My Morning Commute

My street, Liebhartsgasse, in the 16th District.
Thaliastrasse.
Walk past the playground...
...and the pool.
Wait for the Strassenbahn. Could take anywhere from 0-8 minutes.
On the Strassenbahn.
The Kebab - Pizza place! Delicious.
We're friends.
Into the U-Bahn Station.
Down the stairs.
The U3 Station. Dad would love it - the upper walls are mosaic.
On the U-Bahn.
Getting off at Stephansplatz.
To the street.
Up the escalator (the tension is building, I know...)
Walk down Kaertnerstrasse.
Past the construction/demolition.
Through the dust.
Down Johannesgasse.
And into IES!

Pictures from Week 2

We went into the mountains during out bus tour. This is a small part of Vienna. It was way too large to capture in one shot.
More Vienna, including the Danube.
The entrance to the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
A particularly creepy room in the museum...
One of my favorite paintings. It depicts the Tower of Babel.
These guys were awesome throat-singers.
The big screen in front of the Rathaus. This was "Cinderella."
The Wiener Markt, a few blocks from my apartment. It's where I buy my produce.
Bread at Wiener Markt.

First full week in Vienna

It's weird to think that I have only been in the city for a week. It feels like I've been here for a month, because home seems pretty far away. As a former camp counselor, I know that the best way to prevent homesickness is to keep the campers busy, so that's what I've been trying to do for myself. Still, when I'm sitting in my apartment on a Sunday, I can't help but think of my friends at DePauw and how they must be feeling after the first weekend on campus. I'm sure that as I get busy with classes and homework, and find a solid group of friends, I will start feeling at home in Vienna.

Here are some highlights from the week:

Monday, August 24th: Went grocery shopping, which is a pretty new thing for me. I bought bread, ham, cheese, jelly, peanut butter, cereal, milk, Nutella, and some fruit. At night I went to the Film Festival at the Rathaus, where they were showing Handel's "Semele," starring Cecelia Bartoli.

Tuesday, August 25th: Went to the Film Festival with Emily, Mark, Brianna, and a bottle of wine. We watched Prokofiev's "Cinderella" ballet.

Wednesday, August 26th: Went on a tour of the Kunsthistorisches Museum and saw a whole lot of amazing art. I'm excited to get a museum pass.

Thursday, August 27th: I sang fairly well at my Performance Workshop Audition, then went out with some friends.

Friday, August 28th: Started planning the week-long EuroTrip with Emily and Jorie. 7 cities in 10 days. So pumped!

Saturday, August 29th: Dil and his roommates had a dinner party at their apartment. Dil was dressed as a butler, and it was a fun night. Also, in the afternoon we had a bus tour of the City, and I added a lot of items to my Vienna To-Do list.

Sunday, August 30th: Today we're booking train tickets for the EuroTrip and going to the Film Festival (tonight's the last night) to see Tchaikovsky's "Eugen Onegin."

I love you all.

Apartment Pictures

My side of the room. The beds double as couches.
The two beds.
My closet is on the right.
The common room/dining area. Mark (in the white) is my roommate.
Maddes (striped shirt) and Kevin (brown) are also in the apartment, along with 3 others.
The kitchen. It looks a bit small, but has everything we need.

Mariazell Orientation Pictures

The four DePauw participants (Jorie, myself, Emily and Dil) at the hostel.
The hostel had a zipline!
A view of Mariazell from the hostel.
Downtown Mariazell. It was an adorable city, and reminded some people of Disneyland.
The Basilica.
Nighttime ziplining!
The lake at Erlaufsee, about ten minutes from Mariazell. Some of us hiked around it in the rain.
There are lots of ropes courses here. I think this was one of four I saw over the weekend.

Finally in the apartment

I'm sitting in my room in Vienna (finally). We left the mountains
today, then when we got back to Vienna, all 109 people in the program split up to find our apartments. One of my 5 roommates took a taxi with our luggage, and the rest of us walked (it took about 15 minutes). Our apartment is incredible. We have 3 double rooms, each of which has 2 desks, 2 beds, and 2 large closets. Also, there is an Austrian guy, about 25 years old, named Maddes who is staying in a single room in the apartment, so he has already shown us around a bit. Our apartment has 3 bathrooms (only 2 with showers) and a kitchen and living room, as well as 2 sound-proof practice rooms in the basement. We got pretty lucky. Most other music majors have to go into the city to practice, and those rooms aren't open 24 hours (ours are). Also, our landlady and landlord (an older couple) are very welcoming, and we have a cleaning lady who comes every week.

I just got back from eating my first meal in Vienna. Fried chicken and
french fries at a place called "Wienerwald." It was a fairly American
meal, I suppose, but delicious nonetheless.

AND NOW...highlights since my last post:

Friday, August 14th: Potluck at Mullet Park in Goshen, and a final bridge jump before leaving the continent. Also, an MYF reunion (which was awesome, even though Team Nexium Euchre had awful luck).

Saturday, August 15th: Said goodbye to some more friends.

Sunday, August 16th: Went to DePauw for the night. I got to have a gift exchange with LC, which was a great time (and also sad).

Monday, August 17th: DQ with Anne Lehman, LTOSTI (the annual viewing of "Lost Treasure of Sawtooth Island" at Lilly's house), and a final night with the guys in Goshen.

Tuesday, August 18th: Leaving the country. Dad drove me to the airport, and then I was on my own. The flights went well though.

Wednesday, August 19th: The four DePauw kids spent the night at Dil's friend Luke's apartment. Dil lived in Vienna for part of his childhood, and still has some friends in the city. It was great to see some familiar faces.

Thursday, August 20th: The first day of orientation. We took a bus to a hostel in Mariazell, a small town famous for Schnaps, gingerbread, and as a popular pilgrimage destination. The hostel was very nice, and we had a wonderful view of the city.

Friday, August 21st: I went into Mariazell and toured the Basilica, which I realized may be the oldest building I've ever been in (it's been there since the 13th century).

Saturday, August 22nd: We went to a lake, and it was absolutely beautiful. I'm posting pictures tomorrow.

Sunday, August 23rd: Arriving in Vienna, and finally moving into my home for the next 4 months.

Pictures coming soon.

I love you all.

4 days until departure

Hey everyone,

I've decided to keep a blog while I'm in Vienna this semester. I don't plan on posting a lot. The goal is to update it about every week, listing a highlight for each day. Pretty simple. I keep a journal, so if you want more stories or more details than I post here, let me know!

Peace

I love you all.