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!
Showing posts with label vienna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vienna. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
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.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
sunday in vienna
this morning i was up WAY too early to go to mass where the vienna boy's choir sings. i came downstairs to the lobby at 8:15 and just saw the fields. i assumed everyone else was bailing on the early mass to sleep, but was shocked when 15 people came pouring out of the breakfast room 2 minutes later. i was very impressed, i won't doubt everyone anymore :)
so we took the tram/bus/thing over to the church. then we had to buy tickets! yes, buy tickets to go to church... only the catholic church would do this. anyway, the first lady tried to sell us tickets for $45 so we laughed and kept walking. when we got to the ticket place the lady told us the cheapest tickets were 4 euros so we quickly jumped on that of course. it wasn't until after we got our tickets and read where it said "no view, listening only" that we realized why we were only paying 5 euros!
after walking up (and down) about 10 flights of stairs, we finally made it to our little cubby room where our seats are. we were in this balcony type room, except the window to the balcony was so small. i seriously didn't even know if the service was taking place to the left or right of where i was. so weird. at least we had a video feed thing! the mass was in german and latin so i had no clue what was going on, but it was still interesting. the choir sounded SO good, just insane. i (along with cara, joey, derek, and tons of others) was still falling asleep, but oh well.
afterwards, we took a group picture and then got a picture with one of the little boys! it was so cute- 8 year old austrian celebrity boy :) after our early morning, we grabbed lunch at mcdonalds and then of course all went back to the hotel to crash.
at 1 pm, the whole group met to go to schonnbrunn palace. we took the subway for a bit and then unloaded in front of this pretty yellow castle! it was huge! not necessarily gorgeous from the outside, but big. we each got an audio guide to listen to while we walked around the castle. it was nice to be able to listen to a guide on your own. sometimes at our tours its hard to follow or even hear when you are with 26 other people, so it was nice to be able to spread out. the castle was really cool, and the tour gave us lots of history about the austrian empire and history.
after the tour, we hung out in the yard for a bit and then went to get coffee! some people skipped the tour so we had extra money left over. the fields' took us to this little cafe place and i got hot chocolate and chocolate mousse. so yummy!
after our little snack, everyone went their separate ways. everyone that had gone to the treasury the day before had really enjoyed it so i decided to do that. apparently we had no idea where we were going so it took us a while to actually find it, but it was worth it. we decided to get the audio guide again and that was worth it. all of the different items had a number so you could just type the number in if you wanted to hear anything about that item- very nice to be self paced. the stuff in the treasury was really cool- from jewels to clothes to crowns to some catholic stuff. supposedly this one relic held the nail that was in jesus' right hand. i'm not sure i believe that but it was cool nonetheless. there was also this ivory figure thing that was jesus and the other 2 guys on the cross. it was supposed to be a creative representation. it was cool, but hard to explain without the picture.
after about 2 hours of the treasury, we were fried and hungry, so we split for dinner. lots of people went for sushi so i of course passed on that for some pizza. turner gave us directions to some pizza place that everyone loved so we set out to find that. eventually, derek, michelle and i just found some other pizza place but it was so good! the waitress brought us an entire jug of tap water! it seriously made my day. michelle and i split a cheese pizza and a spinach and ricotta pizza- SO perfect.
after that it was 7:30 so we came back to relax.
tonight we're going to go to flannagan's restaurant to watch the football game! dr. fields made a reservation for 15 of us so it should be really fun. i'm excited for some american vibes...
so we took the tram/bus/thing over to the church. then we had to buy tickets! yes, buy tickets to go to church... only the catholic church would do this. anyway, the first lady tried to sell us tickets for $45 so we laughed and kept walking. when we got to the ticket place the lady told us the cheapest tickets were 4 euros so we quickly jumped on that of course. it wasn't until after we got our tickets and read where it said "no view, listening only" that we realized why we were only paying 5 euros!
after walking up (and down) about 10 flights of stairs, we finally made it to our little cubby room where our seats are. we were in this balcony type room, except the window to the balcony was so small. i seriously didn't even know if the service was taking place to the left or right of where i was. so weird. at least we had a video feed thing! the mass was in german and latin so i had no clue what was going on, but it was still interesting. the choir sounded SO good, just insane. i (along with cara, joey, derek, and tons of others) was still falling asleep, but oh well.
afterwards, we took a group picture and then got a picture with one of the little boys! it was so cute- 8 year old austrian celebrity boy :) after our early morning, we grabbed lunch at mcdonalds and then of course all went back to the hotel to crash.
at 1 pm, the whole group met to go to schonnbrunn palace. we took the subway for a bit and then unloaded in front of this pretty yellow castle! it was huge! not necessarily gorgeous from the outside, but big. we each got an audio guide to listen to while we walked around the castle. it was nice to be able to listen to a guide on your own. sometimes at our tours its hard to follow or even hear when you are with 26 other people, so it was nice to be able to spread out. the castle was really cool, and the tour gave us lots of history about the austrian empire and history.
after the tour, we hung out in the yard for a bit and then went to get coffee! some people skipped the tour so we had extra money left over. the fields' took us to this little cafe place and i got hot chocolate and chocolate mousse. so yummy!
after our little snack, everyone went their separate ways. everyone that had gone to the treasury the day before had really enjoyed it so i decided to do that. apparently we had no idea where we were going so it took us a while to actually find it, but it was worth it. we decided to get the audio guide again and that was worth it. all of the different items had a number so you could just type the number in if you wanted to hear anything about that item- very nice to be self paced. the stuff in the treasury was really cool- from jewels to clothes to crowns to some catholic stuff. supposedly this one relic held the nail that was in jesus' right hand. i'm not sure i believe that but it was cool nonetheless. there was also this ivory figure thing that was jesus and the other 2 guys on the cross. it was supposed to be a creative representation. it was cool, but hard to explain without the picture.
after about 2 hours of the treasury, we were fried and hungry, so we split for dinner. lots of people went for sushi so i of course passed on that for some pizza. turner gave us directions to some pizza place that everyone loved so we set out to find that. eventually, derek, michelle and i just found some other pizza place but it was so good! the waitress brought us an entire jug of tap water! it seriously made my day. michelle and i split a cheese pizza and a spinach and ricotta pizza- SO perfect.
after that it was 7:30 so we came back to relax.
tonight we're going to go to flannagan's restaurant to watch the football game! dr. fields made a reservation for 15 of us so it should be really fun. i'm excited for some american vibes...
Saturday, January 19, 2008
first full day in vienna!
today, i had just gotten out of the shower at 9:30 to be ready to go to Schonnbrunn at 10 when i got a call from the fields' saying that we were going to go tomorrow since it was raining :( i was a little sad because i would have slept in if i had known that in advance, but thats okay because it was probably better for me to get up and be productive.
so we went downstairs and grabbed breakfast (they had crispy bacon! and bread with nutella! seriously thats all i need to start my day off well) and then tried to get organized. we decided to make our way to the market to wander around. janine, natalie, derek, dan, joe and i took a very scenic route, but eventually made it. poor turner was stuck going to the hospital for his knee.
the market was cool i guess. i'm not big into flea market type deals but it was a good experience. the people were selling some of the randomest stuff ever. eventually we stopped at a little stand and i got pizza of course. then we found a grocery store and stocked up on some fanta, water and other essentials. trying to find shampoo, deodorant, etc was a very interesting adventure.
we took all of our groceries back to the hotel, regrouped and headed towards the modern shopping area. luckily the rain had cleared up so it was a much nicer day. the shops were so pretty, just the whole road seemed so nice and classy. natalie and i ended up getting split up from the rest of the group so we hit up our girly stores. i bought another flash drive to store my ridiculous amount of pictures. my camera is pretty much full and we're only halfway done so thats a problem! after shopping, we came back to the hotel to just relax, nap, unpack, etc.
for dinner, janine, natalie and i tried to go back to the restaurant we went to last night. apparently the massive plate of ribs wasn't enough for me. unfortunately they were all full. its so weird- he didn't really give us the option of waiting, it was more like- we're full, sorry. so different than in the US. after our dissapointment, we wandered around the town for a while and finally settled on some italian type restaurant. i ordered pizza (obviously) and the girls ordered pasta. about 10 minutes after we ordered, the waitress told us that it was going to take a long time because she was all by herself. well she wasn't lying because it took almost an hour to get our food! so crazy. my pizza was pretty much a microwave pizza but oh well.
i don't feel like i did much today, but it was still nice to just relax and decompress from all the constant travel...
so we went downstairs and grabbed breakfast (they had crispy bacon! and bread with nutella! seriously thats all i need to start my day off well) and then tried to get organized. we decided to make our way to the market to wander around. janine, natalie, derek, dan, joe and i took a very scenic route, but eventually made it. poor turner was stuck going to the hospital for his knee.
the market was cool i guess. i'm not big into flea market type deals but it was a good experience. the people were selling some of the randomest stuff ever. eventually we stopped at a little stand and i got pizza of course. then we found a grocery store and stocked up on some fanta, water and other essentials. trying to find shampoo, deodorant, etc was a very interesting adventure.
we took all of our groceries back to the hotel, regrouped and headed towards the modern shopping area. luckily the rain had cleared up so it was a much nicer day. the shops were so pretty, just the whole road seemed so nice and classy. natalie and i ended up getting split up from the rest of the group so we hit up our girly stores. i bought another flash drive to store my ridiculous amount of pictures. my camera is pretty much full and we're only halfway done so thats a problem! after shopping, we came back to the hotel to just relax, nap, unpack, etc.
for dinner, janine, natalie and i tried to go back to the restaurant we went to last night. apparently the massive plate of ribs wasn't enough for me. unfortunately they were all full. its so weird- he didn't really give us the option of waiting, it was more like- we're full, sorry. so different than in the US. after our dissapointment, we wandered around the town for a while and finally settled on some italian type restaurant. i ordered pizza (obviously) and the girls ordered pasta. about 10 minutes after we ordered, the waitress told us that it was going to take a long time because she was all by herself. well she wasn't lying because it took almost an hour to get our food! so crazy. my pizza was pretty much a microwave pizza but oh well.
i don't feel like i did much today, but it was still nice to just relax and decompress from all the constant travel...
Friday, January 18, 2008
back to german and the euro...
today it was on to vienna! i got up crazy early to pack and then ran down to get on the bus. we took a bus to the train station and then took the train from budapest to vienna. its so crazy, when i left prague i felt like we had been there forever but today i felt like i had just gotten to budapest and then we were leaving! so sad. two weeks from today is our last night in europe. im having tons of fun but i miss delaware and think ill be ready to get back to normal life.
so we got on train and it was insane moving all the luggage on. aubrey and i had a crazy system. she would throw the bags on and drag in and then move into a little room and id throw it in our room. the train was cool- it had all these little rooms that had 6 seats in each. me, alicia, natalie, aubrey, janine and derek all totally crashed and slept the whole way there. well after our vicious boston- new york fight. at one point i laid down on the ground in the train because i was so exhausted. what an adventure. when we got to the station we had another insane time getting all of our crap off the train. us girls totally killed it and got all the bags off so fast.
one girl from our trip is paying 3 boys $20 each to carry her stuff. so hysterical.
as soon as we got to vienna, we checked into our hotel. our hotel- sofitel, is all crazy nice and american feeling. then we went on a tour. it was nice to get to see the city but everyone was exhausted, so it was slightly hard to stay awake. i definitely only got 3 hours of sleep last night.
on our tour we saw belvederes summer castle. it was pretty. we also wandered around the downtown shopping area. then, we also saw the st. stephens church. all very nice.
finally, we went to dinner at -----------------------. i ordered the mozerella and tomato and then the ribs and the waitress looked at me like i was nuts. when my MASSIVE plate of ribs came out, i understood. i seriously ate maybe 20% of them. but dinner was really fun. joe and justin killed their ribs.
alright time to unpack.
"put your hands up. put your hands up for detroit"
so we got on train and it was insane moving all the luggage on. aubrey and i had a crazy system. she would throw the bags on and drag in and then move into a little room and id throw it in our room. the train was cool- it had all these little rooms that had 6 seats in each. me, alicia, natalie, aubrey, janine and derek all totally crashed and slept the whole way there. well after our vicious boston- new york fight. at one point i laid down on the ground in the train because i was so exhausted. what an adventure. when we got to the station we had another insane time getting all of our crap off the train. us girls totally killed it and got all the bags off so fast.
one girl from our trip is paying 3 boys $20 each to carry her stuff. so hysterical.
as soon as we got to vienna, we checked into our hotel. our hotel- sofitel, is all crazy nice and american feeling. then we went on a tour. it was nice to get to see the city but everyone was exhausted, so it was slightly hard to stay awake. i definitely only got 3 hours of sleep last night.
on our tour we saw belvederes summer castle. it was pretty. we also wandered around the downtown shopping area. then, we also saw the st. stephens church. all very nice.
finally, we went to dinner at -----------------------. i ordered the mozerella and tomato and then the ribs and the waitress looked at me like i was nuts. when my MASSIVE plate of ribs came out, i understood. i seriously ate maybe 20% of them. but dinner was really fun. joe and justin killed their ribs.
alright time to unpack.
"put your hands up. put your hands up for detroit"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)