Hallo everyone! Well, I finally made it. After three flights, countless hours of travelling, and a six hour time difference, I was to say the least tired my first day here. The plane ride on the way over was an adventure in itself. Lufthansa is definitely the way to go. Free movies, television, dinner, breakfast, drinks, and even a hot towel (which I wasn't sure what to do with). The plane was so huge I didn't even feel like I was flying and had to go down a flilght of stairs to get to the bathroom. A two-story plane?! It was awesome. When we arrived in Munich this first thing I noticed was that it looked a lot like home. I still felt like I was in the states. We took a bus straight to our plane and walked on right from the tarmac. That was a first. As soon as we arrived in Vienna, we hit the ground running. After dropping our luggage off at the hotel, we walked to the school. It is right beside the world famous opera house! We can see it right out our window during class! That won't be distracting...We had our first real stab at German during lunch at Rosenbergers and dinner at Cafe Wortner. I have "danke" (thank you) down, but thats about it...I'm working on it. During my first meal in Vienna I managed to dump my plate of spaghetti and cream sauce into my lap. I dont' even know how it happened, but it wasn't pretty. I needed sleep.
Today we woke up and went straight to the university for a few presentations then headed to the Nashmarkt for lunch. The Nashmarkt is the farmer's market on steriods. It is a mile long, and has any fruit, vegetable, meat, cheese....pretty much any fresh food you can think of will be there. I ate Chinese for lunch. I know right Chinese...I'm finding that I am definitely not on the adventurous side when it comes to food.
After lunch we went to the Shonbrunn Palace. IT WAS AMAZING. I fell in love. The Hapsburgs used it as their summer house. Their summer house? I can't imagine what their no
rmal palace looks like. Oh wait I can go see it anytime I want :) It is so hard to describe you will just have to look at pictures, but even that doesn't give it justice. There is even an imperial zoo on the grounds. They owned their own zoo right in their back yard. Unbelievable. Jordan, Sarah, Brynn, and I had to find our way back to the hotel after the palace to meet up with the group. No problem right? Well, that's what we thought. We left in plenty of time and were doing great until we got off the u-bahn...at the wrong stop. After thirty minutes of wandering around we finally decided to make a call. So, our first attempt alone was a major fail, but now we know.
rmal palace looks like. Oh wait I can go see it anytime I want :) It is so hard to describe you will just have to look at pictures, but even that doesn't give it justice. There is even an imperial zoo on the grounds. They owned their own zoo right in their back yard. Unbelievable. Jordan, Sarah, Brynn, and I had to find our way back to the hotel after the palace to meet up with the group. No problem right? Well, that's what we thought. We left in plenty of time and were doing great until we got off the u-bahn...at the wrong stop. After thirty minutes of wandering around we finally decided to make a call. So, our first attempt alone was a major fail, but now we know. Dinner was at Venetizia, and Italian place. I ordere "pizze mit pfefferoni" which turned out to be cheese pizza with peppers...but it was all good. Our waiter was very energetic and helpful. He was one of the few Viennese I have met that doesn't mind Americans. We're not too popular here.
The night ended with coffee at Cafe Sprel. I had Vienna iced coffee, which is espresso with a scoop of vanilla gelato. The gelato was fabulous, but I'm not a fan of coffee yet.
We will see what tomorrow holds!
Guten nacht!
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