Oktoberfest 2011

Before coming to Europe there were several major things I wanted to see and take part in. Oktoberfest was ranked in my top 10 things to do in Europe. Yesterday, I fulfilled yet another objective on that top 10 list; partaking in Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany! Before going, I made myself agree that I would go all out at this event since I probably won't get a chance to go again for a very long time...

My buddy Andrew and I decided to hit up Oktoberfest for a day since Munich is only a three and a half to four hour train ride from Vienna. We wake up around 5am and leave Vienna on the 6:15am train to Munich. The train ride there went by super fast since I slept the majority of the way. On the train we sat across from 6 guys dressed in the full bavarian outfit for Oktoberfest. By the way, before even arriving at Oktoberfest we observed each of them drinking at least 2 litters of beer!

Once we arrived in Munich Andrew and I followed everyone dressed in the customary bavarian outfit to the Oktoberfest fair grounds in Munich. We had no idea where to go initially but our plan worked out since it only took us about 15 minutes from the train station to get to the gates of the event. After getting through the gate we saw the most crazy spectacle; an amusement park/carnival/drinking party all in one! We saw a variety of huge rides, most notably rides I like to call "spin and go puke rides." These rides involve you being spun in a circle at very high speeds high in the air. Usually the result of these rides, for me at least, is the feeling of intense nausea. And that is why I call these rides such a name, because after riding such a ride you are likely to puke! However, what made this very interesting was seeing drunk people ride these rides. I cannot imagine going on these rides intoxicated! Along with "spin and go puke rides" we saw a few roller coasters, which to our surprise had loops! Again, this is like nothing I've ever seen before. Watching drunk Germans walking around and going on these rides is something very odd if you've been to amusement parks in America where there is absolutely no alcohol.

After walking around the whole event we were invited by a German girl working a particular event to go in and observe a live TV show being produced. We walked into a tent and saw a large wheel like object on the floor where people would ride. The goal of the entire show is who can ride the spinning wheel the longest without being thrown off! It was a very fun/funny experience seeing people attempt to stay on the wheel. We watched the show for about 20 minutes and felt it was a good time to get something to eat before entering a beer tent for the afternoon.

For lunch Andrew and I stop at a food stand near the beer tent we want to go in. I had curry wurst which is super spicy sausage! It was really good but I regret eating it at the time I did. (I'll explain later) Right after we ate lunch we entered into the world famous Hofbrauhaus beer tent! We situated ourselves about 20 yards from where the band was to play. This tent was massive, it could hold about 10,000 people in full capacity. During our time there it reached about 8,000 or so people inside.

Once we sat down in the tent we ordered our first HB one litter beer. These things were huge! After about 30 minutes the band started to play. It was hailed in by the crowd by a well deserved huge round of applause! The band played bavarian style music and had a variety of different drinking songs. My favorite song was played every 20 minutes; the prost (cheers song). This song was when everyone raised their drinks up high in the air and swung back and forth saying, "Ein prosit, Ein prosit." Let me translate the song into English for you. "A toast, A toast, to the coziness of it all, A toast, A toast, to the the coziness of it all!" Once the song ended we all gave each other a toast and took a big drink of our litter beer! Basically, this process continued for Andrew and I at least for another 4 to 5 hours! (here is a short vid my buddy shot while we were singing "Ein Prosit" song.)

Throughout our time in the tent there were occasion loud cheers of people cheering on those who chugged their 1 litter beers within 30 seconds. It was quite hilarious at the time seeing people go through so much beer.  I observed some people but down more than 5 litters of beer over the course of a few hours there. I could not believe this feat! If everyone thinks Americans know how to drink, think again, the Germans really know how to drink! (Here are some pictures before you read more)

Along with the beer you had an option of ordering any bavarian food dish offered in the tent. After a few litters beers I order an entire chicken for myself and devoured it! Also, you could order various dishes that included sausage, beef, fish, and potatoes. It all looked very good, but at the time I could only eat and drink so much!

During our time in the beer tent we hung out with a few Canadians, Germans, and Australians at the end. We enjoyed the Canadians the most. We talked about hockey, bars, Europe etc. It was a great time. The four hours or so we were in the beer tent went by very quickly! Andrew and I both enjoyed our time in the tent, but by 4:20 or so we decided it was best to leave the tent before becoming consumed by the event! After a quite confusing walk back to the train station we stopped at Burger King and ate a bit before getting some 1.5 litter water bottles for the train. We left at 5:30pm out of Munich for the ride back to Vienna. I slept for about half the ride back but awoke half way through the ride not feeling so well in the stomach region. I continued drinking water throughout the trip back and finally made it back to Vienna at around 9:30pm. After a 35 minute commute back to our dorm I drank about another 2 litters or so of water before passing out at around 11:45pm.

Oktoberfest can be summed up as the most amazing party I've ever been to. I will never forget my short time attending Oktoberfest. I really recommend everyone should attend this event at least once in their life. It was a great way to see German Bavarian culture as well as have a great time!

Italia: Rome, Florence, and Venice

Before I left home Italy was my number one destination to travel while in studying abroad in Vienna. Italy has intrigued me throughout my entire life as a very important historic piece of western civilization.  This trip gave me the opportunity to finally go see it for the first time and seek out the various sights I’ve been wanting to see for years.

When we began planning for the trip I suggested we go see Rome, Florence,  and Venice on our Italian excursion. After a brief planning session it was set and we were off to Rome late Monday night. We decided to take the night train because it allowed us to travel the 13 hour train ride allowing us to not miss a day in Italy. After a very long night train ride we finally arrive in Rome early Tuesday morning and began to look for our hostel.

The walk to the hostel was long for the most part but paid dividends once we arrived. Once we arrived we were told by the owners of the hostel we were going to be moved to the central shopping district in Rome which is based in the center of the majority of Rome’s historic sites. After a short taxi ride we arrived at our hostel/apartment in central Rome. All of us were on our second wind after the overnight train ride but we all agreed to drop all of our luggage off and start sightseeing!

Our sightseeing experience in Rome began with a large mausoleum in the same area as the ancient forum of Rome and the Colloseum. This mausoleum was the largest structure in the historic district in Rome. It was covered by various statues of gods, goddesses, and war heroes. Apparently it was altered and expanded in the 1920-1930’s by Mussolini. Once we finished looking at this structure we ventured into the old historic forum of Rome. We saw a variety of different ruins such as arches, columns, domes, façades etc. It was surreal to experience such a sight because of all the history it embodies. Most of it was a shopping district as well as institutional buildings for the Rome Empire. Also, there were Basilicas in this area as well. These were secular Roman buildings that were converted into churches during the rule of Emperor Constantine.

After exploring the forum we arrived at the Colloseum in the center of the old city. Since it was blistering hot and we were drenched in sweat we walked around the Colloseum once and called it a day. We decided to hold off the Colloseum to the next day. The walk back to the apartment was brutal in 90 degree heat. However, on the way back we stopped and bought our first gelato ice cream of our Italian trip. I suggest everyone who goes to Italy to get as much gelato as possible; it tastes much better than any ice cream you eat over in the states. Once we got our gelato we decided to stop at the Pantheon on the way back to our apartment. The architecture is simply amazing because of the columns in the front of the structure as well as the central dome with a large open circular window. I was amazed such a structure could be built during the Roman Empire 1800 years ago. The coffered ceiling as well as the paintings inside the Pantheon were simply trivializing and mind-blowing. I could not have asked for a better monument to visit. And this is only the beginning of our travels in Rome!

Eventually we found our way back to our apartment and relaxed for a few hours before heading out to dinner in Rome for the first time. We ventured out of the shopping district we were based at and walked over towards the Vatican to find a place to eat dinner. On the way we stopped at a small restaurant situated half way between our place and the Vatican. When we ordered we all decided to get some type of pizza since it was our first Italian dinner. The pizza was very authentic and had a thin crust. I decided to get salami, ham, sausage, and mushrooms on my pizza.  I really enjoyed my pizza that evening and it was pretty reasonable at 7 Euro. After we finished dinner  we continued on our way towards the Vatican and finally arrived in its main square. The realization hit me once I arrived in the square. I was finally being in St. Peters was quite amazing. This is the center of the largest Christian church in the world. We all took plenty of pictures since we got to see St. Peters at night! We concluded our day with a long walk back to our apartment and passed out!

The next day arrived as quickly as the first day came. We got up early Wednesday morning and walked towards the Vatican once again to go see its Museum and the Sistine Chapel.  After a problem with our tickets we finally were able to go in and enjoy the museum! The museum had sponsored art pieces from a variety of different Popes and donors up through the Renaissance until the mid 18^th century. It was a very overwhelming experience since there was so much to see. Sculptures, paintings, engravings, embroidery, and much more embodied the museum. After a few hours of walking through we finally arrived at the Sistine Chapel! It was truly an amazing sight to see one of Michaelanglo’s famous works as well as the place where Popes have been selected over the past 500 years. I personally liked seeing the visual of Adam touching his finger with God. It was one of the most amazing art pieces I’ve ever seen in my life.

At around 1pm we finished our tour of the Vatican. It was an awesome experience that I will never forget. However, we did not go into St. Peters Basilica due to my friends not wanting to wait in line. I was disappointed but I know I will be returning to Rome sometime in the future. Even though this happened I was happy that we did do as much as we did at the Vatican!

Following up the Vatican we went to lunch at a nearby restaurant. I had lasagna but was disappointed it was a small portion. We ventured back to the apartment and got gelato on the way back. (Note: I can’t remember most of the names of the gelato I had because many of the flavors were in Italian) After a short rest back at the apartment we walked all the way back to the Colloseum and explored the site. Like the Pantheon I felt a surreal sensation being in the Colloseum. Being in a place where thousands upon thousands were slaughtered was quite an experience. I felt a variety of different emotions because of its long history and its purpose of killing during its existence during the height of Roman power.  Once we finished with the Colloseum we went to dinner at a restaurant called “Gusta” right outside the shopping district our apartment was situated. During that dinner I had fish, calamari, and a large calzone. The calamari and the calzone were some of the best I’ve ever had! It was a great place to eat even though it was a little bit on the pricey side. Later that night we went to a Irish Pub in the old district and watched Champions league soccer to finish up one of our busiest days in Europe to date!

On Thursday we woke up early and checked out of our apartment in Rome. We had the entire day in Rome before we had to catch the train to Florence early in evening. During the day we went to Trevi fountain near where our apartment was located. It was one of the largest fountains in Rome and most decorated one I saw there. It was commissioned by Pope Clemens IV during a large construction project following the Renaissance to renew Rome. When we arrived to fountain we stopped at a recommended gelato shop right next to the fountain. I had nutella flavored gelato and enjoyed every bite. It was one of my favorite flavors I’ve had to this date! After enjoying our gelato at the fountain for an hour or so we ventured to a few other churches near the Trevi fountain then headed to the train station to catch our train station up to Florence.

Upon our arrival to Florence, my friend Tim had arranged us to meet some of his friends at the train station who also go to my college. We met them after a short wait and headed into the city to check into our hostel. Once we checked into our hostel they took us to a pizzeria across the river from our hostel in Florence. We all had an assortment of different pizzas and we all enjoyed every bite! Following our dinner they took us to a great gelato place near the restaurant. I had cookie flavor gelato this time around. Along with nutella, cookies has to be up there as one of my favorite flavors I’ve had. After gelato they took us up to their place in town and we hung out for a bit. They had a very large apartment and my friends and I were jealous of their accommodations for the semester.

We awoke the morning after and had plans to meet the girls at a local farmers market to get some much needed fruit for breakfast. My friends and I bought an assortment of fresh fruits and shared them amongst ourselves throughout the entire day. To our surprise they were very cheap! After the farmers market the girls took us to one of the most famous coffee cafes in Florence. I ordered an ice coffee and a croissant to go along with my fruit for breakfast. The ice coffee has to be one of the best coffee oriented drinks I’ve ever had! I had the girls try it as well and they agreed as well. Once we left the shop we walked to the central church in Florence called the Duomo. We ate our food on the front steps of the church and enjoyed a good people watching session.

Before the girls had to leave to head off to an excursion we walked back and hung out their place. I have to give a quick shout out to thank Kate and Kassi for showing us great places to eat and see in Florence! After we left their place we went over to the Academia museum where Michaelanglo's David sculpture is located. We looked around the museum for a few hours and saw a broad spectrum of pre Reniassance to post Reniassance paintings and sculptures. Most had religious connotation as their central themes. Seeing David was the best part of the entire museum visit. Being in the presence of one Michangelo's greatest works was a great feeling.

Once we were done at the Academia museum we picked up our stuff at our hostel and walked around outside of Florence to get a view of the city. Finally, after a 2 to 3 mile walk we were finally able to find the overlook of the city! It was well worth the walk because we got to see one of the most picturesque views of a city in the world. Having taken a half an hour to rest and take pictures we had to walk another 2 miles or so back to the train station to catch our train to Venice in the evening.

Our 24 hour stop in Venice was a roller coaster ride of emotions. We got into Venice at around 10pm and happened to get lost for an hour and a half trying to find our hostel. At first we did not have a map of the city but received one from a British women whom we had asked for directions. Once we had a map it took us about an hour to navigate through Venice to get to our hostel near St. Marks square. Venice is the most confusing city I’ve ever been it. Since the streets are not on a grid system it was completely random making it hard to find places. Once we got to our hostel we showered up and went out for dinner at a restaurant near St. Marks square. It was a hurried affair since the restaurant was closing.

On Saturday we woke up around 10am in a very tired state. We had been walking 8 to 10 miles a day the past 4 days. Even though we were tired, we ventured through Venice and saw a variety of sites. We first saw St. Marks square and went into a few churches along the way. The amount of people throughout Venice made it mob scene. We were walking through crowds the entire day but were able to enjoy the cities distinct architectural beauty. At around 2pm we ate lunch at a place right on major canal. I had a calzone with ham, salami, bacon, and a variety of different cheeses. It was huge and delicious! Once we were done with dinner we went back into St. Marks square and sat on some steps listening to various live bands restaurants had going. During our time sitting down we talked to two American girls who were studying abroad in Rome and happened to be in Venice for the weekend. Before we knew it, it was time to leave for the train station. Evidently, we were at first set off guard because we heard the Italians working at the train station were about to strike as our train was about to leave. However, we were relieved when our train was cleared to leave because the companying operating the train was not based in Italy.

Hopefully I didn’t bore you with this blog entry. It was a jam packed week and we did a lot! Next week I’m off to Munich for a few days for Oktoberfest! Until next time, check out my pictures I’ve posted on my travels to Italy!

Salzburg, River Rafting, Ice Cave, and More!

Last Friday our group from Vienna traveled to the city of Salzburg for a 3 day excursion. On Friday we got up really early to catch the train out of Vienna. Luckily, it was only a 3 hour train ride to get to Salzburg. Once we arrived we got a quick lunch and then headed out to see all the sights in the city. Before I get into our sight seeing experience I will first give you a little background about the city of Salzburg.

Salzburg is known internationally for its renowned barque architecture and one of the best preserved cities located north of the Alps. Until the past 100 years Salzburg gained it wealth from salt mines in the area. Through this wealth they were able to build multiple large churches and landmarks throughout the city. Another interesting fact about Salzburg it was the birthplace of Mozart. During World War 2 the city was bombed several times by the allied powers and damaged. However, the damage from the war didn't completely destroy the city.

The first major site we saw in Salzburg was Salzburg Cathedral. This cathedral is baroque in architecture and has a large dome built over the altar of the church that reaches around 200 feet. Also, the church has enormous baroque paintings as well as sculptures. It was really interesting to compare and contrast this cathedral in Salzburg to St. Stephens in Vienna (which is a gothic cathedral). It reminded me of Art History class in high school. After visiting the cathedral we walked through Old Town Salzburg and saw a variety of different large fountains as well as baroque inspired buildings. Next, we climbed the large hill in town and walked up a steep hill to get to the Hohensalzburg Castle which is the center piece of the entire city of Salzburg. It was originally built in 1047 AD and further expanded in the 1519 AD.  There are several cool sights inside but I didn't feel like paying the 8 Euro entry fee to get into the castle. A few of my friends did so but it costed even more to get a tour of the inside of the castle. Luckily, there are a pictures before you pay of what's inside. Once I was at the top of the hill I walked with one of my friends and saw a few modern homes which were renovations of smaller castles/manner houses. It was super interesting to see modern people living in castle like structures with modern features. 


Once we got off the top of the hill in town we went into a few other churches in the Old Town area of Salzburg. These churches were baroque and had an entabulature surrounding the altar depicting a story from the New Testament using paintings and sculptures. I forgot the mention, each churches altar is completely made out of gold! 


After walking around a bit more we rested for a bit in our hostel room which was situated in a newer part of an older church. Every hour we could hear the church bells ringing which got very annoying after awhile. At around 7pm we all went to dinner as group and enjoyed steaks for dinner!


The following day we got up very early and took a trip up into the Alps to go white water rafting down the Salzach River. We first were dressed in dry suits since the water temperature was about 50 degrees and all looked like characters out of Star Trek. ( I will be getting pictures soon, the company that we took our tour with will be emailing us them soon). During this time a German tour bus full of Germans came to accompany us on the raft trip. It was a fairly older crowd but they were hilarious throughout the trip. After a quick 15 minute drive up the side of the river we finally disembarked on our rafting trip. While the river was tame in terms of rapids, our tour guides made it a fun experience by introducing us to various games. One of these games included joining all 3 rafts together and one person from each raft would get up and run around all 3 rafts. Whoever was the first to encircle all 3 rafts won! I participated in the first race and even after falling in twice I was able to get up and round each raft winning the event. Next, we dragged our rafts onto shore and played a game where 3 individuals took a paddle and had to look up at the handle of the paddle while being spun around in circles by a tour guide. Each person got very dizzy and fell to the ground while being laughed at by the entire tour. There were 3 groups who did this activity, I was part of the last group who was spun around 15 times. I became very dizzy and fell to the ground, it took me at least 20 seconds to regain my balance and get up. Following this activity we continued down the river for an hour or so before the trip ended. At the end the Germans we were with offered us a victory shot of homemade Vodka. Everyone agreed it was one of the strongest shots they've ever taken.


After rafting we hung out for awhile in our hostel room and went to the streets again exploring more of the city. It was cut short by dinner and subsequently a bar run to the Shamrock pub in Old Town Salzburg. During our time at the bar I talked to 2 German students who were finishing up their internship in Salzburg before being hired by a German manufacturing firm. They asked me questions about American Football and the NCAA since it was on at the bar. After we talked a band came in and played various American/English rock songs ranging from Green Day to the Beatles. I retreated back to the hostel early since we had another long day ahead of us since we were going to tour the largest ice cave in the world up in the Alps close to Salzburg.


On Sunday we all got up early once again since we had to meet a bus that would take us to the town of Werfen where the ice cave is located. After getting to a base camp half way up the mountain we walked about 20 minutes until we got up to a tram that would take us up near the ice cave. The tram ride was the steepest I've ever been on in my life. We went up the mountain at about 65 degrees or so during the 5 minute tram ride. Once arriving at the top of the tram it was another 20 minute walk until we reached the ice cave entrance. During the walk up we were treated with a beautiful day and spectacular views of the Alps and castle/town below. It reminded me of the Kings Canyon area in central California with castles and towns below. Once we arrived at the ice cave one of my friends let me borrow one of their jackets since I didn't bring a jacket or sweatshirt along due to the fact we didn't know until the day before we'd be heading the the ice cave. Before entering the ice cave I put on my jacket and was the only one to enter wearing shorts. The tour was a 1km walk throughout a small section of the ice cave. According to our tour guide the cave spans 14k into the mountain. Throughout the tour we saw various ice formations and ice walls. Many of these ice formations looked like animals or castles. Overall, it was a very cool experience seeing a cave full of ice!


We descended from the mountain and went to lunch at a small restaurant in the town below the ice cave. Lunch was very good, I had onions and beef. After lunch we took the train back to Salzburg and picked up our stuff at the hostel and caught a train back to Vienna. Everyone was very tired after returning to our dorm in Vienna, however, for four of us we quickly had to repack and get ready for our train ride to Rome after class the next day at 7:30pm. 

I am not very excited for the 13 hour ride to Rome tonight, although, I hope we can all sleep so we are able to see a variety of sights at Rome tomorrow. Our Italy trip is going to be amazing, Rome, Florence, and Venice. It can't get any better than that. Until next time, get ready for my next blog of my travels in Italy!

Vienna and more!

Over the past couple of days we have been really getting to know the city of Vienna. This last Sunday we went to the summer palace of the Habsburg family. It was modeled off Versaille in France. We ventured into its gardens over the course of the afternoon. It was a maze of lush vegetation as well as intricate designs of flowers spread across hundreds of acres. (Pictures will be posted on Facebook soon)

After exploring the summer palace gardens we went into the center of Vienna and went on the Catacombs tour under St. Stephens Cathedral. We saw a variety of different tombs of Bishops and Cardinals as well as mass graves of Viennese dating back to around 1000 A.D. In a few chambers down there we saw human bones stacked on top of each other until they reached the ceiling! During the tour we were told there were so many people buried here at one time the church above had to be closed due to the horrific smell of all the bodies decomposing.

Before I move on, a funny side note. On the tour with us was the famous Bay Watch actor David Hasseloff. We were able to get a photo with him in the background. (On Facebook) It was funny standing next to a celebrity for the 30 minute tour. To Germans at least, he is considered one of the most famous actors to come out of their country.

The next night we went to the Bermuda Triangle of Vienna. It is considered the Pacific Beach or Gas Lamp district of Vienna. All the major clubs and bars are located in this area of the city. We went with our student director Valarie who showed us a few cool places to go. After bar hopping a bit we had to navigate our way back to the Europhaus dorm before the public transit closed. It was a very fun night, having a local take us out allows us to understand the area from a locales prospective. Hopefully once school starts here we will have a chance to meet some other Austrians who would be willing to take us out places.

On Tuesday night we watched the Austrian National Soccer team take on Turkey during the qualification round for the UEAFA Cup. It was fun watching the game with Austrians here at the dorm. They really got into the game. Overall, it was a fun experience to get to talk to some other Austrians who live in the same building. Most of them know English pretty well so its easy to communicate, although, there are some cases where we do run into situations where communication becomes a huge problem. Many of these situations occur at grocery stores and restaurants.

At grocery stores I have run into problems where the credit card machine does not work or go through. The cashier generally doesn't know english and I either have to try and point out what is wrong or an Austrian who knows english helps me out. Also, at restaurants some waiters do not know english well. Sometimes we have a german speaker order for us, but when we don't have the luxury we point to what we want on the menu and attempt to say what we want correctly. A few of us have gotten the wrong things due to this confusion. Overall, the language barrier hasn't been a huge problem. Most people here know english well enough to communicate with. I am eager to start german in two weeks to at least know how to say a few things. Sometimes I feel rude when I am not able to communicate since I have no idea what they are saying to me.

Over these next two weeks we plan on traveling quite a bit. Tomorrow we are off to the town Salzburg in north western Austria. We plan on going white water rafting on Saturday and sight seeing on Sunday before we come back here for class on Monday. Then, we plan on leaving for Krakow Poland, Prague, and Aucshwittz next week. A five day trip encompassing all these areas. The following week we are planning a tentative trip to Italy where we would visit Rome, Florence, and Venice. Today we are suppose to arrange/book these trips. Hopefully we can get good rates and follow through with our plans! Until next time keep checking my facebook for new pictures of my travels over here!

Arriving in Vienna

After 30 hours of traveling my group and I arrived in Vienna on the 1st of September. After waiting an additional 2 hours at the airport waiting for the rest of our group we were finally of to our dorm for the semester. After a 30 min drive on the free way we finally arrive. I must say the cars here are much different than the US. Most of the cars I saw were Audi's and BMW's. Although, I did see one or two Fords here and there.

Around 4 we arrived at our dorm, the Europhaus, we settled in and got unpacked. Once we were unpacked we went were treated to our first meal in Austria; pizza.... It wasn't what I expected, it was super thin crust pizza that didn't resemble the pizza we are familiar eating in the US. Once we finished eating our pizza and salad we settled in for the night literally passing out on our beds.

The first night in Vienna was rough sleeping wise. I woke up about five times thinking it was the morning. This effect has worn off by day 3 of my trip. Now, our first full day in Vienna encompassed a walking tour of the city. We experienced taking the U4 (underground subway) to the city center and walked through most of the main landmarks in the city. After a 20 minute ride we arrived at Karlplatz station and walked to St. Stephens church in the center of Vienna. What amazed me the most was the history that surrounded me! Many of these buildings were build from the 16th to 19th century. The architecture and art of these buildings also mesmorized my senses. Once arriving in the central square we walked in St. Stephens cathedral. It was gothic  inspired that reached into the sky with 2 large bell towers on the front of the church and 1 bell tower adjacent to the nave of the church. Inside the church we saw engraved columns, paintings, and stain glass windows all dating back before the 16th century.

The tour continued outside the square of the city to the outer portion of the old city (the area where the city wall encompassed the city) to see the parliament building and a variety of museums, churches, and the Habsburg Palace. My group has agreed we will be taking tours of these buildings on rainy days or Sundays.

Before long the jet lag kicked in and we took a nap later that day. Once we woke up it was time to go out for our first Austrian Pub dinner. During dinner I had a pub brewed beer and Schitzle (fried pork) for dinner. It was really good and I really enjoyed it.

The next day finally arrived after another long restless night. The day included another walk through of Vienna in the morning and a stop at Cafe Spiel in Vienna for my groups orientation into the IGE program. Apparently,  this cafe was one of Hitlers favorite cafes in Vienna. It made me feel a little uneasy to think one of the most evil people drank coffee at such a peaceful cafe in the city. I ordered a Brauche which is considered a small espresso drink. Only after a short time in Europe, I've realized small really means small here. The small espresso I ordered was about the size of a shot glass. Next, we stopped at lunch at a small Kebab stand on our way back to our dorm. I ate a Donor Sandwich which is a warmed tender beef with a variety of sauces, lettuce, tomato etc. It was one of the best sandwiches I've ever ate in my life! Another even better stat about the sandwich was it only costed 2.90 euro, a steal for food here!

Later that day we went to our directors favorite pub in all of Vienna. He bragged that this was one of the best pubs in the world! To my amazement it really was what he suggested earlier in the day. The home brewed beer I drank was the first beer I actually enjoyed. Also, the chicken cordon blue I order was amazing as well! Chicken cordon blue is a fried piece of chicken with cheese and ham pieces inside the fried piece of chicken. I really suggest anyone who visits here to order this staple dish while they are here!

I hope to be writing more next week but I hope this was a good sample of my trip so far. I plan on writing details of each week of what I experience during the semester here.  Until next time, prost! (cheers)