blessed.

Sunday morning, the entire group of "Wieners" began our day at the Augustinerkirche for High mass. This is a parish church located next to the Hofburg, the winter palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna. The Augustinerkirche is known to host high quality sacred music concerts, particularly for its weekly Sunday High mass with full orchestra and choir. The musical compositions for yesterday's service were all works by Puccini. I've never been to a church and heard such melodic and professional singing. Honestly, it was hard for me to concentrate during the service, considering I couldn't understand a word that was being spoken. A 4'2" (I kid you not) elderly Viennese lady sat next to me. Although she didn't speak any English, she asked where I was from in German, and I understood her/knew how to respond. It was pretty exciting! Because I couldn't concentrate very well in church, I began reading through some of the Psalms, most notably Psalm 16. I would copy/paste it onto my blog, but I challenge you to read it on your own time. You won't be disappointed. After mass, 10 or so of us went to eat lunch at one of our favorite local Italian restaurants: Venezia. I should probably not eat Italian food anymore this week, considering in just a few days we will be in Italy where I will be consuming 10x more carbs than any normal human being. After lunch, Kat and I came back to the hotel to do some cleaning, toe-clipping and polishing, etc. Then, off to Cafe Hawelka for the first time! Chris Shappley highly recommended this coffeeshop to me (he came 3 years ago with the Lipscomb program). Great choice; this cafe is located just a few minutes from Stephansplatz. The atmosphere has a very bohemian/urban feel to it with indoor and outdoor seating. Relaxing and cozy. Kat and I both ordered deliciously rich hot chocolate...small cup for 3.50 euro...pretty pricey, but well worth the money. We stayed there for a little over an hour working on homework, presentations, and the like. I am doing my second informal presentation tomorrow on Martin Luther and his influence during the Renaissance. I love research projects because I profit so much from working on them! Afterwards, we met up with Kirk and took him to McDonald's (ridiculous, right?) because he was feeling slightly homesick and thus, craving all that those famous golden arches have to offer. Then, back to the hotel for a Sunday night devotional/communion/fellowship time in the Horton's room. After this, I had my first pilates experience with Sarah, Rachel, and Cari. I've never thought highly of pilates or yoga because I didn't think it would produce results, but I thoroughly enjoyed my first go at it. Although no cardio is involved, pilates is still effective. I ended my Sunday night with a few Skype phone calls with friends back home. I miss everyone!

Today is Monday, aka the hardest day of the week for me to wake up happily and on time. Classes today went well. We have quite a lot of work/tests to accomplish this week before we leave for ITALY! Kebab sandwich today at the Naschmarkt for lunch (so good). Then, Cari, Sarah, and I went to the train station with Mrs. Swann in hopes of figuring out the train reservations we will need for our fall break. Fall Break will most likely be one of the most memorable experiences from this semester because we will be off on our own with no German expert to rely on (aka Mrs. Swann). I'm excited to see how everything plays out. Afterwards, we went back to the Austria-American Institute (where we have our classes) to start my first day of voice lessons with Sarah. Okay, it's not quite that formal, but Sarah, being a music minor at Lipscomb and a beautiful-sounding soprano,  has encouraged me to delve into the art of singing. I'm definitely not a good singer by any means, but with her help, I am striving for drastic improvement throughout this semester. Maybe even so much so that I am inspired to take voice lessons once I return to America! I'm excited about learning technique and voice control. We met everyone back at the hotel before heading out to Oberlaa park, a beautiful botanical gardens type park located just outside the city. Because I was so busy snapping pictures of the gorgeous flowers and landscaping, I got separated from the group and ended up taking the bus back towards home by myself an hour or so after. Instead of getting off where I knew I needed to, I decided to stay on the bus for a few more stops, intentionally trying to get lost in the city. I know this sounds dangerous, but it was very enjoyable and I was able to have some good quality time by myself, while I listened/sung to Hillsong as I walked down the streets of Vienna. It was much needed. Met up with Kat and Cari for dinner at La Favorita, where we got to spend time with one of our favorite locals, Mutzi, our waiter. He is 27 and a premed student at a local university. He speaks good English and we have so much fun hanging out with him whenever we eat at his restaurant! After a delicious dinner and good conversation, we arrived back at the hotel, and I was able to skype with Megan for a few minutes! Miss her. Then, off to the nightly routine of pilates before heading back upstairs to the room to finish up some homework. I'm exhausted...time for bed!!

friday+saturday.

Class for only an hour and a half today….check. Since our German teacher is away in Serbia at the moment, the only class we had today was Humanities, which Professor Horton graciously ended early. What a great way to end our second school week in Vienna! After dismissal, Filchak, Ricki, and I set out to accomplish some more of our “Vienna Visits” and enjoy the day throughout the beautiful city we now call home. Our first destination:  The Michaelkirche, a Catholic church inside the Hofburg Quarter. The “Neo-Classical” façade dates back to the late 1700’s. The interior is filled with a massive Baroque style organ, beautifully crafted frescoes, and sculptures of the earliest evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. One of the many things I’m learning during my time in Europe is the importance of paying closer attention to detail. I could have been completely content staying in this historic church all day in a time of prayer and reflection. By exploring several different churches, cathedrals, and basilicas throughout Europe, I have already developed a keen interest in Catholicism, which I hope to continue to pursue throughout my time here and even once I’m back in America. After time at the Michaelkirsche, we headed to the Parliament Building, which at first glance resembles Nashville’s depiction of the Parthenon. The building is aesthetically pleasing and the intricate detail contained in the columns of the Parliament is simply beautiful. Next stop: The University of Vienna, which was by far my favorite part of the day.  I caught myself wide-eyed and in awe several times throughout our tour of the campus as I kept visualizing how incredible it would be to take classes at this University, surrounded by nearly 50,000 other students. The school is inspired by the Italian Renaissance style. The courtyard, lying at the heart of the campus has a gorgeous quad area, and is lined with busts of the University’s most distinguished professors. This is by far one of the most prestigious Universities I’ve had the privilege to explore. Our time here could not be complete without a trip to the bookstore, where I did in fact buy a t-shirt and sweatshirt. No surprises there. Then, we ventured back to the hotel in hopes of planning fall break. But of course the Internet at the hotel kept cutting out so after an hour or so of frustration, we gave up. Monday, however, we will try again, except this time not at the hotel. I talked with Mrs. Swann for a bit on the back porch of our hotel. She is very understanding, genuine, encouraging, and easy to talk to. She spent several years in the Navy so she has more experiences and perspectives than the majority of women her age. I value her friendship and hope we continue to bond throughout this trip. She is spiritually impassioned and she has already helped me more than she will ever know! We went to dinner in a big group tonight to Café Wortner, where we went our second night in Vienna with Dr. Mcvey. I ordered delicious pasta with a spicy marinara sauce.  I might go crazy in Italy with the plethora of pasta options…uh oh. Our after dinner treat: Tichey Eis. Unfortunately, this was our last chance to enjoy their gelato since they closed today. L After this momentous and depressing occasion, we headed back to the hotel and had real talk/devo in the Horton’s room. Hearing everyone talk about what they are currently struggling with and finding encouragement from one another is a beautiful gift that God has blessed us with (but we often take for granted).  I shared the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, which has been on my heart the past few days. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with this beautiful prayer, I would encourage you to do so!

Today (Saturday), I slept in till 930, which was wonderful. Then, headed out a day of shopping, flea markets, and other adventures with Ricki! We hit up the Flohmarkt (flea market) first at the Naschmarkt, which occurs every Saturday in Vienna from 8-3ish.  Locals and tourists alike venture out to the Flohmarkt in search of some good bargains. McVey strongly recommended we go at least once during our time in Vienna. I was impressed with the variety and overabundance of random stuff from gas masks to license plates from American states, to old Beatles records. The Flohmarkt is truly one of a kind. I am a bargainer by nature so flea markets are definitely my type of shopping. Although I did not make any purchases, I’m glad we could experience what a true flea market is like!  We stopped at the Billa across the street to pick up sandwiches and chocolate for lunch, then headed to the Hofburg Quarter, where we walked around a sports festival and saw some young Austrian gymnasts perform and the Vienna handball team perform their tricks and flips on their trampolines. Quite an experience. Afterwards, I had my first H+M experience while living in Vienna. I’m proud of today’s purchases considering I haven’t gone out of my way to shop for clothes since I’ve been here.  We shopped the rest of the afternoon in the Stephansplatz area. We watched some street performers strut their stuff outside the Stephansdom, which was highly entertaining. I’m pretty sure they mimic nearly 90% of  the street performers from big cities like Chicago and NYC. We ate dinner at a local Viennese restaurant at an outside café. I had a delicious mixed vegetable salad and beef goulash stew with potatoes. One of the best authentic meals I’ve had in Vienna. Ricki and I had so much fun together. She and I barely knew each other before the trip and we spent almost 12 hours together today with not a dull moment in sight. We have very similar personalities and goals, and I’m grateful for the time we’ve had together over the past few weeks. We got back to the hotel near 10 and are now working on some journals/sketches for humanities, and other schoolwork that we have overlooked the past few days. Great Saturday in Vienna, devoid of college football and laziness.

When in Wien...

Sorry I’ve been delayed on blogging for a few days, but I usually blog at night right before I hit the bed, and the Internet here at our hotel has been less than par the past few days. Not quite sure why.  Classes today flew by and German class was entertaining as usual. As soon as we left school, a group of us went to go purchase tickets for the Austria-Wien fussball (soccer) game at their home stadium. We didn’t have great directions to the stadium and ended up getting off the metro bus over a mile before we were supposed to..oh well. We arrived back to the hotel around 2, ate lunch, and then went to the Naschmarkt in search of some jerseys for the soccer game that we had been told were only 10 euro instead of 80, (which is what the stadium store was pricing them at). Although several of the stands at the Naschmarkt sold the purple/white jerseys, I only found one vendor whose sizes were not all for toddlers. Although the jersey doesn’t look completely authentic, it was still a good investment. We left for the game around 630, which was surprisingly more crowded than we had anticipated. If I had to guess, the soccer stadium could seat up to 5,000 fans. We paid 11 euro per ticket and got seats 3 rows up from one of the goals, on the home team side. The game was SO much fun. The fan section for the Austria-Wien team was ridiculous. They had at least 7 cheers that were rotated throughout the entirety of the game. There was never a dull moment that’s for sure! Although the cheers were all proclaimed in German, we still tried to participate as much as possible, which was extremely entertaining. The game ended on a 1:1 tie.  This was my first international soccer game and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Hopefully I’ll be able to attend a game in  Germany or Spain at some point over the next few months. I’ve heard those games can get INTENSE. After the game, we headed straight to Tichey Eis for our daily dose of delicious gelato, then back to the Hotel, where I got to talk to Florian (the night manager at our hotel, who is awesome and we teach him English slang phrases, which he loves) before getting in bed for the night!

Thursday, we were given the (wonderful) opportunity to sleep in two extra hours because our first class (German) was cancelled til next Monday. Our Professor had to attend a conference in Serbia over the next few days. Getting up at 830 rather than 630 was delightful, to say the least. For our Christianity in Visual Arts class, we took a field trip to the Schatzkammer Museum of Sacred and Secular Treasurers. Our main objective was to see several sacred relics, most notably the Veil of Veronica. This is a Roman Catholic relic, which, according to legend, bears the likeness of the face of Jesus that was imprinted on a cloth/veil prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. Obviously, this story is not Biblical, but has widespread belief to being authentic throughout Catholicism. Interesting to see, but also humorous, simply because The Veil of Veronica is so unrealistic and goofy, to be honest.  After a few hours at the Musuem, we headed out to enjoy the rest of the beautiful day in Vienna. Our first stop was to a small gift shop directly next to the Museum. I bought my Vienna patch that I had  forgotten to purchase the past few weeks. I’m trying to collect patches from every city/country we travel to as a fun keepsake. Back to the hotel, then went running with Ricki at the Belvedere. She and I run at similar paces so going together is fun and productive. After a 3 mile run, we ate a quick lunch at the hotel then went out to accomplish a few of our “Vienna Visits,” which led us today to Ressel Park and Stadtpark. I can’t get over how beautiful and quaint the majority of the parks are here in Vienna. I could go park hopping all day long and never grow weary of it. Before heading back to the hotel, we got our first helping of gelato for the day at my favorite “Eis” spot in Schwedenplatz. A big group of us went to dinner together at a sushi restaurant inside a shopping center. I’m not an avid sushi eater, but I still love to eat it every now and then. Cari tried sushi for the first time tonight and HATED it. Pretty funny to watch. After dinner, we departed (once again) for Tichey Eis. If you’re wondering why we are eating so much gelato, it’s simply because most of the shops that sell gelato are closing this weekend or by the end of September. In essence,  we are committing the sin of gluttony by eating as much gelato as possible til we can no longer enjoy this delicious European delight whenever we please. We all hung out and talked at Tichey Eis for a while then arrived back at the hotel around 11, and went straight up to the Horton’s room where everyone else from the group was watching a movie. I know my blog is vague the majority of the time, and it gets frustrating that I can’t write out every detail of the trip. But, I am just so thankful for everyone here. It’s so beautiful to see everyone come out of their comfort zones and start bonding as if we are one big (happy) family, and the crazy part is that we haven’t even been here 3 weeks! God is good, and His love endures forever. Just a verse that popped into my head. It’s currently 1204 am here. Goodnight!

            

lost+found

Let me start this post off by explaining the situation that happened Sunday night when we arrived back at our hotel from Prague. Around 10pm, I was unpacking from the weekend and noticed that my money belt (with my Passport, debit card, credit card, license, euros, U-bahn card, etc.) was not in my backpack where it was supposed to be. I searched high and low in our hotel room in hopes that I would find my black REI money belt, but to no avail. Then came the panic attack. I sprinted downstairs to the Swann's room, hoping/praying they had somehow come across it. Because they were just as oblivious as I was, Mrs. Melissa and I began the process of canceling my cards, gathering information about contacting the US Embassy in Vienna, and retracing my steps from the moment we got off the bus from Prague until arriving back at the hotel. I was stressed, to say the least. Not just because of this incident, but I also had an important Humanities test the next morning, which I couldn't concentrate on studying for. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very much or very well Sunday night. I woke up the next morning confident that God was going to let everything "work together for His good." And that He did!!  Before German class started Monday morning, I was informed by the Hortons and Swanns that Daniel (our travel agent who was our sponsor for the Prague trip) had located my money belt on the bus we had taken this past weekend to the Czech Republic. The overwhelming sense of relief and joy I felt at that moment was more than I believe I have ever felt. Let's just say, I have learned my lesson and am now more cautious than ever before that I keep close tabs on my money belt AT ALL TIMES.

Having said that, the rest of Monday was much more pleasant than expected, considering I went to sleep the night before thinking to myself, "I wonder how terrible this next day will be."Our Humanities test went well...hopefully we will find out our grades soon! After class, Ricki and I headed straight to the grocery store to buy some food for lunch. Now that we are settled in and beginning a routine, we have decided to keep our eating-out adventures to a minimum to save money. Over the past 10+ days, we've been eating out a lot to experience the culture and find places to frequent, in hopes that we can form relationships with the waiters/staff. I didn't think I would buy groceries here simply because I wanted to eat at different restaurants and cafes as much as possible, simply because I had felt like if I didn't eat out, I'd be missing out on a big part of Viennese culture, which I have now realized is not all that true. Plus, we still plan to eat out several times a week. After we finished grocery shopping, some of us girls met back at the hotel and ate our lunch on the back porch of the hotel. Afterwards, Kat, Amy, and I walked to the Belvedere Palace to read/ be productive, while also enjoying the beautiful weather. I was planning to run there as well, but got a call informing me that I had to rendezvous with Daniel to retrieve my money belt. Afterwards, I enjoyed a nice 4 mile run (while listening to Hillsong United...always a good choice for running music) around the 1st district of Vienna, venturing on new streets I had yet seen. This city is just so beautiful. I still can not grasp my brain around the fact that I LIVE in Europe. Crazy. The rest of the night was spent doing homework and reading, then off to bed around 10pm, the earliest bedtime for me since arrival. I figured this would be necessary for my mind+body, considering the stressful/frustrating situation I had been in the night before.

Today (Tuesday) has been wonderful! I thoroughly enjoyed both classes today: German and Christianity in Visual Arts (our Bible class). I'm beginning to feel like I have a better grasp on the German language, and Professor Horton never bores me with his lectures on the influence Christian artwork has had in the formation of society's current understanding of Christianity. My knowledge has already expanded vastly, and we've only been here 2 weeks! But, I certainly agree with the famous saying, "The more you learn, the more you realize what you don't know." Upon completion of class, several of us ventured off to the train station to seek some guidance on reserving seats for this weekend as well as planning our fall break route. I spoke to several people  in the information center, and they were of minimal help. We left frustrated and more confused than when we arrived. Guess we learned our lesson. We ate lunch back at the hotel since we have lunch meats, cheeses, bread, fruit, chocolate, etc. that we had purchased at the Billa (common grocery here, similar to Kroger) a block away. Then, Sarah and I had the ingenious idea to Skype call Daniel to discuss our goals/ideas for our fall break travels. He is so wonderful and caring, always very eager to help. Although we did not book any flights/ trains/hostels, he did give us some crucial advice as far as the best, most efficient way to travel to and spend time in all the cities we have on our list! Then, we got ready to go out for Cari's 20th birthday. First stop:  La Venezia, a local Italian restaurant that I had the opportunity to try one of the first nights upon arrival in Vienna. About 15 of us went to dinner, which was fun, since hanging out in big groups of people is not typical or realistic since we are done with the orientation aspect of our trip. After our delicious meal, in which Cari and I split a 4-cheese pizza, (one of those cheeses being bleu cheese...still not sure how I feel about that), the group split off in which some people returned to the hotel to make some progress on homework, while the rest of us headed to the Opera House, to stand in line for tickets to the well-known Opera, Madame Butterfly by Puccini. Like we had done for the ballet last week, we waited in line for nearly an hour to purchase our standing-room tickets for just 4 euro. To my knowledge, this is the first Opera I've ever attended. I wasn't sure what to expect, but to be honest, I didn't think I'd enjoy it nearly as much as I did. Sung in Italian, the Opera House does provide screens with English/German translations which was very helpful. If I had not known what they were singing, my attention span would have been shot. If you don't know anything about Madame Butterfly, I suggest you read a brief synopsis of it on Wikipedia or another internet source. Fascinating and beautifully directed, Madame Butterfly has inspired me to delve more into the realm of classical music. I decided that attending one Opera a week here (when possible) should be a goal of mine! After the 2 1/2 hour Opera, we went to a local spot to enjoy our new favorite food: gelato! Then, back to the hotel, where I greatly succeeded in procrastinating doing homework, and instead, talked to several good friends from home on Skype! I miss everyone very much, but knowing I will see them in a few months after 85+ days of incredible once-in-a-lifetime adventures and experiences in a foreign environment is not only comforting but also thrilling to me!

PRAGUE.

Haven't blogged about last Friday yet, so here is a brief overview: had class til noon again today. Afterwards, I met some exchange students from Oregon that are currently taking classes at the same University as our group. They were really sweet, and seem much more qualified to be studying in Europe than we are, considering most of them have a substantial background in German; one girl has been taking German for 6 years. I didn't feel inferior AT ALL... :) Lunch at the Naschmarkt, where I got falafel, Polish pickles, and a loaf of bread with tomato hummus. Not a bad combination! One of the Oregon students we had just met 20 minutes prior met back up with us at lunch and we spent the next few hours around Vienna. I had to go back to the British bookshop to purchase a book for my Humanities class research report. My intention was to do a paper based on the history of European cuisine, but since that topic is far too broad, I decided to instead focus my attention on Julia Child's and the effect she has had on American food/cooking. Hopefully, it will be interesting and an enjoyable paper to write! After returning to the hotel, Mrs. Swann and I ventured to the nearest pharmacy to get my thyroid prescription figured out...basically my insurance company wouldn't allow my endocrinologist to prescribe me more than one month's supply of pills at a time, despite the fact that I would be out of the country for three months. Thankfully, the pharmacy here was easily able to supply with 100 pills for only 9 euro! I went running at the beautiful Belvedere palace again today. The weather was breezy, sunny, and mid 70's. Back to the hotel where my roommates and I organized our clothes and luggage then the rest of the night was spent relaxing and hanging out. Late Friday night, I got to talk to Megan on the phone for the first time since I've been out of the country. I miss her and all my other family and friends very much! We went to bed early anticipating a great rest of the weekend in Prague!

We left Vienna Saturday morning around 9am. We were introduced to Daniel, our wonderful travel agent/ tour guide (for out of the country excursions). The bus ride to Prague is approximately 4 hours, which was not bad at all, considering I slept some of the time (even though the rode was EXTREMELY bumpy), journaled some, and talked the rest of the way. Once in Prague, our first stop was to the public restrooms, which require a 50 cent euro piece to enter (ridiculous, I know), and then to the bank to exchange some money from euros to Czech crowns. Kat and I just happened to be at the back of the line at the bank exchanging currency (as we were told to do), next thing we know, our entire group had left!! For the first 30-45 minutes, we were both freaking out because we had no way to communicate with anyone in our group. We were in a foreign city with no idea what/where anything was! After a while, we realized the only thing we could do was enjoy the city with each other and rendezvous back with the group at 730...6 hours from the time we were left. We had a great time, to say the least. First, we scouted out a great place for lunch, a cafe near the downtown district of Prague. We split a vegetable quiche, garden salad, and mozzarella cheese pizza.  THEN, we splurged on dessert by sharing a chocolate mousse cake, chocolate cookie, strawberry torte, and a chocolate eclair. It was incredible. Our bill was pretty pricey, but well worth it! After lunch, we continued exploring the city, where we ventured into one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen: the Basilica of James (featured in this post). I honestly could have stayed all day in this church. The ornamentation and decorative style of the church was more elaborate than anything I have previously seen. Then, Kat and I started exploring our shopping options, winding up in a Patagonia outlet store for at least an hour. She and I both bought new fleeces for about $50 which originally cost $200. We were happy. That was my first clothing purchase since I've been in Europe, and I would like to think it was a good investment. After, we began to hear techno music playing throughout the city. Little did we realize that an anarchy festival/parade was overtaking the streets of downtown Prague. This was quite an experience. Pictures do not do justice to how ridiculous and obnoxious some of the participants were dressed. Entertaining to say the least. I wish all of you could have experienced this. During this festival, we also witnessed a live modeling photoshoot, which was also something I have never experienced. Although we were aliens in a new land, Kat and I made the most of the time we had together (alone) in Prague, and I wouldn't change a thing about that day! We met back up with the rest of our group, drove to our hotel for the evening, and had a great "family" conversation with the Swanns, Andy, Filchak, Kirk, and Kat. Bedtime around 1130.

Today we had our wake-up call at 730, delicious continental breakfast at our hotel in the suburbs of Prague, and then headed out for our official tour of the historic and beautiful Prague. Daniel arranged for us to have a professional tour guide, named Ava who was not only informative, but very interesting and easy to communicate with. Although I can not recall all the sights we were shown, these are the highlights: Charles University, the oldest university in central Europe, Prague Castle, one of the biggest castle districts in the world (nearly 570 meters in length). Also, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the Royal Palace, and a mountain overlook to see a gorgeous view of the entirety of the city. After the tour, we had our last two hours free in the city to eat lunch and finish exploring. Lunch: chicken kebab in baguette. We also went to Charles Bridge and the Jewish Quarter, which I wish I had been able to spend more time in. Great few days in Prague. The city is just beautiful and I feel like I accomplished a lot as far as sight-seeing for the short time we were there. The bus ride back was more difficult than the first because my motion sickness began to sink in. Sleeping+ a full bottle of Sprite nursed me back to health within a few hours. Now, we are back home in Vienna and have been working on some German homework and studying for our second Humanities test that will be taken tomorrow morning. All is well. Good afternoon/good evening depending on what corner of the world you are viewing this from!

gelato might be my downfall...

Yesterday, we set out for our first and only class of the day: German. Our professors split the students into two groups, so instead of having our humanities and Bible classes the next two days, we will be alternating groups and going to two local museums in Vienna. Because of this, we had from 1030 on to do as we pleased. First stop: Cafe Central for brunch. This coffeehouse, opened in 1860, was once the meeting place for writers and philosophers, including Sigmuen Freud, Theodor Herzl, Vladimir Lenin, and Leon Trotsky. The interior of this cafe is simply grandiose and elegant. I had a delicious bowl of homemade granola and a cup of their rich hot chocolate, for a total of 5 euro. After a satisfying meal, we stopped by the hotel for a little bit to start brain-storming for fall break plans. As of now, several of us are hoping to spend our 10 day fall break in Spain and France. We originally had included Portugal in our agenda, but then realized that would require more traveling time than we could afford. Hopefully, we can figure out our official itinerary in the next week! The rest of the afternoon was spent out at different sites in Vienna, including the Bellgarten, a park that highly resembles Central Park in NYC. Many locals frequent this park and can be seen picnicking, reading, running, etc. throughout the day. I plan to run at the Bellgarten the next opportunity I have! We also spent time at the Volksgarten for the second day in a row. This was the first time since we left America that I was able to venture out on my own for a brief time and do some journaling and reading. I decided to read through the first few chapters of Colossians, which I highly recommend! We ate dinner at a local restaurant a few districts over from our hotel. Good prices, great food. Then, Amy and I decided we wanted to try to get some of our group together for a time of prayer, reflection, conversation, etc. We met on the outside deck of our lobby and just started reading different verses and talking about our fears, concerns, and struggles. It's incredible to me how easily God can and WILL work in people's lives if we just surrender ourselves to Him. Being on this trip with a community of believers is SUCH a blessing. Words can not describe how much peace and tranquility I was given last night. God is so so good, and I hope we will continue to grow together in love not only for each other but also for our gracious Savior.

Today, we had German class til 1030, where we began to learn how to conjugate verbs and form sentences. German is not the easiest or the most complex language, but I am excited to continue to learn and apply my knowledge throughout the semester. I am most likely going to continue in German next semester back at Lipscomb with the wonderful "Herr Mcvey." After class, my group headed to the Natural History museum. Our main goal: see the Venus of Willendorf, aka the 5 inch female statue estimated to have been made around 24000 BC, who is one of the earliest images of the body made by humankind. I'm pretty sure I teared up when I saw her...not even kidding. Since high school, I have studied about this historic figure, but seeing her in person was just ridiculously invigorating for me. WOW. I sound like such a nerd. Oh well. Anyways, not much time could be spent at the Natural History museum because we headed across the courtyard to our primary objective: the Kunsthistoriches Museum, housing renown exhibits on both Egyptian and Greek civilizations. Among the highlights are the richly decorated Offering Chapel of Ka-ni-nisut from the Old Kingdom, numerous sarcophagi and coffins, animalmummies, examples of the Book of the Dead, grave stelae, divine figures, objects of daily life such as clothing and cosmetic articles, masterpieces of sculpture such as the Reserve Head from Giza, facial stelae from southern Arabia as well as a depiction of a lion from the Ischtar Gate in Babylon.    Incredible to say the least. Then, on to the Greek collection full of ancient coins, statues, and a larger than life Votive statue of a man from Cyprus. I could have probably spent the entirety of my day between the two museums. Then back to Cafe Central to sit in on Professor Horton's Aesthetics of Beauty class, where we discussed Socrates perception of love/erotic love. Quite an interesting discussion. To past philosophers, love was seen as an "insatiable desire to be with someone." We also talked about society's skewed perception of beauty and our ideas of what we see as real "love." On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for gelato (of course), then back to the hotel, where the majority of our group met in the Horton's room to hang out, eat pizza, and discuss our research paper topics/thesis. I  wish I could express how grateful I am for being a part of this trip. Our professors and sponsors are incredible people whose love for knowledge and learning is contagious. I anticipate many more great conversations over the next few months. Lastly, several of us went back out in the Stephansplatz district for another round of gelato. Could I live off gelato? Probably. Let's hope I don't though.  Good past few days. Tomorrow is Friday! Prague this weekend!!

school time?

Monday, my day started too early. 615 am to be exact. Back to school and back to reality for us. We had our first official German class today. Our professor seems awesome and exceptionally patient with 26 kids who don't know more than 6 words in German. Everyday we will be in class from 8-noon. Even though we only get one break in that 4 hour time period, it's not unbearable. I'm very excited to learn and expand my knowledge this semester in more ways than just rote memorization. After class, a few of us went to lunch at La Favorita, an Italian restaurant literally next to our hotel. Yes, I got a vegetable pizza and ate all of it! After a delicious lunch, we did some sightseeing in our new home to several districts we had not yet seen. Ricki, Kat, and I went running at the Belvedere Palace around 6, which was incredible!! The weather was in the high 60's and the gardens in the Palace make any run much more bearable. Later in the evening, a few girls and I went to the Frauenhuber coffeehouse to work on some homework. This is the oldest coffeehouse in Vienna, most notable for being the local spot where Mozart once performed. Quite a memorable experience. This concludes my first Monday in Vienna. Good start to the week!


Tuesday= second day of classes. Our professors are challenging and seem demanding so after classes ended today, I was stressed out to say the least. Then, I snapped out of it within 30 minutes because I thought to myself, "I'm in EUROPE right now. Stress is not an option!" After school ended, we headed back to the Naschmarkt for lunch. I had my first kebab sandwich with a yogurt sauce as the dressing. Sounds odd, but it was wonderful. Then, off we went into the city to run a few errands, find the British bookstore (which might be THE only bookstore selling primarily English books), and to explore some of the "Vienna Visits" needed for our humanities class. These "Visits" are to local museums, parks, buildings, historic districts, etc. within Vienna that Professor Horton  requires us to see and journal/sketch about. This type of homework is enjoyable to me. One of the places we had to go today was to the Volksgarten, a fabulous park in Vienna's 1st district. This park is most recognized for its wide array of pink, yellow, and red roses surrounding the courtyard. There are just so many beautiful places to see..I hope I will continue to find/discover these throughout my extended stay in Austria! After completing several of the "Vienna Visits," Sarah, Cari, Kat, and I stood in line at the Opera House for standing-room-only tickets to the premiere of the Ballet entitled "Neue Welt Des Balletts." Our tickets were only 4 euro!  To say that the Operahouse is immaculate and gradiose is quite the understatement. The first Act was more classical style ballet, and the second Act was more modernized. Both were rather enjoyable, but the second Act captivated my attention more for sure. I love ballets. In fact, ballerinas never cease to amaze me with their flexibility and elegant way of contorting their bodies. I might be going to my first Opera on Thursday!! These are just a few of the highlights of the past few days... hope you enjoyed!

DAY 3 & 4.

Saturday we began the day with another delicious and filling meal from our hotel, then sat out on the deck of the hotel as several students gave presentations. We are all required to give informative presentations on the history of Vienna, do's/don'ts, etc. Mine happened to be on supermarket etiquette. 3 facts to know: 1) Viennese supermarkets do not bag groceries for customers. 2) most Austrians only shop for one meal at a time so buying more than 10 items at a time is looked down upon. 3) Always buy more than 1/2 kilo of fruits and vegetables. Not sure why, but this is an understood rule.

After presentations, we headed out for the day in the 5 groups we were assigned (refer to last post if confused) to 5 different shopping districts throughout the city. My group was sent to scout out Millenium City, a more recent addition to Vienna that I would compare to an American style shopping mall. Our objective: spend 2+ hours in the assigned location and eat lunch on-site. The mall was nice, but almost too Americanized. Although the majority of the stores could not be found in the States, I still felt like I was back home. We ate at a Mexican restaurant where our waiter spoke no English. In fact, he only spoke Chinese so it was very difficult to communicate. The only purchase I made was a box of chocolate wafers (imagine that!) that reminded me of a Kit-Kat bar, except 10x better.

After our shopping excursions, we returned to the hotel to discuss all of our experiences at the local shopping districts. Then, on to the Belvedere! Finished in 1716, the Belvedere is a baroque-style palace, surrounded by beautifully-kept gardens. We took pictures here and walked around for at least an hour. We plan to go back soon and study/have a picnic. What a life! (At the top of the post is a picture of the Belvedere that I took) yesterday! From the Belvedere, we headed to the Prater Park, an amusement park that reminded me very much of Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO! We had so much fun exploring and riding rides. Kirk and I went on a ride called "Ecstasy" that left us dizzy for hours afterwards. It's indescribable, but let's just say that European regulations on amusement park rides are not nearly as strict as they are in America... I wish I had taken more pictures there to show for the experience, but I'm sure we will return soon. We left the Park near the time it closed then headed back to the hotel to hang out until we went to bed for the night!

Today (Sunday) has been one of the best days yet! Woke up around 9am and headed to our first stop of the day: mass at Stephansdom. The interior of the cathedral is ornately decorated and slightly overwhelming at first glance. The service lasted close to two hours. Although I could not understand 90% of the service (since it was all in German), I was still thoroughly interested in observing their customs and rituals. After mass, we walked to the famous Hofburg Quarter, main palace of the Hofburg empire. Located in the "backyard" of the Hofburg palace is currently a fall festival, full of wine-tasting booths, Austrian singing/dancing, kids games, and local vendors selling jewelry, scarfs, and knick-knacks. Sarah and I convinced Cari to ride on the mechanical bull, which was HILARIOUS.

After lunch and time at the fall festival in the Hofburg Quarter, we took a bus to the top of Kahlenberg, a mountain located in the 19th District within Vienna. This area is heavily populated with tourists, as it offers a panoramic view of the entire city. Simply beautiful. Instead of taking the bus back down the mountain, we walked down the mountain through a vineyard (my favorite part of the day). Sidenote: the weather today was incredible--in the low 70's all day. Although the walk down the mountain was steep, it was time well spent. We stopped half-way down and had a short devo, where we sang  for a little bit and shared communion together. Once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure. We ate dinner outside at a local Viennese restaurant, where we enjoyed our first topfenstrudel, a flaky dough encrusted type cheesecake covered in warm vanilla sauce. Fattening, yet delicious. 

We made our way back to the hotel by 9pm after a satisfying dinner. Tomorrow is Monday, which means our classes are about to start. I'm nervous, but also excited. I almost wish we could be strictly tourists for the next 3 months, since I have already learned so much. But, I'm also excited to get into more of a routine. We're going to bed early tonight so that we can be well-rested for school in the am!

Dear Vienna...

First of all, let me begin by saying this will not be the most well-written of blogs and will naturally be ambiguous at times, but I will try to highlight the events of most days so that you can get a small glimpse into my current European life! ... WE ARE HERE! Sorry I am just now blogging, but Vienna has been slightly overwhelming to say the least! 17 hours of traveling+38 hours without sleep=27 extremely jet-lagged students. We arrived in our new home (Vienna, Austria) at 1030am on Thursday. Our first stop was to Stephansplatz, home of the Stephansdom, Vienna's cathedral and one of the tallest churches in the world. Pictures can not do justice. Then, lunch at Rosenbergs, a buffet style restaurant with a variety of pastas, schnitzel, fruit, and pastries. Good quality food, although slightly pricey. After lunch, we walked to our future school, located directly across from the Opera house. Then we made our way to our new home, the Hotel Beim Theresianum, located in downtown Vienna. My room is on the 7th floor (top of the hotel). The hotel has one elevator, which doesn't seem bad except for the fact that no more than two people can fit into it without sweating profusely and feeling extremely claustrophobic. Therefore, walking the 7 flights of stairs has already become second nature to me. Three twin size beds occupy the majority of the room, and the bathroom is surprisingly spacious. The concept of air-conditioning is unheard of in Europe; good thing temperatures are so mild here :) Once we got settled into our new "home," all we wanted to do was sleep, but instead we went to dinner at a quaint Cafe Wortner where I ordered beef goulash and potatoes. The restaurant was completely empty when we arrived, so having 3o Americans in one room was slightly frustrating/annoying for our waiter. After dinner, we walked to Tichey Eis, home of the wonderful Austrian gelato. I got coffee, chocolate, and vanilla gelato in a waffle cone for 1.60 euro. What a deal! Let's just say, I'm not exagerrating when I say it was the best ice cream I've ever. We took the U-bahn back to our hotel and crashed around 930pm. What a great, but exhausting first day of traveling, walking, and new experiences! 

Today, we woke up around 8am to our first breakfast in our new home. The Hotel provides a wonderful array of fruit, breads, cereal, meats and cheeses for our breakfast. Then off to class at our new school for more orientation and lectures about etiquette and important German phrases. Next, we had our first experience at the famous Niche market, full of fresh fruits and vegetables. This place reminded me of the Italian market in Philadelphia, PA that my family has frequented for years! I had some delicious German and Polish pickles (don't laugh), a peach, and a large round loaf of ciabatta bread, all for 3 euro! I met a man from Israel who asked if we could get married and live together in America...awkward. The rest of the day was spent at the Schonbrunn palace, surrounded by beautifully-tended gardens and home to the world's first zoo. Then, one of our professors split all the students up into five groups for dinner, which I loved because we were put together with people that we didn't know well. My group ate at an Italian restaurant where we all got pizza. DELICIOUS. Our waiter was very courteous and helped us with our German. After dinner, Kat, Brett, and I went on our own adventure throughout the city, in which we would ride the U-Bahn for a few stops, get off and explore, and repeat. It was a great experience, since this was the first time we have been independent from the group as a whole. Sorry this is long and scatter-brained. It's currently 1am and I just wanted to give a not-so-brief description of the past few days. I could talk for hours already of my experiences over the past 48 hours, but I hope this helps!! I will try to blog every few days, so hopefully they will be more detailed, yet not as long. 

Gute Nacht from Vienna, Austria!

PS- that picture at the top of this post is the view from our hotel room :)

ONE WEEK!

Today is Wednesday, September 2, and we are officially one week from boarding a plane to Vienna, Austria!!

SO EXCITED.