where did the week go?

German class on Wednesday was difficult and rather confusing. We are beginning to learn the different cases for German nouns...all the grammar nonsense we learned in high school language classes has to be applied again. The entire 4 hours of classes today was draining. Quick lunch back at the hotel around 1230, then meeting with Mrs. Swann to discuss our travel plans for the weekend. At first, Cari, Sarah, Ricki, and I were planning to travel with the Swanns to Cologne, Germany, where her family is from. Unfortunately, her family and the friends she has connections with in Cologne are all busy/out of town this weekend. Therefore, we revised our plans, so here is our itinerary: depart Friday morning around 6am for Salzburg and then head straight for the 4 hour SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR. I'm excited about that!! Then, train to Neuschwanstein, Germany where the famous castle is. After that, we will then head for Munich and spend the night there and all day Sunday, before heading back to Vienna. It's 1am here and I have to be ready to leave in less than 5 hours. I don't see myself going to bed anytime soon either, but that's okay...I can sleep in 2 months when I'm back in America...right? Exciting weekend ahead. So, back to Wednesday. After the weekend-planning was resolved, we went to the Albertina Museum, which is currently host to an incredible Impressionism exhibit. I had the privilege of viewing originals by Degas, Monet, Cezanne, and Signac, to name a few. I realized while walking through the museum how much I love the Impressionism movement, mostly because of the artists use of light/pastel colors, as well as the defined brush strokes. The heightened sense of abstraction in most Impressionistic works appeals to me as well. After leaving the museum, we walked to La Favorita and ordered tomato soup and breadsticks (best warm meal I've had in a while), then headed to the Horton's room for symposium discussion about what we are studying in CIVA, followed by a group-wide devo. Afterwards, 8 of us made our way over to Cafe Hawelka in Stephansplatz to enjoy warm hot chocolate/coffee and a delicious plum-filled pastry dessert called buchteln. There's something about late night coffeehouse conversation that evokes in me an overwhelming sense of joy and contentment.


Today...yes it's ALREADY Thursday...has been a good, productive day! After German class, we met for Humanities at the Kunstistorches museum to observe some Baroque artists and their paintings, including several original pieces by Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt. After the completion of class for the week, Sarah, Amy, and I headed straight to the Hofburg Palace in search of the Prunksaal, the Austrian National Library. The collection of books and novels is overwhelming, containing over 7.4 million items! We paid 4.50 euro to walk through the library, but it was money well spent. Even the ceiling of the library is immaculate, covered in brightly-colored frescoes. After, we got sandwiches from the closest Billa, then set out in search of some new winter coats. Speaking of coats, the weather today was ridiculous! We experienced our first day of Viennese snow flurries! Yes, it's October. I honestly can't imagine how bitterly cold it will be here in Austria over the next few weeks. Sarah and I were both successful in our coat-buying endeavors. In fact, I bought two long peacoats that I plan to get good use out of over the next two months! She and I stopped by the train station to book our group's tickets for fall break, then headed back to the hotel for some pilates action. Then, we ate dinner and watched The Sound of Music with Ricki, in preparation for the tour tomorrow in Salzburg. I'm more excited now than ever since the story/soundtrack is fresh on my mind!!

I will update on Sunday night (Monday afternoon at the lateset) about our adventures from our weekend in Salzburg/Germany! Love to all.