Spring Break Travels
This post is long overdue, and for that I apologize. But since it's taken me so long to get back to writing, I won't spend a lot of time introducing things, I'm just going to get right to it.
My spring break was over a month ago now, right at the beginning of April, but my adventures during that time are still worth blogging about. During the first week, I went to Bremen, Germany to visit my cousin Nathalie. She showed me all around the city and I got to meet a lot of her friends from university and from home. Some of you may be familiar with the story of the Bremen Town Musicians, but for those of you who aren't, I suggest reading over this brief summary of the Brothers Grimm tale: http://www.oceans09ieeebremen.org/UserFiles/File/Town_Musicians.pdf. The story explains why one of the main symbols of Bremen is the four animals (a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster) standing on top of one another. According to legend, if you touch the hooves of the donkey, then one of your wishes will come true! I was lucky enough to test this legend...I will let you know if it's true.
We also spent some time wandering around downtown Bremen and going to the Osterwiese, which is a bit like a state fair that they have around Easter time. I tried a few different foods, but my favorite thing about these types of festivals in Germany are always the Lebkuchenherz. They are essentially ginger bread with icing on them. I've actually never eaten one, but I frequently buy them just to hang up because I love how pretty and detailed they are.
Nathalie and I also spent a day in Hamburg. Yes, we were mostly shopping while we were there (those of you who know us will probably be rolling your eyes right now), but we did get a chance to look at a lot of the downtown area right at dusk, and the pictures we got were phenomenal.
And finally, on the last weekend, after a quick day trip to Bremerhaven to see a few very neat museums and eat some delicious fish, I was able to go back to Nienburg, where Nathalie grew up, and visit with the family. I love their house, and it was especially nice to be with family on Easter! The whole week was a great chance to practice my German, because the people I was around were mostly speaking in German. :)
And then on the Monday after Easter, I flew back to Vienna in the morning, came back to my room, did a quick load of laundry, unpacked, repacked, checked my emails, and then left for the train station with my friend Erin so that we could set off for the lovely Western Austria. We spent 5 days traveling across the west side and it was a really beautiful trip. The first two nights we were in Innsbruck, which is actually quite close to northern Italy. This was my favorite town by day. The colors of the building downtown were spectacular. They had so many neat stores that we could go to, and this was where I first discovered my new favorite store- Thalia! It's like Barnes and Noble + Starbucks + Staples all rolled into one giant store. For those of you who know my love of books, caramel frappucinos, and school supplies, you will understand why I could spend hours at this store. My other favorite thing about Innsbruck though, was the fact that we were literally in the valley of the mountains. On every side of the city, you just saw huge jet black mountains springing up with a light dusting of snow covering the tops. It was one of the most picturesque things I've ever seen.
After Innsbruck, we moved on to Hallstatt. If you go to Google images and type in "Austria," an image of Hallstatt is one of the first ones that comes up. Knowing we would be getting the small-town feel that we wanted from a town in Austria, Erin and I decided to stay for one night here. We actually stayed in Obertraun, which is across the lake from Hallstatt, because it was cheaper to stay on that side of the lake. But it really was a step back from all the craziness of the big cities we had been to. We had to take two different trains to get there, but once we got off in the town, everything was walkable. It was like going back to Lichtenberg, Germany, where my great-grandmother lived, except even smaller. Erin and I took a long walk around a few neighboring towns and even tried to find a grocery store just to prove that Obertraun had one, but alas, we failed at that. The next day, we took a ferry across the river to Hallstatt and alongside a great number of Asian tourists, took many photos from the ferry, once we got off the ferry, and all around Hallstatt.
It really was one of the most beautiful and quaint places I've ever been. We ventured inside of a church and had a few moments of peacefulness that I've been missing these last few months from being in a city all the time. We only spent about 24 hours in Hallstatt and Obertraun, but it was a great break from real life.
And finally, we made our way to Salzburg! I've already written a lot about Salzburg, so you've heard the highlights. Unfortunately, it was overcast and rainy the whole time we were there. But we were able to make it to a lot of the major sights regardless. Erin found the cutest cafe there- Cafe Diva- which I highly recommend for anyone who is looking for a cheap and delicious breakfast or some really good cupcakes! We also had a chance to go a museum that was doing a special exhibit on the real story of the Sound of Music. We learned about everything- from the book written by the true Maria, to the various German films, to the Hollywood versions, and to the many musicals. It was really fascinating to learn about what was true and what was just made up by Hollywood. My favorite part of the museum was getting to listen to the music in about 20 different languages. I spent maybe 20 or 30 minutes at this station with headphones on and clicking on various languages. It was so neat to hear how they adapted the words and even the tune sometimes! Also, when I was on the Sound of Music tour, I had the best Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel) I've ever had. They even added some warm vanilla sauce...
In all, I would say my spring break was very successful!