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!