Naschmarkt

A close second to my afternoon on Zollergasse was Saturday afternoon at Naschmarkt.  Nicole and I went on our own adventure to see this "Exotic Food Market" which is know for a "kaleidoscope of exotic food, scents and people.  Each Saturday they hold a flea market behind the Naschmarkt where you can hunt for hidden treasures.  I, of course, found the beautiful semi-precious stones and pearls and immediately wanted to have them all but refrained (until my Mom comes to visit, that is!) Nicole and I walked through, each bought 5 Euro Pashminas (what a deal, right!?) Then we took a stroll through the stalls and were amazed with the incredible food options and dining areas.  We stopped for a bite to eat, and Nicole's first Wiener Schnitzel! It was delicious, but we were glad we decided to split one! Overall, it was a beautiful afternoon despite the gray skies and cold weather.  We are ready for Spring whenever you are, Vienna!

Eek Pearls!

Semi-Precious Stones

Can't get more fresh than that!

Yummm

More beads...I have a problem.

Gorgeous Fresh Flowers

Wiener Schnitzel!

Zollergasse 43

Maggie and I love to bead.  We have a thing for great jewelry and love to be creative, when the time permits.   With my classes not starting until after Spring Break, I decided to invest in a bead loom and fund a store that sells beads.  (Suggested, and financed by my fabulous mother!) I googled bead stores and found this website: www.koelbl-perlen.at.  Maggie and I looked up the address and decided to go on an adventure the next day to find the store.

Johanna Kölbl is amazing.  We found her in the art district of Vienna.  One of our many maps of Vienna calls this street the "creative and boho district of Vienna" With little shops that the designers work the storefront, hip fashion stores, second hand shops and hip food culture and cafes, Zollergasse really fueled my creative flame.  We were so excited to be there and see the less touristy parts of Vienna.  Maggie and I bought some beads for our loom bracelets (I'll upload a picture once I actually finish one) and then went to sit in a swanky cafe/bar and have a Melange.  Melanges are Austria's version of a Latte Macchiato.  They aren't served in tall glasses like Macchiatos are but they are just a delicious and drink that locals tend to order.  We have decided to embrace our inner Viennese and try them the other day, and have probably had one every afternoon since.  They are easily addictive.  That afternoon was easily my favorite since arriving in Vienna.  It's little moments like that, discovering the less traveled paths and enjoying a cafe that I know I will remember for a lifetime.

Beads and Melanges.  Can't get any better than that.

Amazing, right?

Johanna posing with her store and amazing wearable art.

Our wide selection of seed beads for loom bracelets.

You aren't from Tennessee?

Wednesday night is "Karaoke" Night at Loco, a night club in Vienna.  Every Wednesday, the exchange students with Buddy Cards get free admission and for your first visit, you receive a coupon for a free drink prior to 10 pm.  I had prepared myself for a real "Karaoke" night, like the ones you see in movies where you sign up for a song and go on stage and sing aloud making a fool of yourself once you've had a couple too many....well this wasn't the case.  We walked in around 9:45, just in enough time to get our drinks before 10 and the place is packed like a can of sardines.  and there are projectors at the top of the bar with lyrics and people are just standing there singing along in their various accents to songs like "Hey Ya" and "Spice World."  I was rather unimpressed with the "Karaoke" aspect of the evening, but was going to get my drink regardless.  We made our way up to the bar (a feat in itself) and I squeezed my way in holding out my coupon to get a bartender's attention.

The gentleman next to me who was also waiting to be served but had cash in his had instead of a coupon, took it and asked me in German what it was.  I explained it was a coupon I got from school and that I was an exchange student.  He asked were I was from and I said Chicago.  His response, please sit down if you haven't already, was: "Not from Tennessee?" and I replied, "No....." and he SAID, "Because you are the only Ten-I-See."


REALLY?


Like Really?


People actually say this?  I died.  I couldn't help laughing in his face......He smiled said, "that's pretty lame, right?" and I confirmed he smiled and walked off with his drinks he ordered for his friends.  I'm assuming they were for other females, since he had ordered 3 strawberry daiquiris  and I would pay money to see 3 grown men sipping on strawberry daiquiris at Karaoke night.

I ordered my free Cosmo, and returned to my friends....they thought it was pretty hilarious.  I think Nicole even tweeted it....


Welcome to my joke of a life.  It's okay to laugh aloud.  We sure did.

It Feels Like Home

After being in Vienna for about a week, I was beginning to feel familiar with the city.  I was used to speaking German on a regular basis and I felt like I knew where I was going, which is a GREAT feeling.  But I still felt like my apartment wasn't really home.  I think Nicole, Maggie and I really lucked out when it came to housing in Vienna.  We essentially have our own studio apartments.  We have a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen all to ourselves.  Its great! Nicole lives directly next door and Maggie lives down the hall so we really couldn't get closer if we wanted to. But its a very modern, cold apartment.  I was talking to my mom (thank you Viber for free calls and text messages!) and she told me to go get a few things to make it feel like home.  I went to one of my mom's favorite stores when we lived in Germany, Das Depot and bought some baskets for organizing my things, bright placemats, a vase and some fresh flowers and a cute glass for my bathroom sink.  Its amazing how just a few things, and some great pictures can make it feel like your own.  

I hosted a pregame before my first night out in Vienna with a bunch of fellow exchange students and everyone said the apartment was the most decorated they had seen.  Thank you to my mom for giving the go-ahead to spend a little to make me feel A LOT better.  If you haven't met my mom, needless to say, she's pretty amazing.  :) 

The dachshund card hidden in my suitcase.  From my mom, of course.

Beautiful flowers in my new vase, on my new placemat!

Lots and lots of pictures.

and MORE pictures!

Cute clothesline pins I painted and packed.

New baskets, and nice organizing keeps me sane.

das Menü

Being back in Europe, I'm in food heaven.  I love all the fresh food varieties, the street stands, the markets all my favorite German food that I crave at home.  During the first 48 hours of being in Vienna, I managed to go to the grocery 3 times.  After all, I only have two hands to hold everything (that's what I told the check out lady when she recognized me from shopping earlier that day....)

Anyway, I am loving it.  I have made two batches of Muesli in my little Kitchen in my apartment and have Nicole and Maggie hooked.  I think I am going to host a Muesli making party when we get back from Spring Break and everyone can make their own batches.  I've been buying fresh fruit, veggies and delicious bread to make yummy sandwiches.  I like the idea of going to the grocery every two or three days and getting something fresh to eat for dinner or breakfast the next morning.  I hope these habits will come back with me to Columbia next year, but I probably won't be able to get across town to the grocery that often.  The convenience of being in the middle of the city really has its advantages.

Just a few pictures of my delicious food!!

Spinat Spätzle with Tomato Sauce

Sauteed peppers and zuccini

Muesli!!!

Butterkäse and Schinken sandwich with a fresh salad

Typical breakfast (with my new placemats!)

Bratislava

What would you do your first Saturday in a new country? Travel to another country, right? Well that's what I did.  Maggie told us of a group of exchange students that had bought 15 Euro tickets to Bratislava, Slovakia and were just going for the day to explore the city.

Logical Katja almost didn't go.  And I'm so glad I listened to Carpe Diem Katja instead of Logical Katja.  I remember thinking, "I haven't even been in Vienna for 5 days, why would I leave to go to another place? I'm not even settled here." But Nicole talked me into going, and I'm so glad she did.  We left at 9:30 from Vienna and were in Bratislava a little over an hour later.  I had pretty low expectations for the city, but I was impressed! It was pretty clean, a lot of historic buildings and churches (of course we didn't know much about what we were looking at) but we all enjoyed ourselves! The weather was warm sunny and clear, the perfect weather for discovering a new city. We had a delicious lunch at a Slovak Pub and I had a 70 cent glass of wine (which was actually pretty good) and we saw a gorgeous castle on top of the city with a breathtaking view.

It was a great way for Nicole and me to meet all of the friends that Maggie had made three weeks prior.  We loved the trip and everyone was so friendly and outgoing.  It definitely made me excited to spend a semester with these people.

The amazing view on our hike up to the castle.

Pretty alley-way.  I was trying to be "artsy."

Nicole, me and David looking over Bratislava

Perogies and Wine.  Perfect Lunch.

And a glass of wine on the train home.  Prost!

What Do You Mean, You DON'T Speak Chinese?

Our first dinner in Vienna: Chinese.  I know, that's probably a sin.  But we were jet-lagged and tired and it was close...so Nicole, Maggie, Lauren and I went to get Chinese.  Nicole landed from her trip just a few hours after I did and met us at the apartment.  After seeing a little bit of the city and doing a little grocery shopping I tried to unpack a little and we went to eat.  Nicole isn't studying German like Maggie and I are.  But I am truly impressed that she decided to travel abroad to a non-English speaking country and figure it out.  I honestly I don't know if I could move to a country were I don't speak the language.  But she is open to the culture and learning some of the language and she's actually picking up a lot!

We got our menus at the Chinese restaurant and Maggie, Lauren and I were talking about what sounded good etc.  (There was German and English on our menus)  I looked up at Nicole because she wasn't saying anything and she said, "I don't know how to order from this menu....its all in Chinese." Needless to say, we all starting laughing hysterically.  Poor Nicole.  She's been trying all day to pick up German words and figure things out and then she gets a Chinese menu!! It was funny.  Looking back on it, I'm sure we were a little delirious from exhaustion, which made the situation even more amusing.

We all enjoyed our Chinese food, and then went home and crashed.  It was a pretty successful first day.

German Efficiency

Upon arrival in Frankfurt, Germany, I had already accepted the fact that I would be unable to make my connection to Vienna.  After sitting too long in Chicago during the snowstorm, we had to D-Ice the plane before we could being our journey abroad.  With a plane that big, it was about a 40 minute process and I had just over an hour for my connection in Frankfurt.

I had planned to find the nearest Lufthansa Service Center and reschedule my connection.  To my surprise, when I exited the Aircraft after a 9 hour flight, there were Fraport employees in neon jackets and a sign that read Wien LU1234 (my connection to Vienna).  They took me along with fellow passengers for this flight and a flight to Moscow and Munich on a bus and drove us around the airport, trying to get us to our connections on time! We weren't on those handicapped trams that drive slowly and beep at people inside the terminal, we were outside, swerving in between planes and other vehicles with food and luggage.  I was so shocked that they were trying to hard to get us to our connections, but then I thought, "I'm in Germany, if there is a way these passengers can make their connections, they are going to do it."  Of course, with my luck, the passengers to Moscow and Munich made their connections, but it was too late for me and the two other people trying to make it to Vienna.

The "casual" picture I snapped of my bus-ride around Fraport. 

Honestly, I was relieved we didn't make the connection.  There was no way my baggage would have made it and I didn't want to deal with trying to get my bags from the airport, jet-lagged and in a new city.  I was put on another flight and ended up arriving in Vienna an hour and a half behind schedule.  No biggie.

I signed up for the iHouse service, something I would recommend to any students traveling to Vienna for a semester.  iHouse is a service that picked up my key from the housing office in Vienna and then picked me up at the airport and drove me in a private car to my apartment.  It was a little pricey but it was such piece of mind knowing I wouldn't have to figure out public transit with 2 suitcases, a duffel and a BIG purse.  Thank you to my mother for being a true packing "Houdini" and fitting all 11 pairs of shoes in my suitcases and to my father for letting me book the iHouse service.  It definitely made all the difference when arriving in Vienna.

A Bloody Mary and a Bon Voyage

I've been looking forward to studying abroad since high school, so when it came time to actually say goodbye to my parents and board my flight, needless to say, it was a bitter-sweet moment.  I was so excited to go, and I knew in my heart it was the right decision, but goodbyes are never easy.  I had just spent the past 3 months at home, essentially my mother's side kick...grocery shopping, work out classes, and beading were part of our weekly routine, and being together almost every day made saying goodbye tough.

Fortunately, I had received a Snapchat earlier that morning from Michael, one of my closest friends from the Frankfurt International School.  He goes to Michigan State and was in town for a job interview for a potential internship.  Due to the lovely Chicago snowstorm that decided to cover the city  in a blanket of snow/sleet mix, Michael's flight was delayed.  To my advantage, we were able to go to the United Red Carpet Club (Thanks, Papi) and catch up before I boarded my flight to Frankfurt, with a connection to Vienna.  Its amazing to have friends that you keep in touch with freshman year of high school, in Germany no less.  We picked up where we left off, and I enjoyed a Bloody Mary.  It got my mind off of saying goodbye, seeing Michael put a smile of my face, and made me relax, despite the snow swirling outside.

My Bloody Mary courtesy of the Red Carpet Club.

...and...The Infamous First Post

So the intentions of writing a blog have been there all along.  I have been saying aloud "This would be a great blog post..." since the day I arrived in Europe.  But 10 days later, I'm finally doing it!  Better late than never, right? It's been a whirl-wind of a week and a half after arriving in Vienna.  I can honestly say it feels great to be back in Europe and its nice calling Vienna "home." At least for the next few months.  Thank goodness for my amazing friend Maggie, she was in Vienna three weeks prior to my arrival (on the same day as Nicole) and had a list of things we needed to get done and spent the next day doing just that.  She showed us the subway system, helped us register with the Austrian Authorities as residents, took us to WU (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien...where I will be studying this semester) got our student cards, our Exchange Student Buddy Cards, U-Bahn passes, cell phone SIM cards, the ACTUAL cell phones, and more that I am probably forgetting.  She truly was a Godsend. What took her and the other students 3 weeks to figure out, Maggie did for Nicole and me in a day and a half.  Nicole and I lovingly referred to Maggie as "Maggie Map" because she knew exactly where she was going and what to do.  I was so impressed. 

This whole blog thing is new to me and I was definitely hesitant about starting one...I have some friends who just have great wit, funny comments, and writing that just makes you laugh or smile.  I, on the other hand, do not...I hope that some of the stories I share with you will make you laugh, because I do tend to make a fool of myself and get myself into some funny situations, but I have no intention of becoming a writer in the future.  I want to keep in touch with friends and family and share some exciting parts of my life in Vienna and traveling through Europe.  That being said, don't get too excited about reading a blog with impeccable word choice or any sort of literary devices to engage the reader....I'm going to be writing as I speak.  Which means babbling on and on to no end....so brace yourselves. 

I'll post more about my first 10 days separately and then hopefully update this fairly often.  All for now.

  Love to All of You from Across the Pond.