4/28/12- 4/29/12 Verona

Verona  4/28/12-4/29/12

Sorry this blog is super long, but it is totally worth reading about what I did in Verona.  This was my last big adventure before going home to Texas.  It ended with a bang in a town that I think represents Italy to the max.

Verona is by far one of my most favorite places I have been this trip.  When I picture Italy and ancient Rome, Verona is what I see in my mind.  Verona has a castle with a city that is surrounded by a wall.  It has a drawbridge and everything!  Verona is where Shakespeare got his inspiration for Romeo and Juliet.  Verona also has a Roman Theatre where I am sure many Shakespearian plays have been performed!  It is so awesome!

When we arrived, we had a little issue.  We on the bus at the wrong bus stop to get to our hotel.   It took us two and a half hours to get to our hotel on this one bus.  It took us through the city center, the country side of Verona, and much more.  Delaney and I decided that we got the cheap bus tour through Verona.
When we got to our hotel, we checked in and went to start our tour of Verona.  Let me just tell you, Verona at night is AWESOME!  Verona is a night city.  Everything is open late and does not open early.  We saw part of the castle and drawbridge, the coliseum, a couple of churches, and pretty buildings.  Some of the buildings were really spooky at night.  Just look at some of the pictures I took.  The park right in front of the coliseum is where everyone hangs out at night.  There were teenagers playing games, old couples chilling on park benches, and just people having a good time.  We decided that we wanted to get food, but everything was so expensive.  We saw this hole in the road kabob place.  Tad bit sketch.  The panino kabob was the best thing I have ever eaten.  It was so good, and I did not get sick!

The next day, we went to see all the places that Shakespeare was inspired by in writing Romeo and Juliet.  I do not know if you have seen Letters to Juliet, if not watch it because it explains a lot of what we did.  First, we went to Juliet’s house.  This is where, in the movie, you can write letters to Juliet and touch the boob on Juliet’s statue for good luck.  They recreated this scene in the movie because it looked nothing like the actual Juliet’s house.  My friend Delaney and I wrote letters to Juliet, but I forgot to put a return address… oh well.  We also got a picture of us touching Juliet’s boob.  We also saw the actual balcony from the famous balcony scene. “But, soft! What light through window breaks?  It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!”  How awesome!!!  There were locks everywhere representing people’s love.  There was also graffiti of hearts with people’s names inside of them. We also saw Romeo’s house.  We saw the graveyard where Juliet and Romeo died.  This graveyard was so cool.  It was like mini castles built for someone’s tomb.  Check out my pictures when I put them up.  Super cool!

Then we went to the Roman Theatre.  I loved this.  Everything I saw is what I think about when I think of ancient Rome.  I cannot describe it with words.  You will just have to look at my pictures.  It is truly awesome.  The view of Verona is also very pretty from the Roman Theatre.  Like I said, you will have to look at my pictures.  I was sad to go home, and I will definitely visit Verona again.  It is only an hour away from Venice if anyone is planning on heading to Italy!

On our way back to Castiglion Fiorentino from Verona, we sat next to this very interesting man.  He is from Libya.  We were chatting, and then we got into his life story.  His father died in the war that they had last year along with many other people fighting against Gaddafi rule.  He said that he really wanted to learn English, but Gaddafi banned everyone from learning English because he did not want the people to rebel.  So he went to London to learn.  He is now getting his masters in English in Italy.  He speaks four languages and has traveled all over the world (besides the United States).  He showed us his passport, and I really wanted to take a picture.  Then I figured that would be weird.  It was really cool to meet an awesome person who has an awesome story.  We did not exchange names or anything.  We talked, and created a memory.  Now we have moved on and will never see each other again, but it will always will be an awesome story to tell.

Ciao!

Venice/Lido 4/27/12- 4/28/12

When we were in Florence, on our way to Venice, these Italian girls asked where we were from.  We said that we were from the United States.  They asked where from the United States.  We said Texas.  They were so excited to meet someone from Texas.  They started to ask us a ton of questions.  It is like we were celebrities.

When we arrived to Venice, we took a water taxi to Lido.  Lido is an Island across from Venice.  That is where we were staying during our visit.  On the water bus to Lido, we started a conversation with ladies from Jersey.  They asked where we were from and we said Texas.  They immediately said where is your Texas accent?  Delaney and I were caught way off guard.  We said well we say y’all.  It was funny.
When we got to Lido, we put our bags up and headed out to explore.  We walked down the main rode in Lido.  There were a ton of shops and pretty houses.  It kind of reminded me of Florida.  We walked up and down the Lido beach.  It was so pretty.

Then we went to explore Venice.  We went to St. Mark’s Square.  That was super awesome.  Then we just walked around Venice without a destination.  The canals and gondolas were really neat.  There are not any cars that you have to worry about while walking.  We also jumped on a water taxi and rode it around to see all the sights by the water.  Venice is a really romantic city and I would recommend this for a honeymoon spot.  Nighttime in St. Mark’s Square is especially romantic.  They have people playing classical music.  They have about four booths set up with professional musicians performing.  There were couples doing the waltz and the fox trot.  It was a really neat sight to see.

The next day we started off in St. Mark’s Square.  Then we started to make our way towards the train station which is only supposed to be a 40 minute walk.  Delaney and I saw a really cool art gallery and decided to go in.  This was such a great culture experience.  I have never been to an art gallery.  I have been to art museums, but it is not the same.  This type of art gallery is where all the rich people go to art gallery parties and buy paintings.  We tried to guess what the artist was trying to portray through the painting.  It was such a great experience.  Delaney and I felt like rich Europeans.  Then an hour later we felt tired and homeless.  After the art gallery, we walked about 30 minutes trying to find the way to the train station.  I saw a really cool statue that I wanted to take a picture of.  Then I realized that I did not have my camera.  My last picture was right next to the art gallery.  We hauled booty back to the last place I saw it with all of our bags because we had to check out of our hotel.  Thankfully a shop owner found my camera and gave it to me.  I almost cried of relief that I found it!  Then we kept walking and kept getting lost.  We found a place on the side of the road with shade and sat down in the road.  People were definitely looking at us funny because we had our backpacks and looked like hot messes.

Two and a half hours later, we made it to the train station.  Delaney and I decided that it was a good walking tour of Venice.   We sat by the canal and waited for our train to Verona.  While we were sitting, boys came up to us and asked if they could have a picture with us.  This is like the 5th time during my time in Italy wanting a picture with my friends and me.  No lo so (I don’t know in Italian).

Ciao!

4/20/12- 4/21/12 Cinque Terra

For my journey this past weekend, I went to Cinque Terra.  I know I probably say this after every place, but Cinque Terra is by far my favorite place.  I have never seen anything like it.  The ocean is gorgeous!  I am so thankful for the perfect weather.  I read a couple of days earlier that it was supposed to rain the whole weekend.  Instead it was sunny and warm!

When we got there, we changed and went straight to the beach.  There was a tall rock that we climbed that was in the sea.  I felt like I was on top of the world when I was on top.  The vast sea spread before me with mountains behind me.  I read on the beach and hung out with my friends for the rest of the time till dinner.  There is a restaurant on the sea.  It had really good food with the best view!  This is when we received awful news.  We found out that there was a train strike on Sunday, the day we were planning on going home.  This means that none of the trains are going to run that day.  Which also means that we have to leave a day early.  It meant that I had to leave the most gorgeous place that I have ever seen early.  So instead of leaving Sunday, we had to cancel or hotel reservations and leave Saturday.

After dinner, we went and changed for our night out on the town.  As we were walking to the pub, we skipped and sang the do ra me song from Sound of Music.  Stephen was in the lead being Julie Andrews.  It was greatness (and the locals enjoyed it themselves).  When we arrived at the pub, the whole top floor was empty.  The pub was playing awesome music and of course all 20 of us were getting krunk!  We sang “We are Young” together and it was awesome because we are young and wild and free!  I love the group so much!  I do not know what I am going to do without them when we come back to Texas!
When we were back at the hotel, one of the girls that I was rooming with turned 20 at midnight.  We threw balloons and shot off poppers.  She was so surprised!  Let me just say that this was a start to a great birthday for her.

The next day, we woke up super early to get done everything that we wanted to do before we had to leave.  Cinque Terra means five islands.  There are five islands and we were staying on the island Montorosso.  That morning, we took a train to Vernazza to hike all the way back to Montorosso.  In October, there were major mudslides that ruined a lot of the islands.  In Vernazza, you can see a lot of the devastation of the mudslides.  A lot of the travel agents tell people not to go to Cinque Terra right now because of it.  So the islands are not getting enough money to fix the devastation.  I took a picture of a website that you can donate to, to help the cause.

We hiked for two and a half hours to Montorosso.  I have never seen anything like this.  It was beautiful!  We climbed up waterfalls, hiked on tiny paths, and took super pretty pictures.  I looked good in almost all my pictures because of the background.  I was actually sweating and looking like a hot mess from climbing up super steep steps.

I love this place and really wish I could go back!  I would definitely recommend going here if you ever had a chance.  If you are married, they have a lover’s lane hike, which is supposed to be really cool.  I did not have time to go on it.  The beach is really nice as well.  It is such a wonderful place!

Ciao

4/19/12 My experience here

I would like to use this blog to take the opportunity to express my gratitude for this opportunity.  How many people can say that they taught in another country?  Not a lot.  This opportunity will definitely look good in my resume.  That is definitely not the only reason I did this.   I have learned so much from this experience.  I learned that Americans are very arrogant.  We expect that everyone should be able to speak English when they come to our country.  We do not take the time to explore different cultures or try to learn the language.  When we go abroad, we still expect everyone to speak English.  In the small town of Castiglion Fiorentino, barely anyone speaks English.  It has been so hard to not be able to communicate.  I am now sympathetic towards people who come to our country and do not know a word of English.  Just trying to buy food or wash my clothes is a challenge.  The students in the Italian school that I teach at speak as many as 6 languages!  That is crazy!! I know one language and I am 20 years old!!!  This opportunity has given me many ideas on how to teach and how to run my classroom.  I know how to communicate with people that are not able to speak English.  This will be helpful since we have many immigrants come to Texas schools.  It is going to be difficult going back to the United States and actually understanding what people are saying.  Sorry in advance for talking Italian and using many hand gestures when I get home.  It has become a habit.

Today, my group and I were interviewed by the Castiglion newspaper.  We were talking about the differences between American schools and Italian schools.  To tell you the truth Italian teachers do not care whether or not the students learn.  They teach and the students have to choose to listen or not.  The Italian teachers do not baby their students like we do in America.  Surprisingly most of the students are willing to learn.  They are excited to come to school!  They go to school Monday through Saturday from 8:25 to 1:25.  They do not have a lunch break.  They are very smart!  I observed an Italian math class and they were learning things that I learned in high school.  High school in Italy is very different than America.  Italian high schools are like college.  You pick what you want to do and take classes that have to do with the career.  They have different high schools for each career.  I really like that because students can get a feel of that career before college.

Now I am going to talk a little culture.  Italians are VERY laid back.  Meeting at 7 means meeting at 7:15.  You will know when you are having a school holiday a week in advance instead of a semester before.  They canceled a poetry reading that some of our students were participating in that day because the handouts were not printed.  I LOVE this life style!  Italians even have a nap time!  All the stores close around one and open again at four.  I could see myself living here for the rest of my life.  The scenery is so amazing.  The bathroom window at the school has a better view than the best view in Texas.  I love to go out, sit on the ledge looking over a gorgeous valley, and read.  Forget TV, phones, and computers.  I have survived 2 months without them and I am perfectly happy.  I will just go sit on my ledge and read.  I only use my computer now to submit reflections and talk to friends and family.

Tomorrow I leave for Cinque Terra.  I am very excited!! Next week is my last full week of teaching.  Then next weekend I go to Venice and maybe Milan.  After that weekend, we put on the play Wizard of OZ.  Then it is time to go home .  Don’t get me wrong, I am excited to see everyone!  But I really do love it here and I love everyone on this trip.  We have become one big happy family!  Saying goodbye at the airport will be very hard for us.  Saying goodbye to Italy, my temporary home, will be very difficult as well.  I love everything about it!  Such an amazing place!  If anyone is going I will go with you in a heartbeat!

Ciao

4/14/12 Bologna

Today I went with my friend Abby to Bologna.  We found out that we had to take 3 different trains to get to Bologna when we got to Florence with just a regional pass.  When we got to the first stop, which was in the middle of nowhere, we missed the train because of a little girl on crutches.  The next train did not come till 4 hours later.  We could take the inner city train straight to Bologna, but we had to pay extra.  That is what we did.

Bologna is an awesome city.  There is a ton of awesome shops as well as ruins.  We saw a castle, Neptune fountain, and other cool buildings.  I had the best meal I have had from the whole trip.  Bologna is known for their tortellini.  It was amazing!  I also had the best red wine I have had this whole trip.  I think the name was Lambrosta, but I am not quite sure.

After lunch, we went to two really old towers.  One tower is leaning more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It was really neat to see.  After the towers, we went to the oldest university in the world.  I have not been in a more ghetto place than this, and every time I get lost I end up in the ghetto.  There was not a wall untouched with graffiti.  There were sketchy looking people everywhere!  We even saw a man pick an ice cream cone out of the trash can and eat it!!! Gross!!   Let me just say we made our trip to the university very short!  After that we went shopping and went back to Castiglion.

Kirsten’s birthday was this weekend and tonight we went out to celebrate it.  I had so much fun!  We went to one of the bars and every time we walk in, they start playing music.  We danced and had fun.  Then we went to another bar called the Velvet Underground.  They had a DJ playing old school rock music.  They were having mosh pits and everyone was rockin’ out.  It was so much fun!!  I think this is the best night I have had in Italy!! Everyone here is so great!

Ciao!

4/13/12 Montepulciano

4/13/12
Today was a very crazy/ fun day.  We went to Montepulciano.  When we tried to go there, we missed our train.  Then we had to wait for the next train.  We had to stop in Chiusi to switch trains.  Then we found out there was not another train to get to Montepulciano.  So we had to take a bus to get there.  Talk about barf.  I felt so sick when we got off the bus.  When we got there it was raining, but the Tuscan landscape was so beautiful.

We went to a pizza restaurant and ate my favorite pizza that I have had so far.  Then we walked around and saw the plaza where New Moon was filmed.  I did not realize that the plaza was where it was filmed till I saw a sign about it.  I need to watch the movie again to see it in the film.  Then we went to a fortress.  We saw a torture museum which was really interesting.  They showed all the different torture devices.  When we got there it was raining pretty hard.  Since we missed our train that morning, we did not have much time there.  We wondered around the town until we got to the information place to find the train and bus schedules.  At least we made it back for dinner!

Ciao!

4/8/12-4/9/12 Easter and Rome

4/8/12
Happy Easter!!  Today did not feel like Easter because I was not with my family.  I miss them so much and wish I was there to do my usual Easter thing!  Thankfully I have wonderful friends here who made it feel homey as we celebrated Easter today.  We went and got Roggie’s Pizza for lunch.  We had a picnic in the Bishop’s house (it used to be his house now Santa Chiara uses it as extra rooms for students).  It was so much fun being with them and becoming a family!  Then we watched Remember the Titans!  Such a great movie!  Alex’s dad lives in Poland and he brought her Polish candy!  Of course she shared with us and it was yummy!  To top off the Easter events, we went to go do laundry!  At least for dinner, the Santa Chiara staff made us a wonderful Easter dinner that consisted of mashed potatoes, ham, salad, and cake!  They decorated the room with Easter eggs and flowers!  It was wonderful!  All the students dressed for the occasion.  We stayed after dinner and played a game with the Kansas kids and other A&M students!  We are really becoming close to the other students from all over the United States that are staying here also.
4/9/12
Today I went back to Rome with my friend Ashleigh.  We went to the Trevi Fountain (and this time I actually made a wish when I threw the coin in).  We went to this market place, and ate some awesome pizza and gelato!  It was a rushed day because it takes forever to get there and back (about a 5 hour journey together).  Oh and of course you cannot forget the shopping that we did!  It was really crowded in Rome because there were still people left over from Easter the day before.  I cannot believe that I navigated Rome with a map pretty well!  I am very proud of myself!  Today was a fun day!
Today I also found out that Palo died today.  He is the one who had the vision of Santa Chiara.  He wanted a place where students could come and study in Italy and learn about the culture.  He taught all the classes at first, changed the beds, and so much more.  He had a vision and made it happen.  I have not met him because he was hospitalized in Rome since the beginning of February.  He died of a rare form of cancer.  Apparently he was a really great guy who made everybody’s day better.  It is a devastating loss for Santa Chiara.  Please pray that this program keeps going.
Ciao

4/7/12 Spring Break Wrap Up

4/7/12

I am currently on a train back to Italy.  This means my great adventure through Austria, Germany, and Switzerland is over!  Very sad day!  Within the past month, I have used many modes of transportation.  I have used an airplane, tram, train, bus, walking, running, subway, trolley, car, and there might be more I just can’t think of them at the moment.  That is a lot of modes of transportation!  When I get back to Texas, I will never want to use my car again.  I will want to walk everywhere!  Train is now my new favorite mode of transportation.  Do we have passenger trains in Texas?  Not many.  And the view!  Who wants to see ugly buildings and land when you can see castles and gorgeous mountains?  Sorry I am complaining, but I do not want to leave this beautiful sight.  One of my friends said, “To bad I wasted money on a round trip plane ticket because I am not going back to the states!”

Although I do not want to come home, this experience has changed me.  I will not come home the same person I was when I left.  This spring break trip was kind of a self-discovery trip for me.  I feel like I know more about myself more so than I did before I left.  I know more about my likes and don’t likes, what kind of person I am, and who I want to be.  I know that I can survive the world on my own and how to be independent.  I have traveled most of Europe without the help of anyone except the three other girls around me and some people that speak English in the town we are in.  We made a plan and executed it.  We did get lost, but that is a part of life.  I now have a new confidence within me that needed to come out.  I am not afraid anymore of life!  I want to go out and live it!

I have learned a great deal from this experience that applies to my life.  I have learned these not only from my experience, but the way the group functioned and how other people acted.  I will list them, but they are not in a specific order.
1. Do not be afraid to miss your train, there is always another one
2. You have to be flexible in life
3. Everything does not go your way
4. Don’t be afraid to experience new things
5. Be patient
6. I love my family and friends
7. Don’t be rushed all the time.  Have time to sit, breathe, and enjoy the view
8. Have the confidence to take the lead
9. Live life to the fullest
10. Be prepared for anything
11. Even though it is cloudy, the view is amazing

This is not all of them, but the major ones!  Well now it is time for me to relax from this trip.  I still have 5 more hours on the train and all of them will consist of me sleeping!  For one last time before arriving to Italy…

Auf weidersehn!

4/6/12 Luzern Switzerland

4/6/12
Today was a nice, relaxing day.  Luzern Switzerland is known for their lakes and mountains.  We decided that we wanted to take a boat ride around the lake to see the gorgeous mountains and lakes.  Even though it was foggy, the view was still magnificent.  I feel like I say this a lot, but my pictures do not do it justice.  The water was aqua blue and so clear that you could see the bottom of the lake.  The Swiss Alps were stunning.  I enjoyed this boat ride very much and probably took way too many pictures.

After the boat tour, we did a Rick Steve’s tour of the old town.  As usual, we saw churches and old buildings.  There was a bridge that dated back to the 1600s that we walked across.  It was made to provide protection for the city behind it.  They had paintings on the bridge that told a story and each painting had a skeleton in it to remind people that you cannot escape death.  I think that is not a great way to live life!  It is kind of depressing.  The buildings in old town are so pretty.  They have very decorative paintings on the outside of the building.  There is the wine square where people, back in the day, got their wine from.  One of the buildings in that square has a painting of the story of the wine god.  Another building, where we ate, had an elaborate painting that has a Marti gras* theme.  I ordered a traditional Swiss dish and it was good, but interesting.  It was grilled cheese (not the sandwich but literally grilled cheese) and potatoes.  Like I said…interesting.  I really liked the old town!  It was nice and relaxing.  Most of the shops were closed because of Good Friday.  It is ok because I have already spent way too much money!

As we finished touring old town, Rick told us about a lion carved out of a mountain.  We wandered over to the lion and it was so awesome!  It was a 35 foot lion that was carved out of a mountain.   It was so realistic; if it wasn’t gray from the rock I would think it was a real lion!  It was a very neat sight to see.
Next, we walked down the riverfront.  This is lined with cafes, hotels, park benches, and squares to play games and play music.  We sat here for a while taking in the view of the mountains and the lakes.  It was great just to sit and relax.  We saw people playing a Swiss game where you throw a small ball and you try to move it with bigger balls.  We saw people playing guitars and enjoying the day.

Since all the shops were closed, we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  I was loading some pictures to facebook and fell asleep!  It was a really nice nap and I think I slept for a while.  This trip has made me super tired from all the running around we have been doing!  Today we got to sit and breathe in the lake and mountain air.  Today was a great day as have been all my other days!

Auf weidersehn!

4/5/12 Cinderella Castle

4/5/12
Today we woke up at 5 A.M. and that was after only getting four hours of sleep because of the movie the night before!!  We went to the Neuschwanstein Castle.  This is the Disney castle that you see whenever you watch a Disney movie.  Cinderella’s castle is also based off of this castle.  This was built by Ludwig in the 1800s.  He died before it was finished.  It is surrounded by mountains and waterfalls.  It is so gorgeous!  It was really foggy and muggy today so we did not get a very good view of the surrounding area of the castle.  I bet it is GORGEOUS when the sun is out!  We toured the inside of the castle.  It is very fancy!  If you had to go to one castle, you should go to this one.  The paintings, art, and decorations are beautiful.  Although Ludwig was crazy, he was very technologically advanced for his time.  We spent time there, but not a lot because we had a train to catch to head to Switzerland.

I am headed to Lucerne, Switzerland as I am writing this.  Claire, Ashleigh, and I decided not to go to Paris because it was Easter weekend and we were not guaranteed to get a train back to Italy in time to teach.  Instead, we are going to Switzerland.  We are spending all day Friday in Switzerland and going back to Italy on Saturday.  We will see the amazing sights in Italy for Easter, and then take day trips the rest of the time.  I am actually really excited that we are taking it easy tomorrow because we have been going nonstop every day since last Friday.  We literally have used every minute of our day to sight see and shop.  Only once did we actually sit and do nothing for an hour.  I am exhausted!

Auf weidersehn!

4/4/12 Dachau (some material maybe too graphic for children)

4/4/12 (parental guidance advised)
This morning I went to Dachau, which was the first concentration camp built and was a model for the rest of the concentration camps (1933-1945).  When I stepped off the train and entered the town Dachau, I saw a quaint little town.  I could not believe a concentration camp was placed right in this town!  When the bus dropped us off at the concentration camp, we could not see it.  All we saw were trees and a beautiful landscape.  As we moved down the path to the concentration camp, I started to get butterflies in my stomach.  Not the kind that you get when you’re excited, but the kind you get when you’re nervous and/ or sad.

We saw where the prisoners got off the train and the platform they walked on.  Then we walked through the gate that said Arbeit Macht Frei which means hard work sets you free.  Every prisoner walked through this gate.  As I walked through the gate, I could not imagine how the prisoners felt, or if they even knew they would enter a place that is Hell on Earth.  As we walked through the bunkers, I could not breathe.  Cramming 50 people into a 15 person bunk is not ok.  The bathrooms and toilets were gross!  Nazis even hung people in the bathrooms and said they committed suicide.  It was heart breaking.

Then we crossed a bridge, which to me was the bridge of death.  It was the bridge that led to the crematorium, gas chambers, and the execution range.  They wanted to keep this part separate from the camp so the prisoners would think that they were here to work and nothing bad would happen to them.  First, I walked into the changing room.  This is where people would leave their clothes, thinking that they were going to take a shower after their long journey on the train.  Second, I walked into the gas chamber.  This is where they were murdered.  Then I walked into the last room, the crematorium.  This is where they cremated the dead bodies (I would not doubt that they also cremated live bodies).  When I walked into these places… there are no words to describe my emotions.  It is so hard for me to even write about this without wanting to throw up.  When the Nazis were fixing to lose the war, they started mass murdering people.  The crematorium could not keep up, so they had to throw the bodies in a pile in the back.  Next to this grave was the execution range.  They would shoot people right there on the spot, looking into the prisoners’ helpless eyes.  They would also shoot guards or Germans who defied their rule.  Makes me sick!

So I am going to rant about how sick this makes me for this paragraph, feel free to move on to the next paragraph.  One man manipulated people to kill millions of other people with different views on life.  How could people just stand by and let that happen?!  It just takes one bully, one manipulator, one person to start such a tragedy!  This could happen again!  It is our job to speak out against what is wrong, and not just hide in the shadows and let this happen!  What were the people, living in this quaint town, doing when millions of people were getting killed in their own back yard?!  Yes, I understand that they would have died too if they were caught helping but it should not have even gotten to where a concentration camp was being built.  Or even one man blaming the Jews for his own crappy life!!  It makes me sooo mad!!  Next time you see someone being picked on or see discrimination happening, stop it!  Don’t stand by!  Do something about it!  So that was my rant! How bought we move on to the rest of my day!

On a positive note, there was a convent built behind the concentration camp after the war.  Nuns come and pray every day on the grounds for the people who were killed, their family, and that it never happens again.
After the concentration camp, we went back to Munich.  We went shopping and wandered around.  Then we went to eat at a really good restaurant!  We sat outside the café and acted like we were European!  It was great fun!

After we ate, we went to rub the lion’s nose for good luck!  It was not an actual lion; it was four statues lined up.  The locals rub their nose for good luck and riches.  While we were rubbing the nose, a man from Munich told us about why they do it and that he has been lucky but not very rich.  While we were taking pictures of rubbing the lion’s nose, people would walk up and rub the nose when we were trying to take a picture.  It seems like it would be annoying, but it wasn’t.  It was so cool to see the people determined to rub the lion’s nose for good luck!  It means that we are in the “in” crowd because we knew about it and a lot of tourists do not!

After we got some luck, we went to see… (Drumroll please!)  The Hunger Games!!!  No, it was not in German.  It was at the English movie theater.  I did not think I would see this movie in theaters!  I was so happy to be able to see it!  In Germany, they have assigned seating in the movie theater!  That is crazy!  Overall, today was a wonderful day of history and excitement!

Auf weidersehn!

4/3/12 Munich Germany

4/3/12
The sun is peaking through the clouds.  I can hear the rush of the river.  The breeze is gently hitting my face.  There are people playing music on the bridge nearby.  We are sitting here studying the word of God and looking at the glory he created.  The mountain tops, the river, this amazing day.  This was the start to my awesome day.  We went to the river to relax and journal before we left for Munich Germany.

When we arrived in Munich, we met up with Caroline’s parents.  It was so nice to see a parental figure!  Immediately, they gave us hugs!  We went to a church with a clock tower after we put our bags away.  The church is in City Center, which is a bustling place with shops and restaurants.  There was a soccer game and a ton of people were gathered doing chants (watch the video on facebook).  When we were taking pictures of the crowd, a guy snatched the camera out of Mrs. Pownell’s hand!  Then a bunch of people came over and got in a picture with us, and the dude took our picture!  Good thing he did not run off with the camera!  When we were taking the picture, a guy came up and almost gave Claire a big smooch on the lips!  I would say these guys were drinking way too much on a Tuesday night!

At 5, the clock tower on the church started to chime.  It has 35 chimes.  It was so cool!  It was like a musical jewelry box.  The figures toward the top were moving to the chimes (video on facebook).  Then we did a Rick Steve’s guided tour of Munich.  We went to see churches, cool buildings, and the Houfbrou House* where people drink a lot of famous beer and dance on tables.  Then we found a great place to eat.  Apparently we Americans are super impatient because when we asked the waiter for something, he would say “time, time!”  Caroline’s parents were so sweet to pay for our dinner!

When I got to the hostel, I found out tornados went through Arlington!  I heard a lot of buildings were damaged or destroyed.  My dad’s office was hit, but thankfully he went home for lunch!  I hope everyone is ok and that there was not severe damage to your home!  It is hard being away from home when bad things happen because it is hard to communicate what happens and you are not around to help make things better.  All I can do is pray that everything will be ok!

Auf weidersehn!

4/2/12 Sound of Music

4/2/12
Sorry this blog is going to be kind of long, but it is super interesting so read it!!!  Today I did the Sound of Music tour!  It was a BLAST!!  First off I will talk about the actual story of the Von Trapp family.  Maria lost her parents when she was a child.  She went off to live with distant relatives.  She grew up as an atheist.  She loved music and she heard a religious choir and decided that she wanted to become a nun.  Mr. Von Trapp lost his wife and was left with seven children.  One of the children became really sick, so they wanted a nanny for her, so Mr. Von Trapp went to the Abby (convent) to get a nanny.  Maria went to take care of the child.  When it was time for her to go back to the convent, the children did not want her to go.  The captain said the only way she could say was if he married her.  The children ran to Maria and asked if she liked the captain.  She said well yes we get along.  The captain walked up to Maria and said I am happy you said yes to marry me.  Maria was like I did?  Then they got married!  They did escape from the Germans, except they did not climb mountains.  When we went on the tour the mountain that they climbed in the movie, that we saw, leads to Germany.  They actually took a train to Italy then flew to America.  They had three more children, and now the grandchildren live in Vermont where they have a hotel and you can meet them!

We saw pretty much all the places that were used within the film.  Our first stop was the back yard of the Von Trapp home.  The lake, the grass, the balcony, and the gazebo were used for scenes within the movie.  The gazebo is not at this house anymore because people would jump the fence and disturb the people in what is now a hotel.  They moved the gazebo to a park by the confidence path.  The confidence path is where Maria danced and sang the confidence song on her way to meet the Von Trapp family.  My friends and I also danced on the confidence path with a lot of confidence with a tad bit of dizziness.  Also by the confidence path is where they filmed the front side of the house and the backside.  This house is in a different location and not by a lake.  When they do scenes with the lake and the back of the house, they take place in different locations.  This was difficult for the actors.  For example, when Maria and the children fall out of the boat and the captain is lecturing her, the lake is in the background of where the captain is standing, and the other house by confidence lane is where Maria is standing.  They had to shoot the scene in two different locations.  I hope that makes sense.  The house by confidence lane is also scene when Maria walks up to the gate and door for the first time, and when they push the car around the gate.  The inside of the house and convent were filmed in Fox Studies.

The convent used in the film is the actual convent that the actual Maria lived.  The actual Maria is actually in the movie too.  We drove by, but I do not know if I got good pictures because the bus was going kind of fast.  This was a sing a long bus.  We sang all the songs together while we took an hour drive to the church that they used to film the marriage scene.  On the way there we stopped at an overlook to see where they filmed the opening scenic view and the mountain they used to sing the song Climb Every Mountain.  The view was amazing!  By far the best part of any trip!  I felt like I was on top of the world!  I have not seen anything like it before.  The movie and my pictures do not give it justice!  It was amazing!  When we got to the church, there were also souvenir shops and the best apple strudel ever!   The town was gorgeous with a lake and mountains!  What a great day!

Now boys, I have a great way for you to win over a girl’s heart!  Back in the day, when a guy fell in love with a girl, guys would climb to the very top of a very dangerous mountain and pick Edelweiss (a white flower) and give it to the woman of their dreams.  How sweet is that?!  Edelweiss is the Austrian flower.  Also it is my favorite song from the movie!

After the tour was over, we went to the garden where they filmed part of the Doe Ray Me song.  The garden was so cool!  I danced through the vine covered walk way, ran around the fountain, jumped on the steps, and patted the dwarfs head just as they did during the song!  It was so awesome!  I was Julie Andrews for the day (only I am not as cool as her!).  Overall it was one of my top days!  Sound of Music will forever be my favorite movie of all time!

Auf weidersehn!

4/1 Salzburg

4/1/12

We arrived in Salzburg around 3:30 today.  The mountains are gorgeous!  We came to our hostel, which is the same as a three star hotel for only 20 dollars a night.  I say that is pretty dang good!  When we arrived, we dropped off our stuff and went on an adventure in old town.

Old town is so pretty!  It has a river with snow top mountains in the back drop.  We followed Rick Steve’s guide through old town.  We saw Mozart Plaza, Mozart’s birthplace and where he created some of his first works, the ally where the real Mr. Vantrapp* stood patiently awaiting to go on stage before he fled from the Nazi’s, pretty churches and buildings, and cute stores!  They had a statue of the virgin Mary and in the background was a church.  There were two angels on the church holding a crown, in which was positioned for it to look like they were putting the halo on Mary.  Check out my pictures on Facebook to see this.  It is really cool.  We saw a life size chess board with people playing chess!  It was very neat.  We also saw a graveyard that was the inspiration in the Sound of Music during the scene where they hid in the graveyard from the Nazi’s.  I am so excited for the Sound of Music tour that we are going to do tomorrow!  It is going to be a blast because that is my favorite movie!

So I got a story for ya Ags (sorry for you who are not Aggies, but it’s just a saying)!  When we were leaving St. Peter’s church, a lady approached us and gave us a picture of Tom Cruise and a newspaper article.  She said her name was Kristina Wilk and that she was famous.  Tom Cruise had signed the picture and everything.  She was talking to us about where she lived and that she was a play director or something of the sorts because I couldn’t really understand her.  Now the question is whether or not she is actually famous and if that is her in the pictures.  It was kind of weird that someone came up to us and told us that they were famous.  Who knows these crazy people! 

Salzburg is beautiful!  I cannot wait to go on my adventures tomorrow!  We are doing the Sound of Music tour, going to visit a fortress, and the rest is to be decided!  Happy Palm Sunday to everyone!  Easter is almost here!! 

Auf weidersehn!

3/31-4/1 Vienna 2

3/31/12- 4/1/12

On the 31^st, we saw a ton of awesome attractions in Vienna!  I did not realize how spectacular Vienna was till I saw all of these beautiful things.  We went to the Belvedere, Stephansdom, Hofburg Palace, Volts garden, the largest Farris wheel, and pretty churches and buildings.  We also did a ton of shopping.  There was a shopping place with 3 H&Ms with other great stores.  I would say that, that was a pretty full day of adventure! 

While we were visiting these different places, we experienced some pretty awesome Austrianess!  When we were going to take the subway, we found out that it was shut down because of technical difficulties.  We asked a couple if they spoke English and they said yes!  We asked them how to get to the Belvedere palace a different way.  They went out of their way and showed us exactly what tram to take, got on with us, mapped out the easiest ways to get to the other places we wanted to go, and told us a great place to eat!  I do not know how we would have made it through the day without them!  For lunch, we went to the place that they recommended.  It was AMAZING!  They wore these cute old school Austrian costumes (like the little boys wore in the Sound of Music) and the restaurant was decorated to the time period.  It was super cool! 

When we went to a church by the Hofburg Palace, there was a bike festival.  It was so neat!  There was a BMX competition going on right in front of the church!  There were people competing from all over the world in this competition.  It was so awesome to see!  Also walking by the Hofburg Palace, we saw a protest procession going through the streets!  People were wearing masks, carrying signs, playing music, and carrying a coffin at the front.  One of the signs said stop 1984, so if you know what happened in Austria in 1984 let me know!  Obviously I do not speak German, so I do not know what the protest was about.  So if you know, let me know!  I think it was so cool to see not just the tourist attractions, but other things that go on in Austria that pertains to daily life.  It was an exhausting day, so we went back to the hostel kind of early.  We watched the Sound of Music to prepare for our trip to Salzburg, in which we are going to go on the Sound of Music tour!!!! 

April 1^st, we went back to Schonbrunn Palace to walk around the garden!  Even though the plants were not blooming, the garden was still gorgeous!  Let me just say, if I had a backyard like that, I would always be in it!  The pathways with trees lining them, the statues, the plant designs, and fountains were amazing!!  I know my pictures will not justify its beauty!  The best part of going to the gardens was that it started to SNOW!!!!!  Now this is not just Texas snow, better known as ice, this is Austrian snow!  It was so cool! 

After the gardens, we checked out of the hostel to head to Salzburg!  I am currently writing to you in first class seats on the train to Salzburg!  In Salzburg, it is definitely supposed to snow tonight and during the day tomorrow!  I am super pumped about my upcoming adventures in Salzburg!  I do not mean to brag, but I definitely feel like I am the luckiest girl alive to have this amazing adventure!  I would like to thank my parents for funding this Italy and spring break trip!  Without them, this opportunity would be nonexistent!  If you see them soon, give them a great big hug for me and a big smooch on the cheek! 

 Auf weidersehn!