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Graz~ Steiermark~ Österreich 

October 12-14, 2012 

A very very rainy weekend that caused me to have a terrible fever and cold, but a beautiful and artful city nonetheless.  

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Velberg, Baden- Württenberg Deutschland

October 6, 2012

My aunt and uncle's hometown.  Medieval, right?!

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October 6, 2012

the main square in Schwäbisch Hall with my great Aunt and Uncle 

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October 6, 2012

Schwäbisch Hall

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Tut mir Leid dass es mir nicht Leid tut

#sorrynotsorry for not posting in a month and a half

I've just been having too much FUN in freaking AUSTRIA (and some Germany) but mostly Austria.  

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Schwäbisch Hall Market!

There is a farmer's market every Wednesday and Saturday in the main town square in Schäbisch Hall.  It makes sense that the European's diet is better than the American's: fresh cheap healthy local food is always available and a bigger part of daily life. 

We picked up some fresh vegetables such as Bak Choy, olives, and a curly leafed-lettuce and some delicious salmon for dinner that evening.  

Saturday October 6, 2012

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Blooz!

(Pronunciation: BLOTZ) 

A Schwäbisch light dinner that I helped my Tante Irene make.  

Blooz has structure similar to a pizza.  It is made from rolling out a thin yeast dough before it rises.  Tante Irene has this super cool mixing machine that measures, weighs, warms, mixes, pulverizes, kneads, and blends all in one.  Why don't we have one of those in the US? Then, the toppings are added: a mixture of cream and plain yogurt as the sauce, lots and lots of thinly sliced shreds of garlic (we used an entire leek on one 13x9" pan) then garnished with finely chopped bacon, some bacon drippings for a little extra flavor and fresh from the garden chives. We put it into the oven at some degree Celsius which is totally irrelevant to me because I only understand Fahrenheit, and enjoyed it about 20 minutes later with our Neuer Wein that picked up earlier in the day. 

Friday October 5, 2012

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Neuer Wein!

This stuff is amazing!  I know I rave about food a lot, because I'm a foodie and all, but this stuff is pretty tasty.  "New wine," as it is literally translated, is the wine just before it turns completely alcoholic.  I know, this may sound like a disappointment to any 20 year old who is just barely legal in the US and taking advantage of the drinking laws in Europe, but the sweet flavor and winy aroma make up for any loss in the entertaining side-effects of alcohol.  

The other awesome part about Neuer Wein, is that it's only available for a few weeks in the fall!  Eeep!  I came at the right time.  My aunt and uncle know a place that has a really good brew.  Whenever the have any available, the restaurant/ winery puts a broom over the sign to let everyone know to come on in! This is traditional of all wineries in the region.

Later on in the evening, we enjoyed the Neuer Wein with our light dinner at home in the little village of Vellberg, Deutschland. 

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translation: "Wine is milk for the old" 

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Friday October 5, 2012

at the Rotenberger Weingärtle 

Out to a fancy lunch with my Tante Irene and Onkel Joachim.

We sat in a glass enclosed balcony, overlooking the beautiful vineyards of Baden-Württemberg just on the city border of Stuttgart.  

I tried for the first time Maultaschen, a typical Schwäbisch dish, native to the region.  My Maultaschen was filled with scrambled eggs, some diced ham, and a mixed side salad.  Tasty!   

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Trains, Mistaken Identities, and Family

Friday October 5, 2012

I am fortunate enough to have loving family still in Germany.  I went to visit my mom's mom's sister (my great-aunt) and my uncle for the weekend near Stuttgart, Germany.  

Of course I was a little nervous to go on my own. The nearly 5 hour train ride to visit relatives that I haven't seen since I was 10 was a little nerve racking.  But lets be honest, thinking about being late to class makes me anxious.  Sitting on the train, a million horrible scenarios went through my head.  What if I can't find them?  What if they don't recognize me?  I did send them a recent photo of me, so hopefully that helps.  What if I walk right past them and I miss them?  And then I looked down at my feet and I saw a dog's nose.  I giggled a little when the dog, who was laying underneath the seat in front of me looked up.  I must've been on the train for at least 2 hours and just now realized that dogs are allowed to travel around Europe as much as their owners.  Cool, right?

And then my worst nightmare happened.  The train was not able to stop directly in Stuttgart because they were doing repairs on the platform where my train was supposed to arrive.  I made quick friends with the dog owner in front of me who was travelling in the same direction.  Asked him for directions and we walked together to the next platform in Esslingen, Deutschland.  Where the heck is Esslingen?  Regardless. I made it onto the U-Bahn or S-Bahn (who knows?  I just followed everyone) and arrived at the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof about 15 minutes later than expected.  

I walked up to the platform where I thought my train would have arrived and then I a voice similar to my Oma's calls out "Marianne?"   Not my name.  But my mother's. I was happy to see that it was my great-aunt who was messing up my name.  My Tante Irene gave me a huge hug and her eyes filled up with tears.  She said something to the extent of "I wasn't sure if we were ever going to see each other again."  Then she asked if I recognized her (truthfully, I didn't fully remember how she looked -- but I recognized my uncle easily).  

They told me about all the hassle the went through to find me, asking information a few times, double checking and triple checking the time tables.  

We were just so happy to be together again.  She wrapped her arm around me, my uncle carried my bag and we walked to their car.  

Family is a wonderful thing.  I felt like I was at home visiting my own Oma when I was with them.  

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Thursday October 4, 2012

Mozarts Geburtshaus

Field trip to Mozart's birth house!

One of my courses this semester is Mozart and his world, which is taught in German.  It's a pretty sweet class.  The professor is a little old goofy man who really gets excited about Mozart.  Whenever he plays a piece for us on his CD player, which is at least once every 15 minutes, he dances along to it in his seat.  

The great thing about being in the city where history was made is real life FIELD TRIPS!  Instead of having class in the classroom, we met in front of Mozart's birth house just a 7 minute walk from the University. The tour was led by none other than my fantastic and entertaining professor.  He isn't an actual guide in the museum, but I'm sure that he knows as much or more than the tour guides themselves.  

Pictures include:

The ACTUAL first piece that Wolfgang Amade Mozart composed.  Menuett KV1

The FIRST violin that young Mozart played

And a group shot of me and my super small Mozart class. 

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Wednesday October 3, 2012

I went hiking up Kapuzinerberg with my friend Sam.  It's been something I've been wanting to do since I arrived in Salzburg, I'm so glad that I finally did it!  The views from the top were absolutely amazing.  It felt great to accomplish walking to the top, even though it isn't the highest mountain in Salzburg.  

Kapuzinerberg lies just east of the Salzach river and is literally just behind my student home on Linzer Gasse.  The walk up took maybe 45 minutes tops (including time to stop and take pictures and catch our breaths occasionally).  We ventured off the paved path onto the real Alpine hiking path. So cool!  

Along the way we saw our first monk of Salzburg too!  He had the whole getup on and everything: brown robe, white rope, cross around his neck, bald spot.  There is a standing monestary on Kapuzinerberg called Kapuzinerkloster.  It was built from 1599-1605 and still is an operating monastery today.  

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Salzburg at night and Sunsets over Salzburg.

Tuesday October 2, 2012

I really like hiking and taking in all the beauty around me.

I have to thank my Austrian friend Gerald for taking me halfway up Kapuzinerberg, the mountain just next to my student home, and for showing me this beautiful view. 

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Cafe Wernbacher

Wednesday October 3, 2012

Sitting, studying, and enjoying a Cappucino mit Schalg with my good friend Sam at a Cafe on a lovely Wednesday.  

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Studying portion of Study Abroad.

Wednesday October 3, 2012

At least I get to study in a beautiful cafe on a tree lined street outside on the patio with my good friends in Salzburg.  

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Stadt Berchtesgaden, Germany 

Saturday September 29, 2012

city of Berchtesgaden.  One of my favorite places in the world.

I'm so lucky to have made an Austrian friend who takes me to cool places like this!