Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia

   Having to wake up long before the sun is due to rise has got to be one of the crueler things in life. I woke up on Saturday morning at about 4:15am. I spent the night with a friend because this made it much easier for me to get where I needed to be when I needed to be there. 

   Anyway, the bus eventually came and we loaded up, sort of excited and talkative despite the hour. As soon as the bus started to move, everyone was asleep (or trying to go to sleep). As strange as it was, I couldn't really go to sleep. All I would've done was developed neck and back pain. So I sat up and looked out the window. I could still see stars, but it was especially cool to see because I was about to see the faint silhouette of mountains. As we drove, I watched the sun rise. At that moment I was enjoying something I haven't done very often--listen to Josh Groban while cruising through mountain ranges. This combination is truly awesome.

   We finally made it to Trieste, Italy about 5 hours later. Going from Salzburg to this location in Italy made me wonder how it was possible that 2 places which are so different could be so close. The water was clear and blue. It wasn't warm, but I got away with not wearing a jacket. We went to a castle/palace that had been built right on the shore. We didn't go inside, but walking around outside was good enough for me.

   After we left this place, we wandered a little more in the middle of the city of Trieste. It felt very nice to be in Italy again. 

      We soon boarded the bus again and headed for Slovenia. Crossing the borders was, first, hilarious. Slovenia is a part of the EU, so getting in there as American citizens was no big deal. The funny part was how close the Croatian border was. We drove a whole 50 feet and reached the border of Croatia. Slovenia isn't 50 feet wide, but that's about all the coast they have to call their own! Never have I had 2 stamps put in my passport within such a short amount of time. Getting into Croatia was a little different for one student, however. Croatia is not a part of the EU. This didn't mean much to us Americans, but there was one student with us who is from Thailand. They wouldn't let her cross the border. We all felt really bad--we had to leave her in Slovenia. It wasn't for very long, we came back to get her less than 24 hours later. But still. : (

   We didn't spend much time in Slovenia that day. We headed straight for Croatia after we reluctantly left our Thai friend behind. We had a late lunch, but it was still good. We ate at a restaurant that was already expecting to feed calamari to about 25 people.

   We hung out around here for a little while before we headed to our hotel. 

   Once we arrived at our hotel, some people wanted to immediately go swimming (as in outside). I opted to lie down on something that was actually flat and sleep-worthy: my bed. It wasn't so much exhaustion, but more because of my unwelcome headache. Soon after people started to come back, we headed downstairs for dinner. It was a huge buffet. I wasn't actually that hungry because of our late lunch, but I ate anyway. It was very good. : ) 

   I wasn't sure what language people speak in Croatia. Well, it's pretty obvious: they speak Croatian. But because of its small size and its location, they had signs everywhere reading the same thing in about 10 different languages. I was happy to read not only one, but two of the languages.

   After dinner, we wandered around Croatia a little. We took a cab to get to the center of town, which cost 15 Kunas. One Kuna equals $0.185. It was a very cheap taxi.

   

   These pictures make Croatia look a little sketchy, but it was just dark outside. These buildings range from about 700-900 years old. After a little more wandering, we walked back to the hotel. Some went to the discoteque down the road, but several of us chilled at the bar in the hotel, ordered a drink called Cuba Libre, and just talked till we were falling asleep in our chairs. We all shared 3 people to a room. One of my roommates went to bed when I did, but the other went to the discoteque. The problem was we only had one key, which we needed to power the room. So one of us was going to have to get up to let her back in. The next morning, I saw both of my roommates asleep. I assumed that my other roommate let her back in and didn't think anything of it. Then we were informed that it was I who let her in. I don't remember this at all!

   We left the hotel in the late morning and headed to the border to pick up our Thai friend (who was just fine). We walked a little through Slovenia (which looks a lot like Italy, and for good reason) and then boarded the bus again to head to the caves.

   Nobody knew what to expect, but once we were inside these caves, we were all dumbstruck. I felt as though we had just entered a National Geographic special. Please, do yourself a favor and google caves in Slovenia. They're amazing. My pictures do them no justice--plus it was really hard to capture anything clearly. But here are some that aren't completely incomprehensible. (And yes, there's a railing to the right in this first one)

   At one point during the tour, the electricity went out for about 5 seconds. I have never been in anything so completely dark as the inside of this cave. 

   The entire tour lasted about an hour and a half, but felt a lot shorter. These caves are truly one of the most amazing things I've ever seen--and I've seen quite a bit.

   Well I must retire to get ready for class. I hope you've enjoyed this one! Let me know what you think! : )

Until next time,

Hillary

I fear the lone foreign night no more

Hello all

   I'm about to venture forth to visit a new region of a country in which I've spent quite a bit of time, as well as a country which I've heard spoken maybe 5 times in my life: Croatia. And when I say venture forth, I mean board a tour bus at 5am tomorrow morning.

   I hope that this will be fun and will allow me to forget about some woes that unfortunately sometimes trail behind you during trips abroad. You shall soon read about this mini adventure right here on my blog.

   Lately I've just been trying to keep up with classes and get over things I'm kind of scared of doing. These things include my fencing class. Not the class itself (it's quite fun), but the people in it. It's intimidating to me surrounded by people who may judge you based on your nationality or maybe can't speak your native language. But in a class like that, interaction is nearly impossible. I haven't left scared, but glad. I honestly thought about not going anymore. It's held at a very late hour and getting home isn't fun, especially as a typically over-cautious American. Basically, I had to make friends with the night. I had to make peace with the darkness and trust that there aren't people hiding who want to hurt me. Walking through unfamiliar parts of town in a new country isn't fun, especially when it's past 10pm. But I've learned that it's ok. Salzburg is a very safe city--I just had to allow myself to feel safe within it.

   Sometimes, when I speak German with native-German speakers, I say one sentence in German and they praise me for how good my German is. This has happened multiple times, and I think that part of their reaction is due to surprise--an American speaks German! 

   If anyone is ever looking to shed a few pounds, move to Europe. Honestly, talk about weight watchers. Not that Europeans are on diets, it's just that, because of what is different over here, I've probably already lost a little less than 10 lbs. This isn't going to continue (as in, I'm not going to lose 10 lbs every month that I'm here, that'd be gross), but I'll be curious to see what the scale will read upon my return. Usually I only stand on scales so that the nurse can record it along with my check-up, but I knew to catch a quick glance before I boarded my plane (haha, which might make it sound as if I stood on the luggage scale at the airport, which is NOT how I weighed myself). 

   Well I have homework that needs some attention. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and be sure to stay tuned for my accounts of Italy and Croatia!

Ciao!

Hillary

and more pictures

So here are more picture. If you haven't already seen, I have more pictures in the entry before this one. There are many more within this entry, however. Enjoy!

This first picture was taken about 20 minutes till my Austrian Culture class, which is held in the building in the middle. I wish all the buildings I have class in were as pretty as this one, but alas, my other classes are held in buildings that were built in the 1960s (and were meant to only last 10 years!). But who could complain on a day like that?

There are many bridges in Salzburg. The city is divided by a river called the Salzach. This bridge is the footbridge--only pedrestrians and cyclists are allowed.

Yes, those are my feet. And at the top is the fortress!

I felt the urge to touch the water. As soon as I felt how cold it was, I became even more careful so as to not fall in. 

On a different day, some friends and I took a walk to catch this view. Some of you may think of Alaska when looking at my pictures of the mountains here--I know they make me think of Alaska!

This one especially reminds me of Anchorage.

Here I am posing with the mountains. (That's a hat I'm holding in my right hand, by the way.)

Pieces of fall in Salzburg...

Oktoberfest! If you search below, you'll find a detailed account of my time in Munich Germany on October 4th, which happened to be the last day of Oktoberfest. This picture below is of the 5 girls I traveled around Munich with. (The one making a goofy face is my roommate.)  : )

We waited for so long to get into this beer hall. After searching and searching, we came to the conclusion that we were never going to find seats. This picture hardly does the size of the hall any justice--it was huge and there must've been close to 3,000 people inside!

We gave up on the beer hall, but not on the beer. I refused to be at Oktoberfest and NOT have a beer, even though I don't like beer. In the picture below, we're all holding a kind called "weissbier" or "white beer." It was actually really good! 

They charge you for your glass as an incentive to bring it back to be reimbursed...but I decided to hold onto mine. It's sort of a trophy--the glass from which I consumed my first (and only) beer from Oktoberfest.

Now, Oktoberfest isn't just a bunch of people drinking beer. It's a fair! The biggest fair in the world, to be exact. This is the ride we chose to go on. It was the best swing ever, but taken to a whole new level--literally.

Before the ride...

Part of my spinning view during the ride...

My self and swing buddy screaming during the ride...

An elevated view of Oktoberfest...

The picture below was taken within a church in Munich. I have seen a lot of cathedrals, but this was the most ornately decorated church I've ever seen in my life. I wouldn't be surprised if it remains that way.

The Glockenspiel! This bell tower is very famous for it's animated characters inside. It was exciting to finally watch because I've been hearing about it ever since I started to learn German when I was 15!

A knight passing through...part of the little show the Glockenspiel offers.

Prayer candles within a church. I always think these are so pretty.

This is the church with the candles from above. It was very long.

Holy water...

A postcard view of Salzburg. I took this while standing on a bridge. When you get pictures of Salzburg, this is typically the view you're given. From here you can see most of the major cathedrals and, of course, the fortress.

And here I am standing in front of it all!

Most of my classrooms aren't that fantastic, but it does offer this view from the back.

This is that highly decorated church in Munich again: I was completely overwhelmed because there was so much to look at.

A pretty little side street in Salzburg. A lot of the main part of the town looks like this.

Ever seem Miss Congeniality? This guy was playing the Nutcracker.

Inside the Dom in Salzburg...it was very pretty and reminded me of a smaller version of St. Paul's cathedral in London.

This is not the Dom, but I liked it nonetheless.

Well I hope you like that! I'll have to go out and take more pictures before more are uploaded. Let me know what you think! 

Bye for now,

Hillary

Pictures!

   I have decided that it's picture time. I'm new to this blogging business, and this is the first time I've uploaded pictures, so please be patient with their randomness (they are definitely not in chronological order). I have more to download onto my computer, so hopefully you'll see all from the last couple of weeks soon! As for now, here are some from the first couple of weeks. Enjoy!

   I thought it'd be appropriate to begin with a picture of a symbol of Salzburg: the fortress. I actually have yet to visit this fortress, but I don't plan on leaving Salzburg without doing so.

   The picture below was taken in a cave where the first opera in German was performed. (Sorry it's fuzzy--I'm the white thing to the left of the big black hole.) 

   It is NOT raining in the photo below! This was taken at the water trick fountains in the gardens behind the Hellbrunn Palace. Centuries ago, there was a prince with quite the sense of humor. He entertained guests all the time and would catch them by surprise by setting something like this off! (The head of the table remained dry, of course.) We were quite wet by the end of the tour.

                               This picture is a view from a fortress (more about that below). 

   Here I am in front of the Von Trapp family house! Yup, this is the house that Julie Andrews danced and sang in front of and within. It's a lot smaller in person--I was told the film crew actually dug holes in the ground to capture shots to make the house look bigger. Nowadays the house functions as a part of the University, appropriately for music majors.

   The picture below was taken at a fortress about a half an hour outside of Salzburg. It was quite the hike getting up there, but the view was awesome. Afterwards, we viewed a "birds of prey" show, which was actually pretty cool. Many of the birds flew at the crowd but didn't touch a hair on any of us. in the picture above, a lady (who is dressed like Robin Hood) holds one of the biggest birds. That bird did very well, considering it had never flown in front of a crowd before.

   This picture below was taken around the second week in Salzburg. We took a bus up a mountain and then hiked down it. As you can see from the weather, I was really glad to have my water-proof hiking shoes. They've served me well here in Austria. (Notice the spout of steam around the top left portion of the picture...my house is very near this! Not to worry though. I live next to a small church, not next to this factory.)

   That's all for now. I'll try and get more up soon!

Hillary