2 Florida girls, 1 sled, and a giant snowy mountain...

I experienced one of the biggest adventures of my life flying down a mountain outside of Vienna.  I began the journey cursing like a sailor and almost having a heart attack, and ended with a buttload of laughter and a big "woo-hoo!!".  Because I am very tired tonight, and because my Partner in Crime, Stephanie Mason, is such a great writer, I'm stealing the story of our adventure down the mountain from her blog and posting it here.  Steph is a friend of mine from UF who is also studying here in Vienna, and has never seen snow until this past month.  Here's the story:

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This evening, I went on a trip with the Buddy Network to go NIGHT SLEDDING!

I was pretty anxious just anticipating attempting to sled. Then, when we finally saw the mountain we were facing, my heart sank & I thought, “That can’t be right!”:

It didn’t help that we had to sign a waiver (understandably) & were told numerous times to “seriously, be careful.” Oh, nor did the news that a man had died sledding last week help abate my anxiety. Nor did the fact that we didn’t have any instruction…at all…& this was only my second encounter with snow. Tess was right there with me. We were beginning to question our decision to partner up as two rookies, but we were going to make the best of it. At least we were on the same page.

Pictured (L-R): Tess (UF), Julie (TX) *pre-accident, & Me

I was hesitant just to clamber into the box lift. You can hardly imagine how terrified Tess & I were trying to peek down the steep hill that was the top of the mountain we were about to descend. The only insight we were equipped with:  dig your heels in the snow if you want to slow down/stop, & lean to turn. [Now we feel prepared...not.] We decided to tackle the 3km winding path alongside Julie & her partner. The initial push off was so unnerving. As soon as our sleigh started taking off down the hill, we were panicking. I swore nearly the entire 3km. We kept 
saying
screaming: “Who does this!?” “How is this fun!?” “What did we get ourselves into!?” “This is torture!”, & miscellaneous obscenities. About 1/2 way down, we (nearly literally) ran into Julie & her partner toppled over on the side of the path. So, Tess & I tried our darnedest to stop to check on them. We finally came to a halt about 50 yards down the slope & walked back up to Julie. She was trying to remedy a nose bleed with snow. While we waited for her nose to stop bleeding & tried to calm our nerves, on countless occasions we found ourselves dodging other sledders. At times, we had to leap into thick snow on the side of the mountain just to avoid a collision.

We were all so shaken up after the Julie’s crash, we seriously considered walking the remainder of the trek down the mountain. Ultimately, we decided that would be possibly even more dangerous than trying to sled, due to the other sledders & the lack of an isolated walking path. Feeling defeated & helpless, we saddled back up on the ‘toboggan’ & made a half-hearted push off. Come to find, the first leg of the mountain is the worst. That’s always encouraging, when you’re getting clobbered in the beginning. But, alas, we survived. After the crash, we all swore we were done with sledding. We had 3 tickets each, but we were ready to be rid of the other 2 at this point. I also decided I hated snow. “Give me back the sand,” I said to one of the locals.

I do almost wish my family had introduced me to snow when I was younger, because I’ve found that it’s not so glamorous when you’re older. However, to the people who grew up with fond memories of snow, it has more sentiment. Even the novelty of it is not enough to convince me it’s pleasant at this point. I still have never made a snowman. Maybe that would change my mind – though probably not, & we may never find out.

After making it to the bottom of the mountain, Tess & I had a new-found sense of motivation (probably thanks to all that adrenaline.) We spontaneously decided…”What the heck!? Let’s try it again!” It was another 30 minutes before we had to turn our sleighs in, & we HAD already paid a bundle for it. We knew, however, if we were going to go for it, we’d have to go all out….because…the first run took us nearly an hour to complete. Some others in our group had made it down in 5 minutes. So, we knew it was possible. We descended the mountain with a sense of determination…& soiled underwear (j/k!) And…we made it down in 5 minutes without stopping! We had finally worked out an efficient & effective system for tobogganing. Tess did a fantastic job steering us from the back, & I sat up front navigating & trying my best to somewhat control our speed.

We only had 15 minutes before our sleigh was due to be returned, but we opted to conquer the mountain one final time. When we got to the top again, we agreed not too be overconfident & treat it as our first run. (Just to prove I am still conscious of my studies while abroad, I reflected on how this situation was applicable to business – particularly working in a team to resolve a problem/achieve a goal. It was a fleeting revelation, though, as we were quickly forced back into survival mode.)

We did crash once. (Who didn’t?) It wasn’t painful…until I realized I had a mass of snow in my britches, numbing my butt. That wasn’t a particularly comfortable scenario.  Again, we made it down in under 5 minutes. We were on riding high on cloud 9 by the end. The Floridian girls had grabbed that bull of a mountain by the horns & told it who was boss. Would we do it again? Heck yes! Could we envision ourselves saying that from the onset? Heck no!

After all the ‘toboggans’ were returned, the Buddy Network group had a social in the Apres Ski lounge. We ate goulash & danced to some German tunes for 2 hours. They ended up playing some of the festive German songs I learned during Carnival…& I requested some others to the dj.

It ended up being an all-around fabulous night with the Buddy Network. Kudos, guys!

*A special thanks to my phenomenal partner, Tess!

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Visit Stephanie's Blog! http://stephanielmason.wordpress.com/

In addition, I have to say that quirky bathrooms are one of my favorite parts of traveling.  I know, I'm a weirdo.  Luckily, after sledding I had an interesting experience in the Apres Ski lounge bathroom...  I was told that there was a cool one-way mirror in the bathroom, so I went to check it out.  I didn't see it at first, but as I walked into the stall I realized that the whole wall opposite the toilet looked like a window!  I knew the people drinking beer and dancing 3 feet away from me could not see me... but I had to consciously keep telling myself that as I used the restroom.  It was a very cool/creepy experience!!

Post sledding: Relaxing at Apres Ski lounge
Alyssa, Jess, Julie, and Me

Snowy Days, Settling In, and the Plague

I have been waiting for years to finally be here on my study abroad trip, and all I want to do is go out and explore the entire city.  Unfortunately, the mixture of jetlag, cold weather, and new climate  landed me with a nasty cold so I have actually seen quite a bit of the inside of my room instead. : (  Oh well.

I have been trying to go out during the day and see things, and rest in the afternoon and evenings.  We have fully settled into Haus Erasmus now, have checked in with the International Office, and signed up for 3 trips with the school.  We are going to Venice Carnival, night sledding, and to Krakow, Poland and Auschwitz.  I'm so excited!

We also met up with our buddies who showed us around.  My buddy, Matt, toured around the city center with us and took us to the outskirts of the city up in the mountain so we could see the cute, residential areas.  It was so fun.  That day was also my favorite because... it SNOWED!!!  I'm in love! I just wanted to dance around in it all day, but I don't think Alyssa or Matt could relate to my feeling.  Matt has seen it his whole life in Italy, and Alyssa just said it was cold.  To me, it was magical. :)

We walked around the historic city center taking pictures and popping into shops to warm up. Most shops were closed because it was Sunday, but we did find a cafe and I enjoyed an amazing cappuccino and a bite of Matt's sachertorte (a famous Viennese desert), which I will have to order for myself soon because it was delicious!

Stephansdom

St. Peterskirche

We toured the inside of 2 Cathedrals, Stephansdom and St. Peterskirche.  They were absolutely amazing!  I could sit in these churches forever and still find them interesting.   The Stephansdom is the largest and oldest cathedral in Vienna, with its foundations dating back almost a millennium! It was originally a Romanesque style church, but over time it was expanded upon in the Gothic style.  The roof of the Cathedral was destroyed during WWII, but the roof was repaired soon after with  a decorative mosaic depicting the symbol of the Hapsburg monarchy.  

Our U6 stop: Burggasse Stadthalle

We have also started getting used to the metro system here already (the underground is called Ubahn).  It is so easy to get anywhere in the city!  We live right off the U6, which also goes right by the WU campus!  To get from our place to the city center, we just take the U6 up one stop, and take the U3 into the center. I think it's crazy that in a city of 2 million people, it is quicker to get to campus than it was at UF...go figure.




I went to the doctor here a few days ago, and found out I had bronchitis, acute sinusitis, and laryngitis! I have been taking 3 different prescriptions since then and am feeling a lot better.  Now it is only a cough.

It's been getting progressively colder here, with highs under 30 degrees F!  It makes it very hard to leave the room, as beautiful as the city is.  Nonetheless, we are still determined to sight see as much as possible.  I've gotten to know a good number of the students here since we all go out at night together in giant herds of 15-30 people! We saw Stephansdom again the other day and went to see a Female Pop Art exhibit.  It was  very cool, and I am very much conditioned now to seeing the male and female genitalia displayed in many different forms. haha.

Alyssa, me, Judith

I also finally got to go out with my Austrian friend Judith.  We went to Ride Club and had fancy cocktails!  I will not even mention the price here... lol.

Today we are going to Schonbrunn Palace (even though it is almost noon here and only 21 degrees...), I'm so excited!!  ANDDDD tomorrow my very good friend Sara (who I've known since middle school and is studying for a year in Paris) is coming to visit me in Vienna!!!!  We are going to a welcome party on a boat tomorrow night, and then leaving for Budapest in the morning!!!  I can't wait.

We have to come back Sunday because we have our first German class on Monday.  I can't say I'm excited for my life with no responsibilities to end, but it will be nice to have SOME structure to my weeks once classes start.  And I am very excited to finally we able to speak some German correctly so that I am not constantly making waiters switch to English for me, not cool.

Happy in our room!