Harry Potter was really filmed in Salzburg

Sprachoptionen Fail

I found out this afternoon that multi-geocaching in German is harder than I thought it might be. That, and Google translate (sprachoptionen, as it were) is less than reliable. I'm off in search of some serious german speakers to decode my latest endevour, which, if google translated right, involves counting brown trout. Now accepting volunteers for that position.

On a somewhat unrelated note (as usual), this weekend I'm headed to Salzburg/ Munich!
Catch you Bachforellen later.

Full on Double Swiss Frey

I apologize because this post is long overdue. It obviously should have been one of the first things to be addressed, but certain unforeseen circumstances, namely orientation, class, and travel (sheesh!) came up, forcing me to postpone a first trip to the local grocery store. It seems as though even European chocolate must give way to education and culture sometimes.

I now give you the candy aisle of Spar, our local grocery store. By candy aisle of course I mean a-bunch-of-food-containing-chocolate...and-baking aisle…which, of course, means the only aisle I’ve been in (besides the dish soap aisle, but that was another story). Please note the Heineken fridge at the end. Welcome to the real Austria.

This week’s catch? Buy one get one free Swiss Frey! What you might call full on double chocolate. All the way.

…which leads me to me brief and seriously unprofessional analysis of Swiss Frey Aerated Extra Dark Chocolate. Go ahead and judge me for my shallow food tendencies. I could care less.

So, Aerated Extra Dark Chocolate: It’s aerated, and that’s just funny to begin with. Break off a piece and you find yourself looking at something that looks like brown pumice, which, if you think about for a second, is disgusting. It's not pumice, though, so you just don’t think about it. Anyway, take a bite and voila! The most awkward taste sensation ever! It's like Pop Rocks in your mouth...except very not. And you're sitting there going what the heck is going on whe-

-wait! What’s this!? A choir of angels appears before you and as they lift you up the Alps on a glittering cloud, your thoughts drift from Hume's wild notions of empiricism or whatever philosophy is in front of you to “How does this chocolate taste so delicious!?”

On a scale of Hershey’s to not Hershey’s, Swiss Frey Aerated Extra Dark = definitely not Hershey’s. ‘Nuff said.

I spy, with my little eye, a million people dressed up like Mozart

Some churches are decked out in gold, and you say, hey, this is nice, but there is a lot of gold. Some churches are decked out in icons, and you say, hey, this is nice, but there are a lot of icons. I’ve even heard of churches decked out in mosaics, and you say, hey, this is nice, but man, there are a lot of tiles. Then you have churches that are just right. Not too much gold, not too many icons, maybe no mosaics at all, with altars and buttresses in all the right places that make you lift your eyes to the heavens and fall to your knees and say yes! This is it!

Now, given the fact that I couldn’t even remember the difference between baroque and gothic architecture before last night’s emergency Googling, I am seriously not one to talk about architecture, let alone church architecture. But here I will talk anyway and say today I fell in love with St. Peter’s church in Vienna. Modeled after St. Peter’s basilica in Rome, owned and being renovated at present by Opus Dei, the only church in Vienna not facing East, and the most beautiful place in the world, I could really talk for hours about how much I just want to go back inside and stare at the walls and wish I lived there. But I will not, because there is an entire city outside of this church.

Outside of St. Peter’s, which is definitely not the tallest, most influential, or easily found landmark, there is a little town you might have heard of called Vienna. For such a busy place, Vienna is rather quiet. For a place its size, it has more than its fair enormous churches…and for all the history it holds, it lacks nothing modern.

It was humbling to see a city that has been shaped by so many centuries of baggage. Granted, so much of Europe has been on the same wagon of Turks, Jews, and Christians running around and fighting each other all the time, but every generation that has lived in Vienna, every war that has been fought on its soil, and every dynasty that has ruled over its people, has molded together and transformed Vienna into what it is: incredibly diverse, fearsome, and absolutely overwhelming. What you might call history’s melting pot. I definitely gained an appreciation for European history, as well as every one of my history professors (and…my mom) who ever attempted to tell me how important it is that we study the people, places, and events that shaped our culture.

After running into hundreds of people dressed like Mozart, almost crashing a wedding, exploring a few more churches (that’s not difficult, considering they are…everywhere), and tasting the most incredible café latte macchiato known to man, we made our way outside the touristy Vienna towards an open air market. What we found there was the people’s Vienna, the one with the nagging vendors, the scraggly old men, the drinkers, the smokers, the Italians (yes, where did they come from?) and the awkwardly placed Chinese restaurants. Vienna, you must understand, has everything.

But everything aside, St. Peter’s was my favorite stop in Vienna. That…and maybe the latte.

Da noob, haha, sorry, Danube

Danube sounds to me like a gangster referring to some novice, but if you’re slightly more mature than I am, which doesn't take much, you will perhaps recall that Danube was one of the frontiers of the Roman Empire and the longest river in the European Union, flowing from Germany to the Black Sea.

Anyway, today we spent the day visiting a few notable locations in this definitely-not-ghetto River valley.

Like, for example, a very tiny monastery:

Just kidding! That’s only a model. The real monastery Melk was at least four times that size.

I could probably go on and on about the pros and cons and how it made me feel, but I don’t think you want to hear me rant about how the modernists ruined the exhibit rooms. On the plus side, their libraries were fabulous, and so laden with knowledge that it takes very strong men to carry the weight of their shelves.

On display they had the oldest book in their collection, a book on astronomy by none other than the Venerable Bede himself. Apparently that man was quite intelligent.

Oh! And, it would also take 310 years to read their collection of over 10,000 books.

…and who can visit Danube without paying tribute to Richard the Lionheart? We hiked up to the castle where he was held captive following the Third Crusade.

I don't know what the white speckles are on the bottom of the picture, but I don't claim to be a brilliant photographer, either. Anyway It was simply breathtaking once we reached the top…and no, I'm not that out of shape. The view was incredible!

After a quick dip in the Danube River, we headed back to Gaming where we’ve been held captive in Student Life Meetings ever since. Call me Mary the Lionheart.

But as far as the day of exploration went, being a part of these places that have shaped our world is really an experience like no other. I mean, it’s one thing to memorize maps of empires, dates of crusades, and disputes between kings, but walking through monastery Melk, where centuries of history has taken place, and standing in the Danube River, where the Romans defended their empire...and walking into the jail cell where Richard the Lionheart was kept? That’s something special.

Guten Tag!

Ahh, I'm surrounded by the sweet nothings of Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Sound of Music, and crosswalk signs depicting men with rubber arms.

After a loooong day of travel and a looooonger day playing jet lag tag, my bed looks about fit for a queen, so I can’t wait to get this post over with and catch some Zs.

The funny thing about 9 hour flights is that about 4 hours into it, you awake from a 10 minute nap to realize…

a) you have only slept for 10 minutes

b) there’s really no point reading, you’re too tired to understand words

c) the guy next to you is asleep, so…

d) you can’t challenge him to a game of chess on the back of your seat screens, so…

e) watching Toy Story 2 in French sounds like a good idea.

Nevertheless, the view from the window seat when we finally reached Europe was incredible.

Arriving at the Kartause in Gaming after a 2 hour trip from the airport in Vienna marked one of the highlights of the day. Local kids swarmed all the doors of the bus as we drove up, offering us each a rose and begging us to let them drag our suitcases to our rooms for us. This is definitely something I could get used to!

We got to spend the rest of the day exploring the grounds, which possess a beauty so profound that words and even pictures can’t quite capture it. Even sitting here soaking it all in, I can hardly believe how incredibly blessed I am to be a part of it. In a few days once we all settle in and all the girls stop squealing in excitement as they greet each other, I’d imagine the serenity here is something to die for. I'm definitely missing home right now, but with the Alps behind me and the village below me, I know that this has the makings for a wonderful semester.

I'm off on a great adventure!

Greetings friends, family, acquaintances, and everyone else that has stumbled upon this unfortunate excuse for a blog. I'm Mary. A 20-year-old college junior, off to study abroad in Gaming, Austria, and experience firsthand the wonders of Europe.

I will try to keep the world updated as to my whereabouts and doings, mainly for the sake of my parents' sanity, but also because I hear this is the sort of thing you want to document for when you're old and wrinkly and eat nothing but pudding and you still want to venture down memory lane. Hopefully I will still have eyes to read a blog then.

Maybe I can sustain your interest long enough to share with you the awesomeness that is Europe. Or maybe I will get my fingers chopped off by Romanian Gypsies before I even get to post anything. Either way, this post is off to cyberspace and I'm off to Europe.

Comments, suggestions, e-mails, and prayers to the Big Guy are always appreciated. You can always reach me on Facebook or at mkineke@gmail.com.

In Christ,
Mary