Things I've done recently that have BLOWN MY MIND...

1. Stood front row center of parterre for Don Giovanni at the Staatsoper! And could compare that performance to the one I saw a few years back at the Met!

(My view from parterre!)

2. Had my first Kasekrainer. It was just like a really, really, damn good hotdog. And it's filled with cheese. The Viennese even do American food better than Americans. If they sold these at ball games we'd have an obesity epidemic on our hands. Oh wait...


3. Went to Prater and rode the Riesenrad! It's this MASSIVE ferris wheel and makes for a gorgeous view of the entire city! Too bad we rode it AFTER we went on the "Extasy" ride which, in Anna's words, is just a "little bit spinny". We spent most of the time on the Reisenrad trying not to throw up.


(Some cars are set up so you can have a candlelight dinner!)


(Not looking at the view. Just trying not to hurl.)

4. Bought this hat:

(And wore it home on the Straßenbahn.)

Even the struggle bus eventually gets to its destination.

I have been DRIVING the struggle bus this week.
After coming home sick from the 3-city trip I stayed completely out of commission all week. My fever stayed gone after Monday and my cough got better after a few days, but I had a horrible stomach bug combined which was amplified by esophageal damage from too much red bull mixed with cold medicine and the usual medications I take. WHAT?! I saw two different doctors here over the course of the week which was an adventure in itself. I felt very self-sufficient to be able to get to them all alone and get my prescriptions from the Apotheke, etc. Survival in Austria! Hurray!

I was knocked flat on my face, but I missed not a single class! I just slept as much as possible and ate nothing but chicken soup and bread. It was unbearable! I felt horrible and I looked like I was wasting away. I was sure it was never going to end. Each time I managed to handle some real food or spend a few hours studying like a normal human being, I was in agony soon enough. Yesterday I saw the second doctor and he gave me some probiotics and other things and reassured me that this bug is going around and won't last that long. (COME ON, IT HAD BEEN A WEEK!)

BUTTTTTTTT......

Right after the doctor I felt much better! (Isn't it silly how those things work?!)
I went over to Julia's apartment because she was sick as well and wanted some company. There ended up being like ten of us there and we hung out all evening painting nails, noming, shooting the bull, and eventually watching "Edward Scissorhands". I was happy to just be around friends and not feeling like total death.

(Matt, Belle, and Ilana made some 60 cent tortellini)

And today I really am better!!!! And thank goodness for that because I had the most jam-packed and wonderful day!
Some kids organized an IES picnic way out in Hütteldorf on the tip top of this mountain. We TREKED up this thing for a good hour before we got there. Definitely NOT in the facebook event description, so there were a bunch of ridiculous looking American kids on a hiking trail in dresses and flip flops. Once we got there though, the view was absolutely breathtaking and it was a gorgeous, gorgeous day for a picnic. We were there for two and a half hours, but it felt like nothing. The sun was shining and tons of people showed up and brought lots of food.



After the picnic and the long ass hike down the hill I visited some friends of Bill and then met up with Alex and Alexa for some sushi at the Naschmarkt. We sat outside and it only got a little nippy towards the end, but it was wonderfully pleasant and relaxing. Also, it was amazing to eat anything that wasn't liquid or bread.
Now Sarah and I are watching "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and being cozy and boring on a Saturday night. Sounds to me like a perfect way to continue recovering.

Tomorrow we may head over to Prater (the amusement park) for ein day-o-fun and then wait on line for standing room tickets to Don Giovanni at the Opera! Oh, and homework and studying, right right right right. I am so excited to finally have some voice lessons next week too, I get one on Monday and one on Thursday because both me AND my teacher were sick this week so we didn't get to meet.

I'M BACK TO DOING ALL THE THINGS!
BUT THIS TIME...
HEALTHILY DOING ALL THE THINGS!

Budapest and a sick start to the semester (and not "sick" as in "cool")

Oh, Budapest. One of the coolest and nastiest and scariest places I've ever been. We arrived in the evening on Thursday to our Best Western hotel. SUCH an upgrade from the hostel in Krakow in terms of space and peace and quiet. We headed right from the hotel to this buffet restaurant (we would soon learn that the Hungarians LOVE them some buffet). This place was huge and totally decked out and we had our own private room. Americans think of buffets as being disgusting and greasy and cheap. The only thing this buffet had in common with its American counterparts was the fact that it was cheap. In Budapest, when you go to a buffet, even the alcohol is unlimited. Needless to say, people got real shitty, reallll fast. They had a salad bar, a fried food bar, hors d'oeuvres, hot meals, AND a whole row of marinated RAW meat and fish that you would take up to the grill to have prepared right in front of you. It was ridiculous and definitely unlike anything I'd ever experienced in the states.


The next morning we met up with our tour guide and went on a kind of mish-moshed tour of the city. Some of the sights were seen from the bus, while others we got out to look at. We saw some famous monuments and statues, as well as a beautiful view overlooking Buda and Pest. We got a quick tour of one of the museums which was really cool because our tour guide is a retired art restorer so he was full of knowledge and insight.


After the tour is when things got really disorganized. We were supposed to be dropped off downtown at 1pm to have a "free" afternoon. Instead, we were brought back to the hotel at 2pm and given no further instructions. We knew absolutely nothing about the city and had to set off on our own to find lunch (which we were starving for) and figure out what to do with ourselves! Thankfully, Emily, Shelby, and I ate right by our hotel and after a few meltdowns by Shelby and I, we were a-ok. We also discovered that redbull in Budapest is a lot more radioactive looking than anywhere we've been so far.


Once we were sufficiently nourished, we walked downtown to do some shopping and look around. We actually had a really great time! We went into this underground Hungarian market and found tons of cool gifts and nicknacks and made friends with the guy working there (who is now my facebook friend, nbd.)


We shopped for a few hours and then went to find Shelby some gelato because she HAS to have an ice cream break no matter where we go. She's lactose-free but can eat cream and I think that's her saving grace.
We walked back to the hotel and grabbed some Kebap along the way. HALF as good as Pasha, but they brought us free tea which was super cute and we actually ran into some IES kids that we're on the 3-city trip! They'd come to Budapest to meet up with all of us which was pretty cool.
After dinner we power napped so we could PARTAYYYY. We ended up going to this like three level club with tons of different rooms. We found a room downstairs that played awesome music and danced for like an hour and a half straight. The guys in Budapest are NOT okay though. They literally grab you. Zero exaggeration. I was walking to the bathroom and one of them reached out and just grabbed around my stomach. Not okay. So we ended up dancing with Tobi and Michi (a few of our young IES supervisors) the whole night so that they could keep an eye on us. Tobi is like eight feet tall so we felt super safe.


The next morning it was EXTREMELY hard to get up, although not as hard as it was for some people who stayed out until AFTER 5am, (with Tobi and Michi, I might add), so that they could take the Metro back when it started running again at 5. WHAT. Anyways, in the morning our first stop was a Roman Amphitheater. It was gorgeous and ridiculously well-preserved. After that we went to a museum with a lot of ancient Roman artifacts from Budapest. I loves me some museums and I loves me some Romans so obviously I loved me that museum. Next to the museum was a ruin of an ENTIRE Roman bath. It was INSANE! There were charts of the layout where we could see which rooms were for hot, cold, changing, lukewarm, etc. One went through the rooms from coldest to hottest and then had to turn around to go back out, thus cooling down. The day before, some of our friends visited the Turkish baths instead of going shopping and I was a little jealous that I couldn't compare the two. Although, some of the rooms in the Turkish baths were over 200 degrees sooooooo, thanks, but no thanks.


We went to lunch on a boat on the Danube and then set out on a visit to the castle. I felt a little (a lot) sick to my stomach after lunch, so the castle was cool, but I was not really "there". I was pretty sure I was gonna throw up on the Roman artifacts, but I figure they're so old that it wouldn't be like I was the first!
They cut our castle tour short so that we could go back to the hotel and sleep because everyone had been running themselves ragged the past couple of days. I HARDCORE napped, which was beyond wonderful, and then we set off for our farewell dinner at a Oktoberfest themed restaurant. The meal was actually really fun and I felt a lot better.

(Me offering Shelby a pretzel with cheese on it)

(Kent being a boss)

For our final night of the 3-city tour, we went out to Karaoke. It was a much smaller club than the night before and I wore much more sensible shoes. We got there and I figured I'd just sit and hang out. Then I figured I'd just stand on the dance floor by my friends. Eventually I was dancing as hard as ever and having a blast. I even did Karaoke to Britney Spear's "Stronger". It was hilarious and fun, but THAT SONG IS SO FUCKING LOW. Ilana and I screamed on a vocal fry the whole time. Oy.
The only problem was that once I stopped moving I felt like SHIT. And the club was a half hour walk away from the hotel so by the time I got back to my room I felt beyond horrible. I woke up the next morning and could barely move. I took my temperature on the bus and it was 100.7 and then within a few hours it was 101.8. Tobi gave me some weird German pill that he swore would work, but no. No it didn't. I slept most of the way back and only got up to get lunch at this roadside restaurant with everyone where I managed to get soup and poweraide at the grocery store next to it. Hells yes. I was a sweaty, sweaty mess. I got home around 4pm, unpacked, and was asleep by 5. Sarah made me peppermint tea and it took everything we had not to hug the shit out of each other! It's horrible to miss someone that much and then not be allowed to hug them for fear of giving them the flu.
I slept from 5pm until 11am this, (Monday), morning. It was one of those disgusting and sweaty sleeps, and I continued to sweat balls even after I showered. My first class wasn't until 1:15pm, and at about 12:30 I stopped sweating, so I made some soup and headed to IES. I only had Art and Architecture until 2:45 and then Music History from 3 to 3:45 because it was just syllabus stuff. I didn't really HAVE to go in I don't think, but I'm glad I did and was able to get all the materials I need and get into some kind of routine. I'm really excited for this semester! I know I'll have a lot of work, but I'm also really ready to apply myself and see just what I'm capable of doing.
IT IS COLD AS SHIT OUT TODAY AND I HAVE NO CLEAN PANTS. This was a bitch and a half. All my clothes were dirty from the trip so I was completely underdressed for the weather. Not smart for someone who's already sick as a dog. I POWERED back home after class and am currently trying to get my multiple loads of laundry done so that I can go to bed. Tomorrow I only have class from 9-10:15, so I can see loads more sleep in my future.

Krakow!

Never in my life did I expect to go to Krakow and never in my life did I have any real desire to. I wanted to travel to Italy or London or Spain, but Poland? I don’t think I ever even really stopped to think about it. Now, here I am, head over heels in love with this city.
After spending the entire day on the bus on Monday, we arrived at our hostel in Krakow around 7:30pm. The hostel is smack dab in the middle of the center of the city, like I mean in the heart of EVERYTHING. It’s a skinny building with big rooms that hold 6-10 of us each. There are a few unisex bathrooms down the hall with a couple shower rooms. Definitely a different and less private experience than in Prague, but it’s worth it to be so engulfed in the city.
(Our hostel is the tall skinny building in the middle!)

After unloading into our rooms we had a free evening to get dinner and do whatever we wanted. Matt, Richard, Emily, and I, went to an Italian restaurant on the square and waited for our food for AN HOUR AND A HALF from a waiter whose nametag said “Sebastian- English”. Thankfully, the food was well worth the wait, a nice break from the “traditional” food we’ve been having, and it was a beautiful night for sitting out on the square and getting to know the city.
The next morning we were all out of the hostel by 8:30am and headed over to the Jewish district for a three and a half hour tour of that area and the downtown area. It was SO AWESOME. We FINALLY had a female tour guide and she was super informative and it was nice to get a break from all the testosterone. We saw the oldest Synagogue, went inside another one, walked through the Jewish cemetery, walked through the university, and walked around downtown. We stopped and learned about countless sights along the way, and went into the big church on the square, which was BREATHTAKINGLY gaudy. I loved it. Every hour on the hour a trumpet is played from the top window of that church, so we gathered around at noon to listen and wave. It was cute.


(The Jewish Quarter)

Lunch consisted of traditional Pierogis. They’re like big raviolis without sauce. Some were stuffed with meat and others with mashed potatoes. I have never wanted to sleep more after a meal than after that lunch but it was SO DAMN GOOD. Richard ate like fifteen of them; I was extremely impressed.


After lunch we loaded onto the bus and headed for Auschwitz. The mood got more and more somber as we approached and after about an hour and a half of driving we arrived. We split into two groups and did an hour and forty minute guided tour of the camp. We had headsets that allowed us to hear our guide as she spoke softly into her microphone. The place was haunting. We went into buildings and saw pictures and statistics that made my stomach churn. Everyone was silent. For me, the tears started when we walked into a room that was lined with a glass case filled to the brim with human hair. Tears rolled quietly down everyones cheeks as we passed from room to room, building to building. We saw piles of glasses, shoes, and suitcases. We saw and learned about what they wore, what they ate, and what they went through. We saw where they died. We walked through the block 11 gas chamber. No one spoke.
After the first part of the tour, we got on the bus and drove five minutes to Birkaneau, the second part of the camp. It was a gorgeous fall evening, the air was crisp and the sun was setting. That was the eeriest part for me. The place was beautiful and smelled like horses and if I closed my eyes, my senses told me I was at a stable, which is a familiar place for me. Auschwitz was unlike anything I’d ever seen before, but this part was different. It triggered sensory memories that didn’t connect to reality. I went numb. We walked into the wooden barracks. It turns out that they had actually originally been built for horses. We saw the communal bathrooms and learned about how everyone fought over working there, manually cleaning out the shit, so that they could have unlimited toilet and water access. As we exited Birkaneau, people stopped and gazed vacantly out across the train tracks. I knelt down and touched the grass. I couldn’t think of a prayer, all I could keep thinking was “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust”, over and over. It was like an unspoken vigil. Some people were sobbing, others stone faced.

The entire ride back was silent. One of my friends even got sick on the bus. I felt like I’d been punched in the gut and was cold and exhausted. We went back to the Jewish quarter for a traditional Jewish meal. As we ate our amazing food, we discussed the significance of what we had seen and everyone began to breathe again and just appreciate the moment. Here in Poland, at the age of 14, every child is required to go visit the concentration camp. I think that’s unbelievably commendable and definitely necessary. Everyone needs to see what happened there. The Jewish part of me, the German part of me, every facet of my being was shaken to the core and affected by that afternoon.

After dinner we stayed seated and were treated to a concert by “The Jascha Liberman Trio”, a violin, accordion, and bass trio that plays traditional Jewish music as well as original compositions and arrangements. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Seeing that horrible place and then listening to this music that had so much life to it put my soul at ease. The trio was ridiculously good and everyone bought a CD after (I bought two).




Wednesday was a much needed “free-museum day” where we were basically on our own for the entire day, equipped with lists of museums and attractions that we could visit and get reimbursed for when we return to Vienna. Matt, Ilana, Emily, Shelby, and I decided to start our day off properly with bagels and lox in the Jewish quarter, (Shelby was just there to envy our glucose). This breakfast outing was BY FAR one of the best decisions of this trip. The owner of the shop was an American originally from the Mid-West, but who lived in New York for long enough to open a “New-York style” bagel shop in Poland and get away with it. We also had filter coffee with a free refill. I didn’t know anything could get better than bagels and lox in the morning, but here’s one thing that is: filter coffee with a free refill.


After our meal, we headed over to the castle and explored that for a while. We saw the state rooms of the royals as well as the beautiful grounds and a gorgeous chapel. It was really cool and interesting and we were even able to tag along with a Spanish tour group in the state rooms and have Ilana translate. We were being total creepers, but it was all good, because it was in the name of learning history! We also bought tickets for the “dragon’s den” which is this underground cave that takes forever to walk down to, (on a twisty, cold, and damp staircase). The legend is that a king named Krak came to Poland, defeated a dragon, and founded Krakow. So, in memory of this great king, we ran around in a cave and pretended to be dragons. There’s also a fire-breathing dragon sculpture outside of the cave once you exit which made me jump about four feet in the air and scream like a little kid. Not so different from my usual day-to-day, but I was definitely caught off-guard!


After visiting the castle, ate lunch at this Italian place right next door to our hostel in the middle of the square. We started the meal outside, but then had to move inside because of the rain, but it was a really pleasant and relaxing meal. Not to mention, SO TASTY, but my prawns had eyes. This also made me scream like a little kid because once again I was caught off-guard by something unnecessary like fire or shrimp faces.
Since we ate in the square we were just a few feet away from the Cloth Market, which is a long indoor market lined with shops selling amber and gifts and souvenirs. Underneath the market is a museum about medieval Krakow, which the modern city was pretty much just built on top of. It was the COOLEST thing ever, and Matt and I spent a good hour there.


(The Cloth Market)

(Medieval Museum)

Our farewell Krakow dinner was an insane array of fresh bread, soup, slaw, veggies, potatoes, and PLATE-O-MEAT. I think everyone agrees that the food in Poland was much more exciting than Prague’s food. Everyone will be full of meat for days, but that’s okay by us.


After dinner we chilled at a jazz club that had some awesome live music, but was a little too packed. Then a hoard of us went to a great little club literally a two second walk from our hostel. We danced for a few hours and I really loved the DJ. In my opinion, the DJ makes or breaks a club and this one helped me utilize my sugar-free redbull ENERGY LEGS to their fullest potential.
I was in bed by a little after 2am, which made waking up at 7am A BITCH AND A HALF, but all we had to do today was sit on the bus for eight hours so being sleepy wasn’t that big of a set back. We arrived in Budapest about a half hour ago and are heading to dinner soon. We’re staying in a really nice Best Western hotel-hells fucking YES. These past six days have been unlike anything I’ve ever experienced so I can’t even imagine what’s in store for the next three!!!

Things we are not: on fire. Things we are not: NOT IN PRAGUE!

I don’t even know where to begin. Friday began our 10-day break between intensive classes and the start of the normal semester. It was also the day those of us who signed up set off for the IES organized tour of Prague, Krakow, and Budapest. It’s nine days, with three days in each city and there are about 50 of us on the trip.
The bus ride from Vienna to Prague took about five and a half hours, so we arrived at our hotel at around 7pm on Friday evening. It was very obvious once we hit Eastern Europe because all the colors were immediately muted. The sky even turned grey, in recognition of our arrival, of course. We should have been there a few hours earlier, but “on time” is not a concept many of these kids understand. Regardless, we made it to Prague without incident and headed from our hotel to dinner. Now I will sum up the food in Prague: potatoes, bread, meat, bread. And potatoes. And meat. And soup. But only potato bread meat soup.

We went out to a restaurant, ate our soup, potatoes, bread, and meat, and headed to a DISCO BOAT on the Vltava River to dance the night away and see the beauty of Prague all lit up. It was absolutely FABULOUS.
Saturday morning we went all over, visiting churches, bridges, monuments, and the like. I couldn’t even tell you everything we saw. Eastern Europe is something I really never had any desire to see because I didn’t know much about it. I can say now that it is beyond beautifully breathtaking. They call certain parts of the city that were built in the 1300s the “new” part of town. Yeah. I know.

(Inside one of the Cathedrals)

After a hearty lunch of soup, meat, potatoes, and bread, we continued on our whirlwind walk-through of the city. We passed by the John Lennon wall, which is famous for its graffiti and the significance of all things anti-communism and free-lovey (not a word, I know). Seeing that next to things like the Charles Bridge creates an awesome cross-section of new and old culture.

(Leaving my mark on the John Lennon wall!)


We had a few hours of free time before dinner so a few friends and I shopped around and grabbed some coffee. OF COURSE, I found the one store in Prague that smelled like incense and had little Shiva statues. Too predictable. But I bought a gorgeous scarf, so I have no regrets.
After a dinner fit for Vikings, we went back to the center of town to watch a light show projected on the side of the clock tour about the history of Prague.

Then we went to a bar/club on the water called “Jazz Dock” for a special Latin music performance. This trip is insane because all of our hotels and meals AS WELL as some of our club entries are completely pre-arranged and taken care of (I mean, we paid beforehand, but STILL, 500 Euro for all this and traveling? I think YES.). The club was pretty cool and the music was fun to dance along to for a bit, but we were all so wiped from being on our feet for the entire day and having danced so damn hard the night before, that a bunch of us headed back to the hotel around 11:30 and were conked out by 12:30. Nothing like a Latin swing lullaby.

Sunday morning we got up early yet again, ate our meat and bread breakfasts, and headed straight for the Jewish Quarter of town. As our guide described the hardships faced by the Czech Jews, I really started to feel a strong connection to my Jewish heritage. It was extremely powerful to be there.



We walked from the Jewish Quarter to the center of town and looked at more old buildings, none of which I could tell you the name of. We saw one of the houses where Kafka lived, as well as where Mozart lived while he was composing Don Giovanni! He lived across the street from the Librettist and apparently they used to yell at each other out of the windows about the music. We also saw the theater where he premiered the opera! TOO. FUCKING. COOL.



After lunch, (WE COMPLAINED ENOUGH AND HAD VEGETABLES! Buttttt also potato soup…), we had about three hours of free time, which was PERFECT, because it was just enough time to head back to the Jewish Quarter and buy a ticket into all the Jewish Quarter attractions. We went into the building where they have all the names of the Czech Jews who lost their lives in the Holocaust. It was haunting. I lost track of my friends for a while because I was so engrossed in the wall that when I looked up, everyone was gone. We also got to walk through the Jewish cemetery, which is the only place that the Jews were allowed to bury their dead for something insane like 500 years. They buried them vertically, one on top of another, so the ground is actually like four feet above street level. They also kept moving the tombstones to make room, so the result is a clusterfuck of old tombstones for as far as the eye can see. It was deeply moving. We also went into a few museums with artifacts and paintings and stuff like that. Originally those things were stolen by the Christians to create a museum of “Extinct and Inferior Races”. Whoa. I was chilled to the bone.

After the Jewish Quarter, we made our way back through the city to the outdoor market to buy fruit and even more souvenirs. We have been on a constant quest for fruit, vegetables, sugar-free redbull, and souvenirs. We found all the things.
For our evening program, we went to this really weird event that was like an outdoor rock concert “in memoriam” of 9/11. It was really misplaced and people were hanging out and drinking beer while looking at pictures from that fateful day ten years ago. It was a little upsetting, to be honest. I felt odd not being in New York, yet alone America, on the ten-year anniversary. I didn’t need awkward, non-related rock music. Needless to say, we were happy to head to a late dinner, although dinner was another drama-filled night of soup, bread, meat, and potatoes. By drama-filled I mean that I have had to be the assertive voice for my lactose-intolerant, glucose-intolerant friend, Shelby, and you wouldn’t BELIEVE how difficult it is to explain that to people in Europe, especially Eastern Europe. Our chaperones try their best to help and set stuff up beforehand, but it’s always a battle. Battles are also hard to fight when no one speaks the same language, it’s 10pm, and everyone is starving and exhausted. But, seeing as we've been hearing so much about the "Velvet Revolution" these past few days, we figured it's about time for a revolution of our own. Equal rights and respect for people whose bodies can't handle regular food!

Last night, although it was our last night here in Prague, most people went back to the Hostel to get to bed relatively early and pack up. We leave at 9am this morning for KRAKOW! The drive is about nine hours so we’ve got to get an early start. ONE CITY DOWN, TWO TO GO!

THINGS WE ARE NOT: NOT EXCITED!

Pretzels, coke... and liptauer

I am so jealous right now. I'm sitting in Julia's LIVING ROOM (emphasis on LIVING ROOM, which I do NOT have in my apartment). This is so frickin' cozy and cute, I can't even handle it. I guess I shouldn't be jealous though because as long as I'm nice to Julia and keep letting her do yoga podcasts with me, she'll probably keep letting me come over and bask in the homeyness of her living arrangements. :D (Also, maybe if my roommates and I took out the trash we could bare sitting around our kitchen table to hang out and study, but alas, it will not be so.)

I've actually had a really pleasant afternoon! After class I hung out at IES and studied with friends ("studied"). Then I went on an adventure to an eyebrow waxing place a few blocks away from the institute. It's scary to knowingly go into a situation like that in a foreign country because things definitely have the ability to go horribly, horribly wrong. Vanity always comes out on top though, and so I took my chances and can happily report that I still have eyebrows and no one got hurt. The whole thing made me feel surprisingly independent too; it's hard to believe that exactly three weeks ago I couldn't speak a lick of German and now I can get through interactions with people relatively incident-free!

Julia came over around 3:30 and we did another one of Alanna's yoga podcasts together. It was a really inspirational and raw class and afterwards Julia and I just saw on my balcony and talked and reflected and it was super serene. Alexa came over and we all went across the street to eat dinner my favorite little local restaurant. They have this patio out back, so we sat outside and enjoyed the crisp evening air and our hühnerschnitzel. I was supposed to meet up with Matt afterwards to go watch the opera broadcasted outside of the theater tonight, but it's was getting surprisingly cold out and I was tired and have my oral final in the morning so Julia invited me over for studying and hanging out instead. This was definitely a saving grace, because the alternative would have been me sitting at home on my bed, staring blankly at my computer, my book, or my worksheet; retaining absolutely nothing at all.
We bought some pretzels and coke to nom on but one of her roommates had some liptauer (the Austrian's version of cream cheese AWESOMENESS) that her professor had given her so our snacks we saved from being hopelessly American and 7th grade sleepover-esque.

For my oral exam tomorrow I have to talk about my hometown and then pick from a hat one of the dialogues we have been learning (hotel interactions, restaurant interactions, shopping for food, etc.). It shouldn't be that hard, but I'm obviously just looking forward to getting it over with. Then Friday is the REAL DEAL final. I seriously can't believe we've been taking intensive German for almost three weeks now! Therefore, tomorrow night will be spent studying and packing for the 3-city tour which I leave for straight from the final! Madness.

It has been an amazing first three weeks here. Ridiculously awesome things I have done so far:
-seen Placido Domingo at the opera for 3 Euro
-seen the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform my FAVORITE PIECE OF MUSIC EVER (Shostakovich's 5th symphony) for 6 Euro
-gone to Shonbrunn Palace
-gone to the oldest zoo in Europe
-swam in the Danube (and biked like a boss around it)
-eaten AMAZING authentic German food, even when I have no clue what it is (as well as countless Kebaps)
-MADE a Kebap
-shopped at a gorgeous outdoor market (Naschmarkt) and held my composure as every single vendor literally threw free samples at my face
-successfully ridden the public transport all over the city, bought groceries, ran errands, and asked for directions (these are surprisingly difficult tasks when NO ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH)
-danced until 2am like it's nobody's business

I LOVE ÖSTERRICH! YAY YAY ÖSTERRICH!

Eating Kebap in nice clothes (more lists)

Saturday in a nutshell:

Things I learned at Schönbrunn Palace:

-It was built on Roman ruins
-The Hapsburgs were UGLY AS FUCK
-If you have a ginormous summer house, the most efficient way to get around is with horse and carriage
-Tourists with headset tours walk really, ridiculously slow


Things I did at the Schönbrunn Zoo (oldest zoo in Europe!):
-Got attacked by bats
-SAW A BABY ELEPHANT AND BABY GIRAFFE!
-Saw a panda eating bamboo

-Talked myself out of buying a stuffed animal. Twice.
-Pretended I was a zoo keeper
-Gasped a lot


Pricing for opening night at the Staatsoper (with Placido Domingo in the leading role!):

-Waiting in line for standing room tickets for three hours: 0 euro (but lots of patience)
-Balcony ticket: 3 euro

-Kebap and water bottle: 5,20 euro
-Opera program: 3,50 euro
TOTAL: 11,70 euro

The typical cost for admission to a club here in Vienna is 12-15 euro.
NEED I SAY MORE?!

LEGS-O-STEEL

I love the Danube. Even though it's more green than blue and smells like lake and is full of sponges and is surrounded by naked sunbathers. I love it all the same.
Yesterday afternoon we had a bunch of time to kill so a group of us headed over to the Danube to hang out. It was pretty overcast, but perfect weather for just sitting around and shooting the bull. I REFUSED to get in, but Belle convinced me by saying "You don't want to have to say that you just LOOKED at the Danube, do you?". There was no way out after that. And, you know what? It was pretty frickin' gorgeous in that water. I'm so glad I caved in and just took a leap of faith. A literal leap at that!


Today after class I went on an IES organized bike tour of the Danube island. EVEN MORE DANUBE FUN! We got to rent bikes on the cheap and rode around for an hour and a half. I absolutely love biking, the sun was shining, and the backdrop was the shimmering water and rolling Austrian hills. I was in paradise (which is also the Austrian word for tomato!). We biked HARD too! The wind could be pretty damn fierce at times and although the ride was mostly flat, some of those hills were killerrrrrrrrr.



This one was taken post-ride when I was feeling pretty dang high and mighty:


Thankfully I was properly fueled up because today in class we had a legit feast. We're currently learning how to buy things at the market. This includes the names of the foods, the amounts you can buy them in, and how to interact with the salesperson (and the shit ton of gender memorization that goes with each noun we learn). Our assignment today was to go to the Nashmarkt early before class and buy things to bring and present. The Nashmarkt is this beautiful and huge open-air market. They sell EVERYTHING and it's sehr billig (very cheap). Belle and I were the cheese group, (I'm really predictable, right?), and we had to get Brie, Gouda, and Swiss. The salesman refused to slice the Swiss for us because "we are not a supermarket". HOKAAAAY, buddy, whatever you say. Also, everyone at the market responded to our German in English, without fail. So much for the point of THAT exercise.


Regardless, we ended up with 3 types of cheese, 15 balls of falafel, a vat of hummus, 2 pastries, 4 different types of bread, veggies, and this schmear type thing that's popular here in Austria that our teacher made herself! It's made with cream cheese and butter and peppers and that's good enough for me. The hummus from the Naschmarkt is also ridiculously amazing because Austria is just crawling with Turks. I would have taken a picture of the beautiful spread, but I had given up my camera at reception as collateral for my coffee mug. Just another first world problem to add to the list with being in pain every time I eat raw carrots because of my TMJ but loving carrots too much to stop. So tortured.

After the bike ride I came home and did a little grocery shopping with Sarah (we finally bought some real butter to replace the LARD), and took an amazing hot shower. Now I'm pretty much gonna just lie on my face and possibly look over some German or music for the next couple of hours. Tonight all of the IES kids are meeting up at the Travel Shack (a bar) to have a big "welcome to Vienna" shitshow time. (NOT IES sponsored). Tonight is also the "night ride" which is celebrating one year of the U-Bahn running 24 hours. If you printed out a free ticket, (this kid here), you get to ride the trains for free tonight and get into a huge list of clubs for free too! It's going to be absolutely amazing, hopefully I'm going to meet up with my new Austrian friend Lucas and he's going to show us which of the free clubs are the best and most fun. For further insight into what kind of night this is going to be: I only bought yogurts and redbulls at the grocery store this afternoon.

This weekend should prove to be just as awesome as tonight. A bunch of us have plans to spend the day at Schönbrunn which also houses Europe's oldest zoo!!!!!!!! For those of you that don't know, when I was little I told my parents that when I grew up I wanted to be an actress singer dancer painter ZOO KEEPER. Yup. Bronx Zoo overnights and camp. Birthday parties at the Central Park Zoo. NBD, I'm just a BOSS.
After Schönbrunn we're going to stand on line starting at like 4 or 5pm for standing room tickets to OPENING NIGHT AT THE STAATSOPER!!!!!! Standing room tickets go for only like 3 or 4 Euro and they're some of the best seats in the house! (Stands in the house?). Each standing room spot also has its own digital translator that you can set to any language. We're gonna get all dolled up and I swear, after a day at the zoo and a night at the opera, my wedding day will have tough competition for the "best day of my life" title.

Sunday, there's an IES organized hike in the Vienna woods. I figure I'll get in as much nature as possible before I go into "permanent anger at the outdoors" mode in the winter. Also, Tobi's football team is playing a match so maybe I'll make an appearance for that and see what all this European soccor hullabaloo is about.

And next week is the last week of intensive, immediately followed by the 3-city tour of Prague, Krakow, and Budapest!!! We got our schedule for the trip yesterday and I am SHITTING MYSELF WITH EXCITEMENT, but that's a story for another day.

WE WE WE SO EXCITED. WE SO EXCITED. FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN. WEEKEND. WEEKEND.