Postlingberg

Resting at the top of a hill called Postlingberg in Linz, there is a pilgrimage church. Now, you can take a streetcar up to the church and surrounding area to enjoy beautiful views and architecture. The church itself is nothing special - it's beautiful, but looks just like any other European church. The view of Linz coupled with the beautiful autumn colors was astounding! I could not have picked a better weekend to go.

Once at the top of the hill, there is a mile-long walking path with several overlooks and many interesting views. A picture's worth 1,000 words so....

Beautiful scenery

Linz is in the background

If you tilt your head to the left, you can see the church through the trees :)

Classes

Sorry for the amount of time between posts - classes are crazy here!

For starters, classes are at different times and in different buildings every week. I miss the American way: I sign up for a class on MWF at 11 every week. It's always in the same room. Here, I sign up for a class. On Monday it's at 10 am in Building A and on Wednesday it's at 5pm in Building F. Then the next week the Monday class is at 8:30 am in Building C and on Wednesday, noon in Building A. It's so hard to keep track of.

Also, classes do not last the full semester. This is generally a great thing because I leave in December and the semester last until the end of January. I only have one class that ends after December 17th, and the teacher is willing to work with me. Unfortunately, last week and this week I have a class that only last two weeks. Taking an intensive class on top of a full class schedule, was a bad idea. I think I'll make it through though :) (And yes, it was at a different time every single day!)

I'll try to post again soon!

A Short Trip to Graz

When we booked the Vienna weekend, we realized that for about 5 euros more, we could come home by traveling through southern Austria and stopping in Graz. Graz is the second largest city in Austria (about the same size as Linz though) and the capital of Steiermark (an Austrian state). The region around Graz is know for it's mountains and forrests, and it didn't disappoint.

Square in Graz.

The day was actually really rainy, but that didn't stop us from exploring for a short time. We saw the main square, the cathedral and several streets in the old city, then we hiked up (ok, we took a train up) Schloßberg, or castle mountain. There are only a few remains of what once was a huge fortress. When Napoleon took Austria, he had the fortress destroyed since he suffered a defeat there.  Now there is still a clock tower, a bell tower and several scenic walking paths that give you a beautiful view of the city (and the Alps when it isn't raining).

View of Graz from Schloßberg.

It was a Sunday, so there wasn't much to do except walk around. Graz was very beautiful though, and it would have been nice to be there in the sunshine on a day when everything is open.

Weekend in Vienna

Vienna is such a beautiful and interesting city. It is one of my favorite places so far, simply because there are so many sites, all of them equally beautiful and interesting, but the city is incredibly compact. You don’t need to travel across town to stay occupied for a day. Countless museums, churches, quaint restaurants and palaces are all within walking distance of each other. The architecture and design of each building has a rich history that is meticulously maintained. It is not at all difficult to imagine what the city looked like a hundred or two hundred years ago, because so little has changed.

The Art History Museum

The trip was off to a rough start. We thought we would get to Vienna around 2:30, but thanks to a really painful German final, a forgotten passport (oops…) and about four delayed trains, we didn’t get in until after 4 p.m. Knowing that most things would close soon, we just checked into the hotel and wandered around the city. Vienna is absolutely beautiful at night, and felt completely safe, so we walked for quite a while. We stopped at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Swarovski World for some Christmas presents and Starbucks for a little taste of home. Then we strolled past the Hapsburg palace and through all the small, quiet streets of Vienna.

Schönbrunn (back) and some gardens

The next morning, we started out early and went to Schönbrunn Palace on the outskirts of Vienna. We spent hours there exploring the palace, gardens and apple strudel bakery. Yum ☺. The palace is very interesting and fairly similar to Versailles. The gardens and its decorations are picturesque and – if it was warmer then 50 degrees, I could have spent all day wandering around. Instead, we went back into the inner city and took a tour of St. Stephen’s catacombs then ate lunch at an Italian restaurant. We spent the afternoon planning the evening because Saturday night happened to be…

The Long Night of Museums! Once a year Austria has a night where you can buy a ticket for eleven euro that gives you entrance to most of the museums in the city between 6 p.m. and 1 a.m. Lucky for us, we just happened to be in Vienna during this time! We got our tickets and saw about seven museums before 11:30 when we decided we were too tired to keep going. It’s actually an extremely fun night. The museum district is busy with people trying to see as much as possible and many museums have special music and programs to add to the typical museum experience. There is one part of town called the Museum Quartier, where close to 10 museums share one large courtyard. Here there was a huge stage with constant live performances. There were also several outdoor restaurants/ bars set up and the whole courtyard was alive all night.

Line outside the Demel Museum

Inside the Modern Art Museum

MuseumsQuartier

Early in the morning, we woke up, and came home a super long way – through Graz.

Oktoberfest Munich

Arriving in Munich at nine in the morning, none of us had slept in at least 24 hours. Somehow though, we weren’t very tired. A.J. and I changed into our traditional German clothing – much to the amusement of our American, Turkish and Croatian travel buddies – and we jumped into the flow of people heading toward Oktoberfest.

Prost!

 The grounds were eerily empty – we planned to arrive so early because we heard it would be packed. It didn’t take long to figure out that there were already tens of thousands of people there – they were just sitting down in tents. By tent, I don’t mean the large canvas-covered structure that immediately comes to mind. These tents are permanent structures that can hold up to 10,000 people. They are beautifully decorated and, surprising clean. The tents are sponsored by local breweries that have brewing facilities within the city of Munich. Sometimes the breweries will sponsor more than one tent. We began in one of Paulaner’s tents – my favorite beer.

You sit down, and it goes without saying that you will order a liter. There is a band playing German music and drinking songs and when a song is played that the crowd likes, then everyone stands up on the table, then you lift your beer and sing. The energy in the room helped me to stay awake J I didn’t feel out of place wearing my dirndl at all – I would say over half of the people in the tents were dressed in traditional German clothing. We stopped by two other tents, then spent some time walking around outside. The area outside of the tents is very much like a church festival on steroids. There are countless places to buy food and drinks. There is a section devoted to rides with roller coasters – I think this area is bigger than Coney Island. By the time we got outside, it was much more crowded, but it was still fun to walk around and buy a few souvenirs.

We left early – around four in the afternoon – so who knows what Oktoberfest is like after dark. But contrary to popular opinion, I had a fantastic time at Oktoberfest and would love to go back sometime.

Hallstadt

The city as seen from our boat ride

  Nestled deep in the Austrian Alps in the Salzkammergut region is a town called Hallstadt. World-renowned for its lake and mountain views, Hallstadt is a place rich in beauty and history. There is no easy way to get there – it took two hours for our large tour bus to weave around the steep mountains and lakeshores. The view as we pulled into the town was breathtaking. Hallstadt is home to only 900 people and is built at the base of a large salt mountain.

We took a boat ride around the lake then walked through the city with our lovely Austrian guide – an eighty year old woman who spoke no English but had a terrific sense of humor. The main square is very small, but also very beautiful. The cobblestone walkway, small fountain and ivy-covered buildings are consistent with the picturesque beauty. The town has two churches – one Catholic, one Evangelical – and both are adorned with beautiful wood and art works created by a nearby art school. Everything about the village is just as organic and poetic. Hallstadt is vaguely reminiscent of the Amish lifestyle; the inhabitants are clearly Austrian, but they put so much effort into sustaining the uniqueness of their lifestyle.

Creepy skull room

There is also a partially beautiful and partially gross tradition there. Because of a shortage of grave space and money, the people of Hallstadt established a system for handling their dead. Originally the dead are buried, but after 15 years or so, the remains are dug up and the skulls are put into the “Karner Haus.” All of the skulls in the house are painted with the name of the deceased plus other information usually found on a tombstone – including a wreath of flowers or ivy. I must say, it was the creepiest room I’ve ever been in.

For more photos, click here.

Post Number 1 - Welcome to Linz

I wanted to start the blog right away - even though I don’t have much to write.

Linz is an absolutely beautiful city and I’m so glad I decided to come. Classes don’t start for another two and a half weeks, so right now I’m taking about three hours of German a day, plus attending many informational sessions. The great thing is, there is very little homework and a lot of free time, so we have a chance to adjust. Between the inexpensive grocery store down the street and the many cafeterias on campus and in the dorm, I’ve been very well fed. No worries though, I think I’ve walked at least five miles every day.

Since classes haven’t started, the only people in the dorm and on campus are those who need to take intensive German, a.k.a. other exchange students. We’ve also spent time with our buddies, most of whom are locals from Linz. There have been a few events, and we’ve had such a great time! All of the exchange students are fun, adventurous and jet-lagged so we’ve had some interesting, slap-happy nights.

(My dorm – Julius RaabHeim. It's the big one.)

My dorm is very nice. For you UC people, it's almost Turner-like, but without the common area. I live in a single within a three-person suite; I have my own bedroom but I share a bathroom and kitchen with another girl from UC and a girl from Poland. Eventually I may start cooking, but the kitchen is small, and there is a cafeteria downstairs J

This weekend, we’ll be visiting the town Hallstadt on Saturday and hopefully going up to Oktoberfest on Sunday. *Fingers crossed that the trains don’t sell out.*

Bis später!