Ich liebe dich, Berlin

This weekend has been one of the most fun and yet oddly relaxing weekends of my semester abroad so far! After a long week where I actually did a lot of schoolwork, I was so excited to finish my German test on Friday morning and head to the Vienna airport with Elise, Orli, and Emily. We were flying to Berlin, the capital city of Germany, situated in the east part of the country! I've never been to Berlin before, or even Germany, and had heard amazing things from my friend, Liz, who worked in Berlin all summer, so I was beyond excited to experience the city she adored so much. In addition, this would be our first trip (unless you count Bratislava) alone during the semester. We chose the hostel, the itinerary, the restaurants, and everything. I was feeling quite accomplished when I printed off the weekend plans I had drawn up, and made sure to brief everybody as we took the OBB train from the city center to the airport. 

The Austrian Airlines flight was only an hour long, and had I barely shut my eyes to take a nap before they had announced our descent into Berlin. It's so convenient being in Vienna, because it's so centrally located in Europe! Once we had disembarked, we figured out how to take the bus into the city and catch a train from Hauptbahnhof to our hostel, PLUS Berlin, in the Kreuzberg area of the city. After taking a look at the U-Bahn and S-Bahn network map, I can honestly say I am thrilled that I chose to study abroad in Vienna. The German transport network was so convoluted and huge, and it took us several minutes to figure out which train to take to Warschauer Platz where our hostel was, and then another few minutes to figure out the right platform. Thank goodness we had all packed so lightly, because we were wandering around, completely lost, for a little while!

                    

 

The two transportation maps above: Berlin on the left and Vienna on the right. See which one is more complicated?!

We made it to Warschauer Platz and got off the S-Bahn. I was shocked at where we were. The area was completely graffitied and there was a lot of trash. Hipsters and goths were wandering around, moving from the platform where we were standing to the bridge near the U-Bahn station, tram stop, and road. Where on earth was this hostel I'd chosen? We cautiously made our way across the bridge and through a pedestrian tunnel where a few grungy men were begging for money "for weed and beer," according to their tasteful cardboard signs, while singing to their guitars. Once on the other side of the tunnel, we quickly located our hostel and were extremely pleased to see how nice it was. In fact, this was all of our first times staying in a hostel, and this hostel was incredible. PLUS Berlin was clean, the staff were friendly, and the place was modern and cool. Luckily, despite Emily and Orli booking their spaces separately from Elise and I, we managed to get into the same room, right above where the restaurant, bar, sauna, pool, and "beach" area where. Prime location. And we didn't have to share with random guys, because Elise and I had booked a mixed 4-bed dorm room!

PLUS Berlin Hostel! I can't recommend it enough. If you go to Berlin, STAY HERE!

After settling in quickly, we left the hostel and walked about 5 minutes to the East Side Gallery, the most well-preserved part of the Berlin Wall. I have been desperate to see the remaining parts of the Wall ever since 8th grade, when I wrote my research paper on "The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall." I remember learning so much from writing that paper, and surprised myself in knowing random facts and pieces of information that I could tell Orli, Elise, and Emily about the Wall. The Wall was such an amazing thing to see after remembering all the facts from my paper.

Me in front of the Berlin Wall! Seven years after writing my paper, I made it!

View along the Berlin Wall

The wall was covered in graffiti and murals, and there was even a photo exhibit on the not-as-graffitied Eastern side, depicting walls around the world that separate people. The images were quite powerful. The Western side had lots of graffiti, but also a lot of beautifully painted murals. It was so colorful!

Emily, Elise, Orli, and I in front of graffiti on the Berlin Wall

Yes, I signed my name on the Berlin Wall

Musician playing in front of an amazing mural on the Wall

After we all signed the Berlin Wall with our names, we walked the entire length of it, admiring the murals, until we made it to the next S-Bahn station to go to the center of Berlin. At Freidrichstraße, we got off the train and started walking towards the Reichstag building. The city center looked more similar to downtown Pittsburgh, just so much more massive. After being in Vienna for so long, this city seems enormous! It took us over 45 minutes to cross the main part of the city! 45 minutes on public transportation in Vienna gets us from school back to the Villa! The center of Berlin wasn't as graffitied as the area where we were staying, but it was still a bit dirty-looking, though not disgustingly so like our S-Bahn stop. The grey clouds overhead might have added to the look. 

We walked along the river and saw the tip of the Berliner Dom building, which was beautiful, and eventually made it to the Reichstag building. The trees around the building were all turning red and looked gorgeous in the late afternoon sun, which had just come out from behind the clouds. The Reichstag was such a pretty building; I can't believe it was burned down! Angela Merkel and the Bundestag (Parliament) are lucky it's been restored so well after such a long time. What a great place to meet...the view from the Dome shows the whole city of Berlin!

Beautiful red leaves by the Reichstag Building

Side of the Reichstag

Front of the Reichstag

After encountering two Israeli men who spoke to Orli in Hebrew, we shook them off when they invited us for a drink and then clubbing by saying we had no idea where our hostel was when they kept asking, and walked towards what looked and sounded like a large music festival. The music was not good; the singers were all older and singing oldies, but changing the lyrics to German. However, the numerous food stands and amusement park games made it a fun atmosphere! We walked through, towards the giant Ferris Wheel at the opposite end of the musicians' stage, and grabbed some delicious grilled red pepper and döner kebab wraps from a Turkish food stall. I love how prominent kebabs and wraps and falafel are in Germany and Austria!

Emily, Orli, and Elise with the stage and Brandenburg Gate behind them

World War II Memorial

As we ate our wraps, we passed by the World War II Memorial and then turned around to walk back towards the stage as we realized that the famous Brandenburg Gate was behind the singers! We couldn't figure out a way to get to the front of the gate to take a look at the former city gate of Berlin, but instead stumbled across the Memorial of the Murdered Jews around the corner. It was quite an interesting memorial, and if I hadn't known what the Memorial looked like, I would have thought it was a piece of modern artwork in the middle of a square. Grey, rectangular stones protruded from the uneven, wavy ground at varying heights, making it almost like a creepy maze. It was interesting to walk around inside, and also much warmer than out in the wind (it was starting to get really cold), and even more fun to walk on top of the stones to see the entire square and surrounding areas.

Memorial of the Murdered Jews in Europe - interesting conceptual design. It received a lot of criticism about being unnecessary and not really being a memorial

It cost over 25 million Euro to build!

The "Beach"...

Soon, the temperature became too cold for all of us to bear, so we made our way back to the S-Bahn train station and eventually made it to the end of the line, where our hostel was located. We checked out the scene at the hostel bar, which was really nice, and met two Manchester guys who invited us for a cigarette out on the "beach," which was basically sand, beach chairs, and beach umbrellas enclosed against the side of the hostel. We politely declined the smoke and drink, not only because none of us are into that, but also because the men must have been around thirty or so. Not interested. It made it awkward seeing them the next morning at breakfast, where they ordered a beer before 9am...Those Brits.

Falling asleep at 11:30 was beneficial for all of us, and let us get up around 8am the next morning without any problems. Elise and Emily ate breakfast at the hostel buffet (and snagged Orli and I a roll and some tea), and then we made our way through the complex net of public transportation to Schreiber Platz. Now, nothing of genuine interest is at Schreiber Platz, at least not of touristy, historical, or cultural interest, but there happens to be a mall with a Primark there. None of the others had ever been to Primark, it being a British store, and I thought it might be an interesting experience for them because they all wanted to shop for cheap clothes. Three hours later, after losing each other in the huge store and battling the crowds to find each other once again, we all had made a few purchases. I didn't go overboard, seeing as its Primark and I can go in London, but the others got some good hauls. I'm glad they enjoyed themselves, but I was so ready to leave and see the city after sitting outside the store eating pineapple from the supermarket and people-watching for almost two hours while waiting.

We took the metro back to the center of Berlin to see Checkpoint Charlie where another part of the Wall was, the US Army checkpoint that still stands there, and a really cool outdoor exhibit about the checkpoint. The checkpoint was the designated crossing between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. I know that many people attempted to flee Eastern Berlin, which was under Soviet and Communist rule, and learned of one of the most famous deaths, Peter Fletcher's. The 18-year-old tried to escape from East to West Germany and was shot in the pelvis by the wall. He was left lying by the wall for an hour, bleeding to death, before East German border guards moved him away. It was quite a chilling story, and there were so many more escape stories, capture stories, and deaths that occurred at Checkpoint Charlie.

Part of the Berlin Wall outside the Checkpoint Charlie Museum 

The US Army Checkpoint at Checkpoint Charlie

The outdoor exhibit

Pieces of the Berlin Wall now adorned with murals

After looking through the exhibit and seeing more pieces of the Wall that have been painted with brightly colored murals, we walked past Bethlehemkirchplatz where we saw a very interesting sculpture and a metal framework sculpture of the Bohemian Bethlehem Church. The original church was a gift from King Friedrich Wilhelm I to the Bohemian exiles allowed to settle in Berlin after 1732 when they were forced to leave their homes because of their Protestant faith. It was damaged during World War II and then completely demolished by the East German authorities in 1963, so now, a metal sculpture stands in its place.

Bohemian Bethlehem Kirche

The Walk signal for pedestrians. So cute!

We walked past Potsdamer Platz, one of the busiest traffic intersections in Berlin that was destroyed during World War II and then rebuilt to what it is today, on our way to the front of the Brandenburg Gate. On the way, we saw lots of grey and neutral colored buildings in very simple designs. They were nothing like the amazing architectural buildings in Vienna or Prague. They seemed to be very basic, very Communist-looking. I found that interesting. 

See the metal face outline?

We got to the front of Brandenburg Gate and managed to catch an all-male breakdance troupe perform. They weren't too bad, but they weren't amazing performers. Perhaps they'll keep practicing for the next time I'm in Berlin. 

Elise and I in front of Brandenburg Gate

The breakdancers trying...

Fall in Berlin is gorgeous (Unter den Linden)

We walked back around Brandenburg Gate and picked up some food from the music festival that was still there from the night before, and began to walk all the way down the festival lane, which was called Unter den Linden, named after the gorgeous Linden trees lining the road. Fall has definitely begun, because all the trees were a honey, golden-yellow color and looked absolutely beautiful as we got away from the food stalls and bad music. It became a very peaceful walk towards the Victory Column, commemorating Prussian victory during the Prussian-Danish War after 1864. The way you get to the actual base of the column, because its in the middle of a traffic circle, is an underground passage-way, similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. We walked up to it to take a closer look at the golden woman atop the tower. The weather was cool and the sun wasn't bright, so we just hung out at the bottom of the column before planning our next move. Orli and Elise were confronted by a Spanish family asking where the Primark was (they saw Elise's large bag), and Orli and Elise, both knowing Spanish, attempted to reply in Spanish, before realizing they were mixing in German! I had the same problem earlier when I offered to take a photo of two Spanish ladies in front of the Berlin Wall. I asked them perfectly if they'd like me to take a photo of them, and when they said "Por supesto! Querías uno tambíen?" I replied with, "Ja, bitte. Danke!" before realizing my mistake. In the end, we all switched to English anyway. So that was a fail...

View of Victory Column down Unter den Linden

Victory Column

I led the way to our next destination, the Bellevue Palace, the official residence of the German President. It was on the banks of the Spree River, outside the Großer Tiergarten Park where the column was. I think it's wonderful that the name literally means "beautiful view" because it's situated in such a nice area overlooking the water.

The River Spree

Orli, Emily, and I in front of the Bellevue Palace

Our bus came across the street as we were taking our final photographs in front of the palace and we made a mad dash across the busy road to clamber onto the full bus. We were headed for St. Hedwig's Cathedral (literally only going because the name, at least in my case), the Humbolt Universität, the Staatsoper, and Gendarmenmarkt. 

St. Hedwig's Cathedral!

Universität

In Gendarmenmarkt, we saw the three notable landmarks of Berlin: the French Church (which isn't actually a church...) and the German Church on either side of the rectangular platz, with the beautiful Konzerthaus inbetween. We took a rest on the steps of the French Church and soaked up the beautiful view as the sky began to get darker and we listened some smooth jazz by a street performer nearby. It was very relaxing. The square had a great atmosphere; there were also lots of posh restaurants, cute cafes, and trendy little stores around the area that I would have loved to have had time to explore more fully. But by this time, we were all getting a bit tired and so we started for the hostel.

French Church and German Church in background

Konzerthaus Berlin and German Church in Gendarmenmarkt

Elise, Emily, and I tried the Greek Salad at the hostel restaurant when we got home, and found that it wasn't too bad. The area that we were staying in is one of Berlin's hippest, youngest, and most definitely coolest parts of the city. Berlin in general is a very young city, but this area was super hip. I loved that we were staying here! Orli and I set off to explore a bit more later that evening, around 10pm, while Emily and Elise decided to take an early night. 

Orli got a kebab from the stand near the S-Bahn stop and we walked around the district. There was bar after bar along many of the streets we went to, graffitied walls inbetween, and then a few clubs and cafes here and there. It was similar to Paris' Montmartre area or Bastille area. We even passed a few little shops! I really wish we had more time in Berlin to explore this area, because we just so happened to be in one of the most fascinating parts of the city! 

Just a girl with her kebab

We had tried to go out to go to a bar called Mojito that Liz had told me about, but Orli and I ended up not finding it and having more fun just wandering around in the cool evening air. There were so many things to see and so many people hanging out outside or at the bars or cafes, and the atmosphere was very young and hip. I really liked it, though the hipster-grunge type isn't usually my scene. I really want to bring Zaynee here to explore with me next summer. She may not know it yet, but the Malik sisters are going to take Berlin again in the summer. I need more time here!

Some interesting graffiti

Orli and I did well, waking up at 7:30am like Elise and Emily after getting back at quarter to midnight, and we all quickly packed our things and checked out of the hostel, though we left our luggage in storage. Liz had told me about a waffle place that I absolutely had to try in Prenzlauerberg and so I looked up other interesting things in that area and stumbled across the Mauerpark Flohmarkt (flea market) that happens every Sunday. Basically, I planned our morning to consist of flea market shopping and waffle consumption before we flew back to Vienna. It sounded like a perfect morning to me. And it ended up being the most amazing morning ever!

Buildings along Oderberger Straße

The flea market was incredible! It rivaled Paris' Marché aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves and even the Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen that I visited and adored this summer with my friend Brooke. We came back with antique jewelry and vintage designer scarves this summer, and today, I expected to find something equally intriguing. I was not disappointed. The colorful leaves over the flea market also put me in a great mood (I just absolutely love fall weather!) and I hit the ground running, switching between antiques, shoes, jewelry, clay mugs, clothes, trinkets, vinyl records, musical instruments, and more. There was such a strange assortment of items and you could literally find anything here! I had so much fun walking around and conversing with traders in my limited German (I basically said "Hallo", "Wie viel kostet es?", "Danke" and lots of "Ja"s when they continued to speak to me in German) and ended up leaving the market two hours later with a new shirt, scarf, and two vintage photographs...all for 4.50 Euro. Not a bad haul for a morning before 10:45am!

Flohmarkt! I almost bought mom two of those red mugs (but transporting them would have been close to impossible. Sorry Mom :( Let's go back to Berlin and get them!)

Can you see me?

Next stop, Kauf dich Glücklich, the waffle breakfast restaurant Liz had told me about and I had hyped up since leaving for Berlin. It was already getting busy around 11am, so we found a table in the cute, cozy back room quickly and then went up to order our waffles. My powdered sugar and chocolate syrup and fruit salad waffle came out quickly and was the most scrumptious thing I think I've eaten since coming abroad. I literally cannot even describe how happy I was to have made it to Kauf dich Glücklich and have a delectable breakfast. Thank you Liz, for the recommendation! It's become my new favorite brunch cafe and I need to bring Hanaa here to try the crepes and waffles and gelato, too (they have it all!). It was the perfect end to the morning.

My new favorite restaurant!

My powdered sugar-chocolate-fruit salad waffle and hot chocolate breakfast!

Berlin, though seemingly difficult to navigate at first, was an amazing city. I wasn't sure I liked it when I first arrived, but two days in the city seeing the tourist sites as well as those places off the beaten track (such as the Mauerpark Flohmarkt and Kauf dich Glücklich! Can you tell I'm obsessed?) made me fall in love with the city and need to come back again to visit. Two days was just a taste of everything Berlin had to offer. I need to go and soak in the atmosphere and lifestyle for longer. However, our trip was fantastic and I had such a good time. I'm glad I planned it out and got to do almost everything I wanted to do, especially the waffle place and flea market! I can't wait to plan my next trip, now that I'm back home in Vienna (and though it's so cool that I left the country for the weekend, being home in Vienna is so great).

Ich leibe dich, Berlin!

Wien to Wachau

This weekend, I got to put my tour guiding skills to use and take my friend from Emory, Mukundha, around Vienna. He visited from Prague, where he is studying abroad this semester, and is only 5 hours away from Vienna. Obviously, with this much space in The Villa, I offered to let him stay here, even though we don't know each other too well. Why get a hostel alone if I have so much extra room??

Mukundha arrived on Friday evening, and I met him at Schottentor station to take him to the villa to deposit his things. Then, we were going straight out with Elise, Meghan, and Orli to eat Pakistani food at our favorite student Pakistani joint! I love that I can just eat piles of chicken at Deewan for next to nothing! It was nice having a new face around the table, and we got to listen to all of Mukundha's stories about his semester so far in Prague. I loved Prague when I visited a couple weeks ago, but don't think I'd be able to live there. It feels too small! I think Vienna is the perfect size, bordering on the smaller side of other cities I've visited. However, there are still areas I have yet to explore and I can't wait to do so!

Late night out in Vienna with Meghan and Orli

After we finished eating, Elise went home and we walked Orli to her tram stop so she could go back to her apartment. Then it was just Mukundha, Meghan, and I. It was a clear night and I wanted to show Mukundha a few sites even though it was dark, so we walked along Ringstraße past Rathaus, Parliament, Museumsquartier, and through the Hofburg and Heldenplatz to the ruins of old Vienna. Lucky for Mukundha, I love to remember quirky facts about Vienna and made sure to add all the odd details in as I described each place. Meghan, being a history major, seems to have an incredible memory for interesting historical facts as well, and she definitely spiced up our tour as we got to the ruins and walked towards Kartnerstraße. We made quite a duo giving that tour late at night! And it wasn't a short walk -- it took us about half an hour to make it to Zanoni & Zanoni, Meghan's favorite gelato place. Despite the chilly night air around Stephansplatz, Meghan and Mukundha both got gelato as we concluded the tour by checking out Stephansdom and the Oper.

Now that I've given one brief tour of district 1, I know I'll be able to show my parents around and give them all the interesting details and tidbits that I've picked up from different places. My mom loves things like that, so hopefully she'll be impressed when she visits in November!

The next morning, I was taking Mukundha to check out Vienna's famous Naschmarkt and, since it was a Saturday, the flea market right next to Naschmarkt. Though we left quite early, the place was packed by the time we arrived there! I myself hadn't been to the flea market part of Naschmarkt yet, and was intrigued. I didn't have too much time to dwell, other than to "ooh" and "ahh" over the gorgeous pashmina scarves and large Indian designed wall cloths (so I'll definitely be heading back the first Saturday I'm free!), because Mukundha and I were on a mission to buy berries and orange juice for the brunch we were attending.

Naschmarkt in the morning

Aneyn had invited me to her apartment next to the Naschmarkt on Durergasse for crepes and I couldn't let her make all those crepes for us and not bring anything! So, Mukundha and I bought some berries and OJ along and went over to her place. And her apartment was incredible! It was so much homey-er than the Villa, as nice as my place is, and just felt so much more European and something I would have chosen for myself had I had the option (I will never decorate my house with Ikea furniture, like the Villa has). It wasn't huge but it wasn't small at all. There were three people in a room a bit bigger than mine and they even had a sitting room with television and then another bedroom for two. The kitchen was small and there was only one bathroom for five girls and the RA, but other than that, I loved it. The interior design and architecture was what I envisioned a traditional Viennese apartment to look like. The spiral stairs up to their flat added to the elegance. I would have traded with Aneyn in a heartbeat...if I could bring my friends in to live with me. I was only slightly jealous, and even more jealous when Aneyn's crepes were fabulous (I've never liked crepes until now!) because I'll never be able to make them myself! Mukundha and Aneyn got along really well and we were sitting around the table chatting for a while, before Mukundha and I took our leave. It was an excellent morning with some cultural sightseeing, good food, and good company.

Once we left Aneyn's, I took Mukundha to Schloß Schönbrunn to experience the royal palace. We had the most gorgeous weather, and it was even warm out! So, as we walked around the back of the palace to the gardens, Mukundha said he wanted to climb to the terrace atop the hill in the distance: another part of the palace. I happily agreed, despite wearing poor hiking shoes, because last time I had come and wanted to climb up, there wasn't a general consensus of agreement. 

It was literally the most perfect day to see Schönbrunn

It was quite a walk, but the view was well worth it. Thank goodness the weather was so clear and sunny! From the top terrace, which looked like a miniature of the palace, you could see all of the gardens and palace, as well as beyond, into the city of Vienna. I pointed out Stephansdom, the Hofburg, and my district (or where I thought it was) to Mukundha and we took a couple photos before starting our walk back down through the trees along the side of the main walkway. We couldn't have chosen a better day to visit Schönbrunn!

View of the back of Schönbrunn and Vienna

Mukundha chose the pose for this...

Our next stop was to the Belvedere. I think it's my favorite building in all of Vienna, because it's out of the way on the edge of the 6. Bezirk (6th district) and in such a quiet place, and the architecture is incredible. It's a beautiful building from the front and back. I could spend hours reading on a bench under the trees by the pool in front of the summer palace. Mukundha thought it was beautiful too, and we sat down on one of those benches and rested and talked for a while before moving on. It's nice getting to know him outside of our student organization at Emory, because I didn't know him at all before!

See why this is my favorite historic site in Vienna?

Mukundha and I in front of the Belvedere

Just enjoying my heiße schokolade and tart!

From the Belvedere, we went to see Kartnerstraße and Stephansdom in the sunlight. I also showed Mukundha the amazing, Gothic interior of the cathedral before taking him to an IES favorite, Pasha Falafel and Kebap stand outside our Palais, for a falafel sandwich. It was around 3pm, so once we had devoured our food, we walked around the Royal Opera and Albertina before heading to Palmenhaus for afternoon coffee (you just can't skip teatime!). It was the same kaffeehaus I had been to previously and loved. Mukundha really wanted to try a sachertorte, so we settled down in the sunny cafe. While he tried the famous Viennese dessert, I opted for a little raspberry tart. It was delicious, though I'll never be able to replace my Parisian favorites.

Aneyn had told us about Austria's own Oktoberfest happening in the Prater today called Wiener Wiesn, so Mukundha and I, seeing as neither of us were going to Munich over the three weeks of Oktoberfest (honestly, that much beer and sausages around the place doesn't exactly appeal to me that much), decided to check it out and celebrate Oktoberfest our own way. Prater was absolutely packed with women in drindls and braids and men wearing lederhosen. I actually find them quite flattering on guys, despite how short the pants are!

Wiener Wiesn at Prater

We pushed our way through the throngs of people holding massive beer mugs and gigantic pretzels and singing traditional songs in German in their traditional garb (we were the ones looking out of place in our modern clothes!) and experienced our own Oktoberfest. Then we hit the actual amusement park and I showed Mukundha all the rides, though he didn't want to do the swings with me. Maybe I can convince my dad to do it with me when he comes in a couple weeks!

My Instagram of the swings!

Going out to Ride Club

Personally, I was completely exhausted when we got home about two hours later. Staying up late talking last night and giving the night tour, as well as doing a ton of walking all over Vienna today and giving another concise tour of the city really wore me out. But Mukundha was desperate to party in Vienna, so who was I to stop him? Evan and I gathered up a few friends and had a small pregame at our Villa (which mainly consisted of watching youtube videos and laughing at the hilarious parodies of Miley Cyrus' song, "Wrecking Ball") before going out to Ride Club in the 9th district. Unfortunately, we left the Villa after midnight, so the trams were running very infrequently. Since it was cold out, we didn't want to stand around and wait, so the group of us decided to walk. It really isn't that far, at least not to me, and I was even in heels! We finally made it to the Währinger Straße U-Bahn to meet Meghan and get to the club, which had no cover charge for girls (!). It actually turned out to be a really good club with a lot of people, good music, and dancing. The only unfortunate thing was how often someone shoved by us to walk somewhere else. By 2:30 am or so we had enough of the jostling crowds and the music was starting to be mostly German songs we didn't know, so we left. However, the evening had been a lot of fun! I think it was my first really fun clubbing experience in Vienna!

The next morning, we struggled waking up. We hadn't gone to bed until after 4am and we had wanted to wake up early to take the train to Melk in the Wachau Valley. It looked like we weren't going to be going, since we left the house around 11am after dragging ourselves up. But we went to the train station anyway, just to check if we could still get to Melk, and there was a ticket for a train in 20 minutes! Mukundha grabbed a Viennese pastry (Nußebagel, because he had a Topfenkolatche yesterday at Naschmarkt) for breakfast and we made it onto the 12:04 train bound for Melk!

Just saying hello to Schubert

An hour and a half later, we had arrived in the absolutely tiny town. The day was grey and cloudy and so cold compared the day before, but it wasn't really anything to complain about. I love fall weather, but I wished I had worn longer pants instead of ankle crops! Looks like it's time to put those away until next year. From the station, we walked through the Stadtpark and saw a bust of Schubert. We made it into the historic town center, and were amazed by how tiny it was, yet how much construction was happening. It was nice to just wander around the sleepy town though.

The teeny town of Melk

Melk Rathaus (City Hall for those of you who can't remember German)

Bikes in a small side street

Rising high above the town was Melk Abbey, the most significant draw to this tiny town in the beautiful Wachau Valley. Though the front was covered in construction (typical...), it was an astonishing sight. I can't believe this Benedictine monastery has been there so long. King Leopold II gave one of his castles to a monk in 1089 and the impressive Baroque abbey has been there ever since. Mukundha and I hiked up narrow cobbled streets and climbed hundreds of stairs to get to the entrance of the abbey, still admiring it's beauty.

Construction around the front of Melk Abbey

Inside, we bought tickets from a friendly boy about our age who tried to speak with me in German when he noticed that I knew a few basic words. It didn't go too well. I was able to pick out about three words from his one-sided conversation. Obviously that ten day break from intensive German was not beneficial for me. I'd better study a bit more.

Entrance to the Abbey up on the hill

You can definitely tell this was once a palace

The first courtyard

Mukundha and I toured the inside of the Abbey, which had been converted into a museum. Most of it was in German, so aside from informing Mukundha of random words I knew at every other display, we didn't really get the gist of the artifacts. But the museum had been done up very nicely and it was amazing to be walking through the actual abbey and seeing some of the gorgeous (and very palatial) rooms.

Melk Abbey Museum

Stunning room near the front of the Abbey, overlooking the town and Danube in the valley

View of Melk from out the windows of the room pictured above

We even got to stand out on the front of the abbey (by where all the construction was...maybe because this is low tourist season now) and see the Danube River, Wachau Valley, and the little town of Melk below us. It was an incredible view, and I rather liked that the weather was cloudy and cold, I'm not really sure why. Behind us, the facade of the church in the abbey rose up from the cobblestones below us.

Me outside in front of the Melk Church

The next room we entered took my breath away. It was a library, reminding me of the Long Room in Trinity College in Dublin when I visited the Book of Kells this summer. It was stunning. I love the way old libraries are set up and how beautiful all the books look and how well preserved and cared for they are. No pictures were allowed in the manuscript library...but I knew I had a blog to write so that didn't stop me!

 Above: My photographs of the manuscript library

The Melk Manuscript Library

As we walked out of the library, we came across an amazing spiral staircase that I just had to get a photo of:

I just loved the staircase

Once we climbed down the staircase, we walked into a room that literally took our breath away. It was the inside of the church. The ceilings were about 50 feet high and everything was gold and gilded and so extremely ornate. It was such a lovely church. Mukundha had to sit down and just admire for a good ten minutes because he said he had never seen anything so beautiful. I was just as amazed, and I've managed to see quite a few churches in my past.

Church of the Abbey

Hi from Melk Abbey Church!

It took some coaxing, but I eventually managed to get Mukundha out of the church after almost 25 minutes and up to the Bastillion Tower near the entrance of the Abbey. From the top, we could see the gardens and little pink house that overlooked the Wachau Valley, as well as more of the town of Melk. It was quite pretty up there, but very windy, so we quickly climbed back down to go explore the gardens and finish our tour of the incredible Melk Abbey.

Atop the Bastillion Tower, overlooking Melk Abbey entrance and the town of Melk

Gardens

Mukundha pensively admiring Melk

Melk in Wachau Valley

Mukundha's bus back to Prague left from Vienna at 19:40, so we got home in time for him to collect his things and head to the Praterstern stop. I hope he had a good time in Vienna and saw everything he wanted to see. I had fun showing him around my city and have come to know it even better myself now! I'm so excited to show my parents around and tell them the history of the city and speak German to people for them (though I'll probably switch to English after the first few sentences). Before that, however, I want to find even more secrets within the streets of Wien so I can truly start feeling like the city has completely become my home.

First Week of (Real!) School

The semester has officially started! Like, officially. After our ten day break, we got back to Vienna (and I can't tell you how amazing it was to be back to our familiar surroundings...I was even excited to see German because I could understand more of that than I could of Czech, Polish, or Hungarian!) and started classes the next day, on Monday. I have class every day at 9am, so I can tell I'll be getting up early and sleeping early (or just getting no sleep) every day. My classes are Arts, Entertainment, and Cultural Events Management, International Organizations, Europe Beyond the Nation State, Austrian Youth Cultures, and German. It's actually a really interesting schedule! So far my classes are all going well and I like them. Even getting up at 6:15am every day isn't too difficult...yet. When the sun starts rising after I've woken up or left the villa, then it will be hard.

Here's a quick recap of my past week, just to keep you updated and show you how normal life in Vienna goes.

Monday

Sort of a rest day for me, since I was still very sick from going out in Budapest that chilly night. I managed to get myself to class about twenty minutes early and after I finished at 12:05, I headed to the Naschmarkt to pick up fruit and nuts. My evening was spent relaxing in bed and finally catching up with Pretty Little Liars (my very guilty pleasure).

Tuesday

After class, I went to Libro with Elise and stocked up on school supplies before we headed to the 6th District to meet Anna and Meghan for sushi at 6:30. Once we finished, Anna, Elise and I were off the the Museumsquartier to attend a walking tour performance around the area. It was very strange. I thought that we were going to see their Music teacher perform an opera solo but we ended up on a two hour walking tour of the Museumsquartier, watching strange skits in German and not understanding anything, seeing a woman try to do modern dance on a cement floor,  and listening to our a cappella tour guides sing us to different areas of the Museumsquartier. We had been joined by a few other IES people, and so there were about 9 or 10 of us in total. After we saw the IES professor do his creepy solo in the dark, the IES group of us decided we'd had enough of the strange performance and left.

 

Above: performances from the Museumsquartier walking tour

Wednesday

Emory literally has taken over Vienna! There are thirteen of us on the IES program and then four more on the Vienna Business program. And tonight, we were all going out together to celebrate Allie's 21st birthday! Shreya and Allie (on the business program) were having a pregame at their apartment and invited us to join with our friends. I had a good time seeing Allie and Shreya, although the business kids didn't really reach out to us at the apartment. So, Becca, Anna, Maya, Eddye, Elise, and I left for Loco, our traditional Wednesday night spot. It was fun, but honestly, my favorite part of the night was when Elise and I left with Carly, CC, and Julia to get kebap boxes from the falafel stand. I wish we could bring the kebap and falafel stands back to America with us!

Emory girls in Wien!

Thursday

Meghan and I rediscovered a cafe I had found a few weeks ago called "Hidden Kitchen" just a couple blocks away from school. The salads they had there were all so interesting and so delicious! I just wish the pumpkin cupcake I had afterwards was just as tasty...for some reason the icing was incredibly salty  :( However, I'll definitely be going back to try some of their other delicious concoctions!

Where Meghan and I had lunch!

Friday

Fridays are great because I only have one class, but it's German. We have a new teacher for my class, and she's very nice, but I don't think I like her teaching style very much. We spend forever on concepts that go in one ear and out the other for me, just because we spend so much time on them in class without having a chance to practice them ourselves in class and then ask questions. It just isn't working for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to teach myself after school. My friend, Mukundha, was also arriving in the evening to stay with me for the weekend! I was excited to take someone around Vienna and act as a personal tour guide for my city. I don't really know him that well, but hopefully he likes my tour and enjoys his stay in Vienna!

So this was just a quick recap of my first week of classes. Hopefully it's not too boring to read! There won't be many more posts like these that are basically just a day-by-day of my week, but I wanted to write it down to remember exactly what I did in my new home, even though nothing of great interest happened. I love every minute here, though, and don't find anything boring. I'm finally starting to get into a routine here in Vienna and I'm still loving that I live here. I don't think that's going to change anytime soon!