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!