Tolosa!

Hi from Tolosa! After 12 hours travelling (train, bus, plane, car) I arrived at the Amonarriz Zubeldia house last night. woot! This morning I took a walking tour of Tolosa with Kike and Jone, had Kroketas with the family on the side of a mountain, went to the Donostia/San Sebastian aquarium after walking the sea wall and enjoying the salt air, and met Liere (sister 3) when she got off the bus from her basketball tournament, and finished a dinner of Tortilla Patata by tasting some wine and cheese with Kike and Maddi (sister 1). We discovered that I am the oldest of the girls here, while Jone is the youngest of the girls in Anacortes.

Sunny Salzburg

   Only one week into Easter break and I am ready for it to slow down a little bit! I got home at 8:30 pm last night after three fantastic days in Salzburg with Petra, Pavel (Russ.), Gabriel (Deu.), and Marietje (Belg.). After spending the first afternoon wandering around the city, we decided to buy a 24 hour "Salzburg card" for the next two days, which gave us access to more than we could possibly see in that amount of time...
   In lieu of a long-winded, blow by blow account of our adventures, here is a summary and I'll let the pictures fill in the rest (If the slideshow does not start, click here to go to the photo album)

(Thanks to Petra for sharing her photos with me! The album will be expanded when I swap with Marietje, Pavel, and Gabriel)
Day 1:

• 4.5 hrs on the train from Graz to Salzburg, met Gabriel there, found hostel.
• Lunch at a really nice place on the east side of the river
• Wandered around town, over the Mönschburg, along the river
• Bought bread, cheese, olives, and wine for a picknic-style dinner at the hostel
• Evening walk through town...

Day 2: 

• Breakfast at the hostel buffet
• Fortress Hohensalzburg tour and museum
• Mozarthaus
• Cathedral
• Lunch at a Pizzaria with a crazy waiter
• Tried to go to more museums, but they were closed- so we jumped on the bus and went to the zoo!
• Repeat of last night's dinner
• Belgian pub

Day 3 (so hot!)

• Schloss Hellbrunn (the original Disneyland!)
• Water gardens tour
• Palace tour
• walk through the gardens, up to a theatre cut from the rock, bus back to town
• Linner
• Train back to Graz with Petra, the other three off to Innsbruck

   Honestly, I had low expectations for Salzburg and was blown away by how beautiful the city is and how accessible. It didn't hurt that there were medieval castles visible in nearly every direction and that the weather was absolutely fantastic! We were on foot nearly our entire time there and didn't even touch the busses until the very end of the second day. Hoofing it up and down the hill in the center of town and through the cobbled streets left us exhausted at the end of every day! Unfortunately, I now have tendinitis in both of my achilles- totally worth it, though! Salzburg is a tourist magnet but manages to not sink to the level of tourist trap. A green-blue river cuts its way between the conglomerate walls of the valley, where buildings from the 12th c. to baroque seem to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. From the tops of the hills you feel like you can see from the Salzkammergut to München, the ragged edges of the alps jutting up through the green carpet of the valley.
   The tourist season has not quite started yet, so the streets, sights, and restaurants were not too packed. Even so, my "American alarm" seemed to go off every 30 minutes. I finally realized that for the other travelers I met it was probably nothing new to meet other Americans on the road, and that I am happier than ever to be studying in Graz!

   I am looking forward to being back in Salzburg in a few weeks with Mom and Dad- so much still to do! 

Quick hi from Salzburg

Slovenija

   This weekend has been a whirlwind tour of the two largest cities in Slovenia! I met the Petras at the train station and we caught the 10:36 train to Maribor. The town was pretty quiet since it was Sunday afternoon (and Palm Sunday at that!) but really lovely. The region of "lower Styria" was connected to the Austrian Steiermark (Graz's state) for much of the last 300 years. We wandered around the beautiful old town and enjoyed the riverfront park, espresso in the town square, and linner at a Serbian restaurant near the water. 

   At 6:00 we caught our next train to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. We walked through the dusky old town and crashed at a hostel just long enough to re-charge for another day of exploring. The city is about the same size as Graz but has a different feel. The parts of the town are so different- there are pockets of counter-culture graffiti art, Venitian style bridges, Art Nouveau decorated buildings... all overlooked by a medieval castle. It is a real hybrid of old and new, urban and natural. There are huge green parks and a central market bigger than Graz's. To the north you can see the last of the alps. (click read more...)

The Dragon Bridge

   First impressions of Slovenia: Beautiful! Natural beauty in its mountains and rivers, so much ancient and recent history documented in buildings, memorials, and artwork spread throughout the cities. The people were so friendly- we were standing on a corner looking at our maps, trying to figure out where our hostel was, and someone just walking down the street stopped to offer directions. As a bonus, everything was less expensive than in Austria- Kava (espresso) for €1,20 instead fo €1,80!

   Something that definitely made the trip: my travel buddies were even better than I could have hoped for. Both are from the Czech republic and study at Karl Franzens Universität in Graz. The Petra from the northeast CzR is the one I went home with in February and to Vienna with a few weekends ago - I told her that by the end of Easter break she will be completely sick of travelling with me! The other Petra is from Prague, and we met on the Weinstraßenfahrt. The three of us got on famously, traveled at about the same pace, had similar interests, and spent most of the weekend laughing with each other. We had a great time communicating with our mash-up of Czenglish (Czech/English) and German, although it was great to be travelling with Petra (from Prague) because she is studying Slovenian (already conversational in Polish, Ukrainian, English, and majoring in German).

All in all, a really wonderful weekend. Pictures are in the Photo Gallery. Tomorrow off to Salzburg!

Mariatrost walk

My legs are exhausted. Spending the core of your day hoofing it up and down hills does that to them.
We started hiking up the Rettenbachklamm, the only gorge inside of Graz. The trail was technically closed for repair to some of the stairs, bridges, and boardwalks, but that didn't slow us down! Up hills, down hills... at the top of the last hill, there was an ornate basilica called Mariatrost.

Mayor's welcome and the local news

On the Balcony with Mikel

I realized that the last several posts that I have done have been centered around travelling, so here is the news from closer to home.
   A few weeks ago a 250 kg (550 lb) bomb was found during excavation for the Haupbahnhof renovation. I like to think about Graz as a piece of the medieval/renaissance period, but people here are still living pieces of WWII. The area around the Hauptbahnhof was evacuated and the bomb exploded. There was some damage to surrounding buildings, broken windows. Check out the full story (in english) here.

Sitting on the representative's seats with
Theresa, Mikel, and Ruth

   In other news, there was a welcome last night for the exchange students put on by the city of Graz. There would have been a welcome by the mayor, but he was in a meeting. Instead one of the other members of the city government gave us a lovely welcome followed by a rare chance to see the Hauptplatz from the Rathaus balcony and a reception with food and drinks. There were so many more students than they expected that they started running low on the wines and hour d'oeuvre sandwiches.

   The downside of spring in Graz: everything is green and blooming! I finally bit the bullet and tracked down some Claratin- or as it's called here, the Claratyn. And, like most things, finding allergy meds happens just a little differently here. If you want basic vitamins, shampoo, or the like you visit your local "Schlecker" or "dm," which does not have a pharmacy. For anything else, you visit the Apotheke, which looks like it could have come out of the turn of the century.  I walked up to the dark wooden counter and briefly explained the problem (auf Deutsch), and requested Claratin from the attendant in a white coat, who fetched a month's supply of life-giving Loratadine from the drug-lined wooden shelves.

Weinstraßenfahrt

   This weekend's outing: a bus drive down the Styrian wine road, about 3/4 of the way from Graz to Slovenian border.
   The first stop was a tiny wine museum in Kitzeck, built in a wine farmer's old house. A farmer and his family lived in the house until the 70's. The best piece, I thought, was a wine press a bit like our cider press but about 20x bigger. The building was perched with a church on the top of a hill and surrounded by wine fields. The giant windmill in the photo is called a Klapotek and has large wooden blocks which hit a board as the blades rotate. It's the Styrian version of a scarecrow!

   The second stop was a wine tasting at a vinyard near Gamlitz. The seven white wines and one red that were poured in the kellar represented a rough cross-section of the wines grown/pressed in Austria. After a few hours of relaxed  conversation we moved outside for raspberry schnapps and enjoying the farm. The landscape was so beautiful and the weather so warm that nearly everyone was sprawled in the sun until we had to get back on the bus.
   The last stop was a Buschenschank, a traditional tavern. Instead of the meat plate that everyone else got, I had a cheese plate- more cheese in 2 hrs than I had eaten in the past month together, piled on slices of heavy, dark brown Bauernbrot (farmer's bread).
All in all, it was a fantastic day- good food, good wine, good conversation!

You don't know me...

There always seems to be a point in the semester when I am frustrated with something and physically tired that I get emotionally drained. Often my first reaction is to run- get out of town, distance myself from the problem. When that is impossible, physical running helps me get my thoughts in order. When my body doesn't allow that, just walking might work... But really, what is the problem? I need a bestie in Graz. I may be getting a little tired of getting to know people, trying to remember names, being a little embarrassed about my language level, and just wishing that I had a bestie to hang out with, talk with... There is always a hope that someone who lives near to you will be that person, but I guess I haven't found them yet- I only know a few people in this building!

Vienna 4: Schönbrunn to the Danube

   We were up early in the morning on Saturday and, after some granola and tea, took the tram to the Schönbrunn Palace. The summer home of the Hapsburg family was stunning, ornate, opulent, and steeped in history. The walls had the stories of the Emperors, Maria Theresa, Marie Antoinette, Sissi (Elizabeth von Bayern)... written into them by the royal family and a the best artists of the period. After touring the personal apartments we walked out to the gardens. Funny, it was a pretty popular place for Vienna's morning runners! Warm, just everything ready to bloom... We didn't walk up to the Gloriette, but next time! (tea, Mom?)

   The next stop: Belvedere, yet another Schloß/Palace, where we met the three boys who came up from Graz. Two baroque buildings filled with different galleries. The first section was medieval art. It was so interesting, walking through scenes of the crucifixion with my friends from Turkey. Mediha said that she would try to find me an english translation of the Muslim version of the story. Upstairs we found romantic, expressionist, modern... all sorts of pieces. The most famous is probably "the Kiss," by Gustav Klimt. His artwork did not speak to me as much as the portraits in the "interwar period" gallery. In the lower palace (a 5 minute walk away through the gardens) there was a modern exhibit focusing on the impact of industry and mechanism on art in the past 150 years. A little more abstract, but very cool! Even so, after 3 hours of sensory bombardment and processing Manet, Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh,  and a so many others, I was ready for a change of pace.

    I discovered that I really prefer travelling in smaller groups. Two people and you might have trouble making decisions. Seven people... ummm, well... there may have been some misunderstandings between Belvedere and the market where we finally ate dinner. I somehow ended up being the navigator, and thought that we were going back into the city center... they wanted to go to the Nachmarkt. I thought that we could walk past a cafe, they thought I had chosen a place to eat. Anyways, I may have come across a little bratty- but we made it to the market! aaaand they decided to go to the same place as the day before, where there was no vegetarian entrée. So I went a few doors down and had vegetarian couscous. Then we walked into town and got Gelato (tiramisu and biscotti!!) and then rode the U-bahn out to the Donauinsel to enjoy the last rays of sun setting over the Blue Danube. Then it was back to Graz for some much needed sleep and time off for my feet :)

That's it for the [first] Vienna adventure, folks! Thanks for following, I would love to hear from you!

Vienna 3: Prater to Sacher

    After joking and poking around the Prater amusement park, we hoofed it south to where a little blip on the map said that we could find a Hundertwasser house- and find it we did! We stumbled into the KunstHaus through the back Hof, which was a neat little garden! The architecture reminded me of Mom's mosaic. Colourful, playful, organic.
    From the KunstHaus we went in search of Sachertorte! The evening was warm and there were musicians every few blocks. Hearing Strauss and Mozart echoing through the streets from violinists was a little surreal, although I think that my favorite was an acoustic bass/hammered dulcimer/accordion trio.
   We did find the Sacher hotel and sat down to some absolutely incredible chocolate cake. Its story, according to the Sacher Hotel, goes like this:

 "The story of the world-famous Original Sacher-Torte began in 1832, when the all-mighty "coachman of Europe", Wenzel Clemens Prince Metternich, ordered the creation of a particularly palatable dessert for spoiled high-ranking guests, "take care that you do NOT make me look a fool tonight", he warned. That very day, however, the chef was unavailable! The order was reassigned to a 16-year-old apprentice in his second year, the quick-witted chap Franz Sacher...

One thing was certain; the speciality which was finally presented to the masters and mistresses was a resounding success: a soft and fluffy chocolate cake with the tasty apricot jam under the icing. Franz certainly never forgot the great success of his ingenious idea within this exclusive circle. He spent his apprenticeship working for the Count of Esterhazy, first in Bratislava and then in Budapest. When, as a fully qualified cook, he started to work on his own account, he offered his successful composition once again, this time on a large scale. He was successful and soon the "cake by this man named Sacher" was in great demand, and the victorious career of the probably most famous of all cakes began."

 ... and oh, was it ever good!


We wandered around the center of the city for a few more minutes before taking our tired feet back to the hostel. We were all asleep within moments of our heads hitting the pillows!

Vienna 2: St. Stephen's to the Prater

Outside of the cathedral we met up with one of Mediha's friends who is studying in Vienna. She led us to the Hofburg, winter palace of Habsburg emperors and home of the Spanish Riding School. My group wasn't exactly full of horse lovers and the horses were not performing, so we jumped over to the rest of the palace. We decided to buy a combined "Sissi" ticket for the Hofburg and Schönbrunn and started with a tour through the imperial silver collection. The pieces were mostly from the 19th century and completely extravagant. Upstairs we walked through an exhibit on the Empress Elizabeth of Bayern. She married the crown prince Franz Joseph I when she was 16 and a little bit of a spitfire who spent as much time away from court as possible, mostly  riding and travelling. Her exhibit continued into the private apartments, which were my favorite part. There were no photos allowed inside, but you can take a virtual tour on the Hofburg website!

   We were absolutely ravenous by the time we had walked down to the Naschmarkt and chosen a place for the girls to get some Wiener Schnitzle. After we re-charged we headed to the closest U-bahn station- where I  found my first Starbucks in months! I dragged the girls in so they could smell the Seattle aroma of strong black coffee- they brew it strong in Vienna! I sipped my tall black on the U-bahn on our way to the Prater just outside of the Innenstadt. The area is an amusement park built around a giant ferris wheel, which was built in the park near the turn of the century.  We didn't go up, but we had fun and ate Mozart Kugeln! 

   Esgi and Mediha both had their cameras out- pictures to follow when we swap! 

Wien 1

The past 48 hours have been a bit of a whirlwind, so I think that I will probably post the adventure in a few installments over the next couple days.

Friday morning I woke up at 05.40, threw the clothes that I had laid out in my backpack, jumped on my bike and flew through the mostly-empty streets of Graz to the Hauptbahnhof. Petra, Ezke, Mediha and I caught the 7.25 express and were in Vienna by 10.00. We headed to our lovely hostel and deposited our gear before catching the U-Bahn (subway) into the city center. First stop: the Dom (cathedral) at Stephensplatz... Yikes, it's late here! Well, I'll post my Picasa pictures in the Photo Album page, more to follow in the morning!