Spring arrives in Vienna: the art of relaxation and following your bliss.

The sun is finally shining in Vienna!  While the Winter was a unique experience for me, I can't say that I am anything less than thrilled to feel the warmth.  Since the weather has been so nice, I have been planning my days centered around the Sun.

I have been to a park three out of the past 5 days, and honestly, I see the Sun shining in my window this morning and I think I might have to go again.  As beautiful as the buildings are in Vienna, their parks are just as stunning.  Really, Vienna, do you have to do everything perfectly?!

I can't say I have a favorite spot yet, because I love them all.  I guess I can narrow it down to three.

1. Belvedere Palace Gardens:  This is the first green area I went to.  It is here that I discovered how nice it is to do exactly what you want to do.  Until now, the Erasmus students and I have been traveling in packs and pairs to places around the city to have each other's company.  Don't get me wrong, I am a VERY social person, but sometimes it is just nice to abandon all else and do exactly what YOU want to do.  Follow your bliss.

So this day, my bliss led me to Belvedere Palace in search of some sunlight and photo opportunities.  I walked around the Karlsplatz area and took photos of the beautiful Karlskirche church.  At the tip of the Belvedere area is a grand fountain and statue.  I brought my big camera this day, so I walked around the fountain taking pictures from different angles.  I held my camera up for one last shot before I ventured on, and realized that from that exact angle, there was an entire rainbow that swept across the fountain.  It was one of those moments that you really feel like you're where you were meant to be.  I documented the rainbow and continued on towards the Gardens.

It took a bit of wandering, but eventually I found the Belvedere entrance.   You can find nearly anything as long as you have a good map!   I walked around the beautiful gardens, where you could see hints of Spring beginning to arrive.  Many of the trees had little clusters of leaves beginning to grow.  It was lovely.  I walked around for a long while, taking pictures and people watching.  I found an empty bench near the palace, read my travel book for a while, and then took a nap.  It was really the perfect day.

2. Stadtpark

Stephanie and I decided to search out more sunlight, and ended up exploring Stadtpark.  There ended up being a good number of Erasmus students with us that day.  We found a pot in the center of the grassy area and laid out our new dolphin blankets that we got from the ProCent store for 5 Euros (and remind us of Florida).  We ate Billt sandwiches, fresh strawberries, and people-watched.  We realized that there are 3 main categories of people in Stadtpark:  Viennese workers on their lunch break, weird people doing weird acrobatic/circus things, and Asian tourists.  The Viennese workers just sat on the benches and ate their lunches.  The weird people were scattered about the park, some practiced tightrope walking, some juggled, and others perfected their martial arts.  The Asian tourists always arrived in massive packs, and proceeded to take pictures of us and the weird people in the grass, and took pictures sitting next to Viennese people.  I don't want to stereotype at all, but out of every pack that came through the park there was at least one double peace sign photo and one "kitty kat" pose (term coined by Steph).  I have now taken a liking to the kitty kat pose myself.  It was a relaxing/ amusing    day filled with laughter and vitamin D.  

Playing ball with a little Austrian girl
She started speaking away in German, part of which translated to
 "You have sunglasses and I have sunglasses too!
-too cute.

Tight-rope walkers

Double Peace Sign

Kitty Kat Pose

3. Donauinsel (Danube Island)

Donauinsel is a piece of land stretching for miles down the middle of the Danube.  Many locals come here for recreation and relaxation.  A sidewalk stretches around the green area in the center, where many people roller-blade, bike, run, and scoot.  I went there with a few others for another day of relaxation and suntanning. We layed out in the center of a grassy area, with the old Vienna on one side of us and the modern UN area on the other.  We had a picnic and read German gossip magazines (well, read a few words and looked at the pictures).  A group of Austrian guys showed up with a giant case of beer, a soccer ball, and... an American football.  While I was wondering how i might snag one of the beers, Steph was drooling up a storm over the American football.  They threw it around a bit (with terrible form) and then sat down.  Stephanie could no longer contain herself so she marched on over and asked if we could borrow it.  They agreed, but didn't dare to play with us.  We decided they were intimidated by girls who like sports, and especially by girls who threw better than them.  :)  This was on Saturday, and we had such a good time that we went back on Sunday and did it all over again.  This day was similar, except we brought more people this time and I had a cactus popsicle... which was very odd, and highly suggestive.  But it was 1 Euro, so why not?

American football boys helping each other out. h

So clearly, I am enjoying the Spring here in Vienna.  Oddly enough, not that the weather is nice, I'm leaving the country for the next 27 days!  Hopefully it will be even nicer when I return.

In a few hours, Stephanie, Alyssa and I leave for Paris to kick of our Easter Break!  Here is the itinerary:

April 6-13: Paris, France and surrounding areas.  We will be staying with my friend for part of the time and Alyssa's friend for part of the time.

13-17: Barcelona, Spain.  We have a hostel here.

17-20: Palma de Mallorca.  An island off the coast of Spain.  We have a hotel here.

20-22:  Bruges, Belgium.  We are meeting up with Hanna and Inna here.  Hostel.

22-24: Brussels, Belgium.  Still with Hanna and Inna.  Hotel.  

April 24-May 1:  The Netherlands.  We might go to Maastricht for a day to stay with my friend Tess, but other than that we will be staying with my Navigatee Raphie (my exchange student from last semester) who lives in Utrecht.  It's about 30 minutes from Amsterdam, so we plan to see the city, the tulips, and various other places.  I have almost a dozen friends in the Netherlands so hopefully I can see the majority of them on this trip.  I know Tess and Nicole are coming to Amsterdam for Queen's Day on the 30th (a huge Dutch holiday) so that will be fun! 

May 1: Flight from Rotterdam to Vienna

I know this seems like it would be very expensive... But actually, because we are mainly using Ryan Air, buses and trains it is soooooo cheap!  (Although it took about a monnth's worth of scouring the web for the cheapest options).  I have everything booked and planned out now.  I'm checked in, boarding passes and bus passes are printed, and my bags are packed!  I even made a 13 page itinerary booklet with maps, directions, and confirmations.  All set to go! :)

I will try to write quick updates as much as possible!  Love you all!  

Wait, school can be fun?!?!

I realize I have completely focused my blog on the "Abroad" part of my experience and have neglected to explain the "Study" part.  I wanted to wait until after I attended the first half of my intensive course, which was this past week, to give a full assessment of my courses.  So what is the verdict?  LOVE.

My first course of the week is Business German 1a, which is full of about 40 exchange students who want to learn how to get by in German.  The first day of class, my impression of the course was not good as the professor failed to attend it!  The next week, however, she did make it to class and we found out that there was an emergency change of teachers and that she would make up for the missed class by taking us to a Heuriger after class the following week and help us catch up.  For those of you who don't know, Heurigers in Austria are like small, locally owned vineyards that serve their local wine and Austrian specialties made from local products. There, we learned the basics of ordering and food vocabulary, and got to know our classmates and professor on a deeper level.  This is definitely unheard of in the United States!  Aside from our field trip, we have 3 hours of class every Monday where we learn basic German vocabulary, verbs, and phrases.  We are often told to break off into groups and practice speaking about certain topics, which aside from helping us learn German, also helps for making new friends!  She is a very quirky lady, but I love her openness and enthusiasm!

Us with our German professor at the Heuriger!

My next course is International Marketing.  I was practically giddy after attending the first lecture when I realized that the only word I could use to describe the lecture that day was "fun!"  We are learning about doing business and marketing with other cultures and how to go about examining international markets.  It is a detailed course, but because it is a topic I find incredibly interesting, I really enjoy learning about it.  I feel like I am finally learning to do what I want to do with my life, instead of what UF tells me to learn.  I also really enjoy the way of learning here at WU.  The class I am in is only about 24 students, so I feel like I am getting private tutoring compared to the UF classes of 600 students.  The lectures feel less like lectures and more like discussions.  I enjoy speaking up in class here, answering questions, and giving my opinion on various topics.  I feel like I am finally in my element and finally getting what I want out of my education.  Aside from lectures and readings, we have been broken up into groups and given the semester task of picking a product and developing a marketing strategy for introducing it to a foreign market.  I am so excited to get started!  My group members were all excited to have me in their group, and decided our team name should be "Florida."  I was flattered.

Globalization in Vienna!

My final course is called Consumer Behavior in International Tourism.  It a "block course" which meets for 2 full days in March and then 2 full days in June.  Between the course blocks we have the independent study task of writing a research paper on a specific consumer behavior trait of a specific consumer segment in a specific tourism destination.  I was worried that I would die having class from 8am to 4pm two days in a row, but I was pleasantly surprised  when I actually enjoyed it!  Again, the number of students in the class is small, so I feel much more engaged in the lecture.  The course is focused a lot on the psychology of consumer behavior, which is quite interesting.  I am also learning a different aspect to the tourism industry by examining it through the behavior of the consumer and how to develop a business strategy to make use of their behaviors. At the end of the first day he had us work in groups to develop and explication on the current trouble with tourism in Egypt.  I loved that he used such a relevant topic.  Each group then met with him individually to discuss what we came up with and I presented the work to him for our group.  I really enjoy it!  I also appreciated that he took the time to ask us where we are from and tried to get to know us a bit.  I feel like the professors really care about students here... it's really nice! :)

So clearly, I am learning a lot and enjoying my courses at WU.  Don't worry Mom and Dad, I am still a student!!!

Perhaps Graduate studies here in the near future???  One can dream... :)

Building my own path :)

Budapest, Vienna, and Venice... Is This Real Life?!?!

I know it has been WAY too long since my last post... I've been so busy lately!!!  So shall we dive in?

Budapest, Hungary
"Buda Buda Buda Buda Walkin' Everywhere!"

Last week Sara, one of my best friends from middle/high school, came to visit me from Paris!  On Thursday we went on a crazy welcome party on a boat for the school, and on Friday we were on a bus to Budapest, Hungary!  Lesson #1: do not attend crazy boat parties the night before you leave for another country. (We did make our bus, but it involved a good amount of running through metro stations...)

We arrived in Budapest and yayyy, it was snowing again!!  We found the metro to take us towards a restaurant recommended by my guide book (thanks Dad!) and finally got to see the city center.  I have to say, Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen!  We eventually found the place and stumbled in with our giant backpacks.  Lesson #2: Do not bring the world with you for a weekend trip... it's not worth the pain!  

The restaurant was quite adorable, and we were promptly introduced to the new culture when bowls of lemon water were placed in front of Alyssa and me.  (For some reason Sara didn't get one...)  We stared at the bowls for a long time.  I thought about drinking it... but it was in a bowl, which was weird.  We then brainstormed a thousand different purposes of the lemon water, and decided it must be for hand washing... so we dove in.  We asked the waitress later what the water was for, and she replied "after."  We are still confused...

Lesson #3: Always bring a calculator when eating in Hungary with other people.  Although Hungary is now part of the EU, they are still in the transitioning stage so they still use the Hungarian Forint.  The exchange rate is 1 Euro = 270 Forint  and 1 US Dollar =190 Forint.  So the total for every meal we had was in the thousands and naturally, they do not split checks.  It was the most complicated math I've ever had to do at dinner time... especially after a couple glasses of Hungarian wine.

Our hostel was amazing.  Andrew, the owner of Home Plus Hostel, was so kind and spent at least half an hour showing us all the places we must see on a map, and gave us recommendations for good restaurants and bars.  He also shared a bag of cookies with us :).  We ended up in a 9 person room to ourselves, which was so homey and comfortable.


Our first night out we went to a local restaurant with live piano and I had my very first Hungarian goulash!  We ended the night by exploring Buda.  We stumbled upon the Fisherman's Bastion, a terrace on Castle Hill that overlooks the city and is completely magical when it's illuminated at night.

The next day we toured around the city and went to the Terror Museum.  There we were educated about the Hungarian Communist and Nazi regimes which took rule over the country in the 40s and 50s.  These two terror regimes used the house of terror, now a museum, to hold, torture, and kill many innocent people.  We listened to interviews of former prisoners telling the cruel acts they had to endure.  We also toured the bottom cellar where the prisoners were kept and tortured.  It was not my imagination, it still smelled of dead bodies.

We also took a walk along the Danube and saw the Shoes on the Danube Promenade memorial.  Here stood a long row of old shoes of all sizes to symbolize Jews who were shot into the river by the Arrow Cross regime.  It was a beautiful, but sad memorial.

Our last day we went to the Szechenyi Bath and Spa, dating back to 1881.  The city of Budapest has many natural baths all over the city, where both locals and tourists come to relax and enjoy the natural healing properties of the thermal wells.  It was very relaxing, and we also indulged in massages!  Lesson #4: People come in all shapes and sizes, and modesty is not the same in every culture.


Overall, I loved my time in Budapest and want to go back again when it gets a bit warmer.  Heck, with a 19 Euro bus ride and a 10 Euro Hostel... why not??  :)

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Falling in Love with Wien
I couldn't be happier calling any other place home.

After we returned from Budapest, Sara and I spent a few days exploring Vienna and going to the Art History Museum.  It was so much fun!

We went ice skating in front of the beautiful city hall.  It was my first time ice skating and I had a blast!  (I even skated backwards and did an awesome spin-turn move!)

Alyssa and I also took her out to the local bar, Travel Shack, where all the Erasmus students and local travelers hang out.  We enjoyed ourselves.  :)

We also went to the Prater amusement park (which was mostly closed for Winter) and went on the famous Prater Ferris Wheel.  The views were amazing!!  I miss Sara already, and can't wait to visit her in Paris this April!

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Carnivale di Venezia
Pasta, pizza, crazy costumes, little girls singing in Italian, gelato, sunshine, and one crazy train ride!

Last weekend we took a party sleeper train to Venice Carnival with the school's Buddy Network.  It was one of the craziest weekends of my life.  The way there we had our own sleeper compartment and were treated to unlimited drinks in the "Party Wagon."  The wagon was stuffed full of internationals dancing and having a little too much fun.
Lesson #5: A room full of college students + unlimited boos + a high speed train = a recipe for disaster!

We arrived groggy in Venice the next morning and were immediately greeted by a woman in full Carnival attire on the bridge to the city, just a preview of what was to come.  The whole day was spent wandering the city, taking pictures, and marveling at the massive amount of people and the intricacies of all the costumes.  It was so much fun!  One of my favorite parts of Italy, naturally, is the food.  I had AMAZING pasta for lunch, AMAZING gelato for a snack, and AMAZING pizza for dinner.  I can't wait to go back to Italy just for the food alone!

While walking around we saw so many different costumes... even whole families dressed up!  One of my favorite moments was when we were sandwiched into a mass of people all herding towards the Piazza San Marcos down a tiny Venice alley.  All of a sudden two little girls dressed up in costume behind us started belting out some kind of folk song in adorable Italian at the top of their lungs.  It was so freaking cute that I didn't mind the fact that I felt like a cow being herded towards the slaughterhouse.  

Lesson #5:  Don't attend Venice Carnival if you are claustrophobic, a germaphobe, afraid of crowds, or if you are afraid of clowns or various other costumes...