Wednesday, July 30, 2008

An Austrian courtroom and judge

Yesterday we took a 'field trip' to the Innsbruck Courthouse. Boy do I love school and field trips!

Just like in the U.S. you have to go through security to get inside, but I guess since we're law school students they figured we wouldn't be carrying any weapons, etc. so we just walked right in. I immediately felt comfortable...yeah right.

St. Mary's had arranged for a judge to talk to us and show us around the courthouse. He was hilarious and very animated. These first two pictures are of him in a courtroom. He's standing behind the table where the judge and his clerk sit. In Austria they don't have court reporters taking down every word, just a clerk that writes down the most important things that are said.

In front of the judge and clerk's table to the right is the prosecutor and to the left is the defense attorney. The little table in the middle is for the defendant to sit.

The judge does most of the talking, asking the defendant all of the questions and the defense attorney just suggests punishment. In fact, he told us there is basically no evidence presented at trial, it's more like a conversation between the judge and the defendant, with the police collecting all of the evidence before the case goes to trail. Doesn't that make you feel great about their case against you?

After he talked to us for a few minutes, we went to watch a trial. The man had been caught with 4 kilos of marijuana and they also found plants he'd been growing in his garage. Apparently, he had been working the night shift and the only way he could sleep was if he smoked! He basicially confessed to the crime and was given probation for three years. I'm not sure the DA's in the U.S. would be so forgiving!

Next the judge showed us to a courtroom seldom used. Isn't it beautiful? They only use this one for jury trials, of which there are very few. After he spoke a little longer we got to take pictures wearing the robes. This is a picture with 2 professors and the judge in the middle. The black robe is for defense attorneys, the red for prosecutors [he said the red was to symbolize they were going after blood] and the judge wears the blue one.

Put on your surprise faces...I got my picture made in the blue robe! I'm standing in front of the cross, which is how the witnesses swear in Austria. But, apparently there isn't much swearing in of witnesses during normal proceedings. They just keep the cross and candles for show!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

There are definitely differences in Austrian life and American life!

The longer I'm here, it becomes more and more apparent to me that besides the lack of ice and vegetables, there are many more differences between the everyday lives of Austrians and Americans.

The pace of life is much slower than in the U.S., but these folks drive like maniacs. Seriously, I don't understand why they are in such a hurry, but if you don't step on the gas the second the light turns green, they lay on the horn. And, they drive ridiculously fast EVERYWHERE. If they led the fast paced lifestyle that Americans live I'd understand their hurry, but I can't figure it out because of the slower pace!

The traffic lights here are awesome. They not only go from green to yellow to red, but from red to yellow to green. Which I think is awesome because everyone that's in a hurry knows when to step on the gas! I think the U.S. should get these kind of lights!

I could get used to going to the grocery store daily for a few items if I could buy vegetables, but so far I've only even seen one place in Innsbruck that sells veggies and they have a very limited selection. I guess if your vegetarian you either eat a lot of pizza or cheese sandwiches and I'd get sick of that in a second.

I must say, I do love all of the walking. It was an adjustment at first, but now that I'm used to it, I'm used to banking that time into my day. Plus, you see so much more of the city walking than you do in a car or on a bus. All the more time for me to take in these beautiful views!

3 hour tour of Vienna!

On our way to Budapest, Lauren and I stopped in Vienna on the way. Vienna is a beautiful city and much, much larger than both Innsbruck and Salzburg. I liked the city, but was overwhelmed with our short time there. It's definitely a place I'd go back to explore for a couple of days if I ever get back over here.

Monday, July 28, 2008

My first ambulance ride was in Hungary.

Lauren and I spent this past weekend in Budapest and loved every minute of it! If you ever get a chance to go you should because it’s a fabulous town. It’s a good size town with half of the city, Buda, on one side of the Danube and the other half, Pest, on the other. They are completely different, with Buda extremely hilly and Pest completely flat.

Apparently, the ‘rich folks’ live on the Buda side and everyone else lives on the Pest side. In fact, they said a home with the same square feet on the Pest side selling for $300,000 dollars would sell for $600,000 on the Buda side. Although they had no explanation for this, I assumed it was because the views from the Buda side are much prettier than those from the Pest side. Not to mention, most of the prettiest buildings, like Parliament and Metthias Church are on the Pest side.

We had a great time touring the city on Saturday and learned a lot on our 3 hour tour! The castle district on the Buda side was great for many of the pictures and we even found some treasures while we were there!



I think I may have liked Budapest so much because I got to eat vegetables again! Woo hoo! I do love meat and potatoes, but it sure was nice to see veggies on the menu again and love every bite of them!

On Sunday as Lauren and I were getting off the bus to transfer to another that took us to the train station, Lauren slipped on one of the steps and fell out of the bus. At first I wanted to laugh because she fell in slow motion, but I quickly realized she was really hurt. But…Lauren is a trooper and didn’t even cry! She’s a better woman than me, I’m sure I would have been crying like a baby. Anyway, she fell out of the bus and the bus driver called an ambulance. Luckily Lauren and I bought the Budapest card, which supposedly came with insurance, but we’ll see when Lauren gets back to the U.S.

Anyway, the bus driver called an ambulance because Lauren’s ankle quickly swelled up to several times its normal size. When the ambulance arrived, the ‘paramedic’, if that’s what you call them in Hungary, looked at her foot, had her move it some and then said he was taking her to the hospital. So, they loaded her up in the ambulance and I sat in the back with her and off we went.

I wouldn’t say Hungarian hospitals are what you would call modern medicine. In fact, I think it was more like a hospital you’d see in a movie from the 40’s or 50’s and the whole time I was waiting for one of the nurses to appear with the hat on their heads! Ha! I mean, the orderlies all had on white short-sleeved button downs and white pants and everyone that worked there smoked. The best part was, not only did they smoke, but they just walked to the double doors where they wheel you in and smoked. They didn’t even bother to walk all the way outside the doors, but I think this may have been because they would have been standing in the sun and I guess that would be too much. Especially considering the guy smoking basically inside the waiting area had his shirt unbuttoned to his navel. Seriously, he was the epitome of a Hungarian, I just wish I could have taken a picture for y’all!

They were surprisingly quick with Lauren’s x-ray and diagnosis of a torn ligament. They told her the foot needed to be put in a cast and she’d have to stay in the hospital for 3 to 5 days. She said, no way that we had a train to catch. So, they bandaged her foot and off we went.

Garmisch, small town Germany and its highest point!

After class last Thursday, Lauren and I set off to visit Germany's highest point, Garmisch. It was a cute little town and the weather couldn't have been better.





The train ride there is a little scary at times because it's pretty much a straight climb up and some of the passages are very narrow and steep.






When we arrived, we decided just to walk around and take everything in. Although Innsbruck isn't a huge town, it definitely lacks the small town feel of a Garmisch. Apparently, most of the small towns in Austria and Germany have painted buildings which I absolutely adore. I'm not sure why Innsbruck or the larger towns haven't adopted this custom as well because it would just add to the charm.






Right outside the train station was our first painted cow of the day. Don't you love the hearts?! I'm not sure why Garmisch or Salzburg chose cows, but they had them all over town with different scenes on each one.






Don't you like my 2 friends, the turban 'guy' was outside a chocolate shop and then I saw the lego conductor!
Although there wasn't much to see, unless you had time to hike, which we didn't, I'm glad I got to see a smaller town and see the differences.
The mountains still have snow on them in July!

Kristi and Lizzie, your fav!

As I was wandering around Berlin I happened upon the Hilton and your fav! This one's for y'all. If it had been opened I would have gone inside and toasted a drink to y'all, but it was closed and presumably didn't open before 11AM. Sorry!


And the wall came tumbling down...

Can you stand how big the train station in Berlin is? It had a 4 story mall inside! I mean, I've been train stations in several large cities; New York, London and Paris; but they have nothing on Berlins!





My flight from Tel Aviv to Berlin arrived in Berlin at 6AM. Just in time for me to get through security and watch the city come alive on a Tuesday morning. I made my way back to the train station and then set off to see everything I could take in before my 11AM train to Munich and then to Innsbruck.

Surprisingly, I saw a lot! From Checkpoint Charlie to the Brandenburge Gate. I had no plan, just wandering.

Checkpoint Charlie was interesting. They are currently working on a memorial so much of the area was under construction. But, they have plaques in the road showing where the wall stood and the signs still remain, along with the actual checkpoint.


I even had my passport stamped, or course for a fee!

This is the sign passing from the communist side to the American side.


These soldiers stand here daily with their flags. I wanted a picture with them, but you have to pay and I thought that was a little much. Put on your surprise faces!




Near Checkpoint Charlie they have pieces of the wall hanging on buildings. The city had to think quickly after the fall of the wall because people immediately began to hack away at the wall and take pieces with them. Now, there is only one place in Berlin with seveal feet of the wall still intact. Unfortunately, because I was only there for a few hours I didn't have time to go see it.






Brandenburge Gate was massive and there were a ton of people already there that morning taking pictures. I just wish I had more time in Berlin, but maybe one day I'll return.
Here is one of the museums and a bear. Many of the cities have painted cows or bears or other animals throughout the city. So I wonder if Sandy Springs copied Berlin with the turtles? Also, have you seen the 'big chickens' in Marietta? Love it!
I love this picture I snapped on the train back to Innsbruck. That's a castle in the background!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Traveling stories

Well...I knew I would have at least a couple of stories about my travels during my solo trip to visit Will. Here goes...

First, on Saturday as I'm headed to Berlin on the train the conductor stamps my Eurail pass twice for Saturday. The pass I was using is good for six days of travel between Austria and Germany. I had already used three days before setting off to Berlin and had three remaining. Since I've been here, the conductor comes by, asks to see your pass and if he/she is the first to look at it that day, they stamp it with the date. Saturday was a little different.

The first conductor stamped my pass as usual on the train from Innsbruck to Munich. The trouble started on the train from Munich to Nurnburg. For some reason, that conductor looked at my pass and stamped it again, this time smudging the date so much so it was basically unreadable! I changed trains in Nurnburg to get on another going to Berlin.

On the train to Berlin, the conductor comes by looks at my pass and stamps the fifth spot on the pass. Yikes! Luckily I was paying attention and caught him before he left my car and explained, at least the best I could with the language barrier, that he had double stamped my pass for the day. To my surprise he was apologetic and 'fixed the double stamp' with a handwritten note. He told me not to worry that it would be fine. Yeah right...but, he was right. I had no problems on any of the trains back from Berlin to Munich to Innsbruck on Tuesday!

Leaving Tel Aviv was another story all together. I think I was singled out because 1) I had only been there for a little less than 48 hours; and 2) I had a backpack as luggage that they thought was going to be my carry-on. To even check into your airline in Tel Aviv, you have to stand in line to have your passport checked and then send your bags through a metal detector. As I was standing in line, a female 'guard' approached me and started asking me questions. The questions were relentless and much like I would think the police do if you're ever questioned. She kept asking me the same questions, phrased just slightly differently to see if I would change my story. Then, she took my passport and walked away.

When she returned, she brought another female 'guard' with her. At that time, they asked me to step out of line and follow them to a desk. Of course I complied and was again interrogated, but this time by both women. I could tell they wanted me to slip up and say something incriminating, but I didn't. And...they asked me at least three times if I had been given a bomb to carry onto the airplane. Seriously, I knew where I was and knew enough not even to buy any souvenirs to bring home because my stay was so short. This interrogating took almost half an hour until they decided I could go and have my bags scanned.

So, I went to scan in my bags and was again directed to the same desk I had just visited, but this time told to stand in line. When it was my turn, I was again interrogated by two female 'guards.' This time however, they pulled the image of my scanned bags up on their computer and realized that my purse hadn't scanned well. One of them told me that she had to scan my purse again and I could either go with her or wait at the desk. Quickly my mind flashed to all of the movies and stories I'd heard about with people being arrested for 'things' found in their luggage. So, not wanting to spend any time at the Tel Aviv jail, I insisted that I not only go with her to scan my purse, but that I bring my backpack with me. She was not happy about that to say the least, but I knew if I left the bag the very first question asked of me when I returned was has the bag been out of my sight and I wasn't willing to let that happen.

The woman rolled her eyes and eventually understood she wasn't taking my purse anywhere without me and my backpack! She was even less amused when we got to the metal detector and I refused to go to the end with her until I watched my purse actually go through the belt. But, I didn't trust these people with anything and I certainly wasn't going to give them any opportunity to slip something into my bag.

Finally, we return to the desk and one of the women takes everything out of bag down to my dirty clothes and then proceeds to go over my entire bag with this wand thing with a towlette on the end. After she's finished going over my bag, she takes the towlette to a machine. Who knows what that does. After she's finally convinced I'm not a terrorist, she repacks my bag and tells me I can go stand in yet another line to check-in.

This is probably the most inefficient process I've seen in my life, but I guess they manage to catch some undesirables in the process. The moral of the story is, when flying out of Tel Aviv, make sure you get to the airport with plenty of time to go through the process because they will question you until they are satisfied you're not a terrorist. AND...they could care less if you make your flight. I will say it was a ridiculously nice airport and once I was through the passport line and into the terminal there were plenty of nice shops and places to eat!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Shout out to the DA Interns!

Hey guys! I really miss y'all although I know it doesn't appear that way from my blog. Yes, I'm having a fabulous time and I wouldn't change this for the world, but I do miss y'all.

Jennifer, thanks again for letting me know how the trial came out. I just wanted to say that I hope your last week is going well and that y'all are making a 'hard press' to the end! ha! Anyway...I hope y'all have enjoyed it and have fun at Dana's going away party this weekend!

Love, Marijane!

Israel Day 2

After loving day #1 in Jerusalem, Will and I set out much earlier on day #2 to see the Western Wall, go through Hezekiah's tunnel and see the Dom of the Rock. Initially, we wanted to see the Dom in the morning, but were retarded and didn't get to see it until it reopened in the afternoon.

We walked to the Old City trying to find the Dom entrance, but finding only an armed guard at one of the exits. The Dom has many entrances and exits, but only Muslims can use the entrances/exits that do not require a medal detector. The entrances are open all day though because Muslims pray 5 times per day. This is very confusing to me, because praying 5 times a day does not seem conducive to working, so I'm really confused how they make any money. Plus, the muslim quarter of the Old City doesn't close down during the prayer times. So either, those shops are run by 'bad' Muslims that don't obey they religious duty and walk to the Dom and pray 5 times per day or the Muslims that own the shops employ non-Muslims to run the shop while they are praying. Either way, all the walking to and from the Dom, cleaning themselves before they pray and the praying seems like it would get in the way of life in general. Oh well...

Anyway, because we couldn't find the Dom entrance, we went to the Western Wall. Will and I entered at a small entrance. When we walked in it was a huge place. Because we walked in the entrance that was small, I had no idea that men and women were separated from one another at the wall. If you enter via the larger entrance, through the Dung gate, men and women go through separate entrances. This made sense to me once I saw the wall because there men and women are separated as well. In fact, the men's side of the wall takes up about three-fourths of the total wall with the women crammed into the remaining one-fourth. The good news for the women is you don't have to have your head covered like the men do. Will said they have paper yamikah's that all the men have to wear. Boy do I wish I had a picture of him with it on!

When you walk up to the wall there are women everywhere sitting in plastic chairs and standing next to the wall touching it. They are all praying and many are cramming prayers written on pieces into the wall.

Next we went outside the Dung gate, appropriately named because way back when all the garbage, etc. was taken out via the Dung gate! We were on a mission to find Hezekiah's tunnel which is how they got water into the city. This was quite possibly the coolest thing I've done on this trip! You pay, of course, and they even sell you a tiny flashlight because it's pitch black inside the tunnel.

When you walk down the stairs to the entrance to the tunnel, you first take a long staircase down. It was steep and the stairs were extremely skinny and since I'd already fallen at least twice before trapsing the stairs, I used extreme caution. If y'all really want a laugh, go look at Will's pictures and you can see the massive bruise I have on the side of my leg because I'm so graceful [http://willcauthorn.shutterfly.com/action]! So...I'm being careful.

As some of you know, tight spaces are not my thing...to say the least! In fact, I all but had a panic attack my last day at the DA's office when the elevator I was in, with 10 other people, stopped. At least that was a decent sized space, this tunnel was a tight fit! So...we go down the stairs and then finally reach the water and boy was it cold. Although because we walked through it for fifteen to twenty minutes, we did get used to it. It was awesome, the flashlights were a must however because there was absolutely no light. For the most part, the water was around our ankles, but at one point it got about half way up my thighs. I know, Becky and Kristi, y'all are thinking, but you're a midget and you're right. But...check out the pictures of Will and his wet shorts and you'll see about how deep it got.

So, the tunnel got progressively narrower and was tall enough in some spots for people of normal height even to stand and especially for me to stand, but in other places I was crouching pretty low. But, I survived despite my fear of tiny spaces and loved every second of it! I'd do it again in a heart beat.

After the tunnel Will and I wandered around the Old City, ate some lunch and waited for the Dom of the Rock to open to non-Muslims. The Dom and surrounding gardens were absolutely beautiful. I couldn't believe the intricate tile work on the Dom itself...it was amazing.

In case you can't tell, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Israel. It was great to see Will and I think he enjoyed showing me around the city as much as I enjoyed being with him. In fact, I already want to go back. Next time, I want to spend a couple of nights in Tel Aviv as well and then see more of Jerusalem and go to the Dead Sea and Bethlehem. Israel is a beautiful country and like I said in my other post, I felt safer there than I do in parts of Atlanta.

I am a little weary of the eighteen to twenty year olds carrying around automatic weapons however. I understand that everyone goes into the army, but it seems to me that a bunch of trigger happy young men and women are not who you would want to carry around those weapons. Just a thought...

Israel Day 2 Part 1

Israel Day 2 Part 2

Israel Day 1 Part 1

Israel Day 1 Part 2

Israel Day 1

After training from Innsbruck to Munich to Berlin, then taking a bus to the Tegal airport in Berlin and then catching my flight, I finally arrived in Israel. The thing that hit me first was the heat because Innsbruck and everywhere else I've been in Europe has been temperate, but bring on the heat!

I have to admit that I thought Will was crazy when he told me to get on the Sherut from the airport in Tel Aviv and ask them to drop me off at Zion Square in Jerusalem. I mean, I wouldn't even think about doing something like that in Atlanta. But, it turned out to be perfectly safe. In fact, the square at 2 AM or so when I arrived looked more like a square at 10 PM, with all of the people. I started walking up the hill and met Will about halfway up.

It was so good to see him and hear about everything he'd been doing over the last month. In fact, we talked so late into the night that we didn't wake up until almost 11 the next morning.

After we woke up and put on the liquid sweatshirt, that's 50 sunscreen, we headed to the Israel Museum. This museum has gardens with sculptures of modern art, a model of the Old City, some of the Dead Sea scrolls and other modern art. The model of the Old City helped to get me oriented to the location of the walls, the Citadel and the Dome of the Rock today. We had an audio guide that told how and when they figured out where certain buildings had been and their best guess for others.

We then walked around the gardens and of course I took a ton of pictures and 1 really stupid one and then went inside...yay A/C...to see the Dead Sea scrolls.

After we'd had our fill of the museum, we headed back to Will's house for more water and then to the Old City. Will is staying in a private home that the owners rent out during tourist season. Apparently they don't like all the tourists, but do like their money! The owners are hasidic jews and have 2 sinks in the kitchen, one for meat and one for dairy.

We walked to the Old City and through the Jaffa gate. There, we decided to walk across the outside walls of the city. The wall we walked on was actually the second wall built because the third outside wall no longer stands. We started at the top of the Jaffa gate and walked all the way around to the Lion gate which is as close as you can get to the Temple Mount, home to the Dome of the Rock. The majority of pictures taken from atop the wall were taken looking outside the Old City, but some were taken looking inside. The Old City is very cramped with quarters for Jewish, Muslim, Armenian and Christian people. It's not very pretty though because the people are so cramped, living very close together and with narrow streets lined with shops, etc.

The views from the walk were amazing! The sky is so blue and the white buildings contrast wonderfully with it.

After making our way around the wall, we came down and went to the Church of the Sepulcher. This is where Christ was washed and where he was buried. From the outside the church didn't look like much, but the inside was incredible. I've included some pictures from both, including Christ's grave.

After Will had sufficiently walked my butt off all day and his knee was sufficiently swollen, we headed back towards his house. Keep in mind that all he and I have had to eat to this point in the day is a peanut butter sandwich so to say we were hungry is an understatement. Fortunately, Will knew of a fantastic Italian restaurant and we headed there.

The food was great and I don't think I just loved it because I was hungry! They had a special for two people that included an appetizer of bread and various veggies [I was loving it with my lack of veggies over the past two weeks!], two entres, half a bottle of wine, two coffees and dessert! Woo hoo! Will and I ate until we were absolutely stuffed. And...I ate all of my veggies which were absolutely fabulous!

Pictures from Cindarella's Castle

Cindarella's Castle

Lauren and I set out bright and early on Friday morning, 6:30 AM, heading for Neuschwanstein Castle, the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella castle and Hohenschwangau. King Ludwig spent his summers as a child at Hohenschwangau and then built Neuschwanstein after he became king.

It took us forever to get there because we went north through Munich so we could catch another train to head back to the small town of Fussen and the castles. Little did we know that we could have gotten to the castles in a little over three hours as opposed to almost six hours via Munich. Whoops! Lesson number one for the day…when you think there’s a more efficient way to get somewhere, there is, but the websites just don’t tell you. But…to find that out, you’re probably going to know someone to find out the quickest way.

I loved the castles. Hohenschwangau, although not as beautiful as Neuschwanstein from the outside was wonderful inside. The guided tour took you through several floors of the castle, including the queen's rooms and the king's rooms. Back then, the queen had one level of the house, the king another and the childern another. This castle still has many of the furnishings, gifts, etc. from when Ludwig actually lived there.

From Hohenschwangau, Ludwig had a telescope set up so that he could view the building of Neuschwanstein. And, of course they still have it positioned so visitors can see the castle.

After we saw Hohenschwangau, Lauren and I took a horse drawn buggy up to Neuschwanstein. It was an extremely steep ride and I felt sorry for the horses because they make that treck several times per day. But, I can assure you they are not malnourished!

Neuschwanstein is much more ornate than Hohenschwangau. Ludwig was obsessed with Wagner and devoted all of the finished portions of the castle to Wagner themed music. It's WAY over the top, but beautiful. Unfortunately for Ludwig, the castle was never finished although he did live in portions of the finished castle prior to his death.

What I learned today: 1) Regio or Regional trains are old, smelly and ridiculously slow; 2) in the rural parts of Austria and Germany, cows actually wear cow bells around their necks, this doesn't just happen on TV or in the movies; and, 3) the train schedule provided by Eurail is not always accurate and some of the trains leave earlier than listed in the schedule!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Mama always said to eat your vegetables

And somehow that completly missed the Austrian and German mothers, unless of course you consider potatoes a vegetable. I wonder what they held over their children's heads and forced them to eat? I assure you they were never served boiled okra like we were!

Seriously, until my flight to Tel Aviv last night, I had only seen vegetables once since I have been in Innsbruck and that was at the cafe in the grocery store where I eat lunch most days. And, I've only seen those vegetables on one day. The rest of the time I've been here the only vegetables are potatoes in some form or another, corn if you're lucky or iceberg lettuce which apparently the German and Austrians don't know has absolutely no nutritional value!

Anyway, on the flight from Berlin to Tel Aviv I not only had a hot meal, but broccoli was included. I was so excited to eat broccoli that it was the first thing I ate. Yay! I was even more excited when I got off the plane and talked to Will and found out he eats mostly veggies in Israel! Woo hoo!

Lainie, Paul and Pruett, y'all definitely need to visit Germany or Austria because they pretty much only serve meat and potatoes. Your favorite! I'm definitely going to get my fill before I leave here because I probably won't see more veggies until I get back to Atlanta.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Innsbruck card adventures!

Because I wasn’t on a train bound for the Holy Land I….

Bought the Innsbruck pass and went to psychedelic land. Innsbruck has a pass that the sell in 24 hour, 48 hour, etc. blocks of time that gives you access to the public transportation, all the museums, the gondola(s), yes plural gondolas, to the top of the Alps and I mean to the top and various other attractions in Innsbruck. Yes Wick, I not only am a HUGE American tourist by taking the Sound of Music Tour…which was awesome, but I also acted like a tourist today in the city I’m calling home for 5 weeks this summer.

But…my ‘Zelda-ness’ kicked in. Y'all know me, I can't pass up a good deal! Really, we got the pass because a gondola ride alone 24 euro and with the Innsbruck pass is 25 euro and gets you up the gondolas on both sides of the Alps, all the museums, the Swarkovski museum and public transportation for just the 25 euro. So…since I wasn’t bound for the Holy Land, Lauren and I bought the card and took full advantage…

First, we went up the gondolas on one side of the mountain. Because they Alps are so high, it actually takes 3 to get to the tippy top! I took pictures starting at the bottom, before the rain, and more as we went up. Notice how Innsbruck gets smaller, the rain gets more intense and the temperature drops. That’s right…today is July 17 and it was 44 degrees at the top!

I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and would do it again if it wouldn’t break the bank. But…on to bigger and better things…or so we thought…

We went to the Imperial Palace which used to be home to the Hofburgs who ruled the Austrian Empire once upon a time. Maria Theresie who was Marie Antionette’s mother, was a Hofburg. The palace is currently being renovated, so we could only see a few of the rooms and unfortunately were not allowed to take pictures. Boo!

Next we went to psychedelic world a/k/a the Swarkovski museum. Lauren really wanted to go there because she saw a show about it on the Travel channel that made it look awesome, but it apparently lied! Or…the cast and crew was tripping on either mushrooms or LSD. It was not so much about crystals as it was about strange psychedelic art. I’ve attached some pictures. Needless to say if you ever get an opportunity to go…don’t! Sit in a field and count daisies or watch paint dry, but whatever you do, don’t go to the museum. Just like me when I watched the movies Magnolia, Thin Red Line and walked through the Swarkovsi museum today…I wanted those wasted hours of my life back and that will never happen!

Tomorrow…we’re headed to Newschwanstein castle, which is the castle Walt Disney modeled Cinderella’s Castle after. So…get excited about those upcoming pics. However, you’ll probably have to wait until after I return from the Holy Land.

I hope everyone is well…I miss y’all and ice and A/C and Doc and the babies!

We had a change of plans…

So...I thought I was going to Isreal today, but I was awoken at 5AM by my cell phone. I haven’t slept with my cell phone on since I got here, but decided to leave it on since I still hadn’t touched base with Will and I was headed to the train station at 8AM to catch a train to Munich, then to Berlin and then a flight to Tel Aviv and ‘shuttle’ to Jerusalem. Groggy at 5AM, Daddy told me that Will was sick and that if I went to Jerusalem as planned, Will would not be there and I would have no place to stay. What?

Well…I finally woke up after talking to both Mama and Daddy at 5AM. Much to my surprise it was really light outside. Becky, almost as light as it was at 2AM in Alaska last summer!

Anyway, I lie awake after hanging up with my parents trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I must admit that although I’m extremely psyched about seeing Will and especially Jerusalem, I’m really nervous too. Not to mention the fact that my flight doesn’t land in Tel Aviv until 12:20AM and then I have to take a ‘shuttle’ to Jerusalem and meet Will in a square. I know, I know, y’all are probably freaking out right now and know that I would never do this in Atlanta, but for some reason I think it’s a good time to do this is Jerusalem. Nevermind that Iran decided last week to ‘test it’s strength’. But…thinking for awhile and after talking to Monty who I’m hoping actually wants me to be alive when he lands here on the 30th of July…I decided to change my flight.

So…I woke up again when the airline actually opened and changed my flight from today to Saturday. It stinks though because I was supposed to land at the crack of dawn on Friday morning and now I’m not landing until the crack of dawn on Sunday morning…2 fewer days. But…I’m not fearing for my life and Will and I will just make the most out of the 50 hours I’m actually on the ground in Israel. It will be a whirlwind, but I’m sure one of the best of my life…and I’m OLD!

Kudos to anyone who can tell me the movie I'm referencing with the title of this post.

See you on Sunday Will…

Lantern Hike

St. Mary’s has several scheduled events for us while we’re here that are included either with our tuition [which is still more than $100/hour cheaper than JMLS…love it!] or with our hotel. That’s right Heather Noonan although you sent some 5 or more e-mails STRESSING that we are not staying in a hotel here. To my surprise, when I drove up, what were the words attached to the outside of my ‘dorm’, but Hotel Karwendel. Seriously…if the name of the place is Hotel Karwendel I really don’t think you’re dressing it up by saying that it’s the Haus Karwendel. And…while I’m on this kick, Mama, that may be why you can’t find it on the Internet, because it’s not Haus Karwendel, but Hotel Karwendel.

Anyway…back on task…last night a lantern hike was included with our trip. The buses picked us up at the Karwendel and took us partway up the mountain and then we ‘hiked’ the rest of the way to a restaurant/beer garden. And people…I use ‘hike’ in the loosest sense of the word. The only thing that made this stroll up a paved steep incline even the remotest bit strenuous is that we had to stay behind our 60+ year old ‘guide’ who walked at a snails pace. Seriously…I think if Tommy could have gotten out of his bed during the last 6 months of his life he would have ‘whipped his as*’ up the incline like he used to when he was at AYC! Anyway…we were all carrying our cameras [of course there were plenty of picture perfect moments] and maybe a lantern.

Needless to say some of the type-A’s…a/k/a law school students were a little more eager than others to get up the hill. And yes…put on your surprise faces Wick, Daddy, Will and Mama, I am one of the more laid back students. In fact…there’s a girl here who I could have sworn was born later than 1990…a regular Doogy Houser who has no regard for personal space! She was ‘nipping at my heals’ for a ton of the ‘stroll’….meaning, she was hitting me in the ankles with her lantern so I had to get as far away from her as possible.

Forgot to mention that Innsbruck is the only city to have had the winter Olympics more than once and the paved road up ran right through the downhill course. I took some pictures, but I’m not sure they do it justice. The first one is the downhill picture, almost at the end of the course and next is the portion right after the big turn right before the end of the run. Notice the barbed wire in the first picture, which is removed during the winter months so this area can be skiied, but during the summer months is used to keep the cows in line!

When we finally reached the top, it was great fun. The views of Innsbruck were spectacular which I attribute to the beautiful, cloudless day we had. And, they got even better as the sun went down. We spent some time socializing and then went up for some music. I took some pictures and even a video, so check it out.



Here is a view with the sun just setting.

This is Meredith, me and Jennifer. They both go to Texas Tech.

And then someone thought it would be fun to take shots of schnaps, except they failed to tell us we were basically shooting golden grain. It was quite possibly the grossest shot I've ever taken, which includes the low level tequila that was poured into my mouth by a bartender in Tijuana!

After the singing was over and it was finally dark, we lit the lanterns and headed down the hill. I must say although I thought the ‘hike’ up was harder, it may actually have been harder to stay away from the drunk retards carrying fire with kerosene. Seriously…did the leader not know that he was leading a bunch of future lawyers up a hill and then handing them, many half drunk or more, a potential fire bomb. Not a good idea, but it does go along with the recurring European theme….”we, unlike America, do not ensure everyone from everything and just try to sue us and see what you recover.” Ha!

Of course I had to take some pics right before the decent. Don't we all look like we've signed our lives away and are all sober enough to be carrying fire down the mountain? Did I mention Austria is AWESOME?!!!

Somehow we made it down without incident and then headed back to the Hotel Karwendel.