More expeditions to the train station!

So I returned to the train station today using the same way as yesterday. Aka going to Stephansplatz then taking the Ubahn up to the station. I headed there and asked how my open ticket worked and would the train get full. And the lady at the desk said, "Yes it will get full but it's 3 Euro to make a reservation." So I said "Ok, may I make one for the trip there." However I only had 5 Euro with me, so I couldn't make the reservation for my return to Vienna right then. I also asked about the address issue on my form and she gave me the number to call in about 2 weeks, so that is easily remedied. I made the reservation for one direction, returned to Stephansplatz to wander and find my school. I also texted Judit (in Budapest for those who don't know) and asked if I should make my return trip reservation made now. She said yes. So after finding my classroom (in a different building than where I took my oral exam) and an ATM, I then returned to the train station for the third time in two days and made a Reservation for the trip back to Vienna! I'm officially going to Budapest in 10 days! At that point I no longer had any change for the Ubahn and was not about to put a large bill in the machine so I decided to walk (in the proper direction this time) where I discovered that the walk from the train station to my apartment is about the same as the walk to Stephansplatz where I was taking the Ubahn. Oops! Good to discover though! Now I can just walk there in about 15 minutes! Not bad! In addition to going to the train station, I also wandered the area around Stephansplatz a bit more and found some more cool statues and things on buildings. Also, Mariahilfstrasse has a really nice church that I took some pictures of. I also bought yogurt.

In other news, on Mariahilfstrasse, I saw a Mcdonalds that had a sign that said "McCafe." McSick I say.

Also, I saw a van attempt to parallel part but went crashing into the car behind him...and someone ran into a sign and their bumper fell off. Also, a drunk man passed out in the Ubahn/Subway and this guy decided to scream and clap at him until he got up. Subways are always good for interesting stories! It's like in Paris when the 2 people got on the Subway and started yelling what would basically be "Hello I am here to pickpocket you!" Classes start tomorrow and I'm rather excited to begin learning the language more! And meet people. That will be great too!

Pictures of today! http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/LaurenHillard/Vienna%20Day%206/

March 30th! Day 5!

Well, today was rather interesting. I went to bed at a decent hour last night and actually fell asleep! I slept in a bit since I was exhausted from not actually sleeping the night before. I woke up, got ready for the day and headed to the train station to buy my ticket to Budapest! I also bought a Vorteilskarte, which kind of gives you discounts on train tickets which is nice! I asked Erin how to get to the train station to buy my ticket and successfully made it there. I used the Ubahn (subway) for the first time and realized when I got there that the train station is on the street parallel to my apartment. Also, I had to take a passport photo which is one of the most horrendous pictures of me that I have ever seen (see pictures). I look like a serial killer. I bought my ticket and then said to myself "Hey, why don't I walk down Mariahilfstrasse. That could be nice to see." Well it would have been a good plan if I'd actually walked in the right direction! I realized I was walking in the wrong direction when I hit a kind of sketchy neighborhood that was no longer Mariahilfstrasse But I turned around and accidentally found the Technical Museum and found my way back easily even though I was temporarily lost. It was my first adventure getting lost. I made it back to my apartment pretty easily after wandering around some of the areas I went to a few days ago (around the Rathaus ), which I think that area is one of my favorites so far. I stopped at Starbucks for Kellie. She asked if the Starbucks here had Specialty hot chocolate (which they did). I didn't want to wander in and just look so I ordered something. I ordered in German (HeiBe schokolade) but apparently at Starbucks you order in English, which means I accidentally got a Hazelnut Hot Chocolate, which was the equivalent of like 6 dollars. Oops. Not going there again! I must find some nice cafes! It's still rather cold and rainy. Tomorrow, I think I'll go to a museum, depending on weather. If it's nice again like it was two days ago I'll definitely stay outside! Oh and I just realized that I put the wrong zip code on the form so I must return to the train station tomorrow. Lame
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/LaurenHillard/Vienna%20Day%205/

Lazy Day

Last night I had more issues with jet lag (though no more supposed bedbugs!) I think I destroyed myself with my nap, so I was awake until about 3 in the morning or later which was not fun. Then, at about 4 AM, I was awakened to the sound of very loud shouting and screaming and weeping going on. I have no idea if it was outside, in a nearby apartment or what, but it was LOUD! Needless to say I was rather exhausted today and decided to lay low for a bit, which actually had a little bit more to do with the fact that it has been raining all day and never stopped. I read my book (Darcy's Story) and am almost finished. I read Dear Abby online and I believe I will soon watch Pride and Prejudice since it's dark out. Hopefully tonight, since I'm so tired, I'll actually sleep which would be nice! Oh, and my other housemates moved in. They're both girls. One is from Japan and is a music student who kind of speaks English. The other is from France and speaks English fluently and actually some Japanese, so she translates a bit for us. They both seem very nice and I'm sure will be pleasant housemates! I am also working on planning a trip to Budapest over Easter to visit with Nora and her family! I have a three day weekend so it will be really nice to spend Easter with a family!!! Anyway, that's all for now since today wasn't quite as exciting as the others but it was definitely nice to rest a bit!

Stories of March 28th

So last night I could not fall asleep for a variety of reasons. First, I believe jetlag set in so I didn't actually fall asleep until approximately 8 AM. But the second more encompassing reason for my lack of sleep was the fact that I had read an article on European travel and they mentioned watching out for bedbugs and I proceeded to get very paranoid and feel very itchy in my bed. Which I'm sure is not full of bedbugs but according to my 2 AM brain, I was being completely reasonable.

I then got up this morning at about 8:30 because I was meeting my friend Erin (from high school), since she is also studying at the moment in Vienna. Boy, can I tell you it was nice to hear someone in this country speaking American English! Who knew! She showed me the Naschmarkt, which is quite cool. On Saturdays, it is a flea market along with a regular market. It seems you can find anything there: fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, spices, hummus etc. We bought breakfast (I bought a chocolate croissant and freshly squeezed juice which was delicious).

We then proceeded to try and find the Skull Sauna, which she had seen before. We were both quite horrified that it had either been moved or completely removed! How dare they. That was going to be part of my Skull montage that I currently have 2 pictures for! One from Venice and one from Vienna! 

Anyway, she then headed back to go to a concert and I finally found an ATM. Aka  Erin showed me what they look like. I went back to my apartment to return my coat because it was getting excessively hot in my jacket. However, when I returned I also got very tired and needed a nap, since I'd had very little sleep. So I took a nap which I KNOW is forbidden for jet lag but it was necessary!! It was just for an hour or so...

Then I decided to go out again since it was such a beautiful day. When I checked the temp it was 64 degrees and probably got warmer than that! Again, I found some very awesome sites and my pictures turned out great with the lighting! I found Peterskirche and the area around that which is quite awesome! Lots of little squares and statues/fountains which are really beautiful! 

After about 2 hours or so, my foot started to hurt and I could tell I was getting a blister so I decided to head back slowly to my apartment to get a bandaid then go grocery shopping. At the Opera House there were a TON of police cars and people shouting and waving signs, which I thought was weird. I saw one of the signs said "schweine" which means "pig" so I just kept going to my apartment. On the way there, there were a bunch of streets blocked and by the time I was near my street I could see that they were stretched all the way there! That meant that there were a LOT of people demonstrating (I heard later it was a large group of vegetarians.) As I'm walking down my street van after van after van with 8 policemen in each van drove by heading to the demonstration. Of course they were demonstrating on the street where I needed to go grocery shopping.

I decided to lay low a bit in my apartment. My housemother said that occasionally groups of people will get together to demonstrate and the police go on either side of them just in case. It was quite interesting though! Once in my room, I took off my shoe and might I say my foot was disgusting (see pictures) and I had definitely bled a lot in my shoe. I used handy wipes to clean my shoe out and my foot which I'm hoping doesn't get infected because that won't be fun. And you may be thinking, "Oh it's just a blister it can't be that bad" but NO. It is gigantic and awful. My mom asked me how I was even able to walk back to my apartment. I then went grocery shopping and bought real food and had a normal dinner that wasn't icky! woo! (don't worry I'm sure not all food in Vienna is icky. just what I had for dinner at my apartment last night. It had crunchy sausage that's all I'm going to say).

http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/LaurenHillard/Vienna%20Day%203/

Here are my pictures from today! there aren't as many of them as yesterday so will be a lot faster to look through!




And for those of you who haven't noticed, if you have commented on one of my blog posts, I most likely have responded to the post under the same comments section!

Things I learned today...

Things I learned today...

1. When someone asks if you want them to take a picture of you, remember to unzoom your camera or you will end up with a wonderful picture of you standing in front of a white van and nothing else.



2. When taking pictures of cool buildings, be careful of the advertisement in the corner of the picture because it may be of two people who are very naked.

3. The National Library is enormous


4. Apparently, the proper etiquette when a taxi honks at you for crossing the street when he was driving is to give him a rude hand gesture, yell at the car then proceed to open the passenger door and yell more. Then look at the taxi driver as if he was being ridiculous for honking...

5. The horses that are connected to carriages have little holder things along their tail that catches their poop.

6. The Dogs in Austria can smell fear too.



7. Said dogs hang out near the National Library and may decide to chase you.

8. Said dogs know more German than I do

9. I can't speak German.

10. I can't understand German.

11. I can read German a little bit.

12. 5 people can fit, with luggage, into one very tiny car.

13. When renovating a statue, they put what looks like a tiny little house on top of the building that looks as if a tornado plopped it there.



14. The Weird Golden Dome mentioned in previous blog has grown a mustache.



15. When wearing black shoes and white socks, be careful if it rains because black shoes will turn your white socks, and your toes, very black



16. Occasionally it is very hard to find a crosswalk.

17. Specifically near previously mentioned golden dome.

18. And when trying to get to this building



19. Which is usually around the time a policeman drives by and prevents you from j-walking (not by saying anything but by showing up and you not wanting to get in trouble)

20. My arms need to be longer and my hands need to be bigger in order to take a picture of myself that actually has a background in it.








21. The advertisements on websites are now in German and say things like "Would you like an American green card? Live and work in America!" except in German

22. Also, when wandering around by yourself in a foreign country, the song "I will Survive" may pop into your head...In Ellen Degeneres' voice.

23. When wandering Vienna aimlessly, you can find a TON of cool things

Such as Minoretinkirche, a church built in the 1300's, which have obviously been added on to over the years, seen below.






And the many other pictures of today I have here: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/LaurenHillard/Vienna%20Day%202/

Vienna Day 1!

For my third post of the day, I think I shall write about my first exploration. Today, I decided to wander around near my apartment. I think the farthest I went to make sure I didn't get lost was about 10 blocks before making sure I knew where my street was! I decided to do an overview of the area today. I hope once I figure out the logistics of the city, getting lost won't be as much of an issue! BUT I did NOT get lost. I must say I'm rather proud of myself.

I saw a lot! I saw a weird building with a funny little gold dome on top which i am not sure what that is. I wandered over to Karlskirche which is quite the church from the outside at least! Then I went over to the Opera house to find my school, which is across the street. I did not find the school because I forgot the address. So I will do that tomorrow. 

Then, I wandered through a street which had a lot of little shops where Stephansdom is located which is also quite the church! Very cool. And there were a lot of carriages in front of the church, which I thought was kind of funny. I also saw a shoe store called "Salamander" which I thought was rather funny. Then in my attempt to head back to my street to figure out exactly where it was, I couldn't figure out how to get on the side of the street with the funny building with the golden ball on top. It was hailing a lot and there was construction going on and I ended up doing a very large loop. and I was very wet at this point. Did I mention it was hailing? I think during my walk I went through 3 different seasons. It rained, then it was sunny to the point that I was hot in my jacket, then it was raining, then it was sunny, then it was hailing hailing hailing, then down-pouring, then sunny again, then raining. I think Vienna and Seattle need to choose a season and stick with it!

I wandered around some more and found the Museums quarter and took some pictures of those buildings which are pretty intricate. I also found a little park and walked around in there. I will figure out the names of those soon. 

and I saw a duck.

Then I wandered some more. I found Mariahilfstrasse and the grocery store Elisabeth told me about and bought a few groceries, though not many since at that point jetlag decided to set in I did not take a nap though since I know that would then make it worse. Anyway, the city is quite beautiful! One thing I did notice while walking around was that it's weird to walk around by yourself when nobody around you is speaking English. I mean, obviously I was expecting it, but it was still weird to realize. For some reason, when you are with a group of other English speakers it doesn't seem quite as foreign, at least for me But, I am sure I will get used to it! Tomorrow I will continue exploring. I might go to a museum. Also, I need to buy a blanket because my room, even with the heater on, is very cold, but that's ok. It's still very nice and in a wonderful location!

 http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/LaurenHillard/Vienna/
Here are some pictures from my wandering! Some of them I labelled and I'll label the rest later.

Elisabeth's Windup Hopping Lederhosen

Elisabeth left these Windup Hopping Lederhosen in the box of stuff for me, which I thought were quite hilarious and had to take a picture of them.

I'm in Vienna!

Well I have officially arrived. I got to my apartment a little after 8 PM last night after almost 24 hours of travelling! My flights were rather uneventful. The nice man at the desk in Seattle let my parents come to the gate with me without us even asking, after accusing them of "swarming around me." From Seattle to Chicago, the woman next to me was rather large and kept elbowing me. I watched Dan in Real Life and this random show that I've never seen but was pretty funny. Then I camped out at a plug-in in the Chicago airport for a while then got on my  next flight. My gate for the Chicago-London flight was about 2 feet from the one I landed at which was nice. The London flight was long. However, it was quite nice because there wasn't anyone sitting in the middle seat of our row so the woman on the other aisle and I could put our stuff there and put our legs a bit more to the middle, so it didn't feel quite as much like I was getting deep vein thrombosis. The woman on the other side of my row was quite nice. She was going to visit her fiance who she met in Greece but was from Wales. I watched a movie called Sixty-Six, read a bit, watched an episode of Ugly Betty and then slept. Stared. Ate the not so horrible airplane food. Then I landed in London.

Apparently in London, they don't assign the planes gates until they actually land. Since I got there 4 hours early, I got to sit around until they posted my gate about 40 minutes before my flight took off. I watched Arrested Development on my wonderful portable DVD player, read "Darcy's Story" and wandered about a bit. There wasn't too much to see at my terminal.

Anyway, I couldn't keep my eyes open for the entire plane ride to Vienna. I like Austrian Air because they have way more leg room then United so again my legs were prevented from getting Deep Vein Thrombosis. I landed. My suitcase was the first one off the plane but my little tote bag was "lost." When I went to find it they had it in a back room which was nice! Everything survived except my shampoo cap. Then I went to bed at about 9, got up at 8 and now I'm going to go explore the city! I'm putting up a couple pictures of my room and the view from my room!

Getting Ready

Welllll last night I was able to get all of my stuff into one suitcase without even having to expand it! aka Marsha made me take out shoes and I removed some of my clothing and other things, so I'm all ready to leave! I can't check in for my flights, since they have to see my visa to prove that it's legal for me to go to Vienna. But that's ok. I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow!

PS Thanks to everyone who came to my goodbye parties! both in Seattle and Gig Harbor! It was wonderful seeing everyone before I left!

Packing

Packing has managed to become a very stressful problem, just due to the fact that I have too much stuff and my suitcase is too small. I have to eliminate items of clothing in the giant pile in my living room, but that will be difficult since I am going to be gone for 5 months! But eventually I will figure it out...or find a bigger suitcase. in the next 3 days. This may end up being problematic.