Austria...kangaroo free!

It's official...we're engaged!

2008-08-17T10:22:00.001-04:00

On our final day in Firenze [yes...I know this post is out of order, but I wanted to save the best for last!] Monty and I visited several Basilica's and then headed across the river to see the Piazzale Michelangelo and the Boboli Gardens. The views were spectacular and what we saw of the gardens [we refused to pay the entry fee, so just peeked in.] On our way back across the Ponte Vecchio bridge, we saw this view and I had to take a picture. We thought it was a pretty view and Monty had been wanting someone to take our picture for several days and we thought this would be perfect...

So...I hopped up on the side of the bridge, gave my camera to Monty and he handed it over to a woman standing near us. Now...keep in mind, I just think he wants someone to get a picture of us...I have no idea what's going on. The next thing I know...he's down on one knee holding up a ring. As you can see...I'm totally surprised!

As Monty's standing up, he realizes that he had an audience and is getting embaressed. Not only was the woman taking a picture of us, but so were probably 50 others and a couple were cheering him on! His face was priceless when he finally realized!

Of course I said yes and he is thrilled beyond belief! The planning is in full force, but no date has been set yet!

Milano - our final day in Italia...Boo!

2008-08-16T09:04:00.023-04:00

After 2 wonderful days in Firenze, Monty and I hopped on our final train to Milano. This is a picture of the enormous Milano train station, you can't even see the wings on either side of the main entrance because they wouldn't fit in teh picture! Although I was ready to come home after being away for more than 6 weeks, I was still very sad to leave Italia.

After we arrived and checked into our awesome hotel room. No kidding...it was the nicest one by far and all by accident via online booking! Check out the name of the hotel. That's right, it says it's the white Monty and how true that is!

We headed to the Duomo. Monty and I were awestruck when we came up from the Metro at it's size and beauty. It's absolutely huge and I think the white marble makes it look even larger than it is, if that's possible. The inside was incredible and absolutely beautiful. This is a picture of me standing next to the Duomo, but of course means very little because I'm so short.

Right next to the Duomo is a mall. Monty loved the tile floor and had to take a picture!

The children's toy is actually a bee! We saw it on a playground in one of the city parks! Monty and I had a great time in Milano and were very sad to come back to reality.

Views of Firenze

2008-08-14T14:51:00.056-04:00

We spent two wonderful days in Firenze. Somehow I lucked into booking a hotel, one of Rick Steves' favorites, right in the heart of the old part of Firenze within walking distance of everything we wanted to see! The hotel was perfect, the people were so helpful and cheerful, we had a room with our own bathroom and we didn't have to treck our luggage up any stairs! Monty was the most excited about no stairs.

The guy at the front desk pointed us to all of the sites and we were off. Thankfully, Monty and I headed first to see Michelangelo's David. You are supposed to be able to reserve a time to see the David, but unfortunately for us, the computer was down so we had to stand in line. But...much to Monty's relief, the line moved quickly and we got into the museum quickly. Just like most of the museums we visited, taking photographs was prohibited. I was immediately bummed! But, when we did see the David, everyone else was taking pictures, so I snapped one too! I figured if the Asian man with the professional camera wasn't getting kicked out of the museum, that I could definitely snap one before I was thrown out and it's the first picture on the slide show!

The David was very impressive, but I was most struck by the disporportionate size of his hands and feet in comparision to the rest of his body. I thought everything was to scale, except the hands and feet, but what do I know?

After seeing the David, we headed over to the Duomo to climb the 414 steps to the top [the tower on the right is what we climbed]! It was an interesting climb to say the least. The higher you go, the narrower the stairs and it seemed the more people trying to go both up and down. I was a little on edge the higher we got because I'm petrified of small spaces and getting stuck, but I made it and Monty was a trooper. Climbing was 100% my idea and I really think he just humored me with agreeing to go.

Later that evening we attended our second Italian Catholic mass in as many days at the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore [the cathedral next to the Duomo]. This time however, the scripture portion of th e program was printed in several languages, including English so Monty and I were able to follow along. The inside of this Cattedrale was much simplier than Basilicia in Vienze, but was absolutely beautiful. And...we sat right up front. We arrived about 15 minutes before the mass began and sat in the wooden pews under the dome. I can't imagine how many people sat in those same seats over the years.

The next day we decided to visit some of the Basilicias. We went to Basilicia di San Lorenzo and Basilicia di Santa Maria Novella. They were both very beautiful and completely different. Of course, pictures inside were prohibited, but Monty did get several great ones outside of each. Despite the plain exterior of the Basilicia di San Lorenzo, the inside was extremely ornate and beautiful. My only complaint about the 2 is that no air moves inside and even though we were there early in the morning, the heat inside was oppressive. The final picture is of the gardens outside the Basilicia di Santa Maria Novella.

Firenze has several Basilicas and after visiting 2 Monty and I decided we had seen it all. Boy were we wrong...the one we considered visiting and decided against was probably the most important of all. Why do you ask? Well...because Michelangelo, Dante and Galielo are all buried there. Moral of the story...Monty and I failed! I guess we'll just have to go back to Firenze again...

After visiting these Basilica's, Monty and I headed up to Piazzale Michelangelo and the Boboli gardens. The views from up there were spectacular of the city. While up there we walked through the cemetary outside Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte which is just up the hill from Piazzale Michelangelo. We didn't go inside the Chiesa, but the cemetary was beautiful and peaceful.

We had planned to tour the Boboli gardens as well, but decided against it when we got there and saw how much it cost to get inside. So instead we headed off down a small street and into an Italian grocery store to get some lunch. It was interesting trying to order sandwiches at the meat counter, but fortunately for me, the man that helped me spoke some English! Although, Monty's bread for his sandwich was good, he may have chipped a tooth if he hadn't been careful! We took our sandwiches and a bottle of wine and had our first picnic. It was memorable in that it was in Firenze and I sat in ice cream and who knows what else on the stoop we found.

Firenze, although completely different from Vienzia, was awesome! We both loved it and will probably go back at some point!

Our First Tuscan Feast in Firenze

2008-08-10T16:07:00.006-04:00

After we saw Michaelangelo's David this morning we trecked the 414 steps up the Duomo for some picture perfect views of Firenze.

We then ate some pie and came back to take a nap before heading to our second Italian Catholic mass in as many days. This was even better than yesterday because we sat right up front like we knew what we were doing. Monty and I guess that the 'pews' we were sitting on are circa 1700 at the youngest! They were so cool, but unfortunately photography inside the church is forbidden in Italy, along with shorts, although some Canadian was taking pics and decked out in shorts. But...I think my relationship with God is good and I didn't want to taint it by taking pics in Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore!

Next Monty and headed to Guido's. Seriously...that's the name of the restaurant we ate at and it was fabulous! I'm uploading a picture of our wine, one of Monty and our first course and a final one of me. I'll upload more pics from Firenze later in the trip because the Internt is pretty slow right now!

First Time in 6 Weeks...

2008-08-10T16:02:00.001-04:00

...I've dried my hair! I'm just a little excited about not looking like a raga-muffin. Seriously, I never thought I'd miss drying my hair until I hadn't done it in 6 weeks. What do you think? Get past the fact that my dress is wrinkled and I have on black flops with a navy dress and just focus on the awesome hair! Woo hoo!

No high 5-ing in Venezia

2008-08-10T10:18:00.002-04:00

At least according to Monty that's what this sign means!

Cindarelli, Cindarelli…

2008-08-10T10:17:00.001-04:00

…we can help our Cindarelli. I’m not sure how many of you know the movie Cinderella as well as I do, but there’s a part of the movie where the mice are making her a dress for the ball and singing about it. It’s pretty funny.

Anyway…on the train today from Venezia to Firenze an alternative lifestyle couple got on the train in Bologne and sat right next to me and Monty that were sitting across from one another. We were sitting in a section of seats for 4 people and Monty and I were sitting across from each other next to the window. We had the 4 seats to ourselves for more than an hour of the ride and just assumed we would be alone for the entire trip.

But…in Bologne this couple joined us. The rotund one that sat next to Monty was the most interesting. He had his shades on the whole time…I guess his future is bright! With a pink belly shirt, neon pink nail polish, white man-capris and a rodeo-esk belt with bling! I’m not sure what he had on his feet because I never made it that far, but I do know the he shaves both his arms and his legs, because both were touching Monty as soon as he took his seat!

I was blessed with sitting next to the smaller of the 2 men who was a mouth breather! Monty and I just loved the remainder of our trip trying our best not to touch either of the 2 men!
The most exciting part of the trip was when the rotund partner’s phone began to ring playing the song from Cinderella. Neither he nor his mouth breathing friend awakened to the chorus of the song, but the rest of the cabin heard it loud and clear. To my amazement, they both awoke when the mouth breather’s alarm on his cell phone went off. Awesome! I know y’all are sad you missed it!

A gondola ride and an Italian Mass…a First Class Day

2008-08-10T08:45:00.007-04:00

Today Monty and I headed for Piazza San Marco in the morning. It was of course bustling with people, as I’m sure it is 24 hours a day. While we walked around we inquired as to the times of the Saturday afternoon mass in Basilica di San Marco and decided to come back later for the mass and to see inside.

Then we walked around, had some lunch and found a gondola for hire! Woo hoo! The ride was all I had imagined. The parts of the ride in the Grand Canal were hot because there was very little shade, but there was so much going on that we hardly noticed. It was a great way to see Venice and relax. Our gondolier did not talk much, but did tell us about a couple of the buildings along the Grand Canal, including the courthouse. If you ever go to Venice, you need to take a gondola ride. You can negotiate the price, which we did and I loved it. I think Monty enjoyed himself although I think he’s been secretly fearing it since I mentioned it months ago.

After a wonderful last day in Venezia, Monty and I headed back to our hotel to get ready for our Italian mass. We were a little late getting to the Basilica, but enjoyed what we did see. William, we’ll need you to translate the program for us because it’s all in Italian. All Monty and I understood were some Alleugiah’s, Amen’s and the Apostle’s Creed, but it was fantastic. The Basilica was absolutely beautiful and much more than I thought it would be. It was incredibly ornate. Also, the floor was like waves on the ocean. I’m assuming that is due to the settling of the building.

I absolutely loved Venezia! It was a little smelly, but that was mostly the French and Italians that fail to bathe on a regular basis. In fact, the canals were much less smelly than I was prepared for. I absolutely loved Venezia and would love to go back some day. There is plenty to do and so much Monty and I did not get to see. BTW…the water buses are fantastic. Monty kept laughing at me because I couldn’t ride them enough…what a great idea!

Wine is cheaper than water…

2008-08-08T09:49:00.002-04:00

After my final yesterday afternoon Monty and I hopped on a train to Venice! Woo hoo! Although I do love beer and have loved all of it that I’ve had over the last 5 weeks, I’m thrilled to be in Italy with all this wine!

We had an uneventful train ride here, with the second train even having air conditioning which is almost unheard of on the Italian trains! We were smart enough, however, not to tempt the bathrooms.

Last night was rough to say the least. Because I booked our hotel about a month ago not knowing we could arrive on Thursday instead of Friday, I had to call at the last minute to get a room for last night. The best thing I can say is that we weren’t sleeping on the street, although it might have been cooler.

When we arrived, the guy at the front desk told us we were in the annex. Meaning, we went outside and walked to a completely different building. After walking up 4 flights of narrow stairs we arrived at our room. At first blush it appeared there were 2 twin beds, but upon closer examination it was really 2 twin cots with some sort of IKEA-esk type erector set around them. Seriously, we paid 58 euro last night to sleep on a cot made to look like a twin bed.

The best part of the room was the temperature. I don’t think it got below about 85 degrees all night long. The problem is, the buildings in Venice are so close together that if you’re not on a wide street, you get no breeze. Basically, we poured sweat all night long.

Did I mention we also were able to share a hallway bathroom with the other lucky ones relegated to the annex? Yep, I’m not sure this bathroom had been cleaned in months. I touched nothing, took a shower in my flops and only brushed my teeth because my breath was so bad, I could smell it. Basically, I would rather have bathed in the Grand Canal than our bathroom!

Our ‘wake up’ call was eye opening! Most people wake to the sun, their alarm or maybe even a rooster, but we were awakened by the banging of pans and hocking of loogies by the old lady across the window from us. It was a joy and one I’m very sorry you too will not experience.
We have now been moved into a room with A/C that is smaller, but at least clean. Things are looking up! One final mental image for y’all. The trash can in our room last night did have a bag, but had trash in it! Awesome!

My comparative tort class

2008-08-06T08:02:00.002-04:00

...has been very interesting. I absolutely love torts! It was my favorite subject during my 1L year, so of course when a tort class was offered on this program I signed up for it.

Apparently we lucked out too because our professor is one, if not the, foremost authority on comparative tort in Europe. He has so much knowledge of torts and how the different European jurisdictions as well as the EU deal with tort cases that he sometimes winds up on tangets that have nothing to do with the material. He also gets very worked up when it comes to issues and/or cases he thinks are ridiculous. I love it!

Well, today we talked compensation for tort cases in various countries and learned that a Greek court allowed a fetus to recover under a bereavement theory for the loss of his/her grandmother. Apparently, the grandmother was killed in an accident with the mother-to-be in the car and the Greek court allowed the mother and the unborn fetus to recover bereavement losses for the injury. Are you kidding me? That is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life! Fortunately, even with all of the squirly verdicts and payouts in the U.S. we don't have anything as ridiculous as a bereavement theory of recovery. What will they think of next?

Redneck awesomeness!

2008-08-05T16:52:00.002-04:00

So, I just received an e-mail that the lasershow is celebrating it's 25th anniversary this year. How awesome is that? I know most of you are not fans, but I think it's quite possibly the best part of the summer. My problem is that I cannot get anyone to go with me because they think it's cheesy, but I really think they won't go because you can't have alcohol.

Although I've had a great time in Austria, I'm really sad I likely won't be able to go this summer because Monty absolutely refuses to go and people watching sucks by yourself! Moral of the story, if you get a chance to go or if you've never been to the lasershow...you should go because you don't know what you're missing! It's PCB on steroids, mullets galore and I'm sure even more rednecks and tank tops than Daytona or Talladaga!

Czech us out!

2008-08-05T07:55:00.023-04:00

Monty and I headed to Prague last Thursday for a long weekend. We had interesting train ride to say the least. The Czech train was so old that the seats were made back when everyone's butts were smaller. So, Monty and I decided to take up a whole compartment with our stuff so no one would sit with us and it worked to a charm! Boy were we happy when we finally arrived.

Although that happiness was quickly quelled when we found out the information desk closed 2 minutes before we arrived at the window and the machines to buy tickets on the metro only took coins and the ATM only spit out bills. Did I mention when we walked out of the station, there were crack heads all over the park right outside the station and other scaries? To say that Monty and I were a little on edge is an understatement because both of us were carrying our packs and knew if someone accosted us or took something we could never chase them down with the loads we were carrying.

After a little bit of confusion however, we figured out which way to walk and set out for our hotel. Much to our delight, it was only about 6 or 8 blocks from the train station and in a much better part of town. Yay! Also, our room had A/C which I haven't had since I left Atlanta in July. Will it was much like the A/C units in Jerusalem.

Thursday night we just wandered around and found a place to eat supper and then got up early on Friday to see the sights. I think Monty and I were a little ambitious because we were absolutely exhausted by the end of the day. We saw everything at Prague Castle except for St. George's because the line was so long and then took the King's walk from the castle into Old Town.

Old Town was your typical tourist trap with tons of little stores selling their junk. We looked in a couple, but were smart enough not to buy anything!

Saturday we got up bright and early to see St. George's. Monty has an aversion to standing in lines, which I guess is good because we'll get to see more if we don't waste time standing in line. Fortunately for us, the weather on Saturday was rainy and the line to get in St. George's only took about 5 mintues. It was definitely worth the wait, because the inside was absolutely beautiful. I wish we could have gone to a service there.

Since the weather was crappy and the National Museum building was so beautiful, Monty and I headed there next. Although we enjoyed the building, we weren't much for the museum. But...there was fabulous people watching! I made Monty sit so I could stare at people for awhile and loved every second of it!

We ended our trip Saturday night with a pub crawl. It was interesting and we met a few people that were intertaining. The guy that was in charge of it on Saturday is from Wyoming, but has lived in Prague for the past 4 years. I never did hear how he came to live in Prague, but he loves it and travels all over the place. He has a huge chocolate lab that goes everywhere with him as well, including the bars!

Now, Monty is off in Budapest and Vienna and we're heading to Venice on Thursday afternoon.

People?!

2008-08-03T16:36:00.005-04:00

Obviously have zero train etiquitte and could care less how their rudeness effects others!

Incident #1:
Lauren and I are headed back to Innsbruck from Munich [I think] and are in one of the train cars that has small compartments. Lucky for us too, because at the other end of the car is a compartment with a mom, grandmother and 2 young girls [each younger than 5]. The girls basically yelled and ran up and down the aisle of the train until they reached their destination. Lauren was over it about 5 minutes into our journey because their voices were so shrill, but at least we could close our compartment door and keep some of the noise out.

Incident #2:
Lauren and I are headed back to Innsbruck from Budapest, via Vienna. When we boarded the train in Vienna, for our 5 hour ride to Innsbruck, we failed to realize a mother and 2 young boys [again, both younger than 6] were in our car. This would have been fine, but for some reason, the genius mother thought it would be a good idea for the boys to bring one of those toy xylophones. You remember the toy that all of us had when we were kids that our parents, who are smart, made us play several rooms down the hall from where they were because it was so shrill? The one with different colored keys that were different links to make the different tones.

Anyway, we had one and I don't recall it ever being allowed to be played in the den. Well, not only did the retarded mother allow them to bring the toy, but she also allowed them to play it for the better part of the 5 hour train ride from Vienna to Innsbruck. They did get off 1 or 2 stops before Innsbruck, but those last couple of stops are only about 30 minutes out. I have never wanted to strangle a child or mother so much in my life and I had my iPod on the whole time with it blaring so I could only hear part of the racket, Lauren wasn't so lucky!

Incident #3:
Monty and I are headed from Prague to Vienna, which is almost a 5 hour train ride. Keep in mind that this entire train requires reservations, so that each person is assigned a seat.

A family of 5, 3 girls and parents is sitting in our car. They are taking up 3 seats with their luggage alone. Right after we pull out of the station, they decide that they cannot sit in their assigned seats because they are facing backwards from the way the train is moving and they might get sick. Aren't we lucky that they decide to spread out near us! Woo hoo!

They at least keep a row of seats between us and them which I appreciate, until I hear a movie playing. That's right, the parents think it's ok for the 2 younger daughters to watch a movie on their laptop sans headphones. Apparently, the parents thought that the entire car wanted to hear the girls' movie, but they were wrong! Are you kidding me...who does that?

It gets better...the younger of the 2 girls spills something on what I hope is the laptop so I would no longer be accosted with the noise of the movie. Not so lucky. She did spill, but unfortunately missed the laptop. The dad jumps to the rescue to clean up the mess and rescue the laptop. Keep in mind, this man has gotten up at least once every 30 minutes that the train has been moving and has already fallen on me with his stellar ballancing skills as he walked past my seat so I'm not a fan at all. Those of you that know me, know I hate it when people I don't know and especially smelly Europeans on trains touch me.

Anyway, I think it couldn't get worse, but I'm wrong. The dad takes the laptop and sits in the row of seat right in front of us. Specifically, he sits in the one in front of me and puts a movie in for himself. Daddy, you would have loved the movie, Hitman. I've never heard of it, but it's ridiculously bloody and gory with a high body count. But...I digress.

So, he's sitting in the seat right in front of me and with no warning decides to jerk his chair backwards at mock speed into my knees. Seriously? At this point: 1) I've had to listen to his daughter's movie for more than 2 hours; 2) he's run into me at least 3 times while walking past my seat; and, 3) now he's sitting right in front of me and has rammed his seatback into my knees. To say I'm not a fan, is putting it lightly. Somehow I'm restraining myself from saying something, which should have been said hours ago, but then I realize he's French and he can't help but be an ass and rude!

Well, he watches his movie and then gets up and puts the laptop away. Now, any person with any sort of manners would have put the seat back to it's original position, but not him. In fact, he went to seat number 4, 5 or 6...who knows at this point because anything over 1 is ridiculous...and sits down. I waited until he could see me and with a lot of effort and noise put the seat in front of me back to it's original postion and then rubbed my knees and glared at him, but he wasn't phased. I'm guessing he does this wherever he goes. So much for assigned seating!

Reprazentin L.A.

2008-08-02T08:43:00.004-04:00

Prague has covered both L.A.'s from 90210 to lower alabama!

I saw the Peach Pit sign and had to cross the street to capture it on film and then we noticed the rebel flag hanging with all it's glory right next door!

Awesomeness from Prague.

Monty's Eura-pee'n

2008-08-02T08:38:00.004-04:00

As we walking from the Prague Castle to the Charles Bridge, Monty and I happened upon this 'fountain' with 2 peeing men. Of course we thought it was hysterical and as I was about to snap a picture, Monty raced over to be in it with the fountain.

A little red neck for y'all all the way from Prague!

Monty has arrived

2008-08-02T08:29:00.004-04:00

He had a little bit of trouble finding the train station in Zurich and wound up getting to Innsbruck about 4 hours later than expected, but he's here! Of course, for those of you that know me, I basically had a panic attack at the train station when he didn't get off the earlier train, as expected, but all was well a couple of hours later!

The first picture is right before we boarded the first of 3 trains in route from Innsbruck to Prague and the second picture is Monty's favorite in the Czech Republic!

An Austrian courtroom and judge

2008-07-30T02:13:00.013-04:00

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!

There are definitely differences in Austrian life and American life!

2008-07-29T11:55:00.010-04:00

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!

2008-07-29T11:44:00.004-04:00

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.

My first ambulance ride was in Hungary.

2008-07-28T11:09:00.021-04:00

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!

2008-07-28T09:29:00.020-04:00

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!

2008-07-28T08:48:00.005-04:00

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...

2008-07-28T08:00:00.023-04:00

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!

Traveling stories

2008-07-24T02:53:00.009-04:00

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!

Shout out to the DA Interns!

2008-07-23T13:19:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-23T12:54:00.007-04:00

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

2008-07-23T12:53:00.001-04:00

Israel Day 2 Part 2

2008-07-23T12:52:00.001-04:00

Israel Day 1 Part 1

2008-07-23T11:35:00.001-04:00

Israel Day 1 Part 2

2008-07-23T11:34:00.001-04:00

Israel Day 1

2008-07-23T11:04:00.022-04:00

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

2008-07-23T10:34:00.001-04:00

Cindarella's Castle

2008-07-23T10:22:00.006-04:00

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!

Mama always said to eat your vegetables

2008-07-20T15:23:00.005-04:00

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.

Innsbruck card adventures!

2008-07-17T17:49:00.001-04:00

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

2008-07-17T17:08:00.004-04:00

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…

2008-07-17T17:05:00.004-04:00

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

2008-07-17T16:06:00.032-04:00

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.

Kickin’ hair!

2008-07-16T05:21:00.000-04:00

Well, Monty and Lauren talked me out of bringing my hairdryer with me because I was already over the poundage limit to fly and they say American hairdryers are weak when plugged into the converter. So…my genius idea was to buy one when we got here. And I’ve been here 10 days and counting and no hairdryer. Who knew they didn’t have Walmart or Target [or an equivalent] or that grocery stores only sold groceries and not everything under the sun like they do at home. Needless to say, I haven’t wasted time trying to find a hairdryer and I’m definitely paying for it. So ladies, if you’re curious about the wavy beautiful/heinous look I am rocking in my pictures you too can have it by not using a hairdryer. I know y’all are jealous.

The hills are alive…

2008-07-16T04:25:00.034-04:00

….with the Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg! Woo hoo! I do love the movie and believe we watched it every year in chorus when I was in middle school. Kristi, do you remember what our teacher’s name was? Anyway, the tour took us to most of the sights that were filmed in Salzburg. And yes, that's a cow painted with Sound of Music scenes that was next to where we caught the bus!

The first stop was Leopold’s Crown Palace which was the back of the Vonn Trapp house in the movie and then to the gazebo. The gazebo was left by 20th Century Fox after the shooting was complete, but was moved from Leopold’s Castle because so many people were jumping the wall to take pictures of it. Daddy, you’ll get a kick out of this…up until a couple of years ago you could jump from bench to bench inside the gazebo just like they did in the movie, but now it’s glassed in. Apparently, an 80 year old woman was ‘jumping’ from bench to bench and fell and broke her hip. Seriously? People have no sense!

Back on the bus we drove around and saw various sites on our way out of town towards the wedding church in Mondsee. This is a picture of the fortress in town. We didn’t have enough time to climb up to it and go inside, but maybe I’ll get back to Salzburg before I leave. And…I will be walking because apparently it cost 10 euro to take a tram to the top and that’s about $15. No way am I paying that when I can walk up for free. Yep…put on your surprise faces that Zelda would rather walk 20 minutes straight uphill than pay $15 to ride! Ha! I’m not so worried about the uphill as I am about the coming down.

Making our way to the town of Mondsee we stopped at this overlook. This lake is glacier fed and Becky, you can almost see the greenish color [in this picture] like all the lakes and rivers in Alaska. They say this lake freezes over in the winter and the locals ice skate and have some sort of winter races on it. Can you imagine how cold it has to get here in the winter for the lake to freeze? I’m just glad I’m here in the summer!

Finally at the town of Mondsee, here’s a picture of me and Lauren in front of the church and a couple of pictures from inside the church. I love the pipe organ and the confessional. I even took a picture of the pews because I liked the carvings on them so much! The town is really cute too with the buildings different colors.

What I learned on the tour…1) there are a large number of people who have a strange attachment to the movie; 2) Salzburg and the surrounding towns are beautiful; and 3) no one in Austria has seen or cares to see the movie and thinks the Americans that take the tour are strange.

Back in Salzburg we went through the Mirabell Gardens where the do-re-mi scene was mostly shot. Here are pictures of the gardens themselves and a couple of silly ones of me.

At this point in the day, I’d had enough of the serious pictures and started acting retarded. Unfortunately, none of these can rival the couch pictures from just outside Salt Lake City.

We ended our day in Salzburg with a trip to a brewery…of course! The funny part about this brewery is that it’s attached to a church and the beer is brewed by monks! Lauren and I think the mugs were hand made by the monks as well, because they are all just slightly different. Notice the paper/card board utensils we ate with…very monkish!

And here's the final shot of Salzburg for the day. It's absolutely beautiful and I love how the fortress overlooks the town!

Munich

2008-07-13T15:13:00.001-04:00

Munich...Dachau and the Hofbra Haus

2008-07-13T11:28:00.017-04:00

Yesterday Lauren and I went to Munich for the day. We had decided we'd take a tour of Dachau first to get some history, etc. and then head to the Hofbra Haus for some entertainment. Dachau was a sobering experience to say the least. I'm glad we went because it was definitely a lesson in history, but I did not find it as upsetting as the Holocaust museum in D.C. I think that was more depressing because there were many more personal items in D.C. than at Dachau. But, the buildings were stark and even chilly yesterday in July, so I can't imagine how cold and dreary it would be during the winter months.

The Hofbra Haus was fun and busy! It's huge and there are tables of people everywhere. We sat really close to a band that was playing. They were really cute and all were dressed in lederhosen! There was also a 'wench' walking around selling huge pretzels. Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone carrying a large number of beer steins like I've seen on TV. I guess I'll just have to go back!

Scenes from Innsbruck

2008-07-11T18:00:00.001-04:00

For the Pruetts!

2008-07-11T17:23:00.003-04:00

She's even represented in Innsbruck! I guess y'all will have to make a trip over here.

Hike on Day 3 Pics

2008-07-11T17:22:00.001-04:00

Hiking up the mountain

2008-07-11T17:19:00.000-04:00

A couple of us decided that we’d hike up the mountain to the gondola. The idea was that we wanted to hike up to see how far we could get, but also because it was a beautiful day, we did not want to take the bus. Plan foiled however, when a ways up the mountain the sidewalk stopped. And…when I say stopped, I mean it just stopped right before the road took a ridiculous curve up. At first, we thought we would brave it. That is…until a motorcycle, several cars and a bus came zooming down the curve at excessive rates of speed of speed. The motorcycle was going the fastest, but the cars and bus were so close that I would have pulled at TEC and let them pass me.

Although we did not make it up the mountain on foot, it was an awesome hike with beautiful views of the city. I’m uploading pictures from the hike. As we began our descent we walked down some stairs and into a private driveway. Oopps! The man in the yard did not speak English, so we quickly continued down his even steeper driveway to the street. It was an exciting hike on the mountain to say the least and then into the East part of town across a covered foot bridge.

Lesson for the day…take the bus to the gondola or get on the lowest gondola in Old Town.

Sarah…I have found the holy grail….

2008-07-11T17:11:00.002-04:00

Yes, the 'mit cheese' place is still in business and going strong. And…from the looks of the sign, they’ve gotten their spiel down to a science. Ha! Notice the beer and coke cans attached to the sign along with the ‘cheese sandwich’ in the plastic baggie. I LOVE IT! I’ll let y’all know as soon as we try it and Charles, maybe I can even get them to put ‘meat’ in it!

How is the Rice trial going? I know y’all can’t talk about it much, but shoot me an e-mail and let me know. I miss y’all a ton! Ellenor, you’d die with all of the color combos here. Gloria, how is Frank? I love me some Frank! I hope everyone is well and maybe while I’m gone the Phillies will start losing and the Braves start winning. Sorry Matt!

Day #2 in Innsbruck

2008-07-09T08:56:00.031-04:00

We had our second day of the Supreme Court class with Chief Justice John Roberts and Professor Lazarus. They are long time friends who went to law school together and were roommates after law school. The Chief Justice teaches the first half of the class and Professor Lazarus the second half. Today, we had a discussion about the Dred Scott decision and the Chief Justice posed questions to our comments. It was an interesting discussion. I hate silence, so after a particularly long silence I raised my hand to answer Professor Lazarus’ question. After I had given my response the Chief Justice asked me a question about why the Supreme Court didn’t decide the case based on a Federal Question and I responded, incorrectly, that because the parties were diverse the Federal Court had jurisdiction over the case because of diversity and the Court did not have to determine if the issue was a Federal Question. The Chief Justice asked me a second question about Federal Question jurisdiction to which I answered incorrectly. I should have said that the statute for Federal Question jurisdiction wasn’t enacted until many years after the decision. Oopps!

The rain finally stopped today and the clouds left so we can see the mountains! It's absolutely beautiful.

We wandered around town and found a small church. The next couple of pictures are of both the inside and outside of the church.

Charles and Blake, this church is just down the street from the Safari Bar. We didn't go there last night because the Hofgarten had beer specials, but will go there soon enough. It looked like a cute little bar.

After looking inside this church, we continued our meandersing of the city to the Old Town. Apparently this is the big tourist stop in Innsbruck. It's a cute part of town with tons of shops, cafes and restaurants.

We happened upon St. Jacob church and went inside there too! It was beautiful with a huge pipe organ. And me...ever knowledgeable of other religions pointed out the 'cute little doors' to Lauren. Of course she laughed hysterically at me and told me they weren't for midgets, but were the confessionals! ha!

This is my favorite...the pipe organ. Can you get over how large it is?

After eating supper in Old Town with some girls in the program from Texas Tech, Lauren and I headed to Hoftgarten for beer. Apparently it's the place to be in the summer time. The undergraduates from the various universities that are also studying in Innsbruck were there along with locals. Lauren and I 'met' some locals. They approached us and asked if they could sit with us. Y'all know I make faces that give away what I'm thinking and I'm sure this was an especially riduculous face, especially after they motioned for their five friends to come sit with us. Seriously? It was fine and most of them spoke English. They asked Lauren and I what we thought of O'Bama's chances in the election and one of the girls went on and on about how upset she was Hilary won't get the nomination. Interesting to say the least. That's all for today!

Schloss Ambras

2008-07-09T08:54:00.001-04:00

Welcome Reception at the Schloss Ambras

2008-07-09T08:19:00.005-04:00

On Monday evening we took buses from our hotel to the castle Schloss Ambras [see the slide show above]. When we first arrived it didn’t look much like a castle, but the courtyard and rooms were very ‘castle like.’ We toured some of the museums in the castle and of course I took pictures. The Chief Justice was there with his family and we were able to talk to him for a few minutes.

After touring the museums we were served a German supper. It was ok, but as you know I don’t care for meat with gravy, which we had and something they called a dumpling. As most of you know….dumplings rank about as high on my list of things to eat as whipped cream. Needless to say, I’m eating very little and walking a ton, but this will be good for my waist line! Ha!

After supper I went up some stairs at the castle and caught a spectacular view of Innsbruck with the Alps in the background. The clouds had cleared just enough to see the tops of the Alps and I used the panoramic software that came with my new camera to get the new picture behind the title of my blog.

Train ride from Zurich to Innsbruck

2008-07-07T08:56:00.001-04:00

My European travels have begun!

2008-07-06T11:57:00.002-04:00

I had a pretty eventful trip leaving Atlanta and arriving in Newark. First, I went through security and down the escelator to see a family of four in bright lime neon green matching t-shirts. They were all starring up the escelator like they had lost someone and the only thing I could think...is how could you possibly have lost someone in that get-up!

I boarded my plane ontime and then sat on the tarmac in Atlanta for more than an hour and a half. Sorry I didn't call you Matt, but I didn't get to Newkark until well after 4PM.

My flight to Zurich was great! I had my own row of 2 and my own screen to view the movie. The problem was that the movies the magazine said were showing were not my options. So...instead of wasting time, I read the rest of my first assignment for Monday.

More to come...

Getting ready...

2008-06-28T18:05:00.004-04:00

I'm a week away from Innsbruck! Yay! I'm getting excited, anxious and stressed about forgetting something. My Eurail tickets arrived this week, I've planned the cities to visit on the weekends and the ones Monty and I will see together and booked my flight to visit Will in Israel. This will definitely be the trip of a lifetime. More to come when I finally arrive!