Paris In 4 days and 3 nights

Holly, Maria and I decided for our extended 10 day break from school to travel to 3 different places. First stop on our grand adventure was Paris. We took an overnight train to Paris in order to have more time. Needless to say 6 people in one tinny box sized room with luggage was not only cramped but I don't know how we found space for everything.

First day in Paris was fun but exhausting. We checked into our hotel which was pretty nice for the price. Then we decided to head to Notre Dame. The inside was just how I remembered it.

Just across the street was the Shakespeare and Company book store where we wondered over and looked at books for a good long while. After words we grabbed a quick dinner lunch before headed to the Louvre. We managed to get in free after showing our EU student ID cards (aka our Salzburg school ID). Tons of very nice art is inside that glass pyramid. Finally got to see the Mona Lisa and many paintings from slides in art history class.

The next day was jam packed. We decided to head out towards Versailles. We decided to take a special behind the scenes apartment look. One of the highlights was seeing this clock that was made to run non stop for 10,000 years and show the date, time, year, month, planet alignment and much more. We also got a chance to walk around the gardens and to see Marie Antoinette house.

Our final day in Paris was our "Grave Day" as Holly had nicknamed it. We decided to visit some of the famous graves. My favorite grave sight of the day had to be Claude Debussy. Not only have we analyzed some of his pieces but he gave the music world some great pieces of music. We also went down into the catacombs. Not my Favorite part of the day. It was a little to close to the face to death... After most of the day spent in the crematories, we decided to venture out see the Effie tower. We just made it in time to see the first sparkling of the lights. It was so awesome.

The night ended with a walk down the famous shopping street and some lights of the Moulin Rouge.

Venice

Venice was amazing! The trip started off a little rough though. We got into Venice by couch bus due to possible train striking. Not realizing that we would need to take the train out of the city to get to our hotel we bought tickets for the train. Only after much standing around and some confusion we found our train had decided not to leave the city until after 5pm. This meant we needed to take the public bus out of the city. That wouldn't have been so bad if we had known Italian or the stops had signs. There were several moments of Panic. After much travel we finally did make it to our hotel. That night we ate dinner in the small town we were staying in.

The next day we ventured back into Venice. Thankfully the train people got it together and stopped striking which made the commute there way less stressful. It was a perfect fall day, 65 and Sunny. Holly, Maria and I just decided to start walking in the general direction of one of the major plazas. The buildings were a pretty sort of old crumbling state.

We made it to the giant plaza and went into the Church that was made of so much gold. I have never seen so much gold in my life. It was pretty and interesting to look at the architecture and paintings inside. After much walking around we decided to find some lunch. One a remote side ally we found a family owned pizza shop where I am pretty sure it was the best pizza I have ever had in my life. We found a small plaza area and people watched while we ate lunch and enjoyed the sun. Then after we continued on our way we found an amazing gelato place. The tiramisu gelato that was to die for. We did make it onto a boat on the grand canal which was one of the highlights of the whole trip.

This week during the 10 day break Holly, Maria and I are headed to Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin!

Vienna

Last weekend was our group trip to Vienna which happens to be the capital of Austria. We took the bus there which left at 7:45 am sharp. There is no being late in this country buses and trains leave punctually. After riding for 3 hours in the bus we arrive at Vienna. Just enough time for a brief stop off at the hotel before the group begins a walking tour. So much to see! Tons of really cool looking buildings and in the center of it all was the main residence for the royal family.

That night Holly, Maria and I decided to go see the Magic Flute (one of my favorite Operas) At the Vienna Opera House. We were able to snag the last couple standing places right under the emperors box. For 4 Euros, it was a super good deal.

The performance was amazing and it was so cool to hear a celesta (a type of keyboard instrument) playing live along with the amazing singers.
Three hours of standing took its toll so we decided to go back and go to bed a little early.

The next day was the tour of the art museum. We saw some very famous paintings and got to observe the neat architecture of the building. After the art museum, Holly and I decided to go to the famous ferries wheel. Very cool but very scary.

After we met back up with Maria, Maria and I decided to head to the Nash market. It was full of colors and tons of food. We spend a good two hours trying to make our way through the market to see everything. Afterwards we met back up with Holly. Holly and I decided to go checkout the royal crypt but got sidetracked when we ran into the National Library.

This place had to be one of the coolest libraries I have ever seen. Bookshelves that went all the way to the ceiling and tons of paintings all over. After we take a few pictures, we finally headed to the royal crypt. We went down and for a crypt you were allowed to be super close to the tombs. It was creepy.... Interesting but creepy. Not to mention the one I really did not enjoy walking past was the last grandson of the ruling line who had just died in 3 months ago... pretty sure I have had my fill of grave yards and crypts for a long while.

After a quick dinner we headed back to the hotel exhausted. The final day in Vienna the group went to the summer palace. If I could afford it, this would be my dream house.

The whole palace was so elegant and every room had its own flare to it. The gardens and the maze added to its charm. The group finally made it back to Salzburg late in the afternoon and it was a such a relief to see the fortress.

This weekend it's off to Venice. Hopefully the train strike won't delay our travels! Until next time.

Budapest - Hungry

Greetings All!

Last weekend I went to Budapest. It was so much fun. First stop in the trip was to the Hungarian State Opera House. Very neat place. For $2.33 I was able to get an ok seat. Granted half the stage wasn't visible but nothing standing couldn't fix. To get to the Opera was super tricky. We got into the train station only to realize we had no idea how to get to the nearest metro station in order to get to our hostel. It also didn't help that everything was in Hungarian, which doesn't looking or sound like anything recognizable... After 4 metro stops and 2 tram stops Maria and I found our way to our Hostel (Home Plus Hostel). It was a one level hostel with 3 different rooms. We had booked a bed in the 9 person room but some Australians (the people who actually have kangaroos in there country) had decided to extend there stay. This meant we got to stay in the 4 person room for only 8 euros a night. Great deal for us. We changed and ran out to go to the opera and got lost yet again trying to get there in the dark and cold but we did manage to stumble across it in time to see the show.

The next day we decided to ask our guy in charge of the Hostel where he thought we should go. He was very helpful and directed us to several different place that were a must see. We chose to first start off the day with a trip to the local market.

There was so much to see! I have also never seen so many colors and signs all on one place at one time. We decided to wonder around the whole place and it was huge. Most people spoke English which was good. The only exception was the one lady I chose to go to, to get something. I am pretty sure I made this very scary Hungarian lady made as she started rambling in Hungarian to me after I was confused on what exactly she was asking me.

Maria and I then decided to go find some lunch. Our Hostel owner had recommended a place in the market. It is a kind of flat bread that you can put cheese and sour cream and all sorts of things on. It had to have been one of the best things I have eaten so far.

Our next adventure took us to the one of the famous bath houses. The one we went to used to be an old palace. It was about 40 degrees out the day we went... just a little on the chilly side but the water was a nice temperature of 90. The hot springs as we call them in the states were awesome and it was the perfect thing to do to unwind after a long train ride the day before.

Finally we decided to go check out the night life here in lovely Budapest. The big it thing there was these places called ruin pubs. They are cool local hangouts where old rundown buildings are turned into bars. The one we went to was super laid back. There was two levels and little rooms to hangout in that had bathtubs for couches and all sorts of other odds and ends. One of the boys working at the hostel had recommended we try the Hungarian schnapps that was supposed to be the best there. I tried the honey and pear, while Maria tried the honey and plum.

Before going to sleep we ventured back to the hostel and stopped at the tram station on the middle of the bridge. We found one the best views in Budapest and it was a great ending to a fun but fast weekend trip.