Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Exploring Salzburg with family!

Hallo!

It has been a busy couple of weeks with visits from my amazing family! I was able to give them an insiders view of Salzburg, showing them what my life is like here in Salzburg, as well as finally seeing the highlights of the city and surrounding areas. My sister Jody and I were also lucky enough to travel to our great-Grandfather's village of Obernzell in Germany (Bavaria region), but I will get to that later!

It was truly amazing to have a visit from my mother and her significant other, as it has been a long time since I have seen them. And it's always great to see familiar faces after being in a faraway land for so long.

Mom, Rick and I kept busy during their visit with day trips, trying new foods, as well as some hiking! After showing Mom and Rick the sights of Salzburg such as the Fortress, Mirabell Platz, Salzburg Square, and the Dom, we began to explore outwards of the city. Since they rented a car, I was able to take them to Hallstatt (which is equally as amazing and breathtaking the second time). It was a high priority for them to see Hallstatt, and I think it met all their expectations and more.
Hallstatt, Austria. View from the cemetery near the top of the village


The next day, we drove to Berchtesgaden (Germany) to see Königssee and Eagle's Nest (aka Hitler's Nest). The Eagle's nest was definitely worth the visit. After a short drive from Salzburg, a delicious lunch, and a bus ride taking us up 1800 metres, we made it to the the Eagles Nest. We were able to walk around the house, as well as walk to the top of many mountains. The view was incredible. Unfortunately, we did not have the best of weather so it was a bit foggy, but we could still see the villages below. From the top of one of the mountains you would see Germany on your left, and Salzburg on the right. It was outstanding!

The Eagle's Next (aka Hitler's Nest) at 1850m elevation, in Berchtesgaden, Germany. 

Just one of the amazing views from the top of Eagle's Nest! 

I really enjoyed the time with Mom and Rick, and I think they enjoyed their time in Salzburg as well!! 
The following weekend, Jody came to visit! I was super lucky to have family come visit, from so far away! Jody's visit was a bit less 'tourist' focused, as she was in Salzburg 10 years ago when she backpacked Europe. It was very interesting to hear her perspective on things, and how they have changed in those ten years. But of course, I took Jody to the best brewery in town: Augustiner! We had a very fun time at the brewery, and we met some Austrian men who were on a 'bike' trip (bike = vespa). They were in their forties, and such friendly and funny characters. The fact that they kept buying us beer was appreciated... but not in the morning. 

Jody and I were fortunate enough to visit our Great-Grandfather's village in Bavaria. It was one of my goals to visit Obernzell while I was in Europe and I am so happy I got to experience that with family. Seeing our Great-Grandfathers brewery, the family named street sign, as well as the family headstone in the cemetery was... simply fascinating. Hard to explain really. Jody and I tried to imagine what it was like when our great-grandfather, Anton, lived there. Although the buildings look like they have been renovated a bit, you could still create a image in your head of what it might be like in the 1900s in Obernzell. To say the least, I consider myself so unbelievably lucky to be able to access my families heritage, and to see just where we came from (as silly as that sounds). 

Jody and I at the Augustiner Bräu in Salzburg. And visiting Obernzell, Germany, seeing and experiencing our family's history.  Great-Grandfather's brewery on the top, and the Rechenmacherweg street sign! 

It was so amazing to see my family. Being away from your friends and family for six months is not easy, but having such an amazing support system back home has been so amazing. I know my family is awesome, but man... we are SO awesome. 

After I had some lovely visits, I had to buckle down and get back to school as it was wrapping up. I can say now, that I am DONE school in Salzburg! This next week consists of farewells (of all sorts), and planning for my summer adventures, then leaving Salzburg on June 30th.  It will be hard to say farewell to all the people I have met here in Salzburg, but it wont be "goodbye", it will be "see you later"! 

I am ecstatic for my adventure to continue, with a jam packed summer full of festivals, beaches, sights to see and so many opportunities, I'm sure!! 

I don't know how much I will be able to blog while travelling, as I won't have a computer and will rely on internet cafes. But I will try my best to update when I can! 

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far :) 
One love! 

Tschuss! 




Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Mind the Gap! My London getaway

Hello again!

Studying in Salzburg has given me so many amazing opportunities, but I would have to say that the highlight is the location. Being so central, I can travel basically anywhere in a short amount of time. Having a four day weekend, I decided to take a weekend trip to London!

London is such a beautiful city! It was so easy to get around on foot or metro (hence, "mind the gap"...you hear it at every station as a warning when exiting the metro).  My hostel was in a great location, being pretty central yet not right in the tourist areas, so I was able to see the real London as well as the touristy London. I like to start my visits with a free tour, if the city offers one. The free tours usually cover the main attractions and provide very interesting historical facts and then I use that as a guide of what I want to explore further. I was also fortunate enough to have great weather, and miss the rain completely!

I arrived in the evening, so I went for a walk along the Millennium bridge just as the sun was setting and the views were incredible. The bridges are lit with colourful lights, making it even more breathtaking!
View from the Millennium Bridge at sunset, with the London Towers in the background. 
Starting the next day off with the free tour, I was able to see the Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guard, the Parliament buildings and Big Ben, as well as other hotspots. We didn't get to go inside Buckingham Palace, but it was amazing seeing the outside of it. Fun fact: There is a gate within the Palace quarters called the Canada Gate. I always find a bit of Canada wherever I go, which obviously makes me super proud to be Canadian!
Buckingham Palace, during the Changing of the Guard. There were SO many people/tourists around the Palace quarters, it was overwhelming!
After a long day of walking for 9 hours, I headed back to my hostel wanting some well deserved food and rest! I knew London would be expensive, but it was still shocking to see just HOW expensive it was. One meal consisting of a burger, yam fries and a beer cost 17£ (about $30). Even if it was a delicious avocado bacon burger... it's still pretty steep.

The disadvantage to travelling on weekends in the time restraint. By the time I get to my destination I only have about two full days to see the city, then have to leave back to Salzburg.  I spent my last day in the Natural History Museum and doing a tour of my all time favourite venue: the Royal Albert Hall.
The Natural History Museum was incredible! (Even better because it was free). There were exhibits about volcanoes and the solar system, I could not have timed my visit better. I spent a few hours in the museum, just getting lost in all the amazing facts and displays. Afterwards, I eagerly headed to the Royal Albert Hall, just ridden with excitement to tour one of the most famous venues in the world. And it did not disappoint.
The Royal Albert Hall in London. Just look at its beauty! So amazing!! 

I got to learn about the history of the venue, who has performed, what types of events they can host and so on. But honestly, the design and architecture of the venue is breathtaking on its own. It would be a dream come true to plan an event in that venue! Our tour group was super lucky to be able to take pictures inside the auditorium, since there was rehearsal going on. But they must of known I was coming, because they went on lunch break and we could take pictures!!
Inside the Royal Albert Hall auditorium, with the original organ of 999 pipes still looking as good as new! 

After the Royal Albert Hall, I was feeling liberated and so happy that I was brave enough to go to Oxford Street, which is by far the CRAZIEST street I have seen. Full of the biggest shops in the city, as well as being Sunday, this street was so crowded and busy I could not walk a straight line for two steps. People everywhere. So I didn't spend much time there, and instead I decided to check out the last of the big tourist attractions: the Tower of London and the London Bridge. And yet again, London amazed me. The London Towers are an icon of the city (along with Big Ben), and once you get up close to the towers, it takes a while to believe how big they are! Yet another beautiful site that I will never forget :)

London Bridge!! A perfect way to spend my last day in London! 

London was such a beautiful city, and even with the high costs of almost everything, I can't wait till I can come back and explore it even more!

Until next time,
Tschuss!





Thursday, May 15, 2014

Making the most of my long weekends in Istanbul, Turkey!!

Merhaba! 

That's about all the Turkish I know haha. First off, WOW. What a beautiful city!! I was only fortunate enough to spend two full days there, as I arrived late in the evening and had a noon flight. I think I could easily spend four or five days there just to see everything I wanted to see in terms of attractions and landmarks. It really is a large city, but so friendly and so amazing. I will have to go back when I come to Europe next time. 

There was lots to see, including the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Asian side of Istanbul, Grand Bazaar, Taksim Square, Spice Market, Galata Bridge & Tower, the many various beautiful mosques and so much more. And unfortunately I did not get to see it all, such as Taksim Square, Galata Bridge & Tower, and the museums. So little time and so much to see! But I am very happy with what I did accomplish during my trip. 

I travelled to Istanbul alone, completely aware of the dangers of travelling alone and how Istanbul is particularly 'special' when it comes to solo female travellers, but it really is a unique experience that can't be explained in a guide book. On the European side, which is where all the landmarks and attractions are, it's covered with tourist shops, restaurants and so on that all have their own staff member or 'pusher' standing outside trying to get your service. It's a lot harder to say no than you think, especially being a nice Canadian, I just wanted to say "no thank you, maybe next time, sorry no" but that didn't prove to be as effective as I thought it would be. And when I would walk past the 'pushers' they would say "ohh must be American" which I think was a tactic in itself, because I just wanted to turn around and respond with a furious "NO, I'm Canadian thank you very much!" but I bit my tongue and carried on. It was a bit of a shock going to the Asian side of Istanbul, where there are no tourists, no one speaks english and there are no pushers. It felt like a completely different city! 



The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey
My first day I covered the basics: The Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Gulhame Park, and went to what I call the Old Bazzaar. The Grand Bazzaar was closed on my first day, and there was a similar market up the street. There I would be walking through the lanes of shops and people would just start talking to me and wanting to chat away, everyone was super friendly! (But don't worry, I kept my wits about me and wasn't that gullible) After a long day of walking and enjoying the company of some locals, I returned to the hostel and went for dinner with some people I met there! 

Me inside the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.  The only picture I could get to prove I was inside!! 
The second day I went all over because I knew it was my last day, and luckily it was perfect weather! I saw the Grand Bazzaar, Istanbul University, Süleymaniye Mosque, Spice Market and the New Mosque. Then headed back to the hostel to meet with the group to take the ferry over to the Asian side and went to the top of the Camlica Hill, where you can see the both sides of the city, with incredible views!  

Me in front of the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Such great weather!! 

Aside from travelling to Austria, Istanbul was my first solo trip, and I really enjoyed it. It allowed me to put myself out there and meet some really great people in the hostel as well as locals. I was a bit nervous going to Istanbul, but I think it was a great learning experience, and it made me so excited for my summer travels! 

I know this post is short and sweet, but I am only home for two days before leaving to London on Friday :) 

I hope everyone is smiling and loving life! 
Talk soon, 

Tschüss!! 

München! aka Munich

Servus!

One amazing thing about living in Austria is the central location within Europe, with everything and everywhere being so easily accessible! With that being said, Michèle and I decided to take advantage of a long weekend and take a couple day trips to Munich! In just 2 short hours on the train (not to mention only 8 Euro for a return trip) we were at the main station in Munich ready for some exploring!

We went over a holiday weekend, called Maibaum (translated to "May pole") which is a holiday (in some European countries) on the first of May. Friends in Salzburg would wear the traditional dirndl and lederhosen, attend the celebrations, climb some trees, and drink beer of course! Being in Munich, there wasn't a big celebration that was noticeable, aside from the Hofbräuhaus (a well known brewery/inn/restaurant) being really busy! Since Salzburg is so close, it was actually cheaper for us to take the train there and back in the same day, than to stay in Munich overnight. It's pretty expensive there!

During our two days we saw a lot of the main attractions, such as the Marienhof, Hofbräuhaus, Viktualienmarkt, Asam Church (couldn't go inside due to cleaning/maintenance), the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) which is the main Dom of Munich, Obelisk, Glypotothek, Königsplatz Square, and Marienplatz Square with Townhall and Carillon which is the centre of the city. Unfortunately we did not have time, or easy accessibility to the Munich Palace or the BMW Museum. They are both located far outside the city centre. We also walked everywhere, never took the metro, which just tells you how easy it is to get around on foot!


So much to talk about so I will just mention the highlights!

Englischer Garten
We saw lots in two days, and we were extremely lucky to have such great weather. It usually rains at this time of year in Munich, but we could barely keep our jackets on because it was so warm! The parks in Munich were very beautiful, and did not disappoint. The main park Englischer Garten is huge. So massive. We were walking in a straight line for at least 45 minutes, and we maybe covered 1/8 of the park. Such large open spaces with everyone enjoying the sun, playing frisbee, having family picnics, riding bicycles... it was just so simple and lovely. Before the entrance to the Englischer Garten there is a Surfwelle, which is (you guessed it) a surf well! The current coming out from under a low bridge combined with the dam, creates the perfect waves for surfers. Here you can find anywhere from 2 to 10 girls and guys surfing the waves with many tourists watching, and getting splashed!

Locals surfing at the Surfwelle, near the entrance of the Englischer Garten in Munich, Germany
Hofgarten
Another garden that stuck out to me was the Hofgarten. It's a lot smaller than Englischer, but just as humble. In the centre of the garden there is a tiny 'dome' called Diana-tempel, and inside there was a gentlemen sitting near the perimeter playing Someone Like You by Adele on the cello. A huge smile came on my face (the cello is still my favourite instrument) and I just melted...it was too good to be true! This park was beautiful and would be the perfect place to read a book or enjoy your lunch break. The park just had this majestic feeling to it, making me want to sit down and reflect on how amazing life is.

Me standing in front of the Diana-tempel in the Hofgarten in Munich, Germany. The cello player was inside of Diana-tempel. One of my favourite gardens so far! 



Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady)
I love to see all the main churches in each city, because they are all really astonishing. It's something that is really unique in Europe. Even though there is a 'Dom' in every city, they are all equally beautiful and unique. Although half of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) was under construction, it was still easy to observe its raw beauty! And then there is the inside of the dom....my goodness. So beautiful!
The Dom "Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady)" in Munich, Germany. Half of it was covered due to renovations. 
This is a overview of the city centre, the two golden looking towers is the front of the Frauenkirche. Due to renovations/restorations we could only see one of the towers. 

Marienplatz Square with Townhall and Carillon 
The main city centre was very beautiful, even though parts of it were under renovations. The architecture was outstanding! On May 1st, all the stores were closed because of the holiday but there was lots of activity going on in the streets. Protests, demonstrations, and very tiny fairs celebrating the holiday. But it was a beautiful street to walk along!

The Marienplatz Square with Townhall and Carillon (main city centre) in Munich, Germany.  
--
Michèle had to point out a Canadian flag to me, as I did not see it right away...le sigh. I guess I need to look up more! There was no building name or anything, I think it was just hanging out of someones apartment or office building. Normally I only see them at consulates or embassy's in different cities...but this was actually just a normal building with nothing incredibly special about it...except the Canadian flag! haha
No big deal...just a GIANT CANADIAN FLAG hanging out of a office building in Munich, Germany. You can imagine the smile I had on my face :) 

We spent a total of two days in Munich and it was nothing short of amazing. Aside from the few landmarks being partially under renovations or restoration, we were able to see all the big landmarks and get a feel for the Munich life! I constantly have to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming...this experience is too amazing! Austria has been the perfect starting point for me, and I can't wait for my future adventures!!

Next stop...Istanbul!

Keep smiling and loving!
Until next time,

Tschüss!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Happy Easter!

Servus!

Wow. Easter was amazing! Going to three countries, spending three nights in each city and travelling with some pretty amazing people resulted in such an enjoyable holiday getaway! There is so much I could write about, because every city has so much history and so many amazing attributes but I wont bore you with history lessons, so I will give you my personal highlights instead!

We started our journey in Vienna, Austria. I loved Vienna so much, I could definitely see myself living there (if life takes me in that direction). Since we were six people, we rented a flat for the three nights which was super cheap and SO NICE. Staying there was like staying in a penthouse suite coming from my campus dorm room. Seeing all the beautiful history of the city was quite amazing, like the Stephansdom and Belvedere Palace. We decided to save our money for the Shönbrunn Palace, which was definitely worth it. This palace was gigantic. Let me say that again... GIGANTIC. We were there for about 4 hours and we didn't even see parts of the palace grounds. We did a tour inside the palace and then walked around the gardens, bush type mazes (three in total!), and then to the top of the ground at the gate. The view from there was spectacular. Able to see all of Vienna with the palace in the foreground. This Palace also has a zoo in it...just sayin.

Above - A section of the Vienna Schönbrunn Palace gardens, and the building you see is just one side of the palace.

Above - The view from the top of the gate at the top of the hill in the Palace quarters. The gardens shown in the first picture are on the right side of the Palace. You see a beautiful landscape of Vienna, including the Stephansdom in the background. 

We did a lot of other things in Vienna, such as visiting the Naschmarkt (similar to a farmers market), went to the Prater which is the amusement park, all the other typical tourist sites that you would find in a travel guide, and copious amounts of beautiful parks. I think that is why I loved Vienna, all the parks were so green, spacious, well kept, and just simply beautiful. I had an overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness when walking through the parks. It was bliss! We even found two gentlemen playing the accordion wearing horse masks. So I think it's safe to say... Vienna was awesome!
Two men casually wearing horse masks while playing the accordion in one of the beautiful parks in Vienna. You don't see that everyday! And yes, I did give them money. 


Next stop... PRAGUE! 

I can't keep saying that every city I visit is amazing, but it's hard not to. They are all incredible because...well, its Europe. But Prague was unique in its own way. The second we got to Prague I just became so happy, it was a very easygoing and relaxed atmosphere with a "hakunah matata" feel to it.  Our first night was interesting, as we were looking for a place to eat that was outside of the typical tourist zone. We found a restaurant that looked alright and went inside and soon realized that it was a place that tourists don't often go to. There were about 10 tables, one man running the whole place (drinks, food, payment, etc) and I don't think I have ever been looked at so strangely in my life.  The restaurant patrons aging around 35-60 years old (mostly men) and almost all of them have a beer on the table, cigarette in hand and some even playing poker...and when a group of five students walk in that clearly aren't from Czech (instead we were Finnish, Spanish, Swiss, Sri Lankin, and Canadian)... you are guaranteed to get some weird looks. But the weird looks and long wait for service was well worth it! The food and beer was amazing, and I was able to get a big bowl of pasta and one litre of beer for almost 6 euro. SO CHEAP (beer is cheaper than buying a bottle of water...).

The next day we did the Free City Tour, taking us to all the historical sites of Prague and providing some history along the way. Our guide told us that a Czech person drinks 108L of beer annually. That's per person and just beer. After the tour we headed to the Prague Castle via the Charles Bridge, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The bridge is astonishing, so big and intimidating and really stands out with its Gothic design and architecture. The walk to the castle was an uphill 25 minute endeavour on cobbled narrow streets...so picturesque. After quite a long day of walking and touring the city, we all thought we deserved to relax and have fun. So what better way to do that than to join a Pub Crawl! Wooo!! Starting off in the first bar, the pub crawl gives you one hour of free unlimited Czech beer, absinthe, vodka shooters and wine (Just in case you want to chase absinthe with wine). Needless to say, I tried absinthe for the first time...not my favourite! The pub crawl ended in Prague's famous club, Karlovy Lazne, that is five floors with each floor a different style of music.

Above - Me in front of the Charles Bridge in Prague, a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Above - At the Prague Castle, overlooking the fantastic city!! 
The next day was a relaxing day (wonder why...), so we went to the south of Prague to Vyšehrad, which I learned was also a UNESCO World Heritage site. I don;t know much about Vyšehrad, but it was a beautiful place to lay in the grass and enjoy the sun!

Above - Just one of the amazing views from Vyšehrad, in Prague

Last but not least...BUDAPEST 

Because of my family heritage, I had always wanted to go to Hungary. Unfortunately I only made it to Budapest, and was unable to go to my Grandmother's home town of Kislod, but no problem - I am going back in June! Budapest was very beautiful, and it was very interesting to hear the history of the city on the Free Tour. With Budapest being split by the river, our hostel was located on the Pest side, and all the cool attractions were on the Buda side, so we spent a lot of time in Buda. Our first goal was to get traditional Hungarian food, like cabbage rolls or goulash and it was all sooo good. Taking the first night pretty easy (after a very long train ride), we decided to go big the next day! Did a beautiful hike to the top of the hill with the Liberty Statue, with outstanding views of the city. We brought some wine with us, so after the hike we found a peaceful park that was perfect for a wine picnic!
Above - One of the views as we hiked up to the Liberty Statue in Budapest

Above - We made it! The Liberty Statue in Budapest. You can see this statue from almost any point when in the city.

Something really cool happened during the Free City Tour though. I found out that there was a fellow Canadian on the tour (which is the first Canadian I have ran into on these free tours) and we got talking, turns out we have a mutual friend in Kamloops! Small world hey?! She is from Whitehorse and I go to school with a girl that she grew up with. How crazy is that! After the tour, we walked around the city a bit more and headed to the Parliament building, which is massive and oh my goodness, so beautiful! After, we took the metro to Heroes Square where we went to a flea market, and were greeted with some unpleasant weather...pouring rain in a flea market is not the best scenario. There was a man at the flea market that had a huge boa-constrictor around his neck and you could hold it and take pictures (for a price of course). But I did not go anywhere close to it!!!


Above - Another view from the hike. So many bridges! The one in the middle is the Chain Link Bridge - an icon of Budapest. 


Man oh man, this trip was pretty unreal. It has made me so excited for my summer travels, but also realize that I don't have much time left, I guess that means I have to come back!
I think my next stop is Munich, since it is only 1.5 hours away and I have a four day weekend. Thanks for reading everyone!

Much love,
Tschüss! 

Friday, April 11, 2014

Quick update!

Servus!

It's been a while since my last post...it seems to get harder and harder to post regularly, especially when I don't have anything interesting to write about! This is just going to be a really quick post, as nothing too exciting has happened since the last time I wrote. But I will be heading to Vienna tomorrow to kick off the Easter holiday travels!!
First going to Vienna, then Prague and ending in Budapest. Spending three nights in each city, and will be going with friends from school! I am super excited to explore more of Europe!

School has kept me pretty busy. Coming to study abroad, everyone told me "There is no work, just play" and "Oh I did like 10 hours of work the whole semester" and so on.
So I had pretty high expectations to do nothing haha... but that has changed! With most of my courses being group work, I have to buckle down and contribute. But hey, at least I am learning something, and it's fun!!

But check back in a couple weeks, I will definitely be writing a longer more interesting post when I return from Easter break :) I can hear the adventures calling me!

Until next time,
Tschuss!

Friday, March 21, 2014

Road Trips!

Hallo!

School has started so as you can imagine, I'm a bit more busy than I was at the beginning on my European adventure. They school system here is very different than the system back home, and I am still not used to it. To give you an idea...back home I take five courses for one semester and my weekly schedule is the same for those four months. Here at Fachhochule Salzburg I am taking ten courses that all start at different times, are different lengths and at different times. So this week I only had class on Monday and Friday, next week I only have class on Tuesday and Thursday and the following week I don't have any class! To say the least... it is very different and hard to get into a routine.

For one of my courses, we went on a field trip to a few nearby villages. If you have ever looked into skiing/snowboarding in Austria you must of heard of Bad Gastein. This is where we went for our field trip :) It is one hour south of Salzburg and has two villages before it, Dorfgastein and Bad Hofgastein, which each have their own mountain. But Bad Gastein is the biggest of the three! It was so incredibly beautiful.

One view of the village of Bad Gastein. You can see how the valley shapes this village. The weather was phenomenal! 

The village itself amazed me with its unique architecture, the waterfall in the centre of the village, and the character that each street and building had. Bad Gastein is not new by any means, so there are some issues that the village is struggling with (which is what my assignment is about!), but I was still in awe of the entire village. Bad Gastein has a unique feature, with their thermal springs. If you were to put your hand over a manhole in the middle of the street, you can feel the hot air pressure. It's so interesting! Bad Gastein is very well known for their health and wellness treatments, with a couple spas located underground that use the combination of radon, heat and alpine elevations to cure diseases and conditions of all sorts. Doctors will actually give you a prescription to go sit in this one 'spa', once or twice a week for a couple months. I think it would be interesting to see this village in five or ten years, to see what changes have been made and the progress that has been made.


I haven't done nearly as interesting things as my first few weeks here, but one thing that was personally interesting was going to a hockey game! It is not that common here, and it is usually the younger leagues that people watch. I went to a playoff game with Salzburg and another Austrian team playing. Of course, Salzburg won!! I was so happy to go, it made me feel a little bit closer to home. I went with a group of the incomings, and for some of them this was their FIRST hockey game. I couldn't believe it. So they were all very excited when a tiny fight broke out or if there was a good hit, all you could hear were the cheering and rantings of the incomings :) One new mini-experience was we were right at the front, right by the glass! I guess in Europe, you can get cheaper tickets if you want to stand. And the bleachers to stand in are right at the glass! I was pretty excited about that!

Not the best picture...but it gives you an idea of how close we were! The Salzburg team is called "The RedBulls" (go figure) 

Another adventure within the past couple of weeks was a road trip to St. Gilgen Wolfgangsee! We first made a stop in a village on the way to Wolfgangsee, called Fuschl. Fuschl is basically owned by Red Bull (well... the guy who owns Red Bull). The headquarters are located in Fuschl, and we walked around the headquarters, I don't think we were supposed to...but there were no fences or signs or anything! We were curious! The building looked like a very luxurious spa...but no, it was offices. Complete with a massive uniquely structured fountain and a whole garden that you have to walk through to get to the entrance. As well as a man made pond/lake surrounding the front of the building with sculptures of bulls running out (or into) the building. When we went inside one of the 'office' buildings we asked if we could look around and take pictures. The receptionist very politely said "Oh I am very sorry these are closed to the public, but would you like a Red Bull?" Ahhh yes. Yes I would.

Red Bull Headquarters in Fuschl, Austria. You can see the sculpture of the bulls running out of the building! This small village is almost completely owned by the owner of Red Bull. 

After Fuschl, we headed to St. Gilgen - Wolfgangsee which is about an hour east of Salzburg. There are seven lakes within the area, and we took the gondola up the mountain and then went for a mini hike. The view was outstanding! (Again, we had perfect weather). I was told its a huge tourist attraction in the summer, and it is very crowded, so I am happy I went earlier! Once we took a break at the top of the mountain we hiked back down, had my favourite dessert kaiserschmarrn (STILL SO GOOD) and enjoyed the view for a bit. The view was so perfect, almost too perfect. It was one of those "is this real?" moments.

View from the top of a mountain looking down on Wolfgangsee in St. Gilgen. Just one of the seven surrounding lakes! 

After taking the gondola to the bottom we went for a little drive to the village of Hallstatt. This village was actually 'copied' and rebuilt in China, so there are a lot of tourists that come from Asia to come see the real deal. This village is right on the lake, with wooden and brick houses along the shoreline. As we climbed the many many cement steps that are as wide as your foot, with vines running along the railings and up every house side, and almost every house having a tiny hand crafted walkway from the top floor window to the ground for the cat to come and go as it wishes...it was hard to believe what I was experiencing. You could never capture the full essence of elegance and character of this village in a photo. It was outstanding. I tried to capture it...but my photos just don't do it justice!!

Village of Hallstatt. As you can see, my picture does not do this beautiful magical village justice. It was too perfect to be captured in a photo. 

That about sums it up...besides the fact that I'm slowly getting more and more freckles as the sun starts to shine. More freckles makes me happy. I'm also slowly learning German, through tandem learning sessions. Tandem learning is when I meet with a partner, usually once a week, and we learn the others language; I learn German and my partner improves his English. Win-win!! I am learning just the basics that I need to have a very casual and short conversation with people.

I will try my best to have an exciting week to make my blog a little more interesting next time!! With Easter break coming up I'm sure I won't have any problems doing just that. I think that's all I can come up with for now folks.

And as always, I thank my family and friends for the endless support and love. So, till next time...

Tschüss!