Visitors in Vienna!

This week was a very busy one. Monday night I went to an L.M.F.A.O. concert with Elizabeth, Cori, and Stevie. On our way there, we ran into a bunch of our friends from the OK Program who were also going to the concert. The concert was a lot of fun. It was at the gasometer, one of the venues in vienna. It had a large standing area and then only 10 or 15 rows of standing. We had to get seated tickets because standing was already sold out but it was a great concert, we had so much fun.

On Tuesday I had another presentation for Marketing. This time we were presenting our progress on our Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt implementation project. We got really great feedback from the other students and our professor said we did a great job. On Wednesday I went on a bit of a cooking spree and bought a bunch of veggies so I made a delicious stir-fry for lunch and used the same vegetables to make a yummy risotto for dinner. Then I met up with Cori, Elizabeth, Emily, Stevie and some of our other friends at Magazine, a bar in the bermuda triangle or Bermudadreieck  (an area near schwedenplatz with cobble stone streets and tons of bars) where they had all you can drink for 7 euros from 7 to 9. Then we went to a bar called Gnadenlos which was very cave like and underground, which was pretty cool. I stayed there for a while and then met Travis, a friend from school studying in Copenhagen, at Westbanhof where he was getting off the airport bus.

On Thursday, Travis and I went to il Sestante, one of the best italian restraunts that we frequent here, and got pizzas and minestronne soup. Then we met up with Cori and went to the Sigmund Freud museum. It was interesting to see his conference room where he talked to patients. The museum was not what we were expecting though. They gave us a booklet with about 25 pages of descriptions of all the pictures, certificates, and artifacts on the walls and in the rooms. Afterwards we went around the corner and grabbed cupcakes from this cute bakery that designs cakes and cupcakes. I had a tiramisu flavored one that was delicious. Then I parted ways with Travis so I could go to my management class and he went to an art museum. Then we met back up at my dorm to make chili for dinner. Finally, after a delayed flight, Emerald, my DG twin, and her friend studying with her in Milan, Dana, arrived! They quickly got ready and we had people come over to pregame before going to Praterdome, a dance club in Prater, the park/amusement park. It was such a fun night dancing and the venue was really cool. We didn't get back until 4 so we were quite tired when we woke up the next morning pretty early to do some sightseeing.

Emerald, Me, and Travis - reunited

On Friday, we woke up and grabbed a breakfast of coffee and pastries in the bakery in my u-bahn stop. Then we took the tram and u-bahn to Karlsplatz. We went inside Karlskirche, St. Charles' Church, which was very beautiful. They have an elevator that takes you up to a platform where you are able to better see the frescos. As a painter, I was loving how close we were able to get to the massive and beautiful frescos. Then you could climb more stairs to the top of the dome in order to see the fresco there and to see the view from the windows of the dome. It was very cool, minus the stairs on the way to the dome being a bit shaky.

Me and Emerald in front of Karlskirche. The beautiful frescos on the ceiling of Karlskirche.

Afterwards, we made our way to Belvedere were we took pictures in front of the beautiful Upper Belvedere and went inside to see Gustav Klimpt's "The Kiss" as well as paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, and other famous artists. We made our way back towards Karlsplatz and had a delicious lunch at an Italian restaurant on one of the side streets. Then we went to Hotel Sacher for some original sachertorte and apfelstruddel and some much needed coffee. Travis really liked the sachertorte, but Emerald wasn't as big of a fan. It definitely isn't for everyone, although I do really love it. We went inside Stephansdom and then went to Mozarthaus, the museum and apartments of Mozart. The tour was very interesting but the audio was a bit extensive. We were able to see his apartments, learn about his life, and see original sheet music for some of the operas he wrote! After a long day of sightseeing, everyone needed a nap. We went back to Erasmus to rest up. Then we made our way up to the Vienna woods where we met Cori for dinner at Reinprecht Heuriger for some sturm and a typical Austrian dinner.

Emerald and I with our sachertorte & apfelstruddel in Hotel Sacher.

On Saturday, we had another full day ahead of us. We woke up and went back towards Karlsplatz to the Naschmarkt, a huge market that always sells tons of spices, produce, etc. and on Saturdays has a big flea market as well. After browsing the many different stands, we, along with Cori and Elizabeth, went to a Pho Noodle bar for some lunch. I had duck on noodles as well as soup and tea. It was a delicious lunch. Then I tried a stuffed tomato with cheese and pesto at one of the stands and had a bite of this delicious desert that was chocolate covered nuts that Travis had bought. After Naschmarkt, we went to Schönbrunn Palace to see the imperial staterooms and the beautiful gardens. Then we made our way back to Karlsplatz again, got some street food (Emerald had a kebab sandwich, Dana had a hotdog, Travis and I split pommes (french fries) and a cheese & spinach börek which is like a pastry...essentially we had everything except noodles...which we ended up stopping for on our way back from going out that night). Then we transitioned to pastries and coffee of course at Cafe Demel, which was opened in 1786, where we had two delicious cakes, a chocolate truffle one that was to die for and a coffee flavored one which was pretty good as well. I tried the melange coffee because it was similar to a cappuccino, which is what I usually get but they didn't have, and I think I like the melange better! You make new discoveries in vienna every day. After sitting and talking until the cafe closed, we walked around and met up with Louise, Brianna, and Hannele for dinner at Fresco's which is a mexican restraunt similar to Chipotle (not the same, but as good as you'll get in europe). My taco salad, corona with lime, and chips and guacamole definitely hit the spot! Then we went back to Erasmus, rested a bit, and went out to Kaktus Bar with Louise. It was a pretty cool spot, definitely popular among the young locals. We had noodles from one of the street vendors as a snack on the way back, always delicious.

Naschmarkt produce stand & Emerald, Dana, and Travis with our cakes at Cafe Demel.

Beautiful fall colors with Schönbrunn Palace.

Travis, Me, Emerald, and Dana at the top with Schönbrunn in the background.

On Sunday, we said goodbye to Emerald and Dana. But I will be seeing Emerald again in 3 or 4 weeks in Brussels, Belgium! Then Travis and I went with Cori and Louise to Kahlenburg where there is supposed to be a great view of the city and where you can hike a bit but it wasn't a nice day and when we got to the top of the mountain it was so foggy you could barely see five feet in front of you much less a view of the city! We sat at a cafe at the top and got coffee/hot chocolate. Travis and I came back, made a risotto dinner, and then watched Bridesmaids before going to bed.

Travis leaves tonight so he was still around today for more activities. We met up with Cori at Naschmarkt and got sushi. It was really fresh fish but the sushi kept falling apart! Then Travis and I did some shopping for dinner tonight. We bought green beens and nuts as well as some fresh raviolli of different flavors. It will be a delicious dinner! I was also very excited to find good carrots, portabella mushrooms, and green asparagus there! My meals will be a bit spruced up this week.

Next time you'll hear from me, I will have returned from Copenhagen, Denmark!

Hungry in Budapest

This past week I had my second week of classes. I had a group presentation/lecture in my marketing class that went well. I had another Finance class...still not loving it. I also started my Organizational Behavior Management class. The professor was very interesting and made us think about management differently. This class only meets 6 times though so I already have a paper (worth 20% of my grade) due on Thursday.

This weekend I went to Budapest, Hungary with the BuddyNetwork, the group at WU that sets up events and connects you with a full time student at WU. A lot of my friends from the orientation program went on the trip so it was a lot of fun. We had to be at school at 7:30 on friday morning. Louise and I grabbed pastries from the bakery in our u-bahn stop on the way. I had one of those cinnamon roll type pastries that was delicious. We took a bus to Budapest, and it was only about a 3 hour ride so the transportation was not bad at all. Once we arrived in Budapest, they took us to the West End and to a mall where we were able to exchange money and get some lunch. The currency in Hungary is the Florint and it is just out of control. The exchange is about 1 US dollar to 213 Hungarian Florint. So all the prices were huge numbers that made it confusing to figure out what you were actually paying. For lunch we went to the food court in the mall and I had thai food that was more like the US version of chinese food chicken and vegetables with brown sauce. It was pretty good. Then we had fro-yo! I was so excited to see a fro-yo place there! I had the original of course with chocolate shavings on top. It was like heaven on earth. I've missed my fro-yo. After doing a little shopping for things like pajamas (which I managed to forget to pack), we were back on the bus. They had a tour guide come on the bus and give us a city tour as we drove around. We stopped and got out at Hero's Square as well as the Castle for some beautiful views of Budapest. After the tour we checked in to our hotel. I was rooming with Elizabeth, Cori, and Emily. For Dinner we all went to a traditional Hungarian Beer Cellar for a buffet of traditional food and drinks. Then we went to a club/bar and had so much fun dancing, the music was great (with a few 80's throwbacks included).

Hero's Square & Elizabeth, Cori, Me, and Emily with the view from Fisherman's Bastion near the castle.

On Saturday we woke up for the included breakfast, which wasn't much but it would do. Then went back to sleep for a nice 1.5 hour nap. Then at 12 we met to go to Parliament. The outside of the building was beautiful. We were supposed to do a tour of it as well but they somehow cancelled our tour and didn't tell us. We ended up walking to Liberty Square, St. Stephan's Cathedral and walked around inside the beautiful church, and then did a tour of the Opera instead. The Opera house was absolutely gorgeous, I was really glad we got to see it. It was a little prettier than Vienna's but in defense of Vienna, its opera house was bombed during the war (while pretty much everything else of Budapest was bombed). After that Elizabeth and I went with a group to the New York Cafe, a beautiful coffee house where we had apple strudel and coffee/hot chocolate. It was delicious and in such a beautiful setting. Saturday night for dinner we went to a Mongolian grill where you pick the raw meat, etc. that you want and then they grill it for you. I tried shark and duck which were both very good as well as some veggies. They also had horse and goat but I wasn't that brave. It was really delicous. I also had a pumpkin soup that I loved and we had some goat cheese brushetta. The desserts were delicious too. We had a sponge cake that was very delicious and of course some delicious house wine and sangria. Then the whole group went to a club called Pink where we had another great night of dancing to good music.

Danielle, Pasha, Me and Elizabeth in front of Parliament.

St. Stephan's Cathedral & Emily, Me, Cori, and Elizabeth in front of it on the steps.

Sunday was our last day in Budapest. We woke up, had the included breakfast again, and then went to the House of Terror museum about communism and the Nazi occupation of Hungary. It was a very interesting museum. They had room that displayed different documentaries about the times of the Nazi and Soviet occupations, as well as the torture devices and rooms that they used. After the museum we grabbed gyros on the street for lunch and then went to Cafe Gerbeaud, one of Budapest's famous cafes/coffehouses. It was very beautiful and had delicious homemade desserts and ice creams. I had a cafe latte with homemade cinnamon syrup and an apple strudel with homemade cinnamon ice cream on the side. It was very delicious, I loveed the cinnamon ice cream. After the cafe we had free time and Elizabeth, Cori, Emily and I walked around the pedestrian area and checked out the shops. Then we went to McDonald's to grab a bite to eat before getting back on the bus and heading home.

This week I am pretty busy with another presentation for Marketing as well as other work, including that paper I need to get around to. Then on Wednesday Travis is coming to visit and on Thursday Emerald arrives. It will be a fun weekend of sight seeing around vienna and showing them around my wonderful city!

Czechin out Praha for the Weekend

Last week I started my classes. I only had two but I had 3 hours of international marketing on Tuesday afternoon and then 3.5 hours of Finance on Wednesday morning. It is not easy being in class that long, that is for sure. I brought my computer to class this week so I can actually see the presentation slides...and distract myself occasionally to prevent death by boredom.

I didn't do too much in Vienna last week as I was only here for 3 days and began classes but on Tuesday Cori and I met up with Elizabeth and her Mom & Mom's friend to go to a Heuriger near the Vienna Woods. Heurigers are wine-taverns in Austria that serve typical Austrian food and serve the most recent year's wine. We went to two, one of which was the Reinprecht Heuriger that is in a 300-year-old former monastery. The building was pretty cool. We sat outside where they were playing some live music and had sturm, the delicious sweet not fully fermented wine that Austria produces in the beginning of the wine season. Then we moved on to another Heuriger where we ate dinner and I had to have the Wiener Schnitzel which came with a traditional Austrian salad.

Cori, Me, and Elizabeth at the Reinprecht Heuriger with wine and sturm.

On Thursday, Elizabeth and I met at the Wien Miedling train station to take the train to Prague where we were meeting Emerald, my twin in DG, Travis, my friend from Richmond, and Michael, Emerald's friend from Milan. The train ride was pretty comfortable and Elizabeth and I occupied ourselves by talking for almost the whole time. After a short nap, we finally arrived 5 hours later. We were the first ones there so we went to our hostel, Old Prague Hostel to check in and then found a cafe nearby to get Irish Coffees and a piece of cake. Since we live in Austria, we knew that the Czech Republic, Austria's neighbor, would also appreciate the cake and pastry culture that we have come to love. I had an apple type cake that was good and very different and Elizabeth had the tiramisu which was delicious. Then we went back to the hostel and met up with Emerald and Michael shortly after. We went to a restaurant nearby called the Crazy Cow and had some steak and wine, it was quite good. Then we went back to the hostel and met up with Travis. The 5 of us tried to find a place that the hostel had recommended but as we were wandering the streets of Prague trying to orient ourselves to the new city, it began to downpour. So we ended up just going into a nearby hotel and got a drink at the bar and chatted about our abroad experiences.

Travis, Me, Emerald, Elizabeth, and Michael.

On Friday, we woke up early and went to a place nearby called Bohemian Bagel. It was delicious, I had a friend egg breakfast sandwich with spinach, mushrooms, and bacon. Then we ventured over to Wenceslas Square for a city walking tour. It was interesting to hear how Prague was affected during the World Wars and Communism and to see the beautiful buildings. It was pretty chilly but luckily didn't rain. The tour concluded with a River cruise that showed us some of the sights from a boat. The highlight was definitely seeing the Charles Bridge from the Water as well as the Prague Castle. After the cruise we took the suggestion of our tour guide to go to a place called Arcma that was underground and had traditional Czech food. We ordered the fried cheese to share as well as homemade Sourdough bread. The fried cheese was very interesting, the cheese inside had a distinct taste and it came with cranberry jelly on top. Not everyone was a huge fan. Everyone also got the goulash. It did not arrive as we expected it! We thought it would come more as a soup, which was what Elizabeth had tried in Vienna, but it came more like turkey and gravy. It was very delicous and very filling though.

Wenceslas Square

Me sitting against the John Lennon Wall with the writing that describes my life!

After lunch we went to the other side of the River. We walked across the famous Charles Bridge and saw the John Lennon Wall. Emerald noticed this writing on the Wall that said "From Seville to Prague...from NJ to VA...I'll always feel the brightness of your smile!" Which seriously freaked us all out because I was just in Seville this summer, was visiting prague, live in NJ, go to school in VA, and there this writing was! So i had to take a picture with it of course. We then went up to Prague Castle which is like its own village with an old royal palace, a beautiful basilica and cathedral, as well as other things to see. The day cleared up and it became a beautiful fall day, perfect for the wonderful views from the Castle! There were all these food stands in the old town square and we stopped for crepes on the way back from the Castle. I had one with cinnamon, nutella, and banana, it was so delicious. Vienna needs to get crepe stands, they have everything else! For dinner we went to an italian restaurant nearby and then went on a Pub Crawl, which are very popular in Prague! Since it was a Friday night, it was a club crawl and it began in the basement of an old church. It was nice to have a set plan for the night and to see multiple different nightlife spots in prague in one night.

On Saturday, we went to Bohemian Bagel again for breakfast. Then went to the Old Town Square to go to the top of the famous Astronomical Clock Tower. It had great views of the Square but it was freezing up there! Then we went and checked out the beautiful big white church on the square called St. Nicholas. On the outside the church looks so massive but on the inside it is so much smaller! Although the ceilings are still quite tall. Then we went on an underground tour of Prague which was really cool! Prague used to literally be at least a floor below the level it is now, sometimes up to 3 floors, and eventually they had to build above it because of the Vltava River if i remember correctly. So we were able to see rooms where people lived, pubs, even streets! It was very interesting and a nice way to get out of the rain! Afterwards we went to a cafe for appelstrudel and cappuccinos, and then saw the other large church on the square called Tyn Cathedral. It was so different compared to the other church, it was very interesting to see the differences when they were not even 100 yards apart! For dinner we went to a traditional Czech restaurant nearby. I had a potato soup that I could eat for the rest of my life, it was delicious, and then a pasta dish with chicken and broccoli. We went to Chapeau Rouge Saturday night, which had been recommended by the hostel and a guide book, but it was not the scene that we were looking for so by the time we found another club we wanted to go to it was late, the line was long, and it didn't look like they were letting people in very often. So we grabbed some kebabs and called it a night.

The view of St. Nicholas Cathedral from the Astronomical Clock Tower.

On Sunday we got Bohemian Bagel and then headed on our separate ways. On the train ride home I wasn't feeling to great for the last hour of it and as soon as I stepped off the train, I threw up. I thought it was from motion sickness since I get that pretty easily but then I ended up being sick all night. It was not fun at all. Travis apparently had the same thing so we don't know if we had food poisoning or a stomach virus but either way it was probably the worst 12 hours of my life. The bathroom floor and I are now very good friends. But I am feeling much better after lying in bed almost all day yesterday. I made myself some plain pasta which definitely helped.

Today I had a marketing presentation on an article (it was only our second class!) and we have another presentation next week on our progress on our projects. Classes are really kicking in! This weekend I am off to Budapest, Hungary with the Buddynetwork at WU so my next post will have much to tell you about that!

Bier Steins, Weißwurst, & Brezels

I just got back from a fun and exhausting weekend in Munich where I was visiting for Oktoberfest! I had a great time and loved seeing some familiar faces.

Me in my Dirndl with Maya.

I took a train from Wien Westbanhof, which is only 1 u-bahn stop away from my stop, to Muenchen HBF, the central station in Munich. The train was very nice and had beautiful views of the Austrian country side! I arrived at 2:30 and received a bbm from Kailey, my DG sister who I was sharing a hostel with and who is studying abroad in Perugia, Italy, saying that her flight had been a bit delayed so she would be getting in at 3:15. So to preoccupy my 45 minutes, I bought a map of Munich and then decided to see what was outside of the station. There was a store across the street selling traditional Bavarian clothing, Lederhosen (traditional men's outfits of the region) & Dirndls (traditional women's outfits of the region), and typical impulse shopper that I am, I bought a dirndl after only "going in to just try them on". I figure I will just have to wear it again for halloween next year and somehow make it into a DG social outfit. After my little shopping trip, I found Kailey and we walked to our hostel, Hotel Atlas City. It was in the perfect location, only a few block from the train station, a 5 minute walk to the Oktoberfest grounds, and a 10 minute walk to the city center.

Giant Pretzels & Giant Beers!

After settling in, Kailey and I finally got in touch with Maya, another one of my DG sisters (studying abroad in San Sebastian, Spain), who told us to meet her at the Oktoberfest grounds. We walked over there following her directions to find where exactly they are as the grounds are huge and there were so many people walking around. We ended up walking every direction but the direction she was in, but finally found her with Robyn and Kelley, two of her friends who also go to Richmond, at a biergarten right outside of the Oktoberfest grounds. It was a great atmosphere. We all ordered a Maß, which is the 1 liter bier stein, and sat at a picnic table and caught up on each others lives and our different abroad experiences thus far. Then this girl came around with a big basket of huge pretzels. She sat down with us and talked to us for a while about what its like for the people of munich during oktoberfest and how she liked working there. After the biergarten we went to a traditional German restaurant. I had soup with a meatball like dumpling in it that was delicious and split a plate of fries with Kelley. We also had a few more beers. I had a dunkel beer which is a dark german beer which was really good.

 Kailey with her beer & giant pretzel. Kelley, Me, and Kailey in the biergarten.

Hofbräu Tent!

Waitress carrying 8 steins!

On Saturday we woke up at 6 am to get ready to be at the tents around 7/7:30 to wait in line to get in the tents and get a table. We waited outside of the Hofbräu Festzelt tent which is the tent with the big crown on top. We finally got in at 8:30 and got a table on the balcony upstairs. The atmosphere in the tents was crazy. There was a group of italians going crazy and singing songs near us and everyone would start cheering whenever the waitresses began bringing over the first steins. People would get up on the tables and start to chug their stein and if they couldn't do it the entire tent would boo at them. We met a group of americans that were with a girl from sweden, and a few italians, who were studying together in Italy. We were in the tent until about 11 when they kicked us out because the tables were reserved. Then we went outside on the patio and mingled with more people and then later found a table, got some chicken, more beer, and met some guys from dublin and from america. It was so hot on the patio that the guy next to me from dublin took his friend's Hofbråu hat and put it on my head to shield me from the sun and let me keep it! I was able to bring back a Hofbräu stein and a Hacker-Pschorr stein as souvenirs. In the afternoon on Saturday, Kailey, Maya and I were able to find Emerald, my twin in DG, who was there with her school and we met her friends and rode the ferris wheel with them, maya had to go back before the ferris wheel because she was too tired.

Alex, Me, Kailey, Kelley, Sam (new friend), Robyn, (new friend), Maya in the tent

The Hofbräu Tent seats 6,896 people inside the tent and 3,622 people outside.

After the ferris wheel ride, Kailey and I went back to our hostel and took a nice 3 hour nap. Then I woke Kailey up at 8 and asked her if she wanted to go get dinner. We walked down to the city center and after much searching finally found a place that had food, and it smelled delicious! I had a pizza, and Kailey got bratwurst and pommes frittes (french fries). So funny because Kailey who is studying in Italy is already sick of pizza so she wanted some german food, and I, who am studying in Austria (with very similar food to german food) really wanted some italian food. The meal was good and then we walked around the city center a bit and saw some of the beautiful buildings there. It looked like disney world or something! Then on our way back to the hostel we stopped by an ice cream stand and bought spaghetti-eis which is ice cream that they put through a pasta strainer so it comes out looking like spaghetti, then they put on strawberry and chocolate sauce, a strawberry, and a cookie. It was very good!

Beautiful Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) & me with my spaghetti-eis.

On Sunday, Kailey and I said our goodbyes. I went to the train station thinking there was a 10:14 train to Vienna but had to wait for the 11:27. I occupied my time at a cafe, drinking very good cappuccinos and reading my book. I had a muffin, bought some UK magazines (finally my fashion fix! and in a language I can read), and bought a few sushi rolls for lunch on the train and boarded my train to Vienna. I accidentally sat in a few reserved seats and people just stared at me until I asked them if they were reserved. All you have to do is tell me you have it reserved! But once I was back in vienna, I worked out, showered, and met Elizabeth, her mom, her mom's friend, Cori, John, Emily, and Emily & Elizabeth's new apartment-mate Stevie for dinner at Il Sestante, the delicious italian restaurant with outside seating outside of the big white church. I had tortollini wiht proscuitto and a glass of cabernet. It was a beautiful night out and a great way to end a fantastic weeekend.