Austria 

Because I had the time of my life in Interlaken, thanks to Bus2Alps, I decided to book another weekend trip with them. This time I planned to go to Austria. I’d never really heard anything specific about the country, besides it being the birth place of the famous Marie Antoinette and the location at which the Sound of Music was filmed. Nonetheless, I was excited to see everything that Austria has to offer.

The bus ride was very different from the one to Interlaken. We only had one bus with the majority of its passengers being female. It was also a few hours longer. We arrived in Vienna just as the sun was starting to rise. Everyone piled off and dispersed to their rooms in the hostel. We had about an hour or two to shower, nap, and prepare for the long day a head.

The first thing on the schedule was a walking tour of the city. All 30 of us followed our guide through the streets of Vienna. Our first stop was to the royal family’s winter palace. The Hofburg Palace was grand in size and elegance. Because the structure houses the current President of Austria, we were not able to go inside. Instead, we walked around the gardens located in front of the Palace while our personal guide told us some information about the history surrounding the building.

Once everyone was done taking pictures, we were off to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. One of the girls I had booked the trip with, Katherine, is an art history major with a passion for Cathedrals. Her eyes got bigger as we walked through clusters of pigeons toward the 12^th century structure. To me, Cathedrals just look like the dribble castles I would make with sand on the beach when I was younger (my art history professor in Florence would cringe at that statement), but I know enough about them to respect the historical and symbolic entities that make them so important to Europe. I’m glad I was able to see it and learn about its’ history while in Vienna.  

The last stop on our tour was to Hotel Sacher for some of their famous chocolate cake. I’m not a fan of chocolate cake, but that particular one was so good I could have ordered a second if it weren’t for the urge to keep exploring Vienna.

After going through some of the museums and local shops, my friends and I met up with the rest of the group for the Schnapps Museum event. The owner of the museum talked to us about how the liquors were made and how they could be used to make the perfect beverage.

Once he was done, it was then time to try them all. He led us into a separate room that contained a bar lined with 20 different liquors. In front of each bottle, there were six shot glasses containing the specified alcohol displayed in the bottle.

In the hour that followed, the room became filled with the clinking of glass on glass and shouts of “Prost,” the German way of saying cheers. I had lost count of how many shots I’d taken after five. Once everyone had a sample of all the liquors, a line formed at the cash register for people to buy their favorite(s). 

By the time we left, everyone was feeling pretty good. My friends and I decided to get something to eat and hangout at the hostel before going to the concert at the Vienna Opera House.

I had never been to an opera before and I’m glad I was fortunate enough to attend one while in Vienna. It was a beautiful display of classical music, ballet dancers, and talented singers. If it weren’t for the fatigue I felt from the lack of sleep the night prior, I probably would have been more attentive. However, the concert was beautiful and the complementary glass of Champagne made it even better. It was the perfect ending to a great day.

Before we left Vienna, we took one last journey through Vienna to the Schonbrunn Palace. It was a magnificent structure surrounded by an endless green sea of gardens and walking paths. After touring the Palace, Katherine and I spent the rest of the afternoon walking the outstretched acres of land.  We loaded the bus again around noon and departed for Salzburg.

The three-hour trip went by quickly with the help of  Sound of Music. We arrived with a few hours of daylight left. The town was blanketed in a thick layer of snow, making the scene picture perfect. It reminded me of Stars Hollow from the show Gilmore Girls. I would have been perfectly content staying in Salzburg for another day or two to see it busy and alive during broad daylight.

 Instead of going to Mozart’s house, Katherine, Sam, and I opted on getting some hot cider and a giant pretzel before making our way up to Hoensalzurg Fortress that overlooked the town. By the time we reached the top, stars had begun freckling the night sky.   The view was truly breathtaking.  The suns’ dying light was barley penetrable through the mountain valleys, casting a shadow over the town and its’ inhibiters. The streetlights lit up below us, signaling the end to another day.

It was sometime in that moment that I truly feel in love with Austria.

The moon was fully visible when we boarded cable car to go back down. We were scheduled to meet the rest of the group for dinner at the Augustiner Braustubl, a local beer hall. I am not a big fan of beer but they also served traditional food and other beverages. I ended up getting an assortment of food that looked and tasted delicious along with two pints of beer. The cool thing about the Augustiner was the way in which their beer was served. Customers were asked to pick up one of the two-pint stone mugs and run it under cold water in order to change the temperature of the mug. You would then go to a station where the mug was filled to the brim with beer

I sat down at a table with the guide and ten friends. We shared stories of our study abroad experience thus far and enjoyed the great atmosphere. There was an old Austrian man sitting by himself at a table next to ours, one of the members at my table took it upon herself to give him some company. She ended up talking to him most of the night about his life in Europe.

Kathleen and I choose a younger demographic to hangout with. There were a group of Austrian guys all sitting together with some people we recognized from the tour group. A simple “Hello” turned into a two-hour conversation about the American and Austrian cultures. Kathleen and I sat between six shockingly handsome Austrians debating the different stereotypes of Americans. Even though most of them were true, we still held our own when the Austrians started to playfully mock us. We must have made a good impression because after they were done their beers, the guys invited Kathleen and I to a local Irish pub.

It turns out that Irish pubs are the place to be when the sun goes down in Salzburg. There was a live band playing in front of a large crowd when we walked in.  One of the guys bought the group a round of beer. We all hung around enjoying the band and off key groupies that tried to sing along. They played a few American hits, which was pretty awesome. Kathleen and I belted out the words to a Killers song, and to my surprise, so did everyone else in the pub. It was a night that I wish I could relive over and over.

Kathleen and I left for the hostel around 2am, right after we made a pit stop for a kabob of course. The next morning was rough due to the lack of sleep and excessive amounts of alcohol the night prior. But it didn’t matter; it was worth the minor headache knowing how much fun it had been to cause it. The one event planned for Sunday was the Sound of Music tour, which wasn’t too extraneous for someone nursing a hangover. Everyone doing the tour got onto a bus and sat back as the tour guide addressed us on the history behind the Von Trapp family.

Between each segment of information, the tour guide played some of the songs featured in the movie. As we made our way into the countryside, it was easy to tell why people owned lavish summer home in the mountains. The scenery was beautiful. The bus driver made a few stops for us to get out and take pictures. We went to Hellbrunn Palace’s park to see the Pavilion where the filming of “16 going on 17” took place. We also went to the homes where the Von Trapp family lived.  The movie leads viewers to believe that one location was used as the home for the family. However, two separate buildings played the part. The tour opened our eyes to the secrets behind Sound of Music. It was interesting and worthwhile to see how it was all put together.

I was really upset to leave the gorgeous country of Austria. Even though I missed Florence and looked forward to eating pizza and pasta again, I wish I had more time to explore the county responsible for the best weekend I’d ever had while abroad. When I somehow scrape up the money to return to Europe, Austria is on the top of my list of places to visit.

One of the museums we went to

Schnapps Event

Opera

Summer Palace

Salzburg

At the Augustiner 

Pavilion for "16 going on 17"

    The Adrenaline Capital of Europe 

          The first two weeks flew by and before we knew it we were all planning out first weekend getaway. I had been talking to our RA for some ideas and she suggested we look into Bus2Alps. She knew some of the guides and she that Bus2Alps was the best travel agency to use out of Florence. We set up a meeting with two members of the Bus2Alps crew. Everyone who was interested, about 15 of us, piled into one of the rooms while the guides told us about canyon jumping, night sledding, skiing and snowboarding in Interlaken.

         Ten of us were sold on the idea of a weekend trip to Switzerland. Since most of us were from Florida, the thought of seeing snow was of the upmost importance. I remember Melissa being so excited since she was a Florida native and had never seen snow before. With that being said, none of us were prepared for the cold. Each of us went out and bought leggings to wear under our pants as well as thick boots for trucking through the snow. All of our purchases came in handy in the long run since Europe has one of its harshest winters that year.

        The bus ride over started at 8pm on Thursday night. The drive was not very interesting due to the darkness but I was able to see some snow as we got into the mountains. We arrived in Interlaken around 3am and went straight to bed. Everyone from FSU was in the Balmers hostel. All the girls were in once big room together in bunk beds, which as extremely convenient throughout weekend as far as figuring out plans. We decided to wake up at 8am to book our activities: night sledding for that night and canyon jumping the next morning. The rest of the day we hung out and slept to make up for what we had missed the night prior.  After taking the day to relax, we went night sledding.

       Night sledding was an experience in itself. Driving up the side of a mountain was to be expected, but my blood pressure still rose when I saw a steep drop on the side of the road from the window of the van. I’m not a big fan of heights.  Once we arrived at the location to pick up our sleds, we took a trolley up to the trail. The trolley literally went up the side of the mountain. There were only 8 people allowed on it at once and it was pitch black outside so we were only able to make out the outline of the trees and rocks located a few hundred feet below us. I wanted to kiss the ground once we made it up to the top. Our group meet at the beginning of the trail and once the instructor showed us how to properly sled; we were free to try it ourselves.

        It was so much fun. Not many people can say that they’ve been night sledding in the Alps. As the instructor pointed out, there was only “white shit” (snow) and “black shit” (rocks and trees).  Snow was falling the whole time we were out which made the ride even better. The only sources of light were little glow stick necklaces that we were required to wear. Among the darkness, one could see little blinking lights and outlines of scattered bodies.

      When it was over, we all went back to a restaurant that was located on the mountain to have some fondue. That night my group decided stayed in since we were waking up early on Saturday to go canyon jumping. I was surprised that I had slept Friday night due to the knot in my stomach I had about canyon jumping. I woke up with it and insisted on only eating an apple to keep myself from getting sick

     When the sun finally came up and our alarms sounded, I was excited but nervous as hell. Because I am afraid of heights, I was a little on the edge about doing the jump. However, the stories from people who had been the previous day calmed me tremendously since they said that it was amazing and worth every Euro. We were scheduled to go around 10am. At 945, my two friends came up from breakfast and announced that the canyon jump had been cancelled. I was so upset. After all that build up and anticipation, we weren’t going to go. We decided to just take our chances and wait till Sunday morning to try and go again. For the rest of the day, we walked around Interlaken and enjoyed the sites. We went up to the top floor of a hotel to take pictures of the beautiful scenery and had hot chocolate. After that, we hung out and watched “Match Point” with some of the guides. In the evening we all went to a chocolate show that entailed learning about Swiss chocolate and how it was made.  It was a really cool experience. Interlaken was a beautiful area and had a lot to offer. I recall at some point during that day having the chance to met Mr. Balmer himself! He noticed a group of us just hanging out on the couch in the common area and came over to talk. He gave each of my friends and I a “Lucky Penny” that would potentially bring us love and good fortune. I carry that coin around in my wallet to this day.

     There was no point in going to sleep early since this was our last night in Interlaken. We all got ready and headed downstairs to Metro bar. The great thing about staying in Balmers was the fact that the place to be Friday and Saturday nights was just right downstairs. Metro bar was a generous sized room with a dance floor and seating area. By 11pm, bodies were packed into that place like a can sardines. It was so much fun. The environment was very relaxing so it was easy to make small talk with some of the locals and fellow travelers. It was definitely one of the best nights, and weekend trip, I’d had while in Europe. 

Balmers Hostel 

               
                                                          Before we left for night sledding

Chocolate show

Chaos in Flight 

For anyone who has endured the trials and tribulations of dealing with 3 or more connecting flights, I commend you.  Going from Tampa to Chicago, Chicago to London, London to Rome, then from Rome to Florence definitely ranks in the top 10 longest 24 hours of my life.

After Melissa, Sammy, and I embarked on our journey out of the states, it all went down hill. We lost Melissa in the airport in London for a good hour. Fortunately, we ran into each other within the massive maze of restaurants and commercial stores.  When we arrived in Rome, we had to make our way to the train station that was located a good 30 minutes from our airport and some how get on the correct train to Florence. A gypsy tried to help us as we stood in front of the big digital screen that contained an endless list of locations, times, and platform numbers. We finally ended up on the right train with our immense amount of luggage trailing behind us. There were stares and foreign exchanges from all the Italian’s on board at the sight of three American girls almost on the verge of tears from overwhelming joy. We were on our end route to Florence at last.

When we arrived at our home for the next four months, we were greeted by 15 or so strangers. We were just in time, for they were just about to leave in search of a nearby restaurant for dinner. Everyone decided on a pizza place that was a block away from our apartment. Only two men were working that night, one cook and one server, so we could tell by the look on their faces that they were not prepared. Nonetheless, the food was certainly satisfying.

After a long day of traveling, sitting down to some Italian pizza, red wine, and good company was the perfect way to kick start the semester. I enjoy looking back at that night, the moment in which the adventure truly began.

Taken just as we were about to fly over Lake Michigan on our way to Chicago

The wonderful eggs benedict Sammy and I had in the London Airport 

                                  

In Rome as we drove to the train station

On our train to Florence

Florence at last! 

                            Before the Departure 

The second I arrived at the Tampa International Airport, the reality of leaving for the next fours months to live in Florence, Italy sunk in. My thoughts seemed to match the pounding of my heart, for everything was running through my mind at a rate of a thousand miles a minute. Images of Tuscan fields, rustic architecture, and European men flooded my field of vision. I swear I could already taste the fine Italian wine and the creamy gelato. Everything was hours within reach.

Saying farewell to my parents was hard, but knowing I was to spend that semester in one of the greatest cities in Europe seemed to dull the pain. I also knew that the next 24 hours were going to feel like an eternity, for my 2 friends and I were about to embark on our lengthy journey to Florence.

But what I did not foresee was the experience that was to unfold during those months. Presently, I would say that the expectations I had accumulated before stepping foot on that plane out of Tampa are not worthy of the people, food, and works of art I encountered while abroad. My days were filled with scouring Florence and other foreign cities in Europe while the nights consisted of going to local pubs with friends and new acquaintances.

Between January 4^th and April 19^th I traveled to 8 different countries, 2 continents, and over 15 cities. Every moment was unforgettable. Follow my blog as I retell one of the best semesters of my life thus far.