today i slept until noon and it was absolutely amazing! my alarm went off at 9:45 for breakfast but i said forget that and went back to bed. after waking up, we all got ready by 1 and walked towards the old city area. it was pouring rain and windy, so it was a very entertaining walk, yet miserable. i think my umbrella is the only one that made it the whole way without being destroyed. we stopped at mcdonalds for lunch. i very clearly remembered the mcdonalds from when melanie, dad and i went there years ago so that was fun. it was cool to see a mcdonalds in the middle of such a historic, rustic little main street. nonetheless i was very excited for my fries and chicken nuggets and big diet coke.
after lunch, we walked over to this old hotel to go to this coffee shop. we just took the elevator to the 7th floor and there was this cute little coffee shop that overlooks the whole city! it was so pretty. i got a really yummy hot chocolate and just relaxed with katia, alicia, katy and dan. after that we walked back to the hotel and i read velvet evis for a bit and then took a nap.
tonight, the fields, jen, dan, teri, justin HP, katy, katia, alicia and i went to dinner at the oldest restaurant in europe! it was a dinner and show for mozart's birthday which was today (252 years ago)! the dinner was good- bread and then this lemon cinnamon cream soup. we all agreed that we would never order the soup but it grew on you as you ate it :) i ordered a bottle of water which cost me 6 euros (aka $9), so that was rough but oh well. in between each course a little mini orchestra in old timey costumes played 3 different operas- the magic flute, the marriage of figaro and don giovanni. it was really pretty, the vocalists were amazing too. dinner was chicken, potatoes, veggies and then dessert was really good "half-frozen" honey thing. all really good.
by the end of dinner i was exhausted, we caught a cab home and then teri and i tried to watch the sound of music on tv but it didn't work :( i was pretty much drained by then anyway so i bet i would have fallen asleep anyway. tomorrow will be a relaxing day and i cannot wait!!!!!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
the last city tour!
Today we arrived in Salzburg! I got up early to pack up the last few things and then hop on the bus. we were able to leave one suitcase at the hotel in munich (we're going back on wednesday for the last few days of the trip) so i packed up my duffel bag and bookbag with all of my business casual and souveniers that i'm sick of lugging around. i really quickly grabbed breakfast, hauled my suitcase (which felt so easy compared to usually carrying 4 bags) onto the bus and then we were off again. the bus ride was actually really nice. the view of the mountains and everything was gorgeous. pretty much everyone but me slept the whole time and i talked to the fields' for a while about jobs, young life, graduating, etc. it was really fun.
as soon as we got to salzburg we rolled up to the airport. again, it was so nice to only have one bag- the whole unloading process was so much easier! we tried to check into our hotel but it wasn't ready so we were all stuck in this tiny lobby for 45 minutes. it was actually really funny. everyone was in a moderately bad mood (they were all tired/hungover) so people were funny. at noon we had lunch in the hotel restaurant. i think it might have been my favorite meal in europe! first we had all these rolls- they were still warm. AND they had butter!!!!! plus a pitcher of ice water- which was refilled constantly. the next course was a salad which i gave to aubrey. she actually ate her salad, and then mine and dereks. very impressive. NEXT we had "pasta with cheesesauce" which was penne pasta with a really good cheesey cream sauce. excellent. next was the main course: veal cutlet, vegetables, rice, french fries. all incredibly good and refillable. i seriously chowed down. finally desert- ICE CREAM. i ate my ice cream, plus turners, and then turner's second dessert. pretty much everyone else hated the ice cream, including turner so he gave his to me. then a couple minutes later the waiter walked by and thought he didn't have any, so he gave him another ice cream! seirously hilarious. especially considering that about 15 minutes earlier, the waiter had asked if anyone wanted more veal, everyone said no and he still gave turner another piece. seriously he just kept givign turner more food constantly.
after lunch we had to run into our rooms and throw our luggage in. my room is okay- not huge but could be worse. at first when we walked in, the door was blocking the bathroom door and i was seriously worried that we didn't have a bathroom. but alas we found it so all was well.
after checking in, we walked for a few minutes to meet our tour guide for our city tour. it was so nice and sunny out! just beautiful! some people didnt even wear their coats. we saw the gardens where the sound of music was filmed with the kids hanging out of the trees, and where they finished the do-re-mi song. we walked down to the old city and saw the shopping district, a cathedral, mozart's living house and birthhouse. etc. it was really pretty.
eventually it started getting reallllllly cold. christina, michelle, dan, justin HP and i went into a coffee shop (where Mozart spent a lot of time composing) and got hot chocolate to warm up. it was very relaxing. after stopping at a grocery store, we finally made it back to our hotel.
for dinner we went to some random restaurant. katia, alicia, katy, teri, kathleen and i wandered forever to finally find this place and got pizza, what else is new?? katia and alicia were adventurous and got weird things, but i dont have patience for that :)
now i'm just relaxing in the hotel. the internet is only 50 cents so hopefully i'll catch up on the blogging that i've missed... we'll see how that actually works out...
as soon as we got to salzburg we rolled up to the airport. again, it was so nice to only have one bag- the whole unloading process was so much easier! we tried to check into our hotel but it wasn't ready so we were all stuck in this tiny lobby for 45 minutes. it was actually really funny. everyone was in a moderately bad mood (they were all tired/hungover) so people were funny. at noon we had lunch in the hotel restaurant. i think it might have been my favorite meal in europe! first we had all these rolls- they were still warm. AND they had butter!!!!! plus a pitcher of ice water- which was refilled constantly. the next course was a salad which i gave to aubrey. she actually ate her salad, and then mine and dereks. very impressive. NEXT we had "pasta with cheesesauce" which was penne pasta with a really good cheesey cream sauce. excellent. next was the main course: veal cutlet, vegetables, rice, french fries. all incredibly good and refillable. i seriously chowed down. finally desert- ICE CREAM. i ate my ice cream, plus turners, and then turner's second dessert. pretty much everyone else hated the ice cream, including turner so he gave his to me. then a couple minutes later the waiter walked by and thought he didn't have any, so he gave him another ice cream! seirously hilarious. especially considering that about 15 minutes earlier, the waiter had asked if anyone wanted more veal, everyone said no and he still gave turner another piece. seriously he just kept givign turner more food constantly.
after lunch we had to run into our rooms and throw our luggage in. my room is okay- not huge but could be worse. at first when we walked in, the door was blocking the bathroom door and i was seriously worried that we didn't have a bathroom. but alas we found it so all was well.
after checking in, we walked for a few minutes to meet our tour guide for our city tour. it was so nice and sunny out! just beautiful! some people didnt even wear their coats. we saw the gardens where the sound of music was filmed with the kids hanging out of the trees, and where they finished the do-re-mi song. we walked down to the old city and saw the shopping district, a cathedral, mozart's living house and birthhouse. etc. it was really pretty.
eventually it started getting reallllllly cold. christina, michelle, dan, justin HP and i went into a coffee shop (where Mozart spent a lot of time composing) and got hot chocolate to warm up. it was very relaxing. after stopping at a grocery store, we finally made it back to our hotel.
for dinner we went to some random restaurant. katia, alicia, katy, teri, kathleen and i wandered forever to finally find this place and got pizza, what else is new?? katia and alicia were adventurous and got weird things, but i dont have patience for that :)
now i'm just relaxing in the hotel. the internet is only 50 cents so hopefully i'll catch up on the blogging that i've missed... we'll see how that actually works out...
Friday, January 25, 2008
a depressing day...
yay for sleeping in! today i didn't set an alarm and it was AMAZING. i'm pretty sure this is the first time i've done that this entire trip and i freaking loved it. too bad i actually woke up at like 6:30 am, but oh well. it was nice to be able to just go back to sleep.
finally at around 9:45, i decided to be productive. after going to bed before 1 am, the 8+ hours of sleep felt so good! jen and i went to do our laundry. we met this really nice austrailian army guy who we chatted it up with while doing our laundry. the laundry was a very interesting process. you had to put the wash in, then do this spin cycle thing. it was very weird. the dryign was kinda funny too. it was only 60 cents, which i thought was sweet. until i learned that 60 cents only got you 7 minutes of drying. needless to say it was entertaining watching jen, austrailian guy and i walk back and forth to buy little drying tokens for 7 minute increments :)
after finishing our laundry, we rushed back to the hotel to shower and then i ran to burger king for lunch. then we all got on the bus to go to dachau. at first i really didn't feel like being there but it was such a good experience, even though it was so depressing. it was weird to go from constant laughing/fun/etc to such a somber mood.
some of the camp had been destroyed by the germans afterward, i guess they were embarrassed about it and wanted to cover it up, but kinda sucks. there was still some stuff left and some of it had been reconstructed. there was a little chunk of train tracks left... weird to think that those trains used to bring in thousands of people. the gate that read "arbeit macht frei" (work makes free) was the original gate that was there when the camp was open. we saw barracks that had been rebuilt to show what they were like. it was insane- some many people sleeping on top of each other in these thigns that looked like they were designed for animals. we also saw the prison where they interogated people, there were these tiny "standing cells" that were so small you couldn't even sit down. they would torture people by hanging them by their arms behind their back. it was just so awful. we also saw where they would line everyone up for hours and hours. there were some cool memorial type things too..
the worst part by far was off to the side of the camp. you had to cross this little bridge over a river and they said that once you crossed that bridge there was 0% chance of survival. we walked into the place where they gassed people. our tour guide explained to us step by step of what happened, it was so creepy to walk through it and be shut in that room. i had chills. finally we saw the ovens. it was just insane. so depressing.
after a somber bus ride back, life seemed to be back to normal (how quickly we forget) and then i went to dinner with aubrey, janine and natalie. we grabbed dinner at some random italian place (again.) i had the best tomato soup EVER. seriously so good. we stopped at this grocery store on the way back and got "ice cream nachos" which were basically like choco tacos! i hadn't had ice cream in so long! we opened them up right as we were walking down the road... pretty ridiculous to eat ice cream in the middle of a freezing cold january night but oh well. totally worth it!
friday night was pretty much about packing, relaxing and sleep :)
finally at around 9:45, i decided to be productive. after going to bed before 1 am, the 8+ hours of sleep felt so good! jen and i went to do our laundry. we met this really nice austrailian army guy who we chatted it up with while doing our laundry. the laundry was a very interesting process. you had to put the wash in, then do this spin cycle thing. it was very weird. the dryign was kinda funny too. it was only 60 cents, which i thought was sweet. until i learned that 60 cents only got you 7 minutes of drying. needless to say it was entertaining watching jen, austrailian guy and i walk back and forth to buy little drying tokens for 7 minute increments :)
after finishing our laundry, we rushed back to the hotel to shower and then i ran to burger king for lunch. then we all got on the bus to go to dachau. at first i really didn't feel like being there but it was such a good experience, even though it was so depressing. it was weird to go from constant laughing/fun/etc to such a somber mood.
some of the camp had been destroyed by the germans afterward, i guess they were embarrassed about it and wanted to cover it up, but kinda sucks. there was still some stuff left and some of it had been reconstructed. there was a little chunk of train tracks left... weird to think that those trains used to bring in thousands of people. the gate that read "arbeit macht frei" (work makes free) was the original gate that was there when the camp was open. we saw barracks that had been rebuilt to show what they were like. it was insane- some many people sleeping on top of each other in these thigns that looked like they were designed for animals. we also saw the prison where they interogated people, there were these tiny "standing cells" that were so small you couldn't even sit down. they would torture people by hanging them by their arms behind their back. it was just so awful. we also saw where they would line everyone up for hours and hours. there were some cool memorial type things too..
the worst part by far was off to the side of the camp. you had to cross this little bridge over a river and they said that once you crossed that bridge there was 0% chance of survival. we walked into the place where they gassed people. our tour guide explained to us step by step of what happened, it was so creepy to walk through it and be shut in that room. i had chills. finally we saw the ovens. it was just insane. so depressing.
after a somber bus ride back, life seemed to be back to normal (how quickly we forget) and then i went to dinner with aubrey, janine and natalie. we grabbed dinner at some random italian place (again.) i had the best tomato soup EVER. seriously so good. we stopped at this grocery store on the way back and got "ice cream nachos" which were basically like choco tacos! i hadn't had ice cream in so long! we opened them up right as we were walking down the road... pretty ridiculous to eat ice cream in the middle of a freezing cold january night but oh well. totally worth it!
friday night was pretty much about packing, relaxing and sleep :)
Thursday, January 24, 2008
business day... i had forgotten what they were like!
this morning we went to the hoffbrau plant! all of the boys were way more interested in this than they had been at any other tour! first we saw where the beer was brewed. there were HUGE metal containers brewing the beer, it was insane. one of the rooms we walked into reeeeeked of beer, so gross. our tour guide (the brew master) only spoke german so we had another guy translate, so that was a little rough and i had no clue what was going on, oh well. we got to see where the beer was bottle and packaged. it looked very similar to coca-cola with the bottles spinning really fast, being capped, then labeled, etc. we saw big kegs being filled and rinsed off. we also got to walk through the storage place where they were just thousands of kegs and boxes of beer, just insane. the tour guide explained to us how long the beer can be held without going bad and how than influences their international expansion, it was pretty interesting. at the end we each got a free 6 pack, so everyone seemed pretty excited about that.
after hoffbrau, we took the bus back to the hotel. dr. fields didn't think it'd be very appropriate to each be carrying a 6 pack of beer into siemen's (our next visit) so we dropped off our beer and then took the bus over to siemen's. we had 2 hours of free time to grab lunch. after wanderign for a while, natalie, janine, aubrey, turner, dan and i found a little place in the main square and got pizza as usual. they served us tap water though so that was a big plus! after that, i broke down and hit up the starbucks. it had been over a month so i felt like i deserved it. i had a white mocha and it was AMAZING. aubrey, natalie, janine and i relaxed there and then left to walk back to siemen's. as we were leaving, we saw all of these rows of people sitting outside a coffee shop. it was weird though- all of the chairs were facign the same way and in the front 2 chairs were really nice and plush looking. we thought something must be going on so aubrey asked a cop who laughed and told us it was just a coffee shop. pretty embarassing i must say.
we made it back to siemen's and had a verrrrrrrrrrrry long lecture. the guy who spoke to us was actually retired from siemen's but just wants to impress upon everyone the importance of international business. it was interesting i guess, but i was having a hard time staying awake after my big lunch (and coffee? i don't know how that worked out). the lecture was 2+ hours and then it turned out we had a tour of this museum type thing! everyone was pretty mad and wanted to get out of there asap. our dinner reservation was moved up to tonight instead of tomorrow, so we had to get ready fast. the fields' paid for cabs so we all rushed back to the hotel to get ready.
tonight we had dinner at hoffbrau! it was a buffet- which was awesome. i had really good pork and potato salad and potatoes and all sorts of things, sooo good. there were dancers and singers and aubrey participated in this bell ringing thing a la miss congeniality. it was such a fun night. we each ordered a beer and they were HUGE- a whole liter! just insane. my favorite part were the pretzels. we ate all of ours at our table, so i got janine to go get one from another table, to which i told her she was my favorite person on the trip. aubrey was not too happy. but yeah, definitely one of the best dinners yet!
after hoffbrau, we took the bus back to the hotel. dr. fields didn't think it'd be very appropriate to each be carrying a 6 pack of beer into siemen's (our next visit) so we dropped off our beer and then took the bus over to siemen's. we had 2 hours of free time to grab lunch. after wanderign for a while, natalie, janine, aubrey, turner, dan and i found a little place in the main square and got pizza as usual. they served us tap water though so that was a big plus! after that, i broke down and hit up the starbucks. it had been over a month so i felt like i deserved it. i had a white mocha and it was AMAZING. aubrey, natalie, janine and i relaxed there and then left to walk back to siemen's. as we were leaving, we saw all of these rows of people sitting outside a coffee shop. it was weird though- all of the chairs were facign the same way and in the front 2 chairs were really nice and plush looking. we thought something must be going on so aubrey asked a cop who laughed and told us it was just a coffee shop. pretty embarassing i must say.
we made it back to siemen's and had a verrrrrrrrrrrry long lecture. the guy who spoke to us was actually retired from siemen's but just wants to impress upon everyone the importance of international business. it was interesting i guess, but i was having a hard time staying awake after my big lunch (and coffee? i don't know how that worked out). the lecture was 2+ hours and then it turned out we had a tour of this museum type thing! everyone was pretty mad and wanted to get out of there asap. our dinner reservation was moved up to tonight instead of tomorrow, so we had to get ready fast. the fields' paid for cabs so we all rushed back to the hotel to get ready.
tonight we had dinner at hoffbrau! it was a buffet- which was awesome. i had really good pork and potato salad and potatoes and all sorts of things, sooo good. there were dancers and singers and aubrey participated in this bell ringing thing a la miss congeniality. it was such a fun night. we each ordered a beer and they were HUGE- a whole liter! just insane. my favorite part were the pretzels. we ate all of ours at our table, so i got janine to go get one from another table, to which i told her she was my favorite person on the trip. aubrey was not too happy. but yeah, definitely one of the best dinners yet!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
last train ride!
this morning i got up at 6 am to get my stuff together to leave for munich on our last train ride! i thought i was late when i got my stuff on the bus at 7:15 (which was when we were supposed to leave) but apparently i was early, because no one was on the bus. we had crazy mahem running around trying to find everyone. dan and joe never woke up, and didn't make it ont he bus until 7:45. needless to say, the fields' were not happy. so that bus ride was rough. as soon as we got to the train station we had to RUN to the train, throw our stuff on and barely made it before the train left. overall a very stressful morning. i was sad because i had to sit with my group. our boys were really lame gettign the stuff on the train too, apparently danielle and i were supposed to load ALL the luggage on the train by ourselves.
after a short nap on the train, i went over to the dining car and got lunch with aubrey, joe and jen. i had risotto and it was so yummy! i was so hungry and it was so good!
the train ride went by pretty fast and then we arrived in munich! our hotel was only 2 blocks from the station so we carried our stuff to the hotel and checked in. me and teri's room is alright- kinda dark but could be worse. this is definitely my least favorite hotel though. i let teri have the double bed and sprawled my stuff all over the single and the couch. i showered really fast to get ready for the city tour.
we met our tour guide and took a bus tour of the city! at first i was so tired that it was hard to pay attention but this tour guide made that impossible. he was so funny- he kept picking people from the group to sorta act like the different people he was talking about. mr. fields was the lion? janine was his wife, dan was some king... it was just funny. he was so animated! he showed us this MASSIVE field where octoberfest is held and a big statue that supposedly the statue of liberty was modeled after.
after that we went to a palace and saw that. it was really pretty and cool because of the way he explained it. we also saw the stable and all of these really pretty carriages. finally we saw the downtown area, the town buildings and wandered around for a few. then it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner really quick.
we went to this cute italian restaurant. we ordered SO MUCH FOOD. i had tortellini soup, tomato and mozerella, bruschetta, 4 cheese pasta and then some of cara's tiramisu for dessert. janine and aubrey ordered a ton too. it was just insane- we were like starving children. we also sang happy birthday to jen too, that was fun.
tonight we just relaxed in aubrey and natalie's room. their room has a balcony that overlooks some of the other rooms so we threw stuff into other peoples room and entertained ourselves middle school style.
after a short nap on the train, i went over to the dining car and got lunch with aubrey, joe and jen. i had risotto and it was so yummy! i was so hungry and it was so good!
the train ride went by pretty fast and then we arrived in munich! our hotel was only 2 blocks from the station so we carried our stuff to the hotel and checked in. me and teri's room is alright- kinda dark but could be worse. this is definitely my least favorite hotel though. i let teri have the double bed and sprawled my stuff all over the single and the couch. i showered really fast to get ready for the city tour.
we met our tour guide and took a bus tour of the city! at first i was so tired that it was hard to pay attention but this tour guide made that impossible. he was so funny- he kept picking people from the group to sorta act like the different people he was talking about. mr. fields was the lion? janine was his wife, dan was some king... it was just funny. he was so animated! he showed us this MASSIVE field where octoberfest is held and a big statue that supposedly the statue of liberty was modeled after.
after that we went to a palace and saw that. it was really pretty and cool because of the way he explained it. we also saw the stable and all of these really pretty carriages. finally we saw the downtown area, the town buildings and wandered around for a few. then it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner really quick.
we went to this cute italian restaurant. we ordered SO MUCH FOOD. i had tortellini soup, tomato and mozerella, bruschetta, 4 cheese pasta and then some of cara's tiramisu for dessert. janine and aubrey ordered a ton too. it was just insane- we were like starving children. we also sang happy birthday to jen too, that was fun.
tonight we just relaxed in aubrey and natalie's room. their room has a balcony that overlooks some of the other rooms so we threw stuff into other peoples room and entertained ourselves middle school style.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
already our last day in vienna! :(
this morning was my favorite company visit- Manner Chocolate!!! we took a bus to the factory and had a short lecture by the CEO of Marketing. it was really interesting. Manner actually has their pink color copyrighted- which is really cool. he talked a lot about the different markets they appeal to, and how they've used their new stores to spread their brand and really associate a certain vibe with manner. as soon as we got to the room, there were plates of chocolate sitting out and then they passed around boxes of different stuff... but there was even more to come!
after the lecture, we put on these white lab coats and hair nets and then set off to explore the plant! it was by the far the best tour of this entire trip. we saw the wafers coming down, cooling, go over our heads and then the hazelnut stuff covered them. then the wafers would be stacked together and come out as this huge thick wafer. our guide picked the whole thing up and we got to break pieces off it to eat! it was seriously like 2 feet wide! it tasted SO good... still hot and fresh. seriously one of the best things i've ever eaten. then we saw the wafers pass along the line, be cut either into strips or round shapes and then be packaged. our guide also took a whole bag off the line and gave that to us too, so we tasted them after they cooled down (still amazing by the way). we also saw the lady's fingers being baked and got to try those. next we saw the tube things with hazelnut in them. they were swirling and beign filled with hazelnut stuff and we got to each pick one right off the conveyer belt. they were still hot! we also got to see the actual chocolate being made. at manner, they start production right with the bean so that their chocolate tastes unique. we saw the beans being roasted and crushed, and got to taste the chocolate before it was refined all the way. we also got to see cookies being baked- their was this HUGE oven and it was so hot in the room.
eventually the tour was over and we went back for questions. we each also got a big bag full of stuff! seriously, best tour ever.
after the tour, we had planned to get lunch at flannagan's, but we were so full from chocolate that we just hit up mcdonalds real quick. then turner, derek and i went to the austrian parliament. we signed up for a group tour but it was just us and one couple so it was pretty much private and it was only 2 euros! we got to see the different chambers where the government people vote, and the old traditional one that they just use for ceremonial things. it was interesting- they can't use that one now because the seats are too small and there isn't any power for laptops and such. pretty cool. we were also in one room that they used for social things and the tour guide told us a lot about the pillars- you could tell which ones were replaced after the city was bombed too, pretty cool. each pillar had marble from a different austrian state.
after the parliament we walked over to the city hall but couldn't find a way to get in. there was this really cool ice skating rink in front but it was wet so it was closed :( after that, we walked in the pouring rain back to the hotel to nap and get ready for dinner.
that night we took a bus outside of vienna to fuhrgassel-huber for dinner. it was this little rustic place and we had our own room! dinner was buffet and SO GOOD. everything was fried! chicken, cheese, cauliflower, mushrooms, potatoes, anything you could think of! i had some really yummy white wine too. they recommended that you mix the wine with the sparkling water and it was so good! after dinner, they came around and sold roses and dan bought one for mrs. fields, it was so funny. they also had 2 musicians who played music, so people got up to dance and it was really funny. overall the night was really fun. after dinner, i picked janine up to carry her out and it was hysterical, overall just a great last night in vienna!
after the lecture, we put on these white lab coats and hair nets and then set off to explore the plant! it was by the far the best tour of this entire trip. we saw the wafers coming down, cooling, go over our heads and then the hazelnut stuff covered them. then the wafers would be stacked together and come out as this huge thick wafer. our guide picked the whole thing up and we got to break pieces off it to eat! it was seriously like 2 feet wide! it tasted SO good... still hot and fresh. seriously one of the best things i've ever eaten. then we saw the wafers pass along the line, be cut either into strips or round shapes and then be packaged. our guide also took a whole bag off the line and gave that to us too, so we tasted them after they cooled down (still amazing by the way). we also saw the lady's fingers being baked and got to try those. next we saw the tube things with hazelnut in them. they were swirling and beign filled with hazelnut stuff and we got to each pick one right off the conveyer belt. they were still hot! we also got to see the actual chocolate being made. at manner, they start production right with the bean so that their chocolate tastes unique. we saw the beans being roasted and crushed, and got to taste the chocolate before it was refined all the way. we also got to see cookies being baked- their was this HUGE oven and it was so hot in the room.
eventually the tour was over and we went back for questions. we each also got a big bag full of stuff! seriously, best tour ever.
after the tour, we had planned to get lunch at flannagan's, but we were so full from chocolate that we just hit up mcdonalds real quick. then turner, derek and i went to the austrian parliament. we signed up for a group tour but it was just us and one couple so it was pretty much private and it was only 2 euros! we got to see the different chambers where the government people vote, and the old traditional one that they just use for ceremonial things. it was interesting- they can't use that one now because the seats are too small and there isn't any power for laptops and such. pretty cool. we were also in one room that they used for social things and the tour guide told us a lot about the pillars- you could tell which ones were replaced after the city was bombed too, pretty cool. each pillar had marble from a different austrian state.
after the parliament we walked over to the city hall but couldn't find a way to get in. there was this really cool ice skating rink in front but it was wet so it was closed :( after that, we walked in the pouring rain back to the hotel to nap and get ready for dinner.
that night we took a bus outside of vienna to fuhrgassel-huber for dinner. it was this little rustic place and we had our own room! dinner was buffet and SO GOOD. everything was fried! chicken, cheese, cauliflower, mushrooms, potatoes, anything you could think of! i had some really yummy white wine too. they recommended that you mix the wine with the sparkling water and it was so good! after dinner, they came around and sold roses and dan bought one for mrs. fields, it was so funny. they also had 2 musicians who played music, so people got up to dance and it was really funny. overall the night was really fun. after dinner, i picked janine up to carry her out and it was hysterical, overall just a great last night in vienna!
Monday, January 21, 2008
back to business.
this morning we went to a lecture at the Austrian Chamber of commerce. the speaker was actually a canadian, so that was cool because he was easy to understand. he spoke for 2+ hours but it was really good. really interesting stuff about austria, their economy and business culture, etc. it was pretty cool. the last 30 minutes were a little rough, but overall the lecture was pretty good.
after that, we walked as a group over to near our next lecture and then split for lunch. aubrey, michelle, natalie, janine, katia, katy, alicia, kathleen and i all went to some typical austrian type restaurant but it turned out to be one of the best lunches i've ever had. i ordered the chicken basket and this is what it was: chicken fingers, mozerella sticks (just like giacomo's!), onion rings, and potato wedges. !!!!!! i mean seriously what could be better than that. i was seriously in heaven.
after lunch, we met up with the group and then walked over to bosendorfer piano for another company visit. apparently the woman who was goign to give us the lecture was sick, so we had to wait in this random room for like 15 minutes and then some other woman took us into the lecture room. she sorta talked to us for a few minutes, but it was more of mrs. fields asking questions and us sorta listening. glen got up on stage and played the pretty piano for us, so that was nice.
after that we got to go into the showroom and see dozens of gorgeous pianos. it made me want to learn how to play. after that, we got to go into this other room and see some more pianos. this guy showed us this awesome piano that had been fit with this new technology. when you play a song, it records what you play and can play it back. the keys move just how you did! it even does dynamics and everything... so crazy. the guy said that universities use it to teach and such. pretty cool.
after that, we all came back to the hotel. i tried to put my pictures on my usb thing. justin's computer freaking crashed out of nowhere, SO i went to use cara's. i had better luck with hers, but the USB thing keeps saying that its full, which is ridiculous because it has over 1 gb of space left, grrrr.
after that we quickly got changed for dinner and the concert. i wore my blue dress! pretty much everyone got dressed up nice so that was fun. we walked over to dinner and had a really nice dinner. there were 4 courses and we got to pick 3 different things. i had a caesar salad, beef with yummy potatoes and then an amazing dessert. our table was really fun too. apparently there was some drama at the brynn table, but what else is new.
after dinner, we walked over to kursalon for a strauss concert. it was so good! there was an orchestra and singers and dancers. it was really nice to appreciate some nice music.
after that, we walked as a group over to near our next lecture and then split for lunch. aubrey, michelle, natalie, janine, katia, katy, alicia, kathleen and i all went to some typical austrian type restaurant but it turned out to be one of the best lunches i've ever had. i ordered the chicken basket and this is what it was: chicken fingers, mozerella sticks (just like giacomo's!), onion rings, and potato wedges. !!!!!! i mean seriously what could be better than that. i was seriously in heaven.
after lunch, we met up with the group and then walked over to bosendorfer piano for another company visit. apparently the woman who was goign to give us the lecture was sick, so we had to wait in this random room for like 15 minutes and then some other woman took us into the lecture room. she sorta talked to us for a few minutes, but it was more of mrs. fields asking questions and us sorta listening. glen got up on stage and played the pretty piano for us, so that was nice.
after that we got to go into the showroom and see dozens of gorgeous pianos. it made me want to learn how to play. after that, we got to go into this other room and see some more pianos. this guy showed us this awesome piano that had been fit with this new technology. when you play a song, it records what you play and can play it back. the keys move just how you did! it even does dynamics and everything... so crazy. the guy said that universities use it to teach and such. pretty cool.
after that, we all came back to the hotel. i tried to put my pictures on my usb thing. justin's computer freaking crashed out of nowhere, SO i went to use cara's. i had better luck with hers, but the USB thing keeps saying that its full, which is ridiculous because it has over 1 gb of space left, grrrr.
after that we quickly got changed for dinner and the concert. i wore my blue dress! pretty much everyone got dressed up nice so that was fun. we walked over to dinner and had a really nice dinner. there were 4 courses and we got to pick 3 different things. i had a caesar salad, beef with yummy potatoes and then an amazing dessert. our table was really fun too. apparently there was some drama at the brynn table, but what else is new.
after dinner, we walked over to kursalon for a strauss concert. it was so good! there was an orchestra and singers and dancers. it was really nice to appreciate some nice music.
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