Dublin

We left London the next morning and took the train back out to the airport. The lines were much longer than I had anticipated and we ended up speed walking/almost jogging through the airport. We arrived just in time and still got a seat next to each other. We flew Ryan Air the whole trip and they have first come first serve seating. We landed in Dublin and took a bus to our hostel. It was called the Four Courts and I think they guy at the front desk was a leprechaun. Lunch was the first order of business and we went to the oldest pub in the city The Brazen Head founded in the end of the 10^th century. Our first stop after lunch was Jameson Irish Whiskey Museum. It was a pretty good tour and they had a taste test at the end so you could compare the differences of whiskeys through out the world. The unique feature of Jameson Whiskey is that it is triple distilled. It is suppose to give it a smoother taste. I’m not a fan of whiskey, but you could tell a difference between it Jack Daniels and a Scottish Whiskey they had. They Scottish one had a smokey taste. You’ll learn why later. Then we headed to Guinness. This tour/museum had to much information and after seeing the Stiegel Brewery and the Whiskey and then Guinness they all start to sound the same. But Guinness did have a really good section on their marketing through the last few decades. At the very top of the brewery is the Gravity Bar and it is all glass and lets you have a great view of the city. We saw the city all lit up at night. We went down town and walked around and got our tourist shopping done and then got groceries from the Spar for dinner. I really like cooking in the hostels, because you meet all kinds of people and you get the opportunity to talk to people from all over. We made nachos and rice. Our room was all girls and has the capacity to hold 16, but there were only 4 other girls in there besides us.

            To give our legs a rest we did a Hop On Hop Off bus tour. This was nice, because the bus driver told you things while he drove around the city and he would stop occasionally and point out special places of interest and if you wanted to you could get off the bus and explore more on your own. A bus came about every 15 to each of the stops. It worked out nicely, but wasn’t as informant as the walking tours are. A main place rebellion actions took place in Dublin is the central Post Office. In some of the statues near it you can still see bullet wholes. Ireland only gained its independence in 1922. Next to it is a shopping strip with booths very similar to Hong Kong, but a lot more expensive and not quit as close together. Trinity College is the oldest university in Ireland and holds one of the oldest intact copies of the Gospels. It dates back to the 800s. It is beautifully written with calligraphy and pictures all over it. This was another place you could take pictures. There is also a library on the campus that houses some of the oldest books in Ireland and is full of old books from everywhere. We ate lunch in a restaurant called the Alamo. I found it a little bit ironic, but their Mexican really wasn’t to far off. Dublin Castle is located right in the middle of town. It also is right next door to the police station and a library. They don’t really let you see it without paying, but we did get some good pictures in the garden and next to the Cathedral. Our next stop was probably the most exciting in Dublin. Kilmainham Goal is a prison located outside of town. It was the most innovated of its time and has killed quite a few people. The people of Dublin feel it closely correlates with British control. The prison was built in 1798 and the British gained control in 1800. The last person to be executed was in 1924 and the British left in 1922. The original Italian Job has a few scenes from the prison. Dublin also has a park near the prison that is over 1000 acres and is called Phoenix Park. The inspiration for the book Dracula came from St. Michan, but we could never figure out how to get in. Dinner was sandwiches and more rice. I talked to a guy from Germany for a while, then me and Amy went looking for traditional music and dancing. There wasn’t a lot going on since it wasn’t tourist season, but we did get to hear so music and the people who danced were good and lived up to our expectations. They music was still a little too modern, but nice to listen too.

            Overall, Dublin is not anything special. I think the country side and smaller towns in Ireland have more to offer. I could be wrong, but Dublin wasn’t impressive at all and everything can be seen in 2 days.

London

Me and Amy left for our week after trip on Friday morning, the 11th. Sabine took us to the airport and said good-bye to us then. I was doing alright holding back the tears and then she hugged me and I saw the tears in her eyes and I lost it. I bawled from then until we landed in London and then it took a lot of effort to hold back the tears then. I’m fighting it right now. She was an amazing host mom and I’m really going to miss her. She said that I need to come back and visit her someday. Hopefully, I can do that.

            When we arrived at the airport it was a little ways out of town and we had to take a train in. The woman at the ticket desk was really nice and told us to make sure and show our student cards everywhere, because you never know who will give you a discount. She even did 25% off. It was the beginning of a lot of discounts.

            We checked into our hotel and began exploring. The first afternoon we walked around and explored the Tower of London. The first part of it was built in the 9^th century. It was really cool and a great place to just explore and look around, we even got to see the royal jewels. NO pictures, please, though. We were then in a perfect location to walk over the London Bridge and then down the Queen’s Walk. We also went into the reconstructed version of the Globe Theatre. Go when it’s warm outside, because it is an open air theatre. The next stop on the list was Kings Cross Rail Station. It was probably the most disappointing part of the whole trip. In Harry Potter they have to go in between platforms 9 and 10 onto platform 9 ¾. There is no platform in between the train tracks of 9 and 10. The trains are right next to each other. I have a picture of where they could potentially “get on the train,” but even that is a little iffy. Dinner was enjoyable though. We went to Hoops and Grapes and I had fish and chips. The place had a pet cat and it snuggled up next to Amy and fell asleep. The hostel we stayed at is next to a bar, but the actual hostel is behind a locked door. Our room had 20 other people, but surprisingly we were able to get a decent night’s sleep. Everyone else in our room wanted to sleep as well and the lights were off by midnight. The craziest part of the night is I’m talking to Amy and I crawl into my bed and the girl next to me asks where I’m from. I told her Oklahoma and she gives me this look and goes “No way me too!” It turns out she went to Union and graduated the same year as Jessica. It is truly a small world.

            There is a company called New Europe that gives tours of major European towns. They use hostels to solicit their tours. I went on one in Berlin and it was excellent. They give you the basic facts of the major historical places, but they also tell you side stories that aren’t always in normal tours. They keep them funny and entertaining, because they work off of a tips basis. So I drug Amy along with me for the tour of London. We started off in Hyde Park and the Wellington Arch. It was made to rival the French Arc de Triumph, but the British version lacks a little. We then headed to Buckingham Palace and our guide Ed told us a few funny stories about people breaking into the palace. In the 80’s a group of Germans intending to camp out in Hyde Park actually ended up sleeping in the Queens private garden! They were as surprised as the guard who they asked directions from the next morning. We then saw where Prince Charles and William and Harry live. They have those guards with the funny hats outside of their house even when they are not home. Then a few more random places. It actually started sprinkling on us about half way through. It was one of those rains that you can see the sun shining a few feet away, but you are getting wet from a random rain cloud. We saw Big Ben and learned that that is not the name of the tower, but the bell inside the tower. The tower is just called The Clock Tower. Westminster Abbey and Parliament are both beautiful. The architecture is so different and intricate. We didn’t go in either, because of our time restraint. Oxford the largest shopping street in London and it is packed with people. What was nice was about half way down it there was a Christmas Market that they had tried to make look like a German Market. It was cute and little, but it was like being back in Austria for a few minutes. The London Eye is the world’s largest ferries wheel and looks nice with all its lights on at night. Big Ben also is worth seeing at night. Amy and I also went Ice Skating that evening right next to the Tower of London. So we skated while looking at a castle. Only in Europe! They only let you skate an hour at a time and the session had already started when we got there so we asked the guys working there a good place to eat that was close and good so that we could come back for the next session and both of them suggested Wagamama’s. It was an Asian noodle restaurant and the name means naughty child. The food was good and the name is fun to say. Our last mission of the night was to get pictures in a phone booth after that was completed we went back to the hostel and crashed. It had been a really busy day and we had accomplished a lot in London in 2 days. It is possible to see everything you need to in two days, I wouldn’t recommend it, but it is possible, just walk fast.

Packing

I'm beginning to pack and I'm not sure where everything came from!! There is so much stuff that I still haven't packed, where did it come from? I'm about to have to weed out some unwanted clothes and things... I'll be home in 9 days and the countdown begins.
I'm not 100% ready to leave. I feel like 3 months was just enough to finally get settled in. I know my way around and I'm getting comfortable and learning more and more German. I'm bound and determined to come back for a long stay some how in the future. Still working those details out... The last few days and this evening have been really sad : ( We have all been saying bye to each other and promising facebook every now and then. It is weird to think I won't see any of them probably ever again. We have spent the last 3 1/2 months together and now we are going our separate ways.
I leave for London in the morning!

Christkindlmarkt

So for the last few days me and Anne have been trying to go to as many Christkindlmarkts as we can. So far I've been to two in Vienna and one in Innsbruck that count, but not for the actual number of Markts in Salzburg. So the count so far is:
The main Altstadt, Mirabell Platz, Sternbraeu, Goessl, Groedig, Hellbrunn, Stiegl Brauwelt and hopefully one more tomorrow. With a final count of 8 Christmas Markets in one city. Cross your fingers and I'll let you know if we make it to the castle for the final Christmas Market!

24hrs later.... Didn't make the last Christmas Market at the castle : (
Instead I sat for 4 hrs through 24 presentations. It's been a long day

Making Cookies

For the last few days my host mom and me have been making cookies. Overall we've probably made at least 250 of all varieties. Lebkuchen (gingerbread), Gefuehl Lebkuchen (gingerbread with a fruit cake filling and a chocolate cover), Vanillakipferl (sugar/almond cookies in the shape of moons), and Kokokugeln (chocolate coconut no bake cookies).

Tonight was Lebkuchen for ornaments and to eat. We decorated them with traditional candied cherries, green hard candy and almonds. My favorite so far are the Kokokugeln. I think when I get home I may try and make a few of them.

Random Facts

I only have a week left in Salzburg and in two weeks I'll be home. I've got a London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Amsterdam tour planned for the last week. But we have been talking about things we are ready to get back to and things we are not ready to leave, so here is my list so far.

Ready to get back to:

- google.com not google.at where everything is in German it is fun when you are not trying to write a paper

- sliced bread and peanut butter

- my car, for town

- old friends

- not as much homework and O’Colly crossword puzzles

-hamburgers

-free water at restaurants

Not ready to leave:

-the mountains, I have the best view out my bedroom window

-traveling every weekend, in a few hours you are in a different country

- new friends

- rolls and Nutella

- cappuccino

- the pace of life

more to come....

Snowboarding the Alps

Last weekend I snowboarded the Alps!!! Me, Anne and Kara went to Innsbruck Friday evening and walked around the Christkindlmarkt and spent the night in a hostel. The next morning we woke up and caught a bus that took us to Stubai Glacier. It was about an hour out of town. The bus ride was cool, because everyone was going to the mountain and they had all their equipment on the bus. When we made it to the resort we then took a Gondola to the main section. Once at the main section we rented our equipment. I had a Burton Lux 147. It was a fantastic rental and I put more scratches on the bottom of it than it had when I first got it. Kara and Anned skied, but the three of us were all at about the same level, so it made the day easy. When you are getting on the lift, though, it was a little more difficult. The main lifts were 4 and 6 seaters and there is no queue. There is a mass of people and you just shove your way to the front and once you get there, then you divide into 6's. The snow was more ice and rocks, than snow, but the fact that I was on the Alps made that irrelevant. I only had a few falls and walked away with the usual black and blue knees and rear end. The craziest part of the day was the t-bar lift. I rode with Anne and I pretty much just hugged her the entire way up. They wouldn't let me strap all the way in while riding it up, so I had to go up the hill being dragged by a pole with only one foot in bindings and the other on my stomp pad. If you are a skier the pole sits on your hind quarters/thighs and it pulls you up in a sitting position. If you are a skier that pole that the skiers sit on, you straddle. It was an experience and me and Anne laughed so hard we were crying by the time we made it to the top!!! Not something I want to do every time I snowboard, but I got the hang of it. A little bit of a side note. Instead of having lift tickets that you get scanned they have plastic key cards and when you walk past the gate it picks up the card and you can just walk through, so you leave it in your jacket pocket for the day and you are good to go. It was really cool. If you wanted to go another day you could just recharge your card instead of buying a whole new lift ticket.

On the way home we rode the bus back down and ended up meeting two other Americans studying in Salzburg and a guy from Notre Dame studying in Innsbruck. It was such a random meeting and it made the bus ride home great and not nearly as long.

When we made it back to Innsbruck we caught the train home and were back in Salzburg in 2 hrs. So we arrive in Innsbruck after it was dark, left the city to ski while it was dark and returned from skiing when it was getting dark, but the city is still beautiful at night especially with Christmas lights. In the morning we did get a glimpse of the Olympic stuff as the sun was just peaking over the mountains.

Thanksgiving '09

We had a Thanksgiving Day feast fit for America! It was great, Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and gravy. For desert apple and pumpkin pie. Our cook Brigitte out did herself this time, it was almost like being home.