to France for vacation!
   We drove a little ways along the coast from Bermeo for lunch, finally stopping at a place overlooking the mouth of the river that flows through Gernika. Rather than a muddy delta there was a wide, sandy beach with evenly breaking waves and aquamarine water. Kike and Gurutze insisted on treating us to lunch. I ordered a local dish made of little stuffed squid in a black ink/tomato sauce- I know that it sounds a little strange, but it was actually very very good! We decided that it was a little bit like Dad's steamed muscles in the northwest- the locals love it, but everyone else thinks they're crazy until they actually try it! We walked down to a nearby beach after lunch and explored a little harbor full of txalupas. Dad counted three boat launches and wanted to know why Anacortes couldn't have even one in town.

   The last stop on our tour was Bilbao, beginning with the Guggenheim. We didn't go through the museum, but everyone we talked to said that the best piece there was the building itself! We played around the sculptures outside and then walked along the river to the oldest part of town, where we had coffee in a square which at one time was an old bull ring. Compared to the other Basque towns, Bilbao is very cosmopolitan and just plain big- but it still had an Ikurrinia flying from the town hall (next to the Spanish flag, as required... although Tolosa gets away with only flying the Basque flag!).
   After dinner that night we went to a festival in nearby Lazkao and enjoyed some traditional music and dance. The central town square was set with a stage, lights, and great entertainment. The lead was on an accordian, accompanied by a bassist, drummer, a unique flute, and guitar/lute. The musicians were joined often by dancers. Fun fun!

bah, I am seriously behind- 1.5 days in Donostia yet to cover and then 2 in Vienna, and we have already been one day in Graz- I apologize for my long-windedness and promise to get caught up!

Kaixo, Euskal Herria!

What a whirlwind of a week! Let me see if I can put together what happened, more or less...

   My second day in the Basque Country, Gurutze, Kike, and Jone took me on a driving tour of their part of the Basque Country. The car ride alone was worth flying across Europe- the roads wound around, over, and through mountains as green as I have ever seen and along a shoreline that made Chukanut look tame. Our first stops were Zarautz and Zumaia, two picture-perfect coastal towns in Gipuzkoa. We walked along the harbors and climbed the steep stone streets to enjoy stunning views over the Bay of Biscay and the coast. Each town has a stone harbor filled with Txalupak (small work boats) and a dockside that reminded me a bit of home. The cool, breezy weather meant that the sandy beaches were nearly deserted- they will be packed as the weather warms up! 

   Our drive back to Tolosa took us through Asteasu, which Kike explained to me was the home town of author Bernardo Atxaga. Part of his book Obabakoak (which Kike was surprised to hear that I had read- thanks, Em!) takes place driving to the fictional town of Obaba on the non-fictional mountain road to Asteasu. The journey and stone town were even better in reality than imagined from the story. Absolutely lovely!

When we arrived back in Tolosa Jone and I were dropped off at a favorite kafétegia (café)/hang out spot for young people in Tolosa, where I learned a new version of BC from Jone and her friends before we walked over to their garage to hang out until dinner. (Click "read more"...)

   Wednesday started with a trip into what Gurutze described as "deep Gipuzkoa," which fits the geographic location of Ordizia as much as the shade of green it is wrapped in. It was a market day and a festival for moving the sheep from town up to the summer pastures in the mountains. Sheep judging, roasts, cheeses, wool... and a huge covered market full of fresh produce! Gurutze's father was there selling his mushrooms, and insisted on taking a break to treat his daughter, granddaughter, and their guest to pintxos. Pintxos are a mid-day snack that most often consist of a pile of tasty ingredients held on a slice of baguette with a toothpick, although Jone's favorite variety is a tortilla (sort of like an omelette). Over the next few days I sampled more types than I would like to admit...

   In the afternoon the three of us hiked up the mountain north of Tolosa. What a haul! Crazy steep, topped with rocky fields, a white cross, and a view. I even made a new friend on the way back down :) Back at the house, we immediately sat down on the living room floor and started stretching our abused leg muscles. 

Well, it's late in Vienna and my bed is calling... Mom and Dad arrived in Tolosa Wednesday night, but that will have to wait for tomorrow!