the waltz in vienna

so if u know me at all u understand that i cannot keep a beat unless its the soulja boy, but waltzing is another story. if u told me that when i left for this trip that i would learn the waltz, go to the ball, and actually dance there id tell u that u were full of shite. but dany, our homestay corrdinator decided that it was a good idea to put on dance lessons and with nothin else to do, i decided why not. well, i got pretty good, by our standards, and the only one that could keep up with my fast feet was hannah, from seattle who has been here both semesters studying but i guess she realized that the really dancers are from the midwest and not out in the rain. we only had two practices and with me being an athlete, i had to treat this as a sport, mostly a play like a play in basketball, that seemed to be the only way i could get the steps down correctly. but when it was all said and done, i only had one play to learn and i think i got it down for the most part.
the interesting part came at the actual ball, not only was i dressing in a pretty
sweet tux (with a tail) but i can now say that i danced at a ball in vienna. im not saying i was good but i think i lead hannah more like a pin ball machine bouncing off everyone in our way but like i said the important thing is that i did and u didnt.

trieste-the eye opener

trieste was an interesting trip (occuring on 26.2.09-1.3.09) and i left there in a mix of emotions. the city was beautiful. the gulf of trieste was picture perfect and the weather was refreshing. it was a unique trip because no one was sure why we went there, what was the point of this little town tucked away in the edge of italy next to slovenia but after arrival, it became clear that everyone was thankful that we made our way there. for me it gave me a chance to reflect of a lot of things. maybe it was the chilled out life-style of the italians or the fact that for the first time we never really had much of a time table for anything. it was relaxing, even when we were with the group, our hikes through the woods seems very solitary and it was easy to get lost for even just a minute. one of my favorite times on the trip came when we took this boat to maggia, about 20 minutes down the coast of italy. there were about 5 of us that decided to "just go up." by that i mean we did just that, walked up a hill and when we came to a fork we took the higher of the roads. the goal was to watch the sunset. after about 20 min we came across a little church with a grave yard that i walked through, it was interesting because there was a church from the 1400 yet all the graves were from the 1980/90s. it was nice to get away from the busy busy of other churches. i was the only one in there for about 10 minutes and that was one of the best 10 minutes of the trip with the exception of whats to follow. as we continued up the hill, we turned a corner only to find ourselves in slovenia. for us it was interesting to see the old abandoned border control (slovenia just joined the eu) so after a few pictures, we sat down with a few rolls and watched the sun set for about 45 minutes. it was quite and we all just sat there enjoying that moments amongst others and within our own self. it was nice, all i needed was a cigar so i think i would have been in heaven for those 45 min.
trieste told me though, that we cant forget to breathe, we rush through life, we take step after step without looking around. we forget that were hear once and that if we keep looking forward to whats next we dont get to enjoy the now. in all i think that i learned that there is no rush. were young free to do what we want...there are no limitations if we do things our way. we can only hinder ourselves and we cannot be afraid to dance to the song thats playing now, no matter what that may be.

budapest, hungary

so been quite some time since ive posted anything and i need to catch up but there have been a lot of things going on over the past month or so. but here it goes anyway from 20.2.09-22.2.09 i went to budapest with corrinna and kevin, two of the aha'ers that i am studying with here in vienna...its kinda strange how it all happened but it worked out really well. i determined awhile ago that if u wait on others it wont get done so i booked my tickets and everything and they heard about it and said they wanted to go as well so i said hop on board im heading in fri morning. i took the earliest train into the city (about 9 am i got there) and had some time on my own to settle in and everything. going in i didnt have many expectations about the city, and i left a bit undecided on where it stood on my favorite places but since then ive learned its best to let each city be its own city and not to judge or compare one to the next...so i guess it stands on its own as a fun city with its own unique qualities. one, its cheap, they are not on the euros yet so everything seems to be a little bit cheaper than most places ive been too. second, its a very post communist type city with the "modern" building but budapest has managed to keep their unique look as well. the castle that sits up on the hill kind of dominates the view with the parliament setting itself apart from the rest of the city...not only the biggest building, but also the most imposing and memorable. but like i said before, i dont have set feelings on the city, i would like to go back someday and see how my feelings compare

just another weekend

unlike past weeks where its been go go go, i was able to catch up with myself a little bit and relax for once... i spent the majority of the weekend hanging around the house, only to go out for short excursion such as the zentralfriedhof, or central cemetery, out by simmering, where i walked around for about an hour and took a few pictures of beethoven, strauss, and schubert's grave (weve been learning about them in my music class) tonight, sunday, im going to the opera to see the barber of seville. afterwards i have to do a paper for the music class, i really hate this class fyi...and i was planning on going to see the lipizzaner horses at the spanische winterreitschule but i put it off for much needed sleep. i am thinking this week i might end up going to the kuntsthistorisches museum, one of europes top museums, most likely on wed after my european cities class.
as far as the rest of my schedule goes
20.2-22.2 budapest and/maybe miskolc hungary. ive been wanting to go to budapest for awhile and just havent found the time...also during the time i will be in hungary, miskolc is having a meat jelly festival which sounded interesting. miskolc is about 150 kilometers from budapest so i would take about an hour and a half to get there. the plan is to go on thursday night to budapest and go to miskolc on fri and spend the day at the festival and then back to budapest on sat morning but it is all up in the air. most likely i will avoid the excess travel and stay in budapest and enjoy it for 3 full days. its a pretty cheap place to stay, they have an abundant amount of hostels for under 10 euros a night.
the following week
26.2-1.3 trieste, italy for a class trip
they have informed us that we will be leaving very early on thurs morning at 630 and arriving back in vienna late on sun. at this point i am even more thankful i have mon morning off and i will be able to sleep in. trieste is a small city sandwiched between slovenia and the gulf of trieste. there is a lot of scheduled free time and i believe we have an entire day to ourselves so a lot of us were talking about taking a day trip to nearby cities such as venice, rijeka croatia, or ljubljana, slovenia, all of which are about an hours worth of travel away.
6.3-10.3 amsterdam
im going to be meeting thomas and larry who are coming over to visit in amsterdam for a few days. i am taking a night train leaving thurs the 5th and arriving the following morning around noon. i will have a few days on my own to walk around and sightsee before i meet them on sun afternoon. i am planning on renting a bike on day, sat, and touring the city via bike. i have heard from many people that a bike is the best way to experience amsterdam's many bridges and canals along with the fact that amsterdam is known for their biking. this way i will be able to save on public transportation as well.
after i meet up thomas and larry, the plan is up in the air from there, i figured that the fact that they have come this way i dont care what we get into, im just happy to see them...no worries i wont be experiencing the red light districts offerings...at least not the x rated or illigal american kind. ive been there before and its the kind of thing where you have to see it and you cant not go if your in amsterdam, but once youve been there, its not that big of a deal if you go back or not.
13.3-14.3 bratislava
another class trip, but this time thomas and larry will be coming along... not sure what the plan is but i have talked to thomas and larry about spending the night and just coming back the next day but that is up in the air as well. that sat, there is a rapid vienna game, one of the top teams in austria, and we were going to go watch the game. i figured that we can decide on staying the night once we get to that point.
at this point im sure i will be a little bit worn down from the past 4 weeks and i will want some time to relax for a bit...i will have 3 weekends left until i come home on the 5th of april but i will want to make sure i make it out to salzburg for a day or two. im thinking i will go on a fri morning and come back on a sat night. i think that would be an ideal 2 days, plus i would save some money on housing as well.
another trip i want to make is to go from krems to melk... there is a 25-30kilmeter (15-18 miles) trail that runs along the danube river. ive read that you can rent a bike and travel the trail by bike which would take only a few hours or i might decide to hike it and stop off somewhere to camp for the night. there are numerous villages along the way that i would be able to stop off at for a nights sleep. either way, the end result will bring me to melk where i will visit the melk abbey, considered one of the most 3 beautiful abbeys in the world.
im sure things will again change though, but i will keep you informed of my whereabouts and im going to try my best to keep my mom from pulling her hair out due to her worried nature.

my viennese weekend

we had a long weekend this week, which means instead of the normal fri-sun, we were given thursday off as well so that we would have the opportunity to do some traveling. let me remind you that the week before i was in paris... so while others were headed to rome, dublin, or munich, i sat in vienna on wed deciding where to head off to on my next weekend adventure. i had a list of possibilities from ljubljana and maribor slovenia, budapest hungary, or a trip around western austria visiting salzburg and innsbruck. i sat for the better part of two days deciding and going as far as a click away from a friday night hostel stay in salzburg or budapest, but it soon dawned on me that i havent yet been able to truly explore vienna...i asked myself if i really wanted to leave this beautiful city and have to try to remember it amongst a collage of other cities as well, im studying here for 12 and a half weeks and i did not want to be leaving without knowing what the city has to offer. so once it hit me that i should save some cash and view the uncharted territories the viennese. i have already told u about my day hikes through the wine valley, so i wanted to let you in on the rest of my weekend.

i woke up on fri morning and decided that i have not really seen the sights close to where i live, there is a huge park, Prater, about a 5 min walk from the house i am currently living in, and when i say huge, i mean a 5 and a half mile walk from one end to the other and back. it includes a theme park and an olympic sized stadium along with numerous other activites such as a golf course and tennis clubs...there is even a small train that goes through that you can take rides on throughout the park. after about an hour of walking through the park, i hoped on the metro over to the arsenal where the heeresgeschichtliches museum (military history museum in english) is located.

for only 3.30, it was one of the better museums i have been in beside paris... but it dates back about 600 years of austrian military history and ends with ww2. the best aspect of the museum was the ww1 wing, they had the car (the one in the pic) that archduke franz ferdinand and his wife were in when they were assassinated in sarejevo. you could see the damage to the car from the granade that was thrown at it earlier in an unsuccessful assassination attempt as well. in addition, the museum had the uniform he was wearing along with the blood stains on his jacket and pants along with the couch he dies on.

afterwards i decided to walk back home cutting through belvedere gardens where i took this picture of bamboo. one thing that i noticed today was the amount of people out just walking through the parks, i have always known that the parks were a large part of european culture, but vienna seems to take that to another level. people of all ages were out enjoying the green landscape only meters away from the surrounding buildings. they make it out to be there oasis and there was something relaxing about walking through tree lined paths as you were able to block out the noise from the busy streets and only hear the birds or the others around you. it has quickly become one of my favorite things to do while visiting a city, you tend to forget that you are tired from travel or walking around for 5 or 6 hours and u can take a few deep breathes and for a moment you forget about everything and are able to take it all in.


on sat, i went to schonbrunn palace and for one price i was able to visit the palace, carriage museum, palm house (green house), wusten house (an indoor desert) and the zoo. it was a great way to spend the day, the palace was amazing and it was the perfect length. in most places it seems like they drag it out and u get to the point where u cant wait until the end, but here once the end came u wanted to keep going. also, they had audio guides for free that didnt talk and talk on and on about each room, it said what u needed to know and went on. fyi, schonbrunn was the summer residence of the imperial family dating back to the late 1600s. the surrounding area was nice toand as big as the palace is, the gardens were that much larger. the zoo was also fun too, i felt like a little kid, not to mention i was surrounded by them esp at the lions den. and i still havent gotten over how funny penguins are, they are just so awkward .

today, sunday, it was raining so i decided on another museum, i went to the natural history museum, again only 3 euros or so (i love being a student for discounts) it was a good way to get out of the house and kill a day as well, i wanted to go to the kunsthistorisches museum, right across the platz in the museum quarter, but i was tired and decided to save it for another weekend, i have to make sure i get there, its considered one of the top museums in europe.

all in all, im glad i was able to stay, it gives me the chance to save money and to spread out my traveling as well. and now i have given myself the opportunity to further gain an appreciation for my 12 week home.

the vienna countryside

on thursday, 5.2.09 i took a day hike through the country side of vienna in the towns of grinzing, kahlenberg, and nussdorf. between grinzing and kahlenberg i took some stray paths and wound up on a walking path that zigzaged its way through the vinyards of vienna. what i didnt realize at the time, was that during the tram ride to grinzing, we had slowly made a steady incline
into the courty side. by the time i had walk through the small town and made my way down the unmarked paths, i began to notice the snow and soon realized that i was in the alps. though small, they are the alps nonetheless. one thing that i noticed right away was how active the elderly still are, the walking paths were moderatly busy for the time of year with day hikers and inhabitants of the nearby villages. i have always been told that the viennese were very active and full of the love of nature, but this was my fist realization of that fact.
after i made my way off the small paths, found kahlenberger strasse. this street leads to the summit of kahlenberg mountain. once i reached the top, i ate my packed lunch of fruit and a sandwich of jam and nuttella, i admired the view that streched for inches and inches through the think fog before i made my way back down. the path was an easy one to walk as well. not too steep and it has enough twists and turns to keep it that way. there was a lot of nice scenery as well, even a graveyard dating back to the 18 hundreds with a woman named karolina trauernwieser who was said to be the most beautiful woman in
vienna in 1815. on the stone, a man inscribed "ye that ere lost an angel, pity me." naturally i took a picture of one of viennas most beautiful, but i know she doesnt compare to abbie.
but like i stated before, the path wasnt too terrible, so on the way down i got a bit more adventurous by sneaking on the closed path that was covered with snow just to see where it lead. once i found my way back to kahlenberger strasse, i took that the rest of the way into the town of nussdorf, one of the many towns that beethoven lived. next i navigated my way back to grinzing and came across the former home of albert einstein from 1927-1931.
grinzing was one of the most interesting towns i have been in, there is a lot of red vienna influence and secessionist houses as well, including the karl marx hof. it was neat to see something in person after having just studied it in my psychology class the week before.

rough guide to paris

day one in paris was about as good as it gets, notra dame cathedral...walking up the eiffel tower, and the lovure for a night cap. what was even better is that we had enough time to walk around the city, down narrow streets, smell the fresh markets on the streets, look in the shops, experience paris, not just the tourist sights and the metro system. our hostel was in a great location also, we were on les gobelins street which is in the latin quarter, where most of the students are. about a 5 min walk down the street, u were engulfed with street venders selling fresh fruit and veggies. the oranges were the best i ever had. there were bread shops everywhere as well that were made fresh each morning. one of my favorites though, was when i walked by a market selling fresh sea food, fish, clams, crab, everything, i could have sat there and taken in all the smells and i dont think i would have ever forgotten paris from the moment on.

my future

i was looking through my pics and i came across this as much as i dress and act like my dad now, i only hope that i can follow in his footsteps as a 40 year younger look-a-like with crotch huggers, knee brace, extra large camera (very oriental tourist like) and the bucket hat...i only hope he capped it off with the crocks and hiker's sock.

french kiss

this week starts another chance to go out and see the world, or at least europe while im here. but unlike prague, im graced with the company of michael kiszkiel for 5 days in the romantic city of paris france. not only are the canadian ladies jealous of my excursion, but i get to see this guys in a hostel along with 4 or 5 others. one can only hope that he's wearing those matching underwear that him and his twin brother dutch posses. well be there tom, 29.1.09 until next mon 2.2.09, and yes not only am i going to be seeing paris, ill be missing a few days of class as well. (dont worry mom, i took my test ahead of time and wrote a paper already for tues so im ahead of the game)
mikey has been before so hes going to be tour guide as we navigate from the louvre, to the eiffle tower, and hopfully the paris saint-germain vs caen of the french ligue 1...should be a good trip

jewish quater

on sun in prague, i went to the old jewish quarter...expensive...but i walked through the jewish cemetery and i was really a cool sight. it was the highlight of my trip to prague. the middle is a pic of the jewish victims from prague during ww2...this was one of about 15 walls filled with mans. also, in one of the buildings right before the cemetery, there was a room full of pictures that school children made in the 1930s. it was after they were moved from the city to the ghettos and the pics were of holidays, and thoughts of home...there were some that were made on the transportation from the city to the ghettos...the children never lie and i can only imagin what it was really like during that time for the children and their families

a city for the tourist

prague is a very beautiful city with a ton of cultural significance. the only down side is that it is full of weekend travelers, (casinos and brothels everywhere) the through backpacker, and the casual sightseer. i was with a few friends that i was studying with along with frederick, an argentinean who was going around through germany and surrounding countries for about 2 and a half months.
i was there for around 3 days and while in the past i have always tried to fit everything in all at once, this time i wanted to make sure that i was able to take everything in. i knew that in 3 days, i was going to have enough time to fit everything in with leisure time to spare. this extra time allowed me to do a little more while still being able to see what i wanted.
this is a pic of the astronomical clock and calender in the old town square. i was able to go up to the top of the tower and get a view of the surrounding city. i have always loved to go up in the towers to see the views and in prague i was able to go in 3 towers, old town square, charles bridge and the petrin tower which was about 20 minute walk straight up a hill side followed by about 250 steps in a tight staircase. the view was by far the best of the city and you could see right into the middle of prague castle where st. vitus's cathedral is located. these are the views i have always loved to see and i look forward to these spots whenever i go somewhere to visit.
if u ever make these trips on your own , i recommend that you take the time to walk, and forget the mechanical transportation...not only is it something that betters your health, you appreciate it more in the end. also its been said when in rome do as the romans do...only the tourist take the public transport.
and like the title says, a city for the tourist...its never fun to feel like a tourist

the randomness of prague

this past weekend i went to prague, more on the historical aspect later, but as i walked through the city i was overcome with various works of art including the faceless babies (yes even the butt was smooth to form). also, for some reason the people i was with decided to turn into a park and as we were walking through we saw a peacock just walking around without the fear of people. i almost was able to pull a loose feather out of its back end but right as i was about to grab on, it did a small little jump forward so i had to settle with pictures to hold me over.
the last one, i just thought was strange is a guy with a trained dog and rat...that is him kissing a rat...new mans best friend

the pianist

it was a busy day for class excursions, after the synagogue trip in freud's class, we took a trip to the house of a concert pianist who not only plays, but collects, (about 35-40 grand and concert grand pianos) restores, and builds pianos as well. he spent the first 15 minutes giving a brief overview of the piano he was working on for a concert he was playhing in april, but also took us to two rooms, on filled with grand and the other filled with concert grand pianos, about 10 in each room. he also has garage with about 15 unfinished pianos that he will be working on this year. he told us a brief history on each piano and the difference of each by playing and letting us listen to the sounds that are porduced in each one. it was really cool seeing the insides and the make up of these instruments

the oldest synagogue

for freud class, we visited the oldest and largest synagogue in vienna and the only one in the first district. (yes that's me wearing a yarmulka...dont ask)
we got to hear the history of the jews in vienna and during/after wwII

the united nations

we took a trip to one of the four united nation's world headquarters which happens to be in vienna. the tour was very good but very short. they told us a brief overview on what they do exactly and in vienna they focus on drug and crime and like all un opporations "keeping the peace around the world." this is a picture of the flags hanging inside the main building and me in the large multi-national conference room sitting in next to the secretary's seat.
after we sat through two hour long lectures on the legal aspects of the un...fun

this is where i live

im living in the 3rd district, which is able a 5 or 10 minute walk into the ring, and i decided to look through a book to see what all is around me and besides a few good parks, i saw something called the hundertwasser haus. little did i know, i was about a block and a half away from where i'm staying on marxergasse. this house was designed in 1985 by fridensreich hundertwasser and he decided to "sell" his plays to the city for free so that nothing ugly would go up instead...interesting but still pretty neat

view from st. stephansdom cathedral's south tower

my first few days

the first few days in vienna i was able to find some time to walk around the ring, the circle of streets that enclose the first district (which used to be the wall around the city but that came down about 100 years ago). the first day, i was very tired from the flight over and i only spent about 2 hours in the downtown area. i didnt go into many of the buildings but more or less walked around and checked out what vienna had to offer. the next day i did the same thing but was able to go in and out more than the day before...this was just outside stephansdom, the focal cathedral in vienna. there were about 15 or 20 of these horse drawn carriages in a line around the outside of the cathedral.

My Time in Wien, Osterreich

i just figured out that this would be a pretty easy way to keep track of everything i have done so far compared to emailing back and forth multiple times. im not the most responsible when it comes to proper punctuation and thins like that so if ur a teacher im sorry but i like things my way. i got in on 7.1.09 in the morning and from the moment i walked off of the bus that took me from the airport to the westbahnhof train station i got lost. i stood around with a large map looking for the street i needed and i eventually found my way with the help of a guy named cherry (not sure on the proper spelling) but after talking with him for about 30 min the only thing i really got from him was that he thinks texas is next to ohio, he hates bush, loves obama, and hates russia.
i had 2 days in the city to walk around and ill post some photos on here with a caption under so u know what ur looking at.