Salzburg, meine Träumstadt

Salzburg, Austria. Simply put, it is amazing. ah-MAY-zing. It's nestled in the Alps, which are one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It's super accessible via foot. It's romantic. It's practical. And the Austrians aren't so bad to look at either. Kim gushed about seeing "the two most beautiful children [she's] ever seen in [her] life" all day. No pedo.






We arrived Thursday afternoon at the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof, hailed a giant taxi for the 6 of us, and proceeded to listen to our Bulgarian driver completely bash America financially and politically.

But that didn't get us down! We checked into an AWESOME youth hostel, one of a chain called JUFA. I highly recommend it, everything was very up to par. It was brand new, super clean, roomy, included bed linens and towels, housekeeping, breakfast, 24 hour concierge, 10 minutes by foot to the city center, even a TV, the works. And it was only 40 Euros per night!

JUFA: it's the top

That evening we trekked to the top of the Mönchsberg (Monk mountain) and toured the castle. I didn't bring my camera with me, but I was literally breathless when we saw the view from up there. Indescribable. Those Alps are definitely something, and you won't understand until you see them. Journeying back to the hostel, we decided to stop for take-out Vietnamese food (zomg such a good idea) and got to watch The Sound of Music in the Hostel's lobby. Now, I don't know if it's just because I hadn't seen the movie for a long time, or if it was because I was actually in the story's location, but I never realized what a great film it is. Never before had I felt very emotionally attached the story apart from the happy songs. I'm not gonna lie, though; I actually got a little choked up at parts... specifically Edelweiss. I suppose I realized how heartbreaking it was that the Von Trapps had to flee from such a beautiful city and country.

Edelweiss from SomersetVII on Vimeo.

3:16

Now Friday... wow, what a day. Walked around to all the sights: the Residenz, SOM filming locations, the Abbey in which Maria actually lived, Mozart's apartment etc. I ended up splitting from everyone else and walked about 8 more miles through the city and up the mountains with my backpack on top of our morning trek to see what else I could discover. Tiring, but worth it.


That evening, our group ate at Salzburg's modern art museum's restaurant, M32. It's perched on top of one of the mountains with a huge modern glass deck a la LA. GORGEOUSAMAZINGYES. Watched the sun set and the moon come out while I dined upon braised cheek of ox and thyme polenta. Sounds expensive, but honestly it wasn't as much as I thought it'd be. I ended up spending about 30 Euros for my dinner, liquids, and service. This also included a "cover charge." When I first read this on the menu, I was convinced it meant there was a charge for using the restaurant's blankets on the chilly deck. The group got a kick out of that. Yet another comical moment was when both of our starving males ordered the beef tartar, only to find out it was by far the smallest dish ordered. Here's the link to the restaurant's website, where you can see the breathtaking views for yourself (click on Bildergalerie on the bottom): M32

While I'm on the whole restaurant topic, I'll clarify a few things. They tell you that tip is usually included in Europe, but from my experience, it isn't. Perhaps it's just Bavaria and Austria? Also, there is no free water. It's considered insulting/super weird to ask for tap water. Also, it's super difficult to find still water. Why do the Germans have such an obsession with sparkling water????? Everyone's been farting up a storm because of it, and our group had a slight nervous breakdown over this issue last week.

Anyways, we continued our evening by exploring Salzburg's nightlife, met a few Austrians who were kind enough to show us around, and I ended up staying up until 6:30 am to watch the sunrise from the mountain. One of those beautiful, memorable experiences I will always cherish.

Photo courtesy of Adam Momcilovic

A little Vorspeise

Handy dandy veteran European travel bag... in its fifth country now

Been super busy lately, here are some photos to hold you over until I can thoroughly delve into my life next week. But having so. much. fun. zomg.

Excursion to Nürnburg this past weekend was ridonkudonkulous. That's really the only way I can describe it.

Our youth hostel was on the outskirts of town... and had a teepee!!!!!!

Punny photo. Why?
Kirschen = Cherries
Kirchen = Churches

Nürnburg is almost entirely gothic architecture (note background), so walking through it feels like you're in a fairytale.

What can I say? I hang out with a good-looking group.


Albrecht Dührer's house lies lies right next to Nürnburg's giant castle. Ridiculously steep San-Francisco-like hills lead to said castle as you can see on your left.

Albracht + Albrecht 4eva

Creepy fountain immediately turns fairytale town into nightmare.
And I kid you not, it is named the "Fortune Merry-Go-Round Fountain."


And fairytale back in full swing


aaaaaaand back at home in Gröbenzell. Such a lovely temporary residence!

What about it?

A modern "Mona Lisa"

Life is settling down here. Germany feels super comfortable now -- I feel as if I've been doing this my whole life. That isn't to say that I haven't been busy, though. Homework and wanders are abundant nowadays, and I've been spending more and more time with my host family (hence the lack of blogging). I took Marla with Phillip, Emily, and I to the English Gardens one afternoon. This naturally entailed a lot of shenanigans.

Life's all about balance...

lurkin'...

and seizing the moment.

This afternoon, we went to the Olchinger See, and what an adventure it was! After crossing the main road outside our neighborhood, our trek lead us to a train bridge. The flooded path and stream ran under with only about a 4 ft. clearance. I had such fun sloshing through the freezing water, weighed down by my backpack, hunched over to accommodate the bridge and lugging a bike along too. After about 10 more minutes, we arrived at Bodega Olching See, which reminded me greatly of a campground. In the middle lies a large lake, perhaps 1 mile in diameter, and multiple retirees and families were peppered along its perimeter. Unfortunately, no pictures today...

Germany is way more lax about, well, everything. At the Olchinger See, numerous young children of both genders were running around completely naked. Okay, this is not super unusual in the US, but there were considerably more than I normally see back home. In addition, there were a few women who were completely topless, but I knew to expect this. The thing with which I was especially amazed, though, was how relaxed everyone seemed in their swimsuits. The people there by no means worked out seven days per week, but they weren't obese either. If you observe closely enough around American watering holes, you notice that yankees tend to be more conscious about their physical bodies. This may be conveyed through unabashedly flaunting a flawless god/goddess-like being, or more likely through body language. People are tense when they wear their bathing suits in America, but at the lake today I saw absolutely no tension in the visitors. The Germans were thoroughly enjoying their time by the water.

On the nudity note, my fellow Gröbenzellian (or Groby) and I have noticed at the train station every day that there is a new set of bared breasts in advertisements on the front page of the newspapers. There was also an article on an opera which was accompanied by a thoroughly-enlarged picture from the show in which a naked actor hangs on a cross, depicting Jesus. Straight up naked. And in your face.

Two nights ago, I was watching a children's television program before the Germany/France soccer game, and was rendered speechless. This particular episode was educating its young viewers on hand gestures and their various meanings. Well, for one particular hand configuration, the narrator explained that it meant a**hole in certain countries... except they didn't bleep the word out. My jaw dropped, but host-sister Marla was unfazed. Immediately after this explanation, the narrator proceeded to detail the meaning of the middle finger -- visual included. At this point I was about keeled over on the floor, and Marla still unfazed. I told Ute about this, and she just shrugged it off. Fairly normal for the Germans... I guess the way they view it is "Yes, these things exist. What about it?"

Brilliant use for helicopter seeds, courtesy of the Germans

So, plans for the weekend: Nuremberg!

Also, briefly: Went to churches downtown. Frauenkirche was disappointing, probably because it was destroyed during WWII and I doubt there were large funds for its rebuilding. Asamkirche, though, AMAZING. It's one of those hole-in-the-wall places (literally), totally did not expect what it held inside. Elaboration coming later (?) Also, went to the 2018 Winter Olympics Announcement festival in Marienplatz, also downtown. Much sadness that Munich did not win the bid, but congrats to South Korea.

Bis bald!

Off the Vaguely-Printed Path

The Neues Rathaus in the Marienplatz

Took the weekend off from blogging because I had so much to do. I'll try to hit all the high notes here as concisely as possible...

Last thing I remember not writing about is Schloss Nymphenburg. Ute, host-Mutti extraordinaire, and Marla took me to walk the grounds on Thursday evening. And guess what? Two super awesome things: 1) Went on the Autobahn 2) 90% sure Boris Becker, a tennis player who lives in Munich, jogged past us. Yeah. Other than that, Marla had fun running ahead and hiding behind the statues on the pleasant grounds.

One thing I learned here is that there is an ungodly amount of slugs and snails in Munich.

No, really. It's mind-blowing.

Was noch (what else)? Well another interesting animal discovery of mine is the mongoose/weasel/scary-noise-makers that populate the suburbs. Apparently one of their favorite hobbies is hiding under cars until someone walks by and then popping out or just causing all sorts of ruckus underneath said vehicle. Scared the crap out of me the first time I saw/heard one. So the next time you think you're about to be gang-banged, curb-stomped, and mugged in the Munich suburbs, chances are it's a weasel. Dastardly creatures.

Last night my temporary town, Gröbenzell (or Groby as the group calls it), had Musiknacht. The shops were open until 10, which is super late (they usually close around 7 or 9), and there were multiple venues throughout the town at which bands were performing. I began the night with Andre and Ute at a casual chic restaurant with delicious food and ran into a couple of their friends. One of the funniest things about Germany is their music taste; they love American music. The older generation especially loves older rock, and everyone knows all the words. Funnier still is that everyone pronounces the lyrics perfectly, but when it comes to an English conversation, they usually have an accent. Anyways, I got embarrassingly excited when the band started playing "Hang on, Sloopy". Even did the whole "O-H-I-O" thing.

After our dinner, our trio strolled down the street and listened to quite possibly the best non-famous band I've ever heard. They played 50's rock, and I was absolutely blown away by their prowess. Never have I experienced a band keep things so exciting and feed groove to an audience so well.

The evening soon brought us to die Hexe, a Biergarten/bar that's right next to the train station. Because of it's location, it's become rather popular with our study abroad group, and naturally I met up with them and introduced Ute and Andre. Ute bought me her favorite cocktail, an Aperol. It has some sort of Italian lacquer and a spritzer, and it was indeed quite yummy. After hanging out for a bit longer, Ute and Andre went venue-hopping, and I stayed with mah fellow Amurrcans.

Marla on her way to school, German pride aplenty

Today was my catch-up day. Had to go into downtown for homework assignments... can you believe the awful things I have to do for class? Despite my textbook's vague directions, I found my first couple stops by unexpectedly running into one of my professors :) I ended up sitting in the Alter Hof (old courtyard) for about an hour and beobachte (observing) it for a journal entry. Thereafter, I attempted to continue my book-guided tour, but naturally veered from the printed route.

During my stroll, a young man jogged across the street towards me and breathlessly babbled something about Kentucky (I had mah college sweatshirt on). I didn't understand him, so I responded in German and in return got a blank stare. Tried again in English, and that did the communication trick! Turns out, he's a law student studying at the Max-Planck Institute this summer with a group and he hails from... LEXINGTON! Bigbluenationrepresentwhadupinsertclichebroexclamationhere. Small world :)

Anyhow... I discovered that walking around a foreign city without an itinerary is divine. I feel super safe in Munich first of all. Considering how today was Sunday too, there was practically no one out and about. It was like the city had cleared out solely for me... or maybe I just smelled REALLY bad. But if you ever get a chance, I vehemently recommend you walk solo around a safe foreign city with no plans at least once in your lifetime. You find yourself in a personal conversation with your surroundings, and what you see is solely your impression. There is no interference from others's feelings or opinions, that adventure is solely yours.

Happy wanderlusting.

München ist so geil! (Munich is so cool!)

Deutschland hat gutes Bier :)

Hier photographiertete ich im Hofbräuhaus des München.

(Here I photographed in the Hofbräuhaus of Munich)

Okay, so sweetest host sister awards go to mine. Last night, Marla the youngest, waited until I came home from my downtown tour for me to wish her good night. Today, Alina the older one , asked me to help her study for her wichtiges (important) English test tomorrow. So. cute. Darunter ist Alina am Rechts (Alina on the right) und Marla am Links (Marla on the left)

Sie sind so süß und charmant! Natürlich, weil die besondere gute Eltern haben.

Other good news:

1) My awesome US parents are shipping my charger over here = skype soon! (Yay, Scotty!)

2) I am understanding so much more German. Today was awesome communication-wise with my host family. My goal is to be am wenigsten (at least) close to fluent with the language by the end of this trip. Also, I'm finding it much more difficult to speak in complete English. I keep slipping in German words, hooray!

On an irrelevant note, here is the beautiful mid-afternoon greeting my host family planned upon my arrival:

Note the place cards that Marla made for each person. Awwwww!

I'm loving getting to know the Germans, especially my host family :) After classes, I decided that I wanted to hang out with them instead of my study abroad group. Why? Because I learn so much from them, and it's such a great way to practice my German. Although I think everyone in my group is wonderful (really, I do :D ), I came to Germany to learn about the culture; and for these reasons, I chose to delay a foray into downtown. It became rather funny later when another host family called ours to check up on whether or not I would be meeting some of the group later. I honestly would not mind living here some day, I love it so much!

Bis bald!

Das Mädchen mit der Tür (the girl with the door)

It's amazing just how incompetent one can be when traveling. For instance, forgetting fairly basic things... like a laptop charger for instance. So yeah, no skype for a bit :( Luckily, I have an amazingly generous host family that allows me to use their juiced-up Mac. Another basic apparently easily forgotten is a German-English dictionary for when one travels to Germany.

Yet, one of the most embarrassing things to forget is how to unlock the front door to your house. Even more embarrassing is when after 15 minutes and one DOES figure out how to unlock said door, one somehow manages to become locked outside again in search of cell phone signal. The latter incident naturally requires that one is equipped with nothing other than a primitive cell phone and left at the mercy of the peaceful Munich suburbs. Granted, German doors are one of the most complicated things I have ever encountered. There are three (count 'em 3THREE3) deadbolts which require premium wrist finesse for their undoing. So after my early afternoon ordeal, I earned the name das Mädchen mit der Tür (translation: the girl with the door) from my professor's host sister. Truth be told, though, I kind of like it.

So aside from these complications, alles gute (everything is good). We had our general class orientation this morning, and get this, I am earning college credit in a Kindergarten/elementary school in Germany. Could that be any more fun? Actually, yes, because we participated in a real life German fire drill! It's way cool because it was a false alarm, not a real one, and the school and all its contents/children are fine. Honestly, though, it's really not any different from the ones I've experienced. Maybe a little louder and a slower fire department response time. Aside from this drill, the other notable establishment of the morning is the cell phones (das Handy in German), which aside from the front doors are the other most complicated thing I have encountered. It's not because it's new technology, no. They are complicated because they are SO OLD! There are absolutely no words on the analogue screen, just icons, and get this: you can only fit six letters on the screen at a time. Hence, in order to read a text message, you have to keep scrolling to the right with one word showing at a time. No one had any idea how to use them at first, but I'm giving everyone props for trying. I get double props since I tried so hard with opening that door too.

This morning, was absolutely adorable, though. I walked upstairs to see Marla working on a Ravensburger puzzle, and as soon as she saw me she jumped up and guided me to a breakfast feast in the kitchen. Three types of meat, the most delicious fresh swiss cheese I've ever had, and about seven different condiments for the slices of bread on the counter. Marla was super helpful with telling me how to organize things when I was done, but the highlight was definitely the automatic espresso machine, a glistening, gorgeous behemoth in the modern white kitchen. It peacefully gurgled and buzzed, sucked up a glass of milk and produced a delicious and perfectly velvety cappuccino. Ausgezeichnit.

In the afternoon, we went to tour downtown Munich, and I quickly found myself thoroughly enamored with its Bavarian charm. The streets are calm yet slightly populated. The people are incredibly non-threatening. It feels like a healthy, well-sized city. The highlight, however, was hands down the English Garden, which occupies a large part of the Eastern side. It's part nature preserve, part open grass, part swimming hole. Basically, it is the perfect escape. It was amazing how relaxed people were in there. I felt like I was at Sugarcreek Nature Preserve in Ohio, not the middle of a major European city... actually, false. The naked sunbathers reminded me quite clearly that I was in Europe, not the Midwest. The Eisbach (Ice river) flows through, and although swimming is forbidden, hundreds of people throughout the park jump in like they're frequenting the King's Island Lazy River.

There's quite a big surprise to the river, though:

Yes, as a matter of fact, you can surf in the middle of a land-locked European city.

Legen.Dary.

Ich bin in dem Vaterland angekommen!

I'm exhausted, completely out-of-synch, jet-lagged, and thrilled beyond belief!

Super tired right now, but when I'm lying in bed, I can't stop preparing what I'm going to say in German tomorrow. Hence the 3 am post serving as a much-needed distraction.

Here's the low-down:

• Sat next to a kid that reminded me so much of my brother on the (not-so-full) plane. He politely hurdled over me every time he needed to get up instead of waking me. This was especially entertaining because I wasn't actually asleep most of these times. He was on a class trip, and one of his peers eventually asked if she could switch seats with me. I acquiesced, only to find out later that my now ex-seatmate was dismayed at this new arrangement. Why? Because said peer had a crush on him which he did not reciprocate. Aw, 15-year-old love <3
  
• The people in my program are super awesome thus far. Yay!
• LOVE LOVE LOVE my host family! The mother, Ute, is super happy and friendly. She made a delicious strawberry cake with fresh cream for my arrival *drool*. The two daughters, Alina (11) and Marla (9), are cute as can be. Marla's definitely the more outgoing one, but Alina has warmed up quite a bit in the first day. We played hide and seek ("veruckt und ?" in German) as well as Uno. Awww yieah, that's right, Uno. Haven't met the dad, Andre, yet because he's been away for work at Audi and VW, but I'm sure my picturing him as the Andre from FX's The League will cease once I do. That was quite the run-on sentence, but it's 3 am, and I don't care. Oh, so meta. Their house is absolutely adorable. It seems a bit newer and a tad more modern than the other houses here in Gröbenzell.
  
• My room is TIGHT! It's actually the basement/office, but it's large and clean and happy.
• I've already noticed a plethora of ways in which the Germans are more eco-friendly than us. Their lifestyle already makes so much more sense than wasteful American ways. For instance, everyone takes the train to get to work. They ride their bikes or walk to get to the train station. They have SO MANY bike racks to allow for this. AND the grocery store is right next to the train station, so you can stop there on your way home from work instead of making a separate trip. Houses and towns are in clusters. There is no waning of civilization, it just stops at a certain point. Everyone is concentrated, so there is much less driving. The one downside to this is that the yards are super small (my host family's yard is a 10+-foot-wide loop of grass about their house). In terms of water conservation, they take much less time in the shower, and their sinks are smaller. HOWEVER, the one small non-eco thing I discovered is that my host family only drinks bottled water. I asked if it was unhealthy to drink the tap water, but they said no. They just think it tastes bad. Honestly, I thought it tasted perfectly fine, but that could be due to my uncultivated American palette. Of course, I don't know if this habit is exclusive to my family or if all Germans dislike their tap water. I DO know, though, that restaurants very rarely will serve tap water. Hmm... under investigation.
• My brain hurts from using so much German today. I barely spoke any English to my host-family. By the end of the day, I was so tired I didn't have the energy to understand what they were saying. All I know is that I have an alarm set for 8 and I should arrive at my school by 9:30 or so.
  

Now that my mind has been cleared, I think I'll be able to get some more sleep. Pictures coming soon (duh duh duuuuuuh). Gute Nacht!