What I wish I could fit into my suitcase...

Disclaimer: I saw this blog title from an exchange student group on Facebook I’m a part of and I couldn’t think of a better title for this week – oh, what a week it has been. Admitting my lack of creativity, yes.

I’m happy to report that I have passed my International Dimensions of Law class final I took last week with a 2 (1 being perfect and 5 failing) so I got a boost of confidence for studying for my other finals! I had my last Sociology class on Friday and turned in a 6 page research paper – that felt good! And then Monday I took my German B1-2 class final along with my State-building practical exam where the latter went a lot better than the former – hoping I at least passed! Today I have my Austrian history course oral exam (in German) and then tomorrow I have my EU Monetary Final and State-building lecture final – which might be hard to focus for since mom and Jill will be here but I’m hoping I can at least pull it all off! J Prayers are welcomed. 2 down and 3 to go!!

The week and weekend has been pretty full with last dinners, goodbye parties, end of the semester gatherings and really any excuse to be outside with friends and a beer in hand when I should be inside studying. The struggle is real my friends.

I’m writing this on Wednesday for perhaps it might be my only time before my mom and Jill get here that I’ll have to write before we jet off on a two week adventure together! They get here today and I’m completely overwhelmed with excitement to be the tour guide for two of my favorite people from home! J I’m such a (travel) nerd – I typed up an itinerary for everyday with little descriptions of the cities we are going to and sites we should make an effort to walk past. Since I’m the girl that read 3 books about Belgium and 4 books about Austria before I came here, complete with their entire national history and every nook and cranny of their capital city described along with where to get the respective best waffle and best schnitzel before you leave – I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that I have now taken this step in my obsession with making a 12 page booklet (it’s a thick one) to give them upon arrival - of course with a city map.

Yikes, maybe that was a bit over obsessive seeing that in writing. In my defense, majority of the cities we are traveling to I have been to before and 2  of them I have lived in so it will be nice to visit them again – share what I loved about them and then experience new things at the same time. I think I love traveling too much?

 And I’m also writing this today because for some reason my body is like, “hey girl, you shouldn’t sleep past 5am because having anxiety is much more productive.” So, here we are.

I’m leaving Graz this Friday and not planning on returning until the 22^nd to get my 100 pound suitcase from a friend’s before I jet off home on the 23^rd. So, today I’m running around trying to cancel my Austrian bank account, plan last minute details of my travels in July, return books to the library, deregister from the city, donate clothes for some euros/mail the clothes back/give them to friends staying here, clean my room, cope with not having a bike since I sold it yesterday, get my housing deposit, watch the world cup knock-out rounds, study for exams (I still have 3!), do my bit of “lasts” in Graz and also say a whole lot of goodbyes and auf wiedersehns to some pretty awesome people. This week sucks and I’m not even halfway there or even to the best parttttt!

Yet, for the majority of the day I will be thinking about what I wish I could fit into my suitcase and how to make this blog the least sappy while also conveying that I kind of want to be an exchange student as my career, is that a thing? Just this mystical creature who wanders from continent to continent (don’t worry, I would continue blogging faithful followers) and when someone happens to run into my mom in the grocery store and ask where that only-child-ballerina-pictured-girl of hers is she gives a random city where nobody has heard of and nobody is surprised I’m at.  I’d like that to be my thing, because I kind of like this all and not knowing when I’ll be back somewhere or not having a routine because life is moving too fast and awesome to have one or knowing that I might never see this person again so we might as well have a good damn time together or share this coffee on a perfect day in the city in between running errands and having a panic attack – I like all that. I honestly don’t understand why it is only when you are abroad that you get this feeling or this “holy shit people are awesome and life is crazy and I’m really lucky to be alive and do this so I’m going to make the most of this” feeling. That’s what I think I wish I could fit into my suitcase the most. That feeling. I don’t want it to fade when I get back to central US time zone and among friends and family I haven’t seen in the past 6 months – I don’t want to lose this. Sometimes I felt like I lost this feeling from Belgium, but I’m really going to make an effort to not let this one fade away.

Even the shitty stuff that happens, I want to take that back with me too. That horrible homesick feeling when I’m lying in bed and wondering if I’m making the right decision in my life because I’m at that age where I might not be able to fix things quite as easily or the feeling when I just feel like a total failure in school for numerous reasons involving having too much fun or when I really hurt somebody’s feelings and I have no intention of doing that/or did and I’m a scummy person or when I realize maybe I haven’t made the most of experiences like I should have in a certain situation or that horrible “wow, you really stayed out until 6am two nights in a row on the weekend before you have 5 finals” feeling. I am actually okay with all these feelings too – because they really aren’t too bad and if anything they have taught me some things along the way to make me a better person, to make me nicer or more studious or even to appreciate my time a little more. I’m going to bring all this home with me.

What else would I fit into my bag? Maybe some cool people and just the whole country in general? It's small! I wish I could bring this awesome little city with me and the awesome people in it with me to my next chapter in my life, but I guess that wouldn’t be considerate to their aspirations and homes they are excited to get back to. Sigh. Well, I wish maybe the occasional meeting up with everyone once a week on the Uni Graz lawn for spritzers, or even ordering Chinese food from my favorite restaurant (that I have an online account with) here once a week, or maybe a night out at the Office Pub for some tequila shots with cinnamon and oranges (yes, that’s a thing here), or maybe just one night where I walk home down Zindzindorfgasse when the sun is rising, just one more climb up to Schlossberg at night, or maybe even sitting in on a class with my professor who looks like Santa Clause, and riding my bike to Hauptplatz to meet a friend for dinner and seeing my favorite building with the faces built into it. Can I bring those things back with me and experience them whenever I get this homesick feeling for a place that seems like home after just 6 months? How do I fit all of these things in my suitcase?

on that note... my thoughts have now fled to....

I GET TO SEE JILL AND MY MOM TODAY!! Julie leaves North America – plan accordingly everyone. 

talk soon :) 

June in Europa

Sorry it has taken me awhile to update this! Things have just gotten incredibly busier lately and the free time I would have spent informing you all about my crazy life is instead spent studying or doing the bit of “lasts” that one needs to do with about a month left abroad.

As I mentioned in the last blog, for some reason we had last week’s Monday and Tuesday off for a holiday I couldn’t tell you. I had hoped on going to Istanbul, which is on my bucket list of places to see, but I waited too long to book my flight and prices sky rocketed! On Saturday my friend, Rachel, another guy friend and I decided to go to Slovenia for two nights and three days! Best spontaneous decision I’ve made in a while J

Our friend, Maja, (who is from Slovenia and goes to school in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, and studies with us at Graz) was such a great host to us! Rachel had the German intensive course with her in February and I had heard all about how awesome she was and had met her a few times. She organized for us to ride with somebody to Maribor and then get another ride to Ljubljana from there, Ljubljana is only 2 hours from Graz. It is very popular in Europe to have websites where people post the dates and times they are driving somewhere and how many empty spots they have in their car. If it fits in somebody’s time schedule you can go with them, by paying like 5 euro or something. So, that is what we did with a nice Slovenian woman at 7am Sunday morning. I hadn’t ever done it so it was a fun experience despite being slightly crowded and incredibly hot!

We arrived to the beautiful capital city of Ljubljana in the afternoon and spent the day wandering around in the hot June weather we were lucky to have. Ljubljana was so much more than I could have ever expected. I had heard from friends that it was a very small capital city and not much there, but when I was there that Sunday afternoon I really fell in love with the relaxed Mediterranean feel to it. It was remarkable to me for its rich tradition, quiet streets, youthfulness, cultural creativity and unique atmosphere. Rachel and I kept saying it was like if Budapest, Graz and Salzburg had a baby … it would be like Ljubljana. You could see the remains of the Roman city, the old city center with its medieval castle, buildings with Baroque facades, and modern graffiti amidst corky uneven roofs and unique colors all flowing along with the beautiful blue river. Slovenia used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and you could feel that within the streets, much like in Graz. Graz is actually a Slovenian name! Our hostel, Hostel Tresor, was centrally located and used to be an old bank so we slept in old vaults – very cool despite the lack of air conditioning in our rooms. We were about a 5 minute walk from the old town area, river, and all the main tourist stops!

It was a very hot day, but we had to go to the top of the Ljubljana Castle located at the summit of the Castle Hill that dominates the city center. The castle was built in the 12^th century and was home to many great king and queen throughout the centuries, a major military hospital, city fortification, a jail and was most recently in the 1960s a place for the poor to live. At the end of the 1960s, the remodeling and renovation took place and now it is so cool – after being completed in 35 years! There were ruins of the old castle carving out the space and then there would be modern beams and glass making it almost like you were outside with the trees growing and then yet that you were inside at the same time. I was joking that that was how I wanted my house to feel. We were so impressed by the whole atmosphere. There was a free library at the top as well, we sat in the shade for about an hour reading and relaxing the day away. It was heaven to me to read the history of Slovenia atop a 12^th century city castle. I didn’t want to leave. We roamed around the rest of the city seeing other major attractions, such as the famous Triple Bridge, Dragon Bridge, and the Ljubljana Cathedral. That night we had a huge platter of meats, cheeses, grilled vegetables, and bread for dinner like the Balkans do – much like my feast in Kotor, Montenegro with Calvin, Justin and Ash! I felt like the entire trip we were either starving or stuffed to the brim with delicious food and drinks! Ha!

Got up early the next morning and met up with Maja! She was so sweet and planned an entire day for us while we got to drive around in her car. This was a special delight because I have always been using trains, planes, buses, and bikes to get around – so a car was a welcomed convenience! We went to the famous Postojna Castle, the second-longest cave system in the country and one of the top tourism sites in Slovenia. It is a 20,570 meter long karst cave that was created by the Pivka River and a double train track takes you all the way down for an hour and half tour! It has the most beautiful stalagmite and stalactites I have ever seen from the ceiling all the way down to the bottom that have been there for centuries slowly growing. Sadly, no pictures could even capture how amazing they were. It was such a nice escape from the heat of the day to spend a few hours in the underworld. We even got to meet the infamous Dragon Fish (or human eating fish as the Slovenes call him) that lives in the cave and is its own species!

After this, we went to the Predjama Castle perched high up in a vertical cliff, 9 km from the Postojna Cave. It was such romantic and mysterious looking castle as it disappears in the cliffs. It was made famous by the knight Erazem of Predjama who rebelled against the autocracy in the 15^th century. There are numerous legends about him but one funny one is that he was killed while on the toilet which is a room separated from the castle. It was a crazy place with a torture chamber, escape routes into the cliffs, and a Renaissance hall with hunting trophies! I loved it and the sun just made everything even more pretty.

This was all before noon! We were starving though at this point but decided to wait to eat until we were on the 25 mile Adriatic coast line of Slovenia. We headed to Piran, one of the three major towns along Slovenia’s coast. The town gushed medieval architecture, narrow streets, and a beautiful area for us to again escape the heat for a few hours. We jumped into the salty sea with the view of Italy and Croatia in front of us, pretty cool experience that I couldn’t have even dreamed better. I didn’t want to be anywhere else in world. It was heaven to have a Slovenian beer in hand, friends next to me, sun shining down and to be reminded that my life is pretty awesome sometimes. Eternally grateful for experiences like this. We stayed 6 hours at the beach and slept the whole car ride home to Ljubljana – poor Maja was left to drive! After, we enjoyed a traditional Slovenian meat pastry at midnight along the river while music from a nearby club played through the streets. A good second day indeed.

We slept in a little bit later Tuesday, but had to get up to go check out the Vintgar gorge – one of the most popular natural features in Slovenia. This gorge reminded me a lot of the gorge I hiked and climbed with my friends and teacher in Austria, except more water and less ladders. Along the narrow passage the Radovna River smacks loudly against its rocky confines creating cascades, rapids, and occasionally the rare clear pool of peaceful water. The Vintgar gorge ends at the wonderful Sum waterfall, the highest waterfall in Slovenia. It was an awesome walk and beautiful view of nature. The glacier water was so blue and colddd! Our guy friend jumped in three times! Crazy Norwegian! It was an awesome stop before we made it to one of the best places ever - Lake Bled.

How do I begin to tell you about Lake Bled… my first week in Austria I was told about this lake and that if I didn’t go to it while I was in Europe for the second time then I messed up. Again, I heard about this lake from a fellow hostel guest in Sarajevo that if I did not go to this lake then I did something wrong with my exchange experience. I had it written in my phone, the images that these people had shown me, and the promise of amazement with just one visit. This was one of the first times my expectations were not too high. Lake Bled was marvelous and if anyone is reading this – please, take note and go one day! Lake Bled is a lake in the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia and surrounded by beautiful mountains and forest. The lake is a mix of glacial and tectonic origins with a maximum depth of 100 feet. Oh, and it’s a crazy amazing blue turquoise color that is crystal clear and you can see your feet while you tread water because it wasn’t possible to touch the ground, at least where we were. It was so refreshing to jump into the cool, fresh lake water after being out in the hot sun all day. It was heavenly. As if this is not enough, but there is a beautiful natural island in the middle of the lake. A pilgrimage church, the Assumption of Mary, built near the end of the 17^th century with a 171 foot tower that you can see as you walk around the lakes edge. The only way you can reach this island is by a paddle boat – which we didn’t end up doing since we were enjoying ourselves too much to stop for a paddle boat. I might want to get married at this church, it was that awesome. We spent the day in the sun jumping into the wonderful water, making new friends and I once again was taken aback that this was my life for a Tuesday.

We left to go to Maja’s home to have a traditional Slovenian meal with her grandparents. They were so nice and cute! Her “Bobby” made us wonderful food and was such a great host. We ate like kings and queens. I don’t remember the last time I had a home cooked meal. It made me so happy to spend a few hours with them even if they didn’t speak any English nor us any Slovenian, it was a wonderful representation of the magnificent culture and people of Slovenia J We walked around their land, admired Bobby’s herb garden, played with the horses and met her cousins and extended family that lived nearby. It was so fun but unfortunately Rachel got stepped on by one of the horses! Thankfully, nothing was too badly damaged. We caught a ride home and got back to Graz at night. It was such an amazing trip and it truly might be one of the best trips so far! I wish I had time to go back again, but there is not a doubt that I won’t return one day – perhaps for my wedding! Haha jokez

The week went by quick and on Friday I went to a Sociology department party with my tandem partner where I had a lot of fun and made new friends. The next day was the infamous MultiKulti Ball of Karl-Franzens Uni, where I go to school. I didn’t really know much about it besides it being a really big deal since there have been permanent signs around Graz for it since I’ve arrived. I probably wouldn’t have gone since it cost a lot to get tickets but our Rectorate decided to offer all incoming exchange students enrolled a free ticket! So nice! The MultiKulti Ball is one of the biggest events in Graz bringing together people from different cultures and nationalities to celebrate, party and dance through the halls or the university’s main building – which is absolutely gorgeous. There was bands playing in every part of the place with everything decorated beautifully with purple and pink lights. It was just dazzling and I couldn’t stop smiling at how I get to go to this school and be a part of it. Outside was like a carnival with rides, games, and a hookah bar! I was so surprised by it when I went outside because it was just another amazing area… just awesome. So glad I went J It was a great night spent with friends in nice dresses and heels!

The next day I went rafting with a big group of Erasmus kids organized by ESN, so awesome! I met up Sunday around 11 to take a bus 2 hours to the Salza River. When I had signed up to participate I thought more of my close friends would go, and then none of them ended up signing up in time or had other plans. So, I just kind of went on my own and made a lot of new friends! It was awesome! The Salza is an eastern tributary of the Enns – which goes all the way to Vienna and is the main water source there! It is a favored site for kayakers and rafters like us! I had gone rafting in Costa Rica when I was in high school, but this was much different! We wore wet suits since it was glacier water! The water was pretty low, like you could stand up if you fell in - or got pulled in, like I did!! It was a pretty remarkable day and I couldn’t help but smile at the clear blue water beneath us, the mountains surrounding us, and good friends to share the day with. The rapids were pretty intense too so lots of laughter was in the air J So thankful to have an opportunity like this!

This past week has been a very studious one for me as I had my International Dimensions of Law final – we had one multiple choice exam that was our grade. The class is pretty hard and most students are in their second year of law school! I studied hard and hopefully I will pass! I’ll keep you updated on that one! I also had an 8 page paper due for the Nation-building, State-building and International Order after 1500 course due on Monday. It’s be busy! This Friday I have my Sociology Seminar paper due, which will be my final and then next week is going to be even worse with 5 finals and my mom and Jill coming halfway through the fun! Ha! Thankfully it will all be over the 3^rd of July and then I’ll be happily frolicking about Europe until my return journey home!

Sorry for the long entry and lack of updating you all sooner! Things are winding down and yet picking up speed here and I’m getting a bit emotional that it will all be over very soon. Emotional entries to follow – fair warning! 

Gutentag Juni!

Hellooooo June!!

Y’all, it’s June and beautiful in my little home of Graz all nestled away in Austria.

I’ve become very thankful for where I live because I can walk and bike everywhere J Which makes springtime even better! It takes me about 5 minutes to walk to class and I find myself smiling a lot while I take the daily stroll. I don’t know what it is, but I love it here so much. The little things that are so amazing and wonderful to me have been the best parts of my day. Whether it be from smelling the honeysuckle tree growing on the corner of my block to the breeze in my hair as I ride my bike through the park - I’m trying to make the most of every sensation (as every exchange student and life liver should!) Sadly, I’ll be leaving in around 2 months and with finals gearing up and papers slowly approaching their deadlines I’m worried my moments outside will get pushed to the side for my studious objectives.

Since we last spoke nothing too crazy has happened – but I’ll still share some of the fun things! Gave a presentation in my German class, thought I was failing a class, went to an Arkansas themed party, experienced a spring festival in town, and went hiking/ladder climbing through a gorge – fasten up my faithful followers!

May 21^st I had a huge presentation to give in my Austrian Culture class. For those unaware of how I feel about public speaking, I hate it! I get very nervous when speaking in public for some reason so doing it in another language gets my nerves going even more. I kept having flashbacks to when I gave a presentation in German at my Belgian high school and the teacher had no idea what I was saying in between me laughing at myself. German words are beyond difficult for me to pronounce, which is one of the reasons I think I’m so attracted to the language. Unfortunately or fortunately, this time my presentation actually mattered and I couldn’t just laugh while I butchered words horrifically. We had to choose a famous Austrian and then prepare a short power point and tell the importance of this person. I chose the only person on the list I recognized – Franz Schubert! Which is just comical that he was the only one I recognized since I am not musically inclined nor do I know anything about classical composers haha Classic Mallory. I wrote it all out before and had my teacher correct it so the only thing I had to worry about was my pronunciation J I even printed off the lyrics of one of his songs (since Schubert is known for putting German poetry to music) and found a crazy intense opera singer on YouTube who sang it all to the orchestra rooting her on from behind. My teacher was so impressed by me! I was so happy once it was over! I think I did well – and I only laughed a few times at my pronunciation errors J Making progress from 3 years ago! While I do find myself more lazy learning German than I was with learning French, I’m still really proud of myself with how far I have come. I get a lot more than I did when I first arrived here and I am proud of pushing my limits with the level I was placed at. I have a tandem partner that I meet with once a week to practice my German and his English – and I think I have been learning the most from him. Yesterday I spoke German for an hour and half and I was so happy with myself with all the stories I told and all the things I was able to express J It’s moments like these that make all the difficulties seem irrelevant. The smile I get from switching between three different languages while having a conversation will never get old for me J Can’t get enough!

The 24^th, Saturday, I went to a Hoedown Throwdown that a fellow exchange student threw at her dorm! My ripped jean shorts and plaid shirt were all welcomed and I was actually upset I didn’t bring my cowboy boots. Theme parties aren’t really a thing here, so it was nice to have a theme party that is actually not a theme at all where I go to school. Speaking of Arkansas, I miss Arkansas so much more than I thought I would. I think I miss my campus more than anything and it surprises me. I might make a lot of jokes about Arkansas, but I really do value the university and cannot wait to get back to my Old Main and to walk on the Senior Walk with my friends in between class. The Hoedown was a success and reminded me of what I get to go back to very soon J

The rest of the weekend was spent studying and doing small things here and there. Since Universities in the US are over and it’s summer time a lot of my friends here have friends in town! Which gets me so excited to have my mommy and Jill over! I can’t wait to show them where I have been living for the past 6 months, my favorite European city, and my second home of Belgium! The thought just makes me so excited. I’m trying to not plan too much because I know once I get really invested I won’t be able to concentrate on other things – like term papers and finals! Eek! They come in less than a month now J #JulayAndJillyTakeEurope

Last week we didn’t have school on Thursday or Friday for some holiday…. I have it in my planner at “Rector’s Day” but I couldn’t tell you if this was what it’s actually called or what it even was. All I know was that I had 3 days of school and a 4 day weekend and it was much needed! Tuesday I had a mini heart attack in my Sociology class that is transferring as my European Studies Colloquium for my major. It’s a 3 hour class that I have every other Friday and it’s super intense and long! The teacher is pretty young and well-educated on the subject. He sends us around 40 pages to read before we come to class and then he quizzes us over it during the first 10 minutes of class. In Austria, they grade from 1-5 where 5 is failing and 1 is an A. As an American, this way of giving grades makes no sense to me. When my teacher finally posted the grades online, I saw that mine were 4’s and 5’s and my stomach dropped! I thought I had been doing so well with the readings and with understanding the concepts. In between freaking out I emailed my professor asking to meet with him to go over why I’m doing so horrible. I was so confused! He responds just as confused as me and explains that these grades are out of 5 points – as in I was getting 5 out of the 5 points, 100%, instead of failing. He was so nice and admitted that the grading scale here is so confusing and told me that I was doing the best in the class! Classic Mallory – thinking I’m failing a class one minute and then being the best in the class the next! I was very thankful it was in this order instead of thinking I’m passing but really failing haha! 

There was some festivals in town to welcome spring – I’m always a big fan of anything that welcomes the changing of seasons. Austria has definitely let everyone know that it is springtime and given many reasons for celebrations. There is even a spritzer stand on our campus here – very Austro to have a stand to have a quick drink in between classes. Not complaining J Maybe I’ll even try to get one on campus at the UofA!

Saturday, the 31^st of May, was especially fun! Ashley had heard of really cool place to go hiking here so we had planned to all meet at the train station around 8:45 to catch the 9:05 train about 35 minutes outside of Graz. I show up first to the train station and I run into my German and Austrian Culture professor. I had forgotten that he had invited everyone in our class to go hiking with him on the same day! He was standing all alone and when he saw me he got so excited and I told him I was actually going with 2 of my friends. He explained that nobody he had invited showed up - perhaps they didn’t get the email or the long weekend made a lot of people go traveling? Long story short, he ended up coming with Ashely, Lisa and I on our hike! It was so funny because I didn’t have time to fill Lisa in on what was happening when she got there so she thought we were just sitting and chatting with a random person. He was so knowledgeable and taught us German words while we hiked and climbed our way through one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. Bärenschützklamm gorge is what is was called or “most epic hike” as it will be remembered in my mind. This is one of Austria’s most beautiful water-bearing rocky gorges. It was about an hour hike to the actual gorge itself. The gorge consists of limestone, dolomite and conglomerates that were formed 400 million years ago by being pushed up against the Alps. The stream eroded the limestone creating 300 meter deep vertical walls with wooden ladders and bridges zig-zagging all the way to the top of this mountain with a 50 meter waterfall stealing all the spotlight. There were so many people too! We all meandered our way in single file on the wooden path almost getting held up as people in front of us would stop for a good picture of a waterfall. It was crazy! My teacher said he had never seen it that busy in his life. My mouth was open in awe the whole time we were hiking – it was like a fairytale almost with the sun glistening off the water hitting the rock while the forest was surrounding us. I had never experienced walking across that many bridges and climbing that many ladders before – nor had my legs!! Haha I’m still sore! We went through the gorge for an hour and then my teacher convinced us to hike another 45 minutes up to the very top of the mountain where there was a café. It was the best! We were so thankful he was with us because we would have never known to keep going up. We enjoyed the epic view with a soup and apple juice in hand. Right when we were in the café – a quick little rain storm happened! Then right when we were paying, it stopped! It the best timing we could have asked for. At the top there was also a beautiful church where supposedly the springs had cured blindness and there was a Madonna found in the rock a thousand years ago. That’s what my teacher told us! He had so many cool stories to tell. We didn’t get back until 10 hours later! It was an awesome day spent with an unexpected guest J

This week has been stressful so far with a lot of papers and finals getting closer and closer. It is getting harder to enjoy the good weather but I’m trying my best to make the most of my time!

All for now! Off for a quick visit to Slovenia with my 4 day weekend again - we have Monday and Tuesday off! Looking forward to the visit in between the large of amount of studying I will be doing!

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

Since I’ve been updating you about my three week adventure – I haven’t had time to tell you about what’s been going on since I got back!

My Half Marathon in Salzburg, Dinner with the Mayor of Graz, the Erasmus Styrian Wine Road Trip and some other fun things that I’ve been up to since it is May and halfway through my stay in Austria!

As some of you know, I had signed up to do my very first Half Marathon in Salzburg on May 4^th! We got back from Santorini on Thursday (May 1^st) and then I had two nights in my own bed before Calvin and I headed to Salzburg for the marathon where we met up with Justin! Calvin had been training so well on our Balkan Tour and I just didn’t really keep up. I think I ran two times while we were traveling. I just didn’t feel comfortable running alone in a city I didn’t know, or I was tired, or I was doing something more fun. Whatever the reason, I was just not very well prepared. The boys were joking that I would barely make under 3 hours since I had planned on walking!

            It was such a rainy and cold day the morning of the race! Since it was Justin, Calvin and I running it and nobody else came to watch us we couldn’t bring coats or anything to keep us warm before. I looked like such a joke in my race day shirt that nobody else was wearing :p and I didn’t have a jacket to stay warm! It was so exciting though– the entire town was shut down for this race and the starting line was right in the middle of the historic district on the cobble stoned streets. It was pretty legitimate J I started running with my music blaring – and I didn’t stop once during the 21.097 kilometer-long course! I was so proud of myself!! It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. The course was pretty flat (maximum vertical drop of 10 meters) and we ran with the marathon-participants who did two laps. The course brilliantly combined the atmosphere of the city of Salzburg along with the rural areas of nature around the city. The last 10k were pretty awful and I couldn’t feel my legs but once I crossed that finish line at 2 hours and 18 minutes it was all worth it! So epic. Special thanks to Pitbull, Beyonce, and JLo for getting me through those last few miles. The boys and free beer was waiting for me on the other side of the finish line! So Austro. We hung out for a while and then decided to head back after a few hours after the marathon was over – a 6 hour train ride back to Graz! We were dead and it was nice to do some homework and sit!

            To say I was physically and emotionally exhausted after three weeks traveling and then a half marathon would be an understatement! The first week back to school was pretty rough for me and it was hard to stay motivated when all I wanted to do was just chill out.

            Tuesday (May 6^th) the Mayor of Graz asked all the Erasmus students to the Town Hall for a little speech followed by dinner and drinks provided. Everyone was excited to go – maybe more for the free meal J The Mayor’s name is Siegfried Nagl and he has been the mayor of Graz since 2003 and is a member of OVP, the Austrian People’s Party. He gave a very nice speech and we all felt very welcome and appreciated. A fellow Erasmus student also gave a speech. It was just a great gathering because it was our first time being with everyone since we all had been gone for three weeks. We had fun – well, at least I did!

            The rest of the week I just met up with friends who I hadn’t seen over break and it was nice to relax and not have too much going on.

Saturday (May 10^th) was so much fun! I had signed up to participate in an Erasmus event to go on a Styrian wine road trip for just 35 euro! A lot of people thought this was expensive and not worth it, but after reading two books on Austria before coming here – I knew this was a must and honestly the 35 euro was a steal for how much fun it was! Styria is the name of the province that Graz is the capital of. The Sudseirische Weinstrasse (South Styrian Wine Road), located in the southern part of Styria about one hour south of Graz, is often compared to Italy’s Tuscany. The Wine Road is 44 miles long and has hiking trails that run beside vineyards and maybe even some of the Van Trapp family singing through the rolling hills. This wine route is the oldest and most famous because of the length and because of the number or wine makers who live here. This part of Styria is known for exquisite wines, wine taverns, crazy amazing views, fine restaurants and idyllic hiking trails. It felt like a dream. We had our own greyhound bus meandering us through the hills of the Sound of Music while we made little stops throughout the day to just sip on wine and eat local food. Hard life! We even got to have a wine tasting in one of the oldest cellars in the area with little coins smooshed against the wall for good luck!

         The area is known for dry, crisp, fruity and aromatic white wines with varieties like Welschriesling, Gelber Muskateller or Sauvignon Blanc. “Morillion” is the Styrian name for Chardonnay and it goes perfect with the famous Styrian pumpkinseed oil! We tried smoked bacon, fruit seed oils, honey, chocolate and hundreds of wine J Styria is also known for Buchenschanks – which literally translates as “taverns” or “wine restaurants”. These are family owned restaurants where they produce all their own food and wine in their own backyard and sell the surplus in a restaurant. It is all local, fresh and delicious! We had dinner at one with a lovely family and a perfect view of the sunset mingling between the grape leaves and laugher of the 47 exchange students on this trip. I didn’t want to leave! It was also the only sunny afternoon the entire week and weekend which were terribly wet and gloomy for the second weekend in May. We finally got lucky with the rain! Beautiful day spent making new friends while frolicking the countryside with a glass of wine in my hand!

      Last Thursday (May 15^th) one of Gina’s friends was in town from America and it was so fun to meet her and grab Indian food at this great restaurant in town. We stopped in for a beer at our favorite pub here (The Office Pub) and totally forgot they have trivia night on Tuesday and Thursdays. So, we pulled up a chair at a table and talked about if we were actually going to play and then a group of random people ask to sit with us and we agreed. Next thing you know, we are playing with them in the trivia game and we win! We won the entire trivia game (which is actually very competitive and hard) and 100 euro to spend at the bar! It was so crazy. Gina totally won it for us with a question that nobody in the entire place knew – to say we were excited would be an understatement. From my second day in Graz playing the trivia game at the Office Pub to now being halfway through my time here and winning was pretty awesome J

            A lot of my friends went to Prague this weekend and I decided not to go. I have been feeling slightly overwhelmed with classes and so I decided to do some catching up! Very studious of me, right?! I have actually already been to Prague and plan to go with my mom when she comes so that helped make my decision also! So, this weekend wasn’t too eventful with a spring fest party in the main university building on Friday and just doing homework all Saturday and Sunday. It was a good relaxing weekend J

Finally, my faithful followers, you are all caught up on my crazy life over here! Talk soon!

Balkan Spring Break - PART III, the finale

Euro Spring Break PART III

And welcome to the third and final installment of my Balkan Tour J

Once again … for those of you just checking in with this weird blog thing you keep get notifications for, I went on a three week through the Balkans on my Easter vacation. Started in Bosnia and Herzegovina and made it all the way to Santorini! This is Part III of the three installments of the journey...!

Let the adventure continue on from Montenegro and Macedonia!

A whole blog dedicated to Greece J

Greece -- April 25- May 2

      The trek from Skopje to Athens seemed to be pretty easy, and it was, but it was a 12 hour trek. We took a lovely bus in the evening to Thessaloniki, in north Greece, and arrived later at night at that bus/train station. Keep in mind at this point it is just the three of us – Calvin, Ashley, and I. We had about two hours in this bus/train station until our train came to take us to Athens. We haven’t had the opportunity to use a lot of trains in our past Balkan countries so we were all a little ready to use some trains, since one generally thinks of a better travel experience on a European train. This was not the case on this train! This train was full to the brim with people in the night to arrive in Athens very early – we were almost not one of them when the desk lady told us we would be standing the whole time! Thankfully she was able to spare 3 seats for 3 tired travelers but I wouldn’t even call these seats! We didn’t think that people would actually follow their seat numbers, but they did and we had to change out sitting with all our bags about 5 different times! Ha! We ended up in a very uncomfortable 6 person car with a man with his shoes off, a judgmental woman who laughed at us being American, and a young man blaring gospel music from his ear buds. We didn’t get any sleep!!

            We finally rolled into Athens around 5am and got a bit lost finding our hostel but when it was found we enjoyed a nice nap. The hostel we stayed at was the perfect location and it was actually the first hostel established in Athens – so that was cool (Students and Travellers Inn). I’m sure everyone knows a bit about Athens but for the sake of routine I’ll tell you more about it and why we had to make a stop here. Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece and has a recorded history of around 3,400 years! This city is referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy from its cultural and political achievements. Athens is of course home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery – with dozens of other very well-known landmarks to keep the average tourist busy for weeks! Today, Athens is a huge and modern city as the centrum for a lot - from everything to the cultural and economics of the country. With my Belgian high school, we took our senior spring break trip to Crete – the largest Greek island, known for its Mycenaean civilization ruins. So, on some level I had known what to expect and having heard many friends tell stories of their adventures in Athens. I had heard everything from it’s a tourist trap, it’s just like Rome with ruins everywhere, to it being the best city to ever visit! I was intrigued to experience the city for myself J

            After our nap we set out on the town! Calvin only was spending one night in Athens (while Ash and I were going to spend 2 nights) since he was flying back to Graz - so our first day was extra jammed packed so he could see as much as he could! The first bit of the day was spent wandering around and just embracing cheap euro coffees and soaking in some sun – finally! We hiked up the Acropolis and it was pretty freaking awesome. (The city of Athens also is so great in that all these exhibits are free if you are a student within the EU – we got in everywhere for free! It was heaven!) Acropolis is the ancient citadel located on a high rocky outcrop above the city and has several ancient buildings of architectural and historic significance – I knew this by everyone taking pictures of these buildings! The most famous would be the Parthenon. I studied these all in class but this is about all the knowledge I have on them – because let’s be real, just saying you hiked up the Acropolis of Athens is cool in itself and just standing there embracing it all was pretty much all you can do. I even met the women’s head basketball coach at St Louis University from Madison, Wisconsin at the top! The world is seriously so small when you travel. I love it. We played the “do you know” game, talked about Arkansas’s new head coach, Bilema, from Wisconsin, and then talked about how great St. Louis was. Loved it!

After this, we climbed down and went to the first Olympic Stadium – Panathenaic Stadium is the special name for it where it hosted the first Olympic Games in 1896 where every male runner ran nude! It’s the only major stadium in the world built entirely of white marble and is one of the oldest in the world (duh, it’s Greece). After this we enjoyed gyros, the Old Bazaar, more cheap coffee, unknowingly walked through the National Botanical Gardens, saw tons more ruins and well-known classical landmarks. It was pretty awesome. Something really came over me after this day at how old it all was and definitely put things in perspective for me – more than Rome was ever able to do. I think I preferred this city to Rome by far. I would much rather roam the streets of Athens and be amazed at how a whole city is left in ruins for millions of years and yet a new, modern city has almost been built around it and still calling back to the greatness of one civilization to ignite their own. I loved the paradox of Athens and was happy to have another day to spend with her.

            The next day was without Calvin and it was kind of weird for Ashley and me to not have the boys! At one point, we almost were like, “We should walk back down, I’m sure the boys are getting annoyed with how long we are taking.” It was weird! We missed them! We had no schedule or anything we really wanted to do so it was spent just meandering around. We were exhausted as well at this point. We did make it to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens which houses some of the most important artifacts from many different time periods and around Greece. It was in a different part of Athens than where we had been in yesterday so it was nice to see the more industrial, big-city part of Athens. It was all a lot for Ash and I though, and unfortunately we didn’t spend too much time there but did appreciate what we did see!

The afternoon was spent making friends in the hostel, nap taking, and more wandering. At sunset we took a hike up Mount Lycabettus. This is a Cretaceous limestone hill and the highest point in the city that surrounds it. Pine trees cover the base and at the top there is a beautiful Chapel, modern theater, and a pricey restaurant. Funny story : being that Ash and I have hiked some mountains in Austria that the Austrians call hills and it takes us twice as long to get up them as the average Austrian, when the Greeks were looking at us concerned before we went up and telling us to take the cable car we were very scared! Apparently, we had been learning how to efficiently climb hills/mountains from Austrians because it only took us about 15 minutes to get up! We were proud and laughed at the different perceptions each country had. Right when we get to the top, with a half hour before the sun sets, it starts pouring!! Thankfully, it cleared up and we had a beautiful sunset to watch.

After this downpour, we showered and then met up with one of my friends I made while I studied in Belgium, Constantin! He is half Belge and half Greek and he attends the University of Athens. I hadn’t seen him in 3 years and I was so happy to meet up with him, even if just for drinks J I brought Ashley along and he brought his friend along and we rode the metro to the base of the Acropolis and then took an elevator all the way to the top of this building to an outside bar. It was heaven. Every rooftop was full of people drinking and being merry with the Acropolis lit up in the background to go perfectly with our 9 euro cocktails and talk from the good times spent in Belgium. I couldn’t have asked for a better night out with good friends new and old all together in one place for a split second in time. Even splurging on the 9 euro cocktails were worth it!

The next morning we woke up super early to catch the first metro – along with a cute older couple - to get on our ferry to Santorini! This ferry was amazing. I’m talking, you would think you were on a mini cruise ship it was so nice. It had movie theaters, decks, fast food restaurants, real restaurants, cafes, etc. Ash and I were so happy! Unfortunately, I thought it would be smart to take a Benadryl to help me sleep the day away at 7am and I was a zombie the entire time. It was raining also so the view could have been better for Grecian standards – but we were completely happy with the pictures we took and the many islands we passed by! 8 hours later – we finally arrived in Santorini and met up with Gina and Lisa J It was so nice to be back with them and to be just girls! The boys were great – but it was time for some girl’s time in Santorini!

Santorini is one of Greek’s island’s in the southern Aegean Sea about 120 miles from the mainland – and seems even farther when you take a slow moving ferry! It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago and it forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands. Santorini is a result of repeated sequences of shield volcano construction. When one thinks of Santorini, the view of the water is normally from very high up and far away since the inner coast around the caldera is more than a 300 meter drop at its highest and has many layers of solidified lava. The main towns of Santorini are built on the crests for their amazing views. Other islands in the area might have more beaches while Santorini only really has a few and the sand is black from the volcanoes.

We spent a night in Perissa where Gina and Lisa has been staying earlier that week. Perissa is the port town of Santorini and known for its amazing black sand beaches. After one night, we went to another part that was called Fira. Fira is the modern capital of Santorini and is the stereotypical city of white-washed houses build on the edge of the coast with hints of blue from churches and the water making you realize you might be in heaven. Y’all – the “hostel” we stayed at that cost 8 euro a night was EPIC. Anyone going to Santorini must stay at Villa Manos and become best friends with Poppy and all her excellence. It was a private four bedroom with a bathroom and wonderful balcony. Oh, and an incredible pool! We were so happy we ended our adventure here because if we started here we would have been very critical of all the other places we stayed at that were less nice or more money!

The Santorini Ladies spent the days wandering the lovely island, exploring Fira, eating the finest Greek cuisine, drinking fancy drinks, riding mules up sides of mountains, getting fish pedicures, making friends with locals, sunset gazing at Oia and some small swimming in the Adriatic J It was a wonderful, relaxing stay in Santorini and I can’t wait to return one day!

The return flight home, thankfully was directly to Vienna from Santorini and Ashley and I were happy to be in our own beds Thursday night the 2^nd of May J

It was a wonderful three weeks spent with friends and traveling our hearts out at a reduced price! I wouldn’t have changed anything and hope to return to those cities that made me smile and laugh with appreciation. Thank you my faithful followers for sticking it out until now and those who just tuned in!

To more adventures to come!