I generally want one of the following
Gringo's Shrimp Enchilada
John D. Rockefeller burger from Your Mom's
Turkey Artichoke Sandwich from Panera Bread
Gadd Thai from Jalopy
Strawberry Fields salad from Cypress Bend
Fries from P. Terry;s
Lemonade from Chik fil a
and last but not least, a meal from Subway
i quit my rant now.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
It was gloomy and supposed to rain
So what do I do? Go to the cemetery. Zentralfriedhof to be exact. It is not named zentral for its location, but because it is Vienna's biggest cemetery. I rode the underground to the very last stop on the U3 to Simmering. There was maybe a tram to take but i decided to walk. It was a bit sketch looking, more like a regular city with car dealerships and autoshops and some places to eat, etc. Vienna is safe enough so I figured I was fine. I took a right because I felt that was the right direction and kept walking. I had written down the major street before the cemetery and the street name for if I had gone too far. After 10 - 15 minutes of walking and watching the #6 tram clearly labeled Zentralfriedhof, I arrived at the corner entrance. The older man at the entrance did not speak english but showed me on the map locations that I wanted to visit.
Assuming none of you know why I would go here, I will explain. Not only is this the largest cemetery in Vienna, it is the final resting place of tons of famous people. Famous by Austrian standards, ie incredible composers and so on. Beethoven, Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Josef Strauss, no big deal, right?
It took me awhile to wind through and find the grave of Ludwig Von Beethoven, but once I did I was so satisfied. It was very simple and understated for what it could have been. The same can be said for Mozart's. I do not know if they had input into what they wanted, but I was impressed. When I arrived at Beethoven's grave I stood in front of it for a few minutes. I didn't really want to leave or walk around much because this is what I had come for. I sat down in a patch of grass that made the third point of a triangle between the graves of Ludwigand Wolfgang, if I may call them so, and listened to what tracks I had on my iPod from each of them. I saw indian style, face up, eyes closed. It was really nice and relaxing and the perfect thing to do today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJDQMyHbSko
It started to sprinkle on me so I scooted under this tree/bush thing. After my songs ran out I got up and walked some more. There as a cathedral with a really cool dome (on the inside). The rain was a constant trickle so I walked back to the entrance. This time I got on the tram and rode it all the way home. It was a nice day.
Assuming none of you know why I would go here, I will explain. Not only is this the largest cemetery in Vienna, it is the final resting place of tons of famous people. Famous by Austrian standards, ie incredible composers and so on. Beethoven, Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Josef Strauss, no big deal, right?
It took me awhile to wind through and find the grave of Ludwig Von Beethoven, but once I did I was so satisfied. It was very simple and understated for what it could have been. The same can be said for Mozart's. I do not know if they had input into what they wanted, but I was impressed. When I arrived at Beethoven's grave I stood in front of it for a few minutes. I didn't really want to leave or walk around much because this is what I had come for. I sat down in a patch of grass that made the third point of a triangle between the graves of Ludwigand Wolfgang, if I may call them so, and listened to what tracks I had on my iPod from each of them. I saw indian style, face up, eyes closed. It was really nice and relaxing and the perfect thing to do today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJDQMyHbSko
It started to sprinkle on me so I scooted under this tree/bush thing. After my songs ran out I got up and walked some more. There as a cathedral with a really cool dome (on the inside). The rain was a constant trickle so I walked back to the entrance. This time I got on the tram and rode it all the way home. It was a nice day.
Monday, March 21, 2011
The luck you have
of which you are not even aware..
Yesterday I went on an adventure with four of my friends (Amanda, Tess, Alyssa, and Siegfried). Went to Seegrotte, which is an underground lake, former Gypsum mine. In the late 1800s through 1912 the mines were used to extract gypsum that was used in agriculture products. In 1912 they were attempting to expand that caves, but they blast opened a pocket to an underground water cave and thus the mines were flooded. Between the flooding and my tour yesterday it was once in habited by Nazis. There were remnants of a Heinkel HE 46 aircraft which the Germans built (underground and top secret of course). These planes were very narrow as they must be maneuvered through the tunnels of the mine and out the surface level.
Obviously, much of Austria and Europe was occupied by the Nazis, but this was the first time I had truly felt the affects of their former presence. I think because the mine tunnels were fairly small and the save areas were only the size of a dining hall is what made the difference. The area was tight and I could just picture how the Nazis would have been running around down there. It was eery.
Back to the fun part- We were lead on a German/English guided tour and given historical facts about the mine. As we wound down to the lower levels, about 180 feet below ground, we reached the lake. It was really cool. The walls were covered in mineral deposits, so they had a subtle glow, the water was bright and clear and hyper-calcified. We took a boat tour through the caves and received more information about the area. The water is only about 4 feet deep because they continually pump (about 60,000 gallons a day) water to the surface.
Now to explain the title of the post, which until now is quite irrelevant:
The trip was tons of fun and it was great to see a more suburban area of the country. We took 1 Ubahn, 1 Sbahn, and a bus to get to the caves and the same route to return. As much fun as I had in the caves, the part of the day that impacted me the most was the Sbahn ride to the Seegrotte. The seats are grouped in 4s so I took the 5th seat across the aisle from my friends. It seems I have a knack for meeting interesting people on public transport, and this trip would follow suit. I sat next to a man, maybe in his thirties, but I could not really tell. I asked the woman across from me if she would mind taking a photo of my friends and I. She got off on the next stop. The man next to me asked if I had spoken Russian to the lady. I told him no and that I only speak English. We then had conversations about where we were from, why we were in Austria, etc. He was from Chechnya, a part of Southern Russia. He had worked as a construction Engineer in Turkey and was now working on a Petroleum Engineer degree in Vienna. He spoke Russian, Turkish, decent English, and was working on French and Arabic. He had given Chinese a shot, but did not have much success. He seemed like a nice man but he also seemed very sad. Only a few minutes into our conversation he began to tell me about Russia's multiple invasions of Chechnya and how his people were fighting for their freedom.
At first I thought it was really weird that he was telling me all of this, but I continued to listen. I asked him if he preferred living in Austria or Turkey better. I think his answer was Austria, but it didn't really matter to him, as long as he felt safe. In Russian occupied Chechnya, he said there is a constant fear, and that you must monitor everything you said because yo could be report to the police. I was sort of shocked to hear this. Clearly the secret police existed in previous times but I had no idea that this was still an issue. It was all quite sad really. He had not lived in Chechnya in many years, but this was still clearly effecting his conscious train of thought.
We got off of the Sbahn and parted ways. I didn't really pay much thought to the conversation until I was headed home that evening. This man's entire person was shaken by the current situation in his home country. His family was in a dangerous place that forced them to live in constant fear.
I guess the point of this is to appreciate the freedom that you have. We take it for granted every single day when we wake up and go about our day. Feeding our whims and saying what we please. Not everyone has this luxury, so be grateful, and compassionate to others.
http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/dec-11-1994-russia-invades-chechnya-12334058
Yesterday I went on an adventure with four of my friends (Amanda, Tess, Alyssa, and Siegfried). Went to Seegrotte, which is an underground lake, former Gypsum mine. In the late 1800s through 1912 the mines were used to extract gypsum that was used in agriculture products. In 1912 they were attempting to expand that caves, but they blast opened a pocket to an underground water cave and thus the mines were flooded. Between the flooding and my tour yesterday it was once in habited by Nazis. There were remnants of a Heinkel HE 46 aircraft which the Germans built (underground and top secret of course). These planes were very narrow as they must be maneuvered through the tunnels of the mine and out the surface level.
Obviously, much of Austria and Europe was occupied by the Nazis, but this was the first time I had truly felt the affects of their former presence. I think because the mine tunnels were fairly small and the save areas were only the size of a dining hall is what made the difference. The area was tight and I could just picture how the Nazis would have been running around down there. It was eery.
Back to the fun part- We were lead on a German/English guided tour and given historical facts about the mine. As we wound down to the lower levels, about 180 feet below ground, we reached the lake. It was really cool. The walls were covered in mineral deposits, so they had a subtle glow, the water was bright and clear and hyper-calcified. We took a boat tour through the caves and received more information about the area. The water is only about 4 feet deep because they continually pump (about 60,000 gallons a day) water to the surface.
Now to explain the title of the post, which until now is quite irrelevant:
The trip was tons of fun and it was great to see a more suburban area of the country. We took 1 Ubahn, 1 Sbahn, and a bus to get to the caves and the same route to return. As much fun as I had in the caves, the part of the day that impacted me the most was the Sbahn ride to the Seegrotte. The seats are grouped in 4s so I took the 5th seat across the aisle from my friends. It seems I have a knack for meeting interesting people on public transport, and this trip would follow suit. I sat next to a man, maybe in his thirties, but I could not really tell. I asked the woman across from me if she would mind taking a photo of my friends and I. She got off on the next stop. The man next to me asked if I had spoken Russian to the lady. I told him no and that I only speak English. We then had conversations about where we were from, why we were in Austria, etc. He was from Chechnya, a part of Southern Russia. He had worked as a construction Engineer in Turkey and was now working on a Petroleum Engineer degree in Vienna. He spoke Russian, Turkish, decent English, and was working on French and Arabic. He had given Chinese a shot, but did not have much success. He seemed like a nice man but he also seemed very sad. Only a few minutes into our conversation he began to tell me about Russia's multiple invasions of Chechnya and how his people were fighting for their freedom.
At first I thought it was really weird that he was telling me all of this, but I continued to listen. I asked him if he preferred living in Austria or Turkey better. I think his answer was Austria, but it didn't really matter to him, as long as he felt safe. In Russian occupied Chechnya, he said there is a constant fear, and that you must monitor everything you said because yo could be report to the police. I was sort of shocked to hear this. Clearly the secret police existed in previous times but I had no idea that this was still an issue. It was all quite sad really. He had not lived in Chechnya in many years, but this was still clearly effecting his conscious train of thought.
We got off of the Sbahn and parted ways. I didn't really pay much thought to the conversation until I was headed home that evening. This man's entire person was shaken by the current situation in his home country. His family was in a dangerous place that forced them to live in constant fear.
I guess the point of this is to appreciate the freedom that you have. We take it for granted every single day when we wake up and go about our day. Feeding our whims and saying what we please. Not everyone has this luxury, so be grateful, and compassionate to others.
http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/dec-11-1994-russia-invades-chechnya-12334058
Thursday, March 17, 2011
St. Patty's
Happy St. Patty's from DUBLIN! jk. I am in Vienna :(
I am sitting in the fire escape in my building read my articles for International Marketing Tourism.
Look, I am taking notes with my green pen. So in the spirit of the season. Oh well. Looking forward to consumption of green drinks later.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
My Wish
I wish that you could have felt the cool air today as I ran.
I wish that you could have seen the faces in the cafes.
I wish that you could have uttered entshuldigen.
I wish that you could have made the quick left turn up the ring.
I wish that you could have told the man that you didn't speak.
I wish that you could have lay on the grated deck.
I wish that you could have felt the sun on your skin.
I wish that you could have seen the statues the stood atop the museum.
I wish that you could have witnessed the blue of the sky.
I wish that you could have relished in the moment.
I wish that you could have.
Like I did.
I wish that you could have seen the faces in the cafes.
I wish that you could have uttered entshuldigen.
I wish that you could have made the quick left turn up the ring.
I wish that you could have told the man that you didn't speak.
I wish that you could have lay on the grated deck.
I wish that you could have felt the sun on your skin.
I wish that you could have seen the statues the stood atop the museum.
I wish that you could have witnessed the blue of the sky.
I wish that you could have relished in the moment.
I wish that you could have.
Like I did.
Lessons learned the hard way
So until now all of the restrooms or WC as they are labeled have had the picture of the man or the woman on them. Easy to figure out, right? Well, yesterday I was early for my Analysis and Decision Making in Marketing class so I decided to use the restroom because the class lasts from 4-7pm. When I arrive at the two doors there are no helpful pictures. There are two options "herren" or "damen". I was at a total loss. Herren has the word her in it and damen has the word men in it, but it also looks like dame. I chose Herren and entered. It was a little dark and smelled weird, but I was in the basement of UZA 2. I didn't see any urinals so I thought it was in the clear. I used the restroom as fast as humanly possible and then walked toward the sink. For some reason I went back to look in the last stall. Lo and behold, A URINAL. Needless to say I bolted out of there. Walked around the halls for a second and then returned to Damen to wash my hands. Luckily no one was around.
Primary Lesson learned: learn German before going to German speaking country
Secondary Lesson learn: only use the WC with pictoral help!
Primary Lesson learned: learn German before going to German speaking country
Secondary Lesson learn: only use the WC with pictoral help!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Blood, Sweat and Tears
Except in the order blood, tears and sweat.
This past week, for the first time, I bled, I cried and I sweated.
On Thursday we went to a ski mountain to go sledding, or sledging as the Austrians call it.
This picture is taken before we went down the mountain. We took 4 person gondolas to the top of the mountain, and from here everything went down hill. (literally and figuratively). We rode in pairs and about 3 minutes down the run Amy and I were headed straight toward a wall and then a few seconds later, BAM. Amy flies over me, the sled flies over me, and I face plant into tightly packed snow. I stand up and a few seconds later the blood starts to drip from my nose. I was basically a red leaky faucet for about 15 minutes and then held a snowball on my face. Needless to say, I was not super stoked to go down the rest of the mountain.
Once I reached the bottom I half way thought I might have broken it so I went to the bathroom to look. The left side was pretty scraped up, and this is where the tears come in. There were not a lot, but I feel they are worth mentioning. I went to the sled rental office so ask for some ice, so one of the guys took me to the Ski Patrol Office, which was closed, so we went to the lift ticket office to try and find someone. After sitting in a chair in a desolate corner for a bit, three guys showed up to talk to me. Funny thing is, none of them really spoke English. I got my bag of ice, specifically a thin trash bag filled with ice, and tried to tell them what happened. The situation was humorous and made me feel a little better.
Out of the shack, into the bar for some gulashsoup and a hot chocolate. yum.
That is all for blood and tears, now it is time for sweat.
On Saturday Alex and I went on an organized hike called 2nd International Hiking Day. There were quite a few WU students there. What we thought would be a chill hike turned into basically a run up the mountain and eventually a nice walk at a high altitude. The trip was awesome though. Stellar views, though it was a bit foggy in the distance, and the weather was so warm. I was wearing short sleeves!!!!!!! Point of the story, I sweated.
Running up the mountain
Enjoying the view from the top, squatting for some reason.
This past week, for the first time, I bled, I cried and I sweated.
On Thursday we went to a ski mountain to go sledding, or sledging as the Austrians call it.
This picture is taken before we went down the mountain. We took 4 person gondolas to the top of the mountain, and from here everything went down hill. (literally and figuratively). We rode in pairs and about 3 minutes down the run Amy and I were headed straight toward a wall and then a few seconds later, BAM. Amy flies over me, the sled flies over me, and I face plant into tightly packed snow. I stand up and a few seconds later the blood starts to drip from my nose. I was basically a red leaky faucet for about 15 minutes and then held a snowball on my face. Needless to say, I was not super stoked to go down the rest of the mountain.
Once I reached the bottom I half way thought I might have broken it so I went to the bathroom to look. The left side was pretty scraped up, and this is where the tears come in. There were not a lot, but I feel they are worth mentioning. I went to the sled rental office so ask for some ice, so one of the guys took me to the Ski Patrol Office, which was closed, so we went to the lift ticket office to try and find someone. After sitting in a chair in a desolate corner for a bit, three guys showed up to talk to me. Funny thing is, none of them really spoke English. I got my bag of ice, specifically a thin trash bag filled with ice, and tried to tell them what happened. The situation was humorous and made me feel a little better.
Out of the shack, into the bar for some gulashsoup and a hot chocolate. yum.
That is all for blood and tears, now it is time for sweat.
On Saturday Alex and I went on an organized hike called 2nd International Hiking Day. There were quite a few WU students there. What we thought would be a chill hike turned into basically a run up the mountain and eventually a nice walk at a high altitude. The trip was awesome though. Stellar views, though it was a bit foggy in the distance, and the weather was so warm. I was wearing short sleeves!!!!!!! Point of the story, I sweated.
Running up the mountain
Enjoying the view from the top, squatting for some reason.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Carnivale de Venezia
When we first arrived we walked through the train station to see our first view of the canals. It was great. The water is an icy green color. We wandered with a big group for a bit in search of San Marcos Square. The group stopped for a coffee and I bought a panini. I was in Italy and I was going to eat as much as humanly possible. The group somehow split off and I ended up with Alex, Drew, Justyna (from Poland) and John (South Carolina). Our group was so funny. Most of the entertainment was provided by the constant commentary coming from Drew and John. They somehow concluded that Europe was just like Disneyworld. Drew thought the whole city was full of freaks/creepos/crazies/homeless/street urchins, etc. but then he runs around with cameras in their faces yelling crazy crazy crazy crazy. Who is the true crazy one...? We then found a hoodie with the I <3>
We continued to make our way to San Marcos Square. Our main navigation tool was called follow the cluster of tourists. Due to the holiday weekend, the streets were ridiculously crowded. Not to mention some of their streets are about 5 feet wide. Ran in to a group of guys from UI that live in our residence in Vienna, small world. We finally make is to San Marcos and make our first, but definitely not only gelato purchase of the day (one lemon scoop one strawberry scoop). We now ran into club dave and ben and a few others who quickly got lost.
On our way out of the square, which was sort of a giant tourist trap but offered cool views of the water and more people in costume, John bartered with a gypsy and bought a "gypsy ball" which Ben broke before we even got to the next block.
We now wandered in search of a pizza (pizaz as we like to call it) restaurant for an authentic Italian lunch. Most of the places were really pricey and the first reasonable menu we found would not let us all sit if we were not going to all be eating. We left. We returned again 15 minutes later to ask if we could have pizzas to go. Shot down! And the third time we tried to go I got lectured by the owner for some certain words I may have uttered the last time I left. Ooooppsss
Near this little restaurant the 6 of us ran into another group from WU, half of them from Texas and South Carolina, and a few others. We sat in a little courtyard and made our own wodka redbulls. We sat and we passed the bottle and for some reason this was one of my favorite parts of the day. Anyone can see the buildings, anyone can ride to gondolas, but this little courtyard and the people there was an experience and that is why I enjoyed it so much. We left half of them behind (including my jacket and scarf) and continued our search for lunch. By this 3 of us were from SC, two from Texas, and on Poland. Lunch was good but we had to pay and extra 1.5 euro to sit and eat our food. Taking it to go was not an option so basically there is just a 1.50 premium in every head that walks through the door.
Our little group, which still had the charm and wit of the original, went on a wine search. This lead us through many streets, large and small and by many shops filled with masks. We found little market with 8 euro bottles of Prosecco, but the place arcoss the street had sparkling wine for 2 euro. Done and done. We then found a really inexpensive place to get gelato. They also had cheap crepes. Decision making time. We decided crepes, and then bought gelato (one scoop chocolate one scoop spiced cherry) after we finished our crepes. Alex and I were now deemed "the fat kids" but we wouldn't have done it any other way.
We took our bottle of wine and went to look for a park. We ended up at a dead end street. Their streets dead end into canals. We sat here with our feet hanging over the edge and watched as the sun set. It was nothing short of amazing. Since it was getting dark we decided to head back to find the train station and then to find a place to eat close to it so we would not be late for the train. We ran into the original part of our group and the sent us over two bridges and to the right. I am still not sure where they ate, but we ended up at a restaurant where the average age was about 60. We apparently took our sweet time ordering, as the waiter let us know he took six separate orders since he had first visited our table. It was one of those "calm your shit" moments, but we ordered and almost an hour later got our food. We had 15 minutes to eat and had to almost run back to the train station.
We made it on time, got back on our train, back to the discowagon, back again to our cabins. 6am rolls around and we were back in Vienna. It almost didn't feel real. From 8pm friday to 6am sunday we had traversed the country, spent time in a foreign land and were somehow right back where we had started.
This has definitely been the most detailed post so far. Incase you want the shorter version, the day is summed up here (but if you got this far I assume that you read the rest :) )
The beds in the cabin looked more like prison cells and did not come with pillows. We arrived in Venice at 9 am and hit the streets (the paved ones). We spent hours trying to find San Marco Square with our ever evolving group. We ended up sitting in a courtyard with half of Texas and S Carolina and then I get lectured by an Italian restaurant owner. We ate pizza. We ate pasta. We ate gelato. Twice. Crepes in between. We bought two euro bottles of sparkling wine and drank them on the edge of the water as the sun set over the city. We sang the whole time. Papa l'Americano. We spoke more Spanish and German than ever before and managed to squeeze a few Gratzis in every once in awhile. The sky was blue and the sun was warm. We saw outrageous outfits. Some of them were ornate and beautiful. Some were dressed as "crazies/crazos" freaks, street urchins, homeless, but mainly just festive. It was an outrageous experience and one of my favorite days I have spent in Europe.
Other memorable quotes
"North is in the eye of the beholder" -Alex
"These steps are mossy, slippery and will get my ass green, none of those I want right now" -Ryan
"Calm your shit"- Drew
"Don't break my gypsy ball"-John
"You're the fat kids"- Ryan
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
My blog is majorly lacking in creative titles for each post. I wish I could think of more enticing words to label these posts, but it has just not been in the cards recently. This post, although quoting Katy Perry lyrics is not really creative, will attempt to have some sort of unifying theme.
I.
This past weekend I spent time in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. The city was amazing. I fell in love with the way that it looked at night. It was darker and dirtier than Vienna and had much more obvious signs of the remnants of communism. It had a broken down charm that I just could not get over.
II.
When the firework video debuted so many people asked me if I had seen it. I had seen a clip on MTV between shows and so I told everyone that I had seen it. I did not realize what I was missing when I told them this. Take a quick look at the first few seconds of the video
That is right! The video is shot in Budapest. I hope that you were able to gather that by the specific pictures I posted from my trip. Preston, with whom I traveled to Budapest, sent me the link the day we got back. I could not believe it. It was strangely exciting.
III.
There was a Katy Perry concert at the big concert hall that is about three blocks from my residence in Vienna on the Saturday that I was gone. SO WEIRD the connections to all of these happenings.
IV.
Katy Perry's single Firework I think is one of the few truly positive and uplifting songs to come out in quite some time (perhaps even since Christina Aguilera's Beautiful). My favorite lyric of the song says "like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow." Since the first time I heard this song those lyrics have stuck with me.
I feel that on this current adventure/trip/life that I am living that my heart is truly glowing. I am in a place that has opened my eyes, my heart, and my mind. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by the people that I am and to have the opportunities to learn so much about them. Traveling to countries outside of your home country could be scary I suppose but I have felt so comfortable for the entire month that I have been gone. It is very strange not being able to speak the language here but I am at peace with that. When I go to other countries (such as Hungary) I do not feel as bad about not knowing that language, but when I am in Austria I still sometimes feel guilty for not knowing more German.
Besides the big experiences I am having, there are little things that still make my heart glow
- Getting a package in the mail from my parents. It had some of my clothes and some spices for cooking and my pair of Sperry's. When I received it yesterday I put on my sperry's a grey t shirt and my cut off blue jeans. As weird as it sounds, I felt so at home.
-I purchased some waffles at the Penny Markt the other day and heated them up this morning. I didn't have any syrup, but when I took my first bite I found them to be oddly sweet. They were deleicious and it was just really nice to eat them
-I started class on tuesday. So far I have enjoyed the two that I have attended and think that they will be very beneficial to me
-The weather is supposed to get to 40 degrees today
- I am going to Venice, Italy this weekend for their Carneval festival
V.
One more thing that I must add. I do not usually play video games online. Ever. Until last weekend. I encourage you all to play it a few times. It is nothing short of majestic!! Also, this song played during the game, definitely added to the "list of things that make my heart glow".
http://games.adultswim.com/robot-unicorn-attack-twitchy-online-game.html
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