Friday, April 26, 2013

Venice

I know it is a week late, but better late than never. :)  During orientation at MCI we had an option to sign up for a group called ESN and they have great deals for short trips and things to do around Innsbruck.  They had a trip to Venice for 39 euro for the day so we hopped right on that!  So, on Saturday, 4/20/13, we woke up at 4:30 in the morning to get to the bus at the train station.  The bus left for Venice around 6 am and we arrived in Venice around 11 am.  We then had to take a boat into the city, which was amazing!  We had until 6:30 pm to explore Venice and I think that was just the right amount of time.

The first thing we did when we arrived as find a cheap pizza place.  The food in Venice is not the cheapest, but we ended up finding a place that was reasonable.  We then walked around a bit and sort of "got lost".  My mom told me the best thing to do was to "get lost" and explore the back roads of the city because they have the best cafe's and shops.  Of course we went to the tourist sites as well, Piazza San Marco, St. Mark's Campanile, Rialto Bridge and St. Mark's Basilica.  The Piazza San Marco and St. Mark's Basilica was filled with tourists because it was a Saturday and there happened to be a cruise there at the same time.  Also, there was a graduation being held in the Piazza as well that day.  It was very interesting to see how people were dressed for graduation.  Some of them have wreaths around their necks and some where dressed in the most ridiculous attire.  It was quite amusing.  The Rialto Bridge was also filled with tourists, so we only stayed at these places long enough to see them and get a picture.

We walked down so many back roads and found the best gelato, which I was ecstatic about. :)  I got tiramisu flavored and it actually tasted like the real thing, with the kahlua in it!  We walked all day and found a great cafe with some amazing coffee as well.  I got one that had chocolate shavings on top!  They also have a lot of places with glass objects because they are known for glass blowing there.  Everything was beautiful to me!

The weather was not the best on the day we went, but I still had a great time!  I took some amazing pictures of all the canals and some of the gondolas!  Unfortunately gondola rides are very expensive, so we did not take one, but it was still very cool to see the different gondolas and how they are decorated! It rained on us a bit, so we ducked into many stores and I ended up buying a leather purse that was a decent price and I am in love with it!!

At the end of our day we sat down at a restaurant and had a glass of prosecco.  We then found a small cafe that had wraps so we could take it to go to eat on the bus for dinner.  All-in-all, I had a great time in Venice and for a great price!  I am so happy I am able to experience all I have been able to.

More to come...Gute nacht!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Livin' the life in Innsbruck

Once we got back to Innsbruck we all were very eager to get situated and get to know the town a bit better.  We also all needed a short break from each other, so we all kept to ourselves for the most part the next two days.  I did not have class until Wednesday, so I caught up on my television shows and tried to start getting some exercise in.

I didn't have class until that Wednesday after we got back, so I took the entire day to just relax and have time for myself.  Then I had 2 days of classes, which was nice to get back into the groove of school, but I then had Friday off.  I am pretty sure I was lazy that day as well.  I walked around a bit and probably went and got food (I cannot remember as it was too long ago now).  Then Saturday, 4/6/13, Jessica, Alex, Carly, Ditta and myself ran a 5k in Innsbruck.  It was so nice to actually run the 5K and I felt very good about myself.  I ran it in about 38 minutes and after the race we got a free plant and some snacks.  That night we decided to try this restaurant called Vapiano's, which is an Italian restaurant that mainly serves pasta.  It was a very neat place because they gave us a card when we walked in and we charged everything to that card and paid at the end when we were walking out.  That is a very clever way for the restaurant to make money because it is dangerous for the customers, especially when they want to drink wine. ;)  I got a rosso pesto pasta with penne pasta.  The pasta is actually cooked right in front of you which is most interesting and I loved it.  Afterward, we went to get another drink at Galway Pub and I headed home for the night.

On Sunday I relaxed because the race took a lot out of me.  That night, however, a group of us went to a bar called Moustache and played trivia from 8-10.  It was a very fun time, even though some of the questions had to do with German history or geography.

The next week I only had 3 classes, 2 of them being 8 hours long on Thursday and Friday, so I took that time to explore the city.  I took the bus to the train station to see how much train tickets would be to Italy and to Prague and then I walked to get gelato and headed home.  It was a very nice day to go exploring and I was happy to get out of my dorm.  Thursday and Friday, however, were long dreadful days and the class was very boring!  I thought I would be interested because it was Destination Management, but the teacher was very monotone and was hard to hear. :(

On Wednesday 4/10/13, I went to get pizza at a student dorm with a bunch of people from my hall.  They have discounted pizza, beer and soda for students living in the WIST dorms every other Wednesday.  It was nice to go out with people from my dorm and not the usual people because I got to know them a lot better than I would have if I had gone with my usual crowd.  Then on Thursday we tried a mexican place we had been wanting to try called Mexicana Arriba.  I was very excited to get some chips and salsa, so Carly and I split an order and the salsa was disgusting; it tasted like curry and cinnamon. UGH.  I told the waitress and she said "Well you still have to pay for it!", so I did and I was pretty sour about it the rest of the night.  Also, she was rude when I asked for more chips, even though I just wanted my money's worth of chips!  Carly and I also split fajitas, which was decent, but not worth what we paid for them.  So, in the end, I will not be returning to this restaurant.

On Friday, 4/12/13, there was an international dinner planned that we wanted to go to, but it ended up being cancelled, so we decided to make our own dinner.  I decided I wanted to make some mac n' cheese and I found a great bacon and beer recipe.  We all went to Rossl dorm and made our food and had a great night!  The mac n' cheese ended up being delicious and two of our friends from Canada made a Canadian dish called poutine, which is french fries with gravy and cheese on top.  It was so delicious I couldn't stand it!  We ate some great food that night and socialized with some amazing people.

The next day was a beautiful day and I walked to the store and back and caught up on some sleep.  I also ventured onto the roof top of the panorama dorm, which was extremely nerve wrecking.  You have to climb the fire escape from the top floor and kind of jump to get up onto the roof.  Getting down was worse though because you feel like you are going to fall and have to be very careful where your hands and feet are; I was having a mini panic attack.

On Sunday, 4/14/13, a whole bunch of us went to Lake Baggersee.  I brought champagne and orange juice to make mimosas and everyone else brought their own type of drinks.  We also made some food for about 10 of us!  It started out with our small group of 10, then turned into 20 and then into about 30 of us!  It was a great variety of people from all around the world.  I met some new people from Denmark, Ireland and England.  I also got to know some of the Irish girls I had met on Thursday at the Mexican restaurant.  I love when I can meet new people! :)  We stayed from about 1pm-5pm and I got incredibly burnt, which I am ok with because I needed some sort of color.  Sunday was the hottest day we have had here and it was awesome being in the heat but also seeing snow on the top of the mountains.  I definitely do not see that back in Florida!

Today I had class from 9-12:15 and then again from 1:30-4:45.  Afterward I made some dinner and typed up the blog!  I am about to go for a run because I need to get back into shape!  Life here is getting so much easier and feeling more like home!  I am loving my new friends. :)



Wednesday, April 10, 2013

10 days off, SAY WHAT?! Part 3: Milan


On Saturday, March 29, we left Amsterdam in the late afternoon and arrived in Milan in the evening.  When we arrived we realized we had to take a 45-minute bus ride into Milan as the airport was that far away.  The bus took us to the central train station where we had to figure out what stop to get off at and how to get to the apartment from there.  Needless to say, we got lost once we got off the subway getting to the apartment.  We ended up having to use Jess’s phone to get in touch with the owner of the apartment and he met us and walked us the rest of the way.  The apartment was very small, but cute and I liked it.  I would not live there with anyone else but myself, but it was good for the 3 nights we were there.  There was a local pizzeria near by that we had dinner at around 10 or 11 pm and shared 2 bottles of wine.  It was such a nice dinner, but I was exhausted.

The next day we were planning on exploring the city, but it was pouring rain outside and it was hard to get around.  Two of us had umbrellas and we took the subway most places, but it was still miserable.  We went to the Milan Cathedral (duomo) and took a look inside there.  Then after that we attempted to go to a museum, but we got coffee instead at the museum café.  We also walked through a mall of some sorts right next to the Cathedral.  This mall was beautiful, but all the stores were expensive and there was no point of shopping.  We then took the subway back to our part of town and ate at another local pizzeria for lunch.  This pizza was much different than what we had the first night; it was thick crust and did not have as much sauce on it.  It was very good pizza, but I much prefer thin crust pizza.  We also got a dessert, which I thought was ice cream, but if was more of a cream puff with something delicious on the outside.  I was in love. J  After lunch we attempted to look around a farmers market of sorts, but they were starting to tear down their booths and it was miserable outside, so we went back to the apartment.  That night we cooked spaghetti instead of going out to eat and it was lovely.

After the day of rain was Easter Sunday and it was gorgeous outside.  We woke up early to go to church for Easter and we decided to go to the 9:30 service at the Milan Cathedral.  The entire mass was in Italian, but I could follow for the most part and it was amazing to hear a mass in a different language.  After mass we headed back to our apartment to re-group and figure out what we wanted to see that day.  We had looked up a cemetery and this tower where you could see all of Milan from the top of it.  On the way to the tower we found an entire street full of shops (all closed of course for Easter), but the street was great to walk down.  I was having fun just walking aimlessly.  We ended up finding a castle and a park on our way to the tower and it was starting to get very warm outside; I was ecstatic.  I saw other people laying on the grass and thought it would be a great idea to do the same.  So we laid down for about an hour soaking up the sun and took a good nap.  I would have to say that this Easter was my favorite Easter of all.  My family was not with me, sadly, but it was still a good day!  We found a pizzeria on our way back to the apartment called The Rocking Horse.  It was a very delicious meal; we got bruschetta to start, and then each got a pizza and split a bottle of wine.  It was a great way to end our last night Milan on Easter. J

The next day we were ending our 10-day long trip around Europe and going back to Innsbruck.  It was sad that it ended so soon, but we were all very excited to get back to new home!




Friday, April 5, 2013

10 days off, SAY WHAT?! Part 2: Amsterdam


We got on a plane to Amsterdam at 6:50 am and arrived around 8:30.  I slept the entire plane ride because I had not gotten much sleep the night before.  Brittany’s friend Marnix was picking us up from the airport, which was very nice of him.  He first dropped us off at the apartment so we could drop our things off and then he gave us a tour of Holland.  I really appreciate all that he showed us!  He first took us to the coast (not the beach) and it was nice to actually see water around me and not mountains, I miss the beach.   It was extremely cold in Holland the entire time we were there, but it was sunny, so I could not complain at all.  After seeing the coast, he took us to this small fishing village.  It was so cute and beautiful.  All the houses were very close together, but I still liked the look of it.  Even though I was freezing, I enjoyed every moment of village because it is not something I am used to.  It is not supposed to be as cold as it was, so the water was half frozen and half not, that was incredibly interesting to see.  We ended up eating lunch in the village and I got a hamburger for the first time in over a month.  We had noticed a waffle stand right outside the restaurant, so we got a waffle for dessert.  The waffle I got had nutella and bananas on it.  I was in heaven. J

After the fishing village Marnix drove us to this windmill tourist spot called Zaanse Schans.  It was gorgeous there as well.  All the windmills looked like they could have houses under them, but they were not inhabited by anyone.  It was nice to look around and see how they used to use the windmills in Holland.  I also was able to get some beautiful pictures of the scenery.  Everything was green and bright; I was in love.  Once we left Zaanse Schans, Marnix drove us back to the apartment and we parted ways.  Brittany and Marnix both had their 22nd birthday that day and they were celebrating with his family about 45 minutes outside the city.  That night Alex, Jess and I had a great night and got some rest after being up from 4 am and being out until almost 6pm. 

The next day, March 27, we woke up and tried to find a good breakfast spot.  We went to this restaurant called Little Collins because an app of mine said this was a great restaurant.  Alex and I got eggs hollandaise (eggs benedict) and it was fabulous.  Jess got a yoghurt dish that had oatmeal in it as well, and that was pretty good, but not for me.  We then just aimlessly walked around Amsterdam for the rest of the day.  It was nice because we were able to see so many beautiful things and it was beautiful outside, so it made my day.  We came upon this market while walking and Jess and I got some hats.  Mine is awesome because it is reversible and it can be a scarf as well.  The best 8 euro I have ever spent.  Alex also got a phone case because he broke his.  This market was very cool and I’m glad we walked through to see what they had.  We walked past the Amsterdam canals and went into a few tourist shops.  We then came up on a fair, which is funny because there was also a fair in Geneva while we were there.  It was right in front of the Royal Palace.  We then headed toward the Red Light District to at least get a feel for the area.  As we were walking I noticed a beautiful church that I wanted to take a picture of and when we went down the little street I was not expecting there to be “ladies” in the glass walls, I was very thrown off.  All I will say about the red light district is that it is very interesting; you can go see for yourself.

We then went to get a coffee and Jess ate some lunch, Alex and I were still full from our eggs benedicts. J  We honestly did not know what else to go see, so we just walked around a bit more and headed back to the apartment to figure out what we were going to do for dinner.  We decided on going to a place called Burger Bar, which is self-explanatory.  This was the first real burger I have had in a month (the one in Holland did not count).  This was also the best burger I have had in A LONG TIME!  They had very good fries as well and you could add sauces for 60 cents, so I got ketchup (of course) and mayonnaise.  The mayonnaise was very different from America’s, but I liked it much more.  The kept me full for the rest of the night.  Alex, Jess and I had a great night, probably one of the most fun nights we’ve had in awhile.

The next day we got up to go to the Anne Frank house and we waited in line for a little bit over an hour.  It was so cold outside it was unbearable.  I am surprised I survived.  Once we got inside I had to thaw out my feet prior to walking around the museum.  We took our time going through the museum and I read everything and made sure I did not miss a detail in there.  I had chills while walking through the museum; it is so crazy that they were hiding in such a small space for over 2 years.  We got to go through the bookshelf that was hiding the door from everyone else, which was the most realistic thing in the museum; it made it real for me.  Also, we saw Anne’s room, along with the kitchen and we saw the stairs to the attic.  I was very upset that we could not go up into the attic, but being able to see it was worth it.  Anne’s room was amazing; there were still pictures on the walls with glass preserving them.  I could not believe I was there and it was very humbling.  I would suggest that anyone who goes to Amsterdam must go to the Anne Frank house!

I did not completely thaw out in the museum, even though we were in there for quite a bit of time.  We then met up with Brittany and Marnix and figured out what we were going to do for dinner.  We ended up back at Little Collins and had one of the best dinners I have had in awhile.  It was a very elegant dinner, but not with the price tag.  We went out for a few drinks after dinner and then called it a night.  The next day we took our time getting up and were planning on eating at this little pancake house in the center, but it did not open until noon.  We ended up at another pancake house called De Carrousel.  I got an egg and bacon pancake, which was amazing.  They had this thick syrup to put on it and it was almost like molasses.  It was equal parts savory as it was sweet, so it was perfect.  We walked towards the train station after that and went through the red light district again.  We got a train ticket to get to the airport so we could catch out flight to Milan.  While walking through Amsterdam I noticed all these French fry places, so I was craving them and was hoping they would have one in the airport, which they did!  I got the French fries and a kroket (which is unexplainable taste wise) with some ketchup.  A kroket is a Dutch food that is fried.  I believe mine had mashed potatoes inside, but usually it is meat filled.  I was very satisfied when we left Amsterdam, I felt like we saw all we could.  Amsterdam was an amazing place and I could see myself working there or even studying there in the future.  A lot of the locals spoke English and it was very easy to get around there.  The bad thing about it is that it is almost always cold, which is a turn off for me. L  All in all, Amsterdam was amazing!








10 days off, SAY WHAT? Part 1: Geneva


The day after we got back from St. Anton we left at 9am for our 10-day adventure.  The journey started in Geneva, Switzerland.  We had a full day of travel that Saturday, March 23, 2013, and we arrived in Geneva around 4:30 pm.  We were pleasantly surprised when we got off the train at how nice it was even though it wasn’t that great of weather outside.  We hopped in a cab, which wasn’t too expensive between the four of us, and got to the apartment within 10 minutes if not less of getting in the cab.  As soon as we walked into the apartment I was in love.  It was super cute and not far from everything we wanted to see.  The rooms weren’t as open planned, as it is in the U.S and usually I don’t like that setup, but with this apartment it worked and each room was big enough that it didn’t feel cramped.  The beds weren’t the most comfortable beds, but they would do for a few nights.  The first night we were there we walked toward the store to get some food to cook because Geneva is just too ridiculously expensive, and it closed 10 minutes prior to us getting there.  We found a small convenient store close by, though, and were able to buy pasta, sauce and a baguette.  It was a great, relaxing evening.

The weather in Geneva was horrible.  It was rainy, windy and cold.  I really wish it hadn’t been so bad because it would have been the most beautiful place!  There was this area called Le Jet d'Eau and it is basically a fountain coming out of a dock going really high up in the air.  The fountain is on Lake Geneva and the surrounding area is gorgeous.  Behind the fountain is a mountain that has beautiful houses on it, but we weren’t able to see it very well because of the foggy weather and the rain, which was disappointing.

The first day we went out we passed by a great market that had all kinds of goods.  There was food, jewelry, clothing and much more.  We then walked quite a distance to see this monument called The Broken Chair, which was well worth the walk!  Also, in the same area there was the United Nations.  After walking back to the apartment we stopped at the same convenient store we went to the first night to get a few things because we still had leftovers from the night before.  Brittany, Jess and I shared 2 bottle of wine that night and we watched The Hunger Games.  Geneva is definitely not a “go out late” kind of place.  The owner of the apartment also told us that if we made too much noise after 10 pm we would get in trouble by the neighbors.

The next day we went and explored “The Old Town” of Geneva.  The main attraction was the St. Pierre Cathedral.  This cathedral was beautiful and made my jaw drop when I entered it.  The stain glass was flawless and even more jaw-dropping when we entered into the chapel area of the church.  After leaving the cathedral we walked the old streets, which was amazing to me.  I love walking on stone, narrow roads.  It makes me feel happy in an odd way, I sort of feel at home even though it is not at all like the area I grew up in.  I am a lot happier here than I am back in Florida, but I also miss my family and my friends.  It’s just a different life-style here.

After walking throughout the Old Town we started to head back to the apartment stopping at some places on the way back.  One of them being a bookstore, the other being ice cream, and I got Swiss chocolate, of course. J  We also stopped at the market we went to the first day to see if we could get a baguette for dinner.   We did not find much there, so we went to a local grocery store and bought a huge pizza for dinner and got a baguette there.  We had a flight at 6:50am the next day, so we stayed in a watched a couple movies that night as well.  We all hardly got any sleep that night, which was horrible the next day because we knew it was going to be a busy one.  We got up at 3am so we could walk to the train station to get to the airport in time for our flight.  We had no lag time between checking in, going through security and getting some food.  I was happy to leave Switzerland because of the prices alone, but I want to go back when the weather is much nicer so I can really see it, instead of just half seeing its beauty.
Another thing to add about Switzerland is that they still mainly take Swiss Franc, but will NOT accept any other franc. L I was very upset about that because they refused my franc that was not Swiss.  They do take Euro, but they give you the change back in Franc, and some places only take the bills, no the dollar or 2 dollar coins.