Thursday, July 15, 2010

LONG FREE WEEKEND!!!!

So we had a three-day weekend and my friend Erik came down to Vienna from Prague to visit Jessica and I! On Friday night we went to the Prater fun park! We rode this huge ferris wheel that overlooked the entire city and got some goofy pics :) We also rode a few rollercoasters including one that went through a haunted house! We called it an early night (well maybe not so early) and came back to the hause since we needed to be up early the next morning for our train to Mauthausen! This was a bad experience, in a good way-if that makes any sense at all.

Mauthausen (Austria) was the last concentration camp to be liberated during WWII in 1945. Upon arrival I could just feel the weight of being in such a place. The Holocaust has always been one of my favorite areas of study and it took a while for me to wrap my head around the fact that I was walking on the grounds of a former concentration camp. We watched a 45 minute film on this camp and it just made my stomach turn. Words cannot describe what went on there. Walking through the camp, I got to see the insides of the huts where the jews were kept and I was floored by how many people they fit into these tiny bunkbeds. It made me sick to think about how many people were sick, beaten, and murdered there. I also went through the cremetoriums and gas showers which I won't even go into detail about. The smell still lingered and I could see bullet holes in the walls. We have all learned about these camps in history books and in documentaries, but to be there and see it in color is a whole different story. Ended this night by getting on the wrong train, then getting caught in a lightening storm on the way home. Gloomy day if you ask me...I don't want to go into too much detail about this trip on blog because it is too dark, but if you wish to know more, just get ahold of me and I'd be willing to elighten you further...

On a lighter note, Sunday we got to see some really cool places! We all went to Schonbrun Palace and holy cow! Its HUGE. The gardens were beautiful and it had some of the biggest most eloaborate fountains I have ever seen. After this we went and got some amazing Eis at Tichy and headed for the cemetary! Never in a million years did I think I would ever get to see what I saw: the graves of Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert!!!! I was practically 10ft away from their dead bodies!! Again, another fact I had trouble grasping ;) We ended Erik's last night by exploring the nightlife of Vienna and finished with a rumba! It was such a blast but unfortunately missed the last U-bahn :( But this was just another opportunity for me to flag down a sweet mercedes taxi and have the experience of riding in a real car (which I am missing so dearly). We did make it home safe and sound though and hit the hay.

Overall, GREAT WEEKEND!! Im just waiting for all my tests this week to be overwith so I can spend a nice quiet weekend in the country with Jessica and our host family! I've been enjoying myself tremendously on this trip but honestly, I'm starting to get a little homesick. I think this has been the perfect length for a study abroad program. I've learned a ton and had some amazing experiences but I'm just about ready to see my friends and family. Love you guys and see you soon!!!

Gute Nacht,
Brooke

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Salzburg continued...

I accidentally posted the last one with out finishing so heres the rest ;)



The next morning I absolutely could not walk in my shoes so one of my professors took me on a bus into town to get some flip flops. I am eternally grateful to her because if it weren't for that heavenly pair of comfortable flip flops I probably would have died!!



Before lunch, we went to the house where Mozart lived! I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm visiting these composers' houses! I've been walking in the same halls and looking out the same windows as they did and it's mind-boggling! I loved being able to learn about his family and his relationship with them. I even got to see a handwritten letter from Mozart to his mother and from reading the translation, it sounds like they were very close and they all had a huge love for God which I found very cool :) My favorite part of this museum was seeing all the pianos he ha played on. They had 2 of his original pianos displayed. One was from when he was 8 years old (it was so cute with its tiny keys!) and one was from later in his life.


For lunch we had a very special guest! His name is Dankvart and he is one of three cello professors at the Mozarteum Universitat (one of the top music schools in Austria). He took us all to an authentic Italian restaraunt and I got the wonderful opportunity of sitting right across from him and hearing everything he had to say about his career in Austria and even heard about some great summer programs at the Mozarteum! This was such a blessing to hear another Austrian's point of view on music in Europe and, in addition, I made an AMAZING connection! I really hope to stay connected with professors I have met here and eventually come back to study more.

:)

Weekend in Salzburg!!!

So this weekend I went to Salzburg!! Ok enough said.




JUST KIDDING



I will start off by saying I have never done so much walking in my entire life!! I also made the awful mistake of wearing a brand new pair of shoes and my feet definitely paid the ultimate price. Lesson learned. Aside from the pain I felt, I must confess that Salzburg is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Even coming from one of the greenest states in North America, I was blown away by how perfect the landscape was! One of the first things we did upon arriving was make it to the top of the castle and OMG the view!!!!!! It seriously looked the the Land Before Time. The grass was all evenly colored and cut leading up into the insanely huge mountains. And running through all of this was the clearest river I have ever seen. It was truely magical! The river looked especially refreshing as we were treking through 85 degree weather...

We went through a museum in the castle and I have to admit that my favorite exhibit was the torture room!! All I can say is that I am glad to be living in the present day! The less "painful" devices on display were actually some creepy looking masks worn by liars and rumor-spreaders for purposes of embarassment. Some devices that stood out as especially excrutiating were a chair covered in spikes, the chastity belt, and a tool used to spread out certain openings in the body....OUCH!! And this chastity belt was NOT like the one seen on the Princess Bride. It only had 2 openings for "personal business" and lets just say that things went out but nothing was definitely going in. Thats my only comment ;)

After seeing the castle and museums inside, we went and got lunch and had some free time. Since I was worn out from all that walking, I just ended up relaxing at the hostel (which was nicer than most hotels I've been in) in the shade for a bit before eating an amazing Indian dinner!! In the evening though, I found enough endurance to go to a techno dance club right down the hill from where we were staying. Probably the best way to end a day in Salzburg!! At first, it was just a whole bunch of people standing around with drinks and cigarettes, I was honestly surprised that it took everyone so long to get up and dance! I thought Europeans were a little crazier than that ;) And those of you who know me, know that I love to dance and probably already know that I was the one to start things off. My friends were also really good dancers but people still just stood around and waited more! In the U.S., people usually gain more courage to get in and dance after seeing someone else go in, but it is different here! I met an Austrian girl and talked to her for a bit and inquired as to why people didn't want to dance! At first I thought we were just making fools of ourselves and people didn't want to dance with us, but to my surprise I found out that they are actually just very shy and don't think that they are good at dancing! She even said that we intimidated them with our American dancing skills and thats why they were too afraid to go in! Anyways I called it a night at about 1am (oh, BTW these things go until 7am!!!) and had one of the best nights sleep ever!