Girls Trip...

There is so much that went on between last Thursday and finally this Thursday. Anna (her mom and Caitlin's mom work together in Austin - she has been living in Prague for almost 5 years) came into town to visit! I met her outside St. Sebastian for the first time - Caitlin was in class - and that began our adventure. We cooked dinner for her then took her out to Augustiner. It was such a nice night and we all sat outside. Emily's parents from Connecticut were in town as well as other friends of people on our program so it was a fun with all the people who hadn't left Salzburg yet to travel.

Us 3 at the Beer Garden

I think that this picture is so cute - outside Augustiner

Of course we had to stop for some 50 cent kraut!

The next morning we woke up, cooked some breakfast and took Anna to Mirabell Gardens. It's not all blooming yet, but much more than before since it has finally started to get warm.

Caitlin and me in the gardens

After that we just kind of wandered around Salzburg, showed her some of the main attractions, got some pastries, and took some pictures. We then walked down the river to the perfect spot to get a picture of the Aldstadt during the day. (At night it is absolutely gorgeous, but hard to capture in a photo - believe me....we tried)

Salzburg

After packing some sandwiches for the road, all 3 of us headed off in her car to Innsbruck where we would meet the other 2 girls going with us. It was nice just being able to drive and leave at whatever time you want, stop when you want, etc. However, it did feel kind of funny driving around Europe because we haven't been in a car (besides a taxi) since we have been here.

It was perfect timing, as soon as we got to Innsbruck, parked and walked to the track, their train pulled up. The other 2 girls (Megan and Paige) go to TCU and Megan's sister is best friend's with Anna. They had also visited her in Prague this semester since they were both studying in Florence! Hope that wasn't too confusing. But we checked into our hotel and decided to explore Innsbruck. They had never been there so we looked at a couple of the main sites and that was about it.

View from our hostel's street

Us tasting liqueurs

We got hungry so then looked around at a few places before deciding on Augustiner in Innsbruck! haha. It was really nice outside and I enjoyed the food and company.


Our Austrian cuisine


We packed the Skoda (the car) up and then headed for Neuschwanstein Castle (also known to some people as where Disney got the idea for their castles) in Fussen, Germany. This part was really awesome because we were just driving through the Alps and getting to really take in the beauty. It is still amazing to me that there is all this snow at the top in May. I can't even imagine this area in the winter!



Us in front of the Alps - we timed the camera (which was on top of books) on top of the car


Our first sighting of the castle!


OK RANDOM - we pulled into the parking lot of the castle and I'm standing outside of the car just waiting for everyone. A car pulls in next to us and I just glance inside....guess what? It's freaking Alexandra Feehery. She is studying abroad in Germany and we were trying to figure out a way to meet, but it just wasn't going to work out. I have known her since Sacred Heart and then we went to Montgomery together too. What a coincidence, seeing her at the exact day, time, place we are there...


We decide to take a bus to Marion's Bridge to get a great view of the castle. This bridge is like 100 years old, wide enough for 2 people, crowded, and it is windy and high. Let's just say that I was scared....haha. BUT we did get awesome pictures from it.

The epitome of castles

Us eating our packed lunch on the other side of the bridge

See the waterfall - look straight up - the line connecting the two mountains...the bridge where we were

Here is a zoomed in picture from the castle of the bridge



Cool picture of the surrounding area which was gorgeous


An illegal picture I took inside


We then finished up with the castle and started our drive toward Munich. The girls had never been there before either and really wanted to go to the Hofbrauhaus. I had only been once during the day so we went there to get some dinner and have some beers in the crazy German atmosphere.

After walking around for a while, we found a table in the middle of the big room - awesome seats and especially for 5 of us. We order some food and beer and are just having a good time talking. Two American guys came up and asked if they could sit with us, so they took a seat and we started talking. Turns out that they went to Duke and Stanford and work for Microsoft in London...hmmm. loaded much? Basically as the night goes on they order us more beer, we play card games, and they buy all of our food, pretzels, drinks, etc. Let's just say it was around 175 euro...HAHA. Good times.



Paige, Caitlin and Anna drinking their free beer!

Me and my stein

All of us posing for the pic

After the Hofbrauhaus fun, we went back to the hostel to find a 50 year old Indian man in our room (we had 5 of the 6 beds AND the hostel said that no one else was going to be put in there...). He seriously got up at like 4am to start his rituals of getting ready for the day. He would yell out questions to us like, "where are you from, how long are you here, have you been to India, are you taking a fast train??" WHAT THE HECK? haha. He made a HUGE mess in the bathroom where we couldn't really even go in. Let's just say that Megan and Paige took their train home and the rest of us left for Prague!

The drive back was fun just to go thought Germany and then the Czech Republic. There were these yellow fields everywhere so we finally had to stop to take a pic.

Caitlin and me in the fields!

We then decided that we wanted to visit these caves in the CR - so after a long ride through many small rodes we finally made it there. It was pretty sweet to think that this was under some random hill!

One of the main caverns...cool. At one point they turned out the lights and you couldn't see an inch and your eyes didn't adjust or anything. It was pretty freaky.

We then stopped at a little castle/village. It was another nice little stop to walk around then get some ice cream.

The castle!

We got to Prague and went to Anna's house. Her boyfriend Leo had cooked us dinner (chicken, rice, potatoes, spinach, broccoli). It was amazing!! That night we just chilled around her house - which was crazy to think that we were in Prague at this time and watched half of Forrest Gump since Caitlin is apparently not American and hadn't seen it :)

The next morning Anna cooked us a great breakfast of pancakes!! We then went to this chateau, buttttt it was closed...so we opted for the next best thing. The Prague ZOO! It is ranked 7th best in the world by Forbes. I think that it lived up to it's standards, because it was really amazing! It was a perfect day and not crowded at all and we honestly had a great time.

2 little animals

A tiger yawning

One of the best pictures I have taken - looks unreal or like a postcard

After the zoo we drove up to a beer garden overlooking Prague (the Czech Repulic by the way has the most beer consumption/person in the world at around 157 liters/yr). It was nice to relax our feet and look at the city.

Us walking around Prague on the Charles Bridge

THEN we had reservations at Cantina to eat some Mexican food!! haha. It was nice just to be in that atmosphere and get some fajitas. They definitely weren't as good as home, but it was great just to have a taste.

We started walking back to where the car was parked and decided to take night pictures on the Charles Bridge. Anna has a little bendy tripod to set down so it doesn't make them as blurry. It was so funny watching us set this thing up and run to get in the picture. Believe me, we were entertaining everyone. haha.

A good one of all of us and the Prague Castle in the background

We went back, drank some coffee and finished Forrest Gump. The next day our train was leaving at 3 so we had some breakfast and then went to some secret gardens in the city. It was awesome getting to have a guide that has lived there for so long and also plans weddings so knows where the hot spots are. There was barely anyone here and you got great views!!

Caitlin and I at the top of the gardens

Another picture of us in front of the bridge

We then went to get some sandwiches for the ride home, got our stuff and went to the train station. Anna let me borrow the book Lovely Bones so I had something to read on the way home! I also bought an English book for only like 5 euros which was great considering the ones in Salzburg are like 8-11! Long story short, we got home at like 11:30 and was supposed to get there at 10 because our connecting train was late. boo. Long ride home.

It literally felt like we were going back home to the US when we left Prague and Anna. We hadn't seen the people on our program in like a week and it seemed like we packed up to leave. It is really a reality check that we are going home in 2 weeks. scary. I was just saying in my Prague post that I didn't get enough time there, and then I got this opportunity to go back. It was an amazing trip and big thanks goes out to Anna for showing such hospitality by letting us stay with you and your generosity by taking us everywhere we hadn't been yet in Prague. It was a total different experience this time around and I loved every minute!

A Taste of Mozart...

Here is a little video clip from the concert!

Mozart Dinner Concert...

So before I start this just in case people only look at dates - I published the Barcelona post today (even though it says May 4th). Enjoy!

On Wednesday the 7th, we had a Mozart Dinner Concert with our entire group. It was kind of like a last dinner type thing where everyone gets dressed up, we eat in the oldest restaurant in Central Europe (started in 803), eat a 3 course meal, hear Mozart's music, and talk with your friends. Literally...what more could you ask for.

It was really an amazing night, but just another reminder that we are about to leave. It seemed so far away in May and then it just sprang up on us! But everything went well and we had a lot of fun - hopefully we did for the 50 Euro it cost...haha (Thank goodness AIFS set it up - even though it is still our money) :)

Caitlin and me in the room before we are about to leave!

Caitlin, Macy, and I - look at the waiter trying to get by as I am taking this...oops

The inside of the dining room

Our table at the dinner

Leah and I

The main course - chicken, vegetables, and some type of biscuit

The dessert - look at the cinnamon - it's Mozart! haha

I'll try and post a video of a part of the concert - it has been messing up all day when I've been trying to do it. Boo.

Update...

So this blogger website is kind of stupid and I can't figure out how to change this...

But I wanted the Prague trip to be at the top since it's the one most recent, but it publishes them in order of the date I started the post....

SO ANYWAYS - my Prague post is new and some more might be coming, but they might be a little out of order - so just check on the side or scroll through them to see if you have read them or not. Sorry guys.

Barcelona...

About Barcelona...we left Salzburg, took a train to Munich, got to the Munich airport, took a flight to Barcelona, took a bus to the city, and then walked to our hostel. We basically unpacked, made our beds, and wanted to go eat because by this time it was around 7pm. Our hostel was really cool too. It had wristbands that opened the outside doors, our room door, and our personal lockers inside. Sweet! We were in a room with 3 other people, about 4 different ones through our stay.


Anyways, so we asked them someplace to eat and they said this place around the corner. It looked pretty cool and we wanted to get some tapas (kind of like Spanish appetizers). So we get beers out of the tap on our table (yuck compared to Austrian beer) and decide on what to order. (Reminder: Barcelona's language is not Spanish - it's Catalan which is like a mix between Spanish and French. I'm sure most of them can speak Spanish, but everything is usually written in Catalan - sometimes Spanish/English below.)


So Emily asks the waiter what "Sepia" is and he says, "Fish." Wanting to try something different, she gets it. I get chicken and Caitlin gets ribs. (We also got a a pork loin tapa which was great!!) This is what she gets:


Also known as jelly fish??? hahahhaha

We finish eating there and it's somewhat late so we just decide to walk around Las Ramblas (a street with street performers, souvenir shops, restaurants, hotels, etc.) We walk all the way to one end and see this really cool bridge.


Bridge at night



I wish I could have taken a better picture but it was really dark and hard to see through a camera. BUT there were HUNDREDS of fish swimming all in the water. They look small in water, but they were around 18 inches long or so.


We ventured back home, took showers and went to bed. The next morning we wanted to hit up the beach, so we walked a while to Barceloneta - it wasn't all that great. It was man-made for the Olympics in 1992 and it was actually really windy so we got cold after laying out for a hour or two.

Here is the Colon Statue at the end of Las Ramblas during the day


Barceloneta - and a man with his metal detector haha.


We walked around the city for a while and wanted to eat tapas again. Finally finding this place called Micky's we went in, ordered some tapas and water (since that was the cheapest beverage on the Menu - but still 3 euros for half of a bottle!!!). The meal was insignificant. 4 pieces of food for around 12 Euro (18 dollars....GRRR). AND our Russian salad had tuna all over it....we didn't touch it. Let's just say we then had to get a euro cheeseburger from McDoanlds because we didn't want to spend any more money trying some place else.


That night the hostel was having a pub crawl, so we signed up to go (15 euros). We also got our roommate to go with us. At the first bar it was free sangria from 9:30-10:30. We then went to 3 others after that and then a night club (which is actually in a mall). It was cooler going with a big group rather than just by ourselves - we probably wouldn't know where to go anyways.



Our roommate Casey (which is graduating from med-school this month), us 3, and the pub crawl leader....what a job...haha.

The next day (Wednesday) was going to be a sightseeing day. We took the metro to La Sagrada Familia. Long story short, Gaudi is a famous architect who started building this cathedral in 1882 and it's still being constructed today. It was absolutely breathtaking and detailed. There obviously aren't any pews or an altar, etc inside because there are huge pieces of cement and everything else that they are using to build it.


La Sagrada Familia from one side

Us on our audio tour


A view from the other side


One of the 4 doors



Inside. Gaudi took most of his inspiration from nature. See how it resembles tree trunks with branches at the top. The patterns at the top also look like light shining in through the trees.



There was so much detail and so many stories of Jesus, saints, and disciples all on the outside of the Sagrada Familia.


After that tour we wanted to see more of Gaudi's works, so went to Park Guell that had some more famous things!


Me in the park, its really high on top of the city - you take outside escalators part of the way to get there.



Simulating a wave...cool huh?




This kind of reminds me of a gingerbread house!


The famous Gaudi Lizard and me

Another one of his houses that we found walking back - the little patio things kind of look like skulls

Here's another!

We kind of shopped around and then went back towards Las Ramblas. We wanted to eat at that one restaurant that was in Caitlin's book and that was supposedly the best food ever. It was around 8, and it opened at 8:30 so we tried to hurry. We got there around 8:40 so they had just started letting people in. We made it close to the front but the inside was full. Why wait? We said we would sit outside. Nothing on the menu was over 10 Euro...great prices and a great atmosphere with candles, white table clothes, etc.

Here is part of the line waiting to get in - totally worth it

So we ordered 2 appetizers, bread, a main course (each), desert, and a liter of sangria - it only cost around 14 euro each. IT WAS GREAT!!! (Emily has the pictures or else I would show you). After a 3 hour dinner we went back to the hostel and that was it for the night.

Thursday we got up and wanted to go to a different beach so we asked the hostel staff and they recommended Sitges which was around an hour train ride away. After getting to the station, we find out the tickets are free...score! We basically wander down to the beach and it was MUCH better! It was kind of crowded, but then again compared to what Emily was saying about Cape Cod, this was nothing! haha.

The beach and people laying out...probably half of them topless

Me laying out

Caitlin and I on the beach

We laid out for around 4 hours - the only ones wearing sunscreen too...haha. Those Spanish! We walked around in the city, got sandwiches and ice cream, and then headed back home. It was a great day trip and I totally recommend it to people who go to Barcelona and want the beach life as well as the city life.

We showered and wanted to go back to the same resturant as before, but wanted to sit inside this time. We got there probably 40 minutes before it opened, waited and got a seat! We ordered all new things and they were just amazing if not better than before.

Us standing outside the restaurant

This was another 3 hour long meal which I love to just talk and take your time so it was wonderful! We had to go back and pack to leave in the morning. Basically we just woke up, had some breakfast and traveled from 10 in the morning until 8 when we arrived back here in Salzburg.

A rainbow on the way from Munich to Salzburg - I had never seen one so bright and you can't see it in this picture, but there was a second lighter one too next to it!

Once again, overall this trip was amazing!! Less people, less hectic, nothing got stolen, beautiful weather, just great!! I still do want to see more of Spain because I think it would be a totally different experience of the Spanish culture.