September 1, 2007

Major jetlag…

I am home now from an amazing month in Vienna. It was honestly an unforgettable trip, with unforgettable people. I had a blast learning and exploring what Vienna has to offer with the most remarkable people ever. For those Vienna/Prague 2007 goers who are reading this… I want to say thank-you for an incredible August. I had such a blast with you all!

I found this video and song thanks to someone who commented on this blog. I think this song suits this trip so well and video theme happened to be a bonus. Enjoy!

For more photos of the 30 days in Vienna.. click here... Tracey's Vienna Pictures!

Lastly, my thoughts:

I enrolled in this program expecting to experience and see what Europe was like and to meet friends that will last me a lifetime. I finished the program with everything that I was expecting and got much more to hold on to.

During my 30 days in Vienna, I’ve observed/learned that:
- The Viennese love their dogs! They seemed to have more dogs than children.
- Vienna is expensive!
- Drinking water from the tap is perfectly clean and normal.
- Young to middle-aged Viennese people are very nice, relaxed and easy going, but old Viennese people are always grumpy and will push you out of their way.
- Europeans have no patience for standing lines. There’s a lot of line cutting involved.
- European coffee is truly better than Starbucks!
- Maps and tour guide books are immensely helpful because it would be hard to find places and go to famous sites without one.
- English is a very widely spoken language.
- Water can be served with gas or without gas (carbonated or no carbonation).
- Small local cafes are usually the best places to get coffee and cakes.
- During mid-August there are really good sales… it’s great to do shopping during this time.
- European weather changes rapidly. The early mornings can be chilly, lunch time can be sunny and blistering hot, the afternoons can be grey and muggy, and the evenings can be freezing and rainy.
- European public transportation is so much more convenient than cars and is so much more useful than the public transportation in the US.
- Everything is closed early on Saturdays and is completely closed on Sundays!
- When buying groceries, you have to pay for your grocery bags and bag them yourself.
- Austrian TV shows are just like the American TV shows, just in German.
- American music is generally played everywhere.
- Vienna is like LA, just with more history, beautiful architecture, and a better public transportation system.

...until we meet again....

August 30-31, 2007
The last day of the Vienna/Prague 2007 program…

In the morning, Sherry, Laura and I returned to Café Leopold Hawelka and had the café and plum cakes for the last time. It was a great breakfast!

After, we walked around the rainy streets of Stephansplatz and did some more last minute souvenir shopping. Around 5 in the afternoon, the class met up in front of the Riesenrad (Ferris wheel) at the Prater.

The Ferris wheel was built in 1897 and achieved its fame in the 1949 movie, The Third Man. The ride lasted approximately 15 minutes long and the view of Vienna is spectacular from the very top of the wheel.

The view from the top.

Next, we headed off to Centimetre Restaurant for our class good-bye dinner. The professor ordered 4 swords! They were pretty generous portions might I add.

The Sword!... schnitzel, pork, chicken wings, fries and beans

After dinner, Laura and I left early because we had much packing to do. Plus, on top of that, I was not feeling very well. I also found out that Kristen came down with something so we went to see how she was doing when we arrived back at Simmering. Laura and I struggled to find a taxi to take us to the airport the next morning so we ended up asking the professor to call a taxi for us. I found some people at the stairs and said my good-byes while trying to hold back the tears. I wasn’t ready to leave yet...

Around 5:45am and with only 3 hours of sleep, Laura and I got all our luggage and went to the lobby area to wait for our taxi. Surprisingly the taxi man was already there in the front. He came in to help us with our stuff and said that he only could fit only one person in the taxi. Apparently we had too much baggage for his little taxi. But eventually, he decided to squeeze all of our stuff into this small car and drove us to the airport. Right when the doors of the dorms shut behind me, I suddenly felt so sad. I wasn’t ready to leave my unforgettable Vienna.

Awhile later, we reached the airport…Laura and I checked in our luggage and got our last breakfast together. Her flight was at 7:40am so we parted ways after the security check point. My flight wasn’t until 10am so I had some time to kill… About an hour later, I realized that my gate has changed. I grabbed all my stuff and went to find the correct gate for my flight to Zurich. My flight to Zurich was short; it was only an hour long.

I spent about a good hour and a half at the Zurich International Airport. I wondered around for a bit while waiting for my 13 hour flight to LA. The airport was small, yet very beautiful.

During the flight, I watched the movie 300, ate really good food and slept most of the way. My flight arrived late due to some mandatory detour that we took. The home coming was nice. I got to see my loved ones again.

my flight home....

August 28-29, 2007

Word of the day— (g) wein; (e) wine

During class, we did a digression on what we thought and felt about our visit to Mauthausen. I agreed with many of the students about what they had to say about the camp. I was appalled and aggravated to see a bunch of tourist families bring their little children that only horse around in a place like that. The kids are too young to understand what the camp was, so why on earth would their parents bring them there? The parents should have left their children at home if they wanted to visit the concentration camp. Also, I was disgruntled when I saw the families take photos and was smiling in them like it was a happy situation. Do they not have any respect for the people who died at this camp? I can’t believe how inconsiderate and ridiculous these people are.

I recall tour guide at Mauthausen telling us about how some tourists came to visit the camp, ripped off pictures of people remembered and craved the Nazi symbol in place of the former picture. How terrible is that! I guess there are people out there that still supports Hitler still to this day… and there is nothing to be done to change that. Why are people so ruthless in this world?

After the digression, a few of us went to the Naschmarkt for some wonderfully delicious seafood.

Salmon, white fish: chef's special, calamari and shrimp... definitely satisfied my seafood cravings.

Awhile later, Sherry, Laura, David and I went to Kunsthalle Wien/ MUMOK and visited the Dream and Trauma exhibition.

“The exhibition approaches two phenomena that draw on the unconscious, the dream as well as the psychic injury – the trauma, with over forty contemporary artistic positions. Dreams and trauma are two dimensions of human experience. In their own particular way, both generate imaginary worlds of the mind and fantastic scenarios. The dream, the companion of sleep, belongs to everyday life and links together various states of being: “To die, to sleep, to sleep: perchance to dream,” says Shakespeare’s character Hamlet and thus delineates essential experiential parameters. In contrast reality is manifested in the trauma as a psychic deformation and a symbolic wound. This non-place, a zone of formlessness and fragmentation collects whatever has been suppressed or has disappeared from the conscious. Sigmund Freud defined the trauma as an experience which brings such an increase in stimulation to the inner life in such a short period of time that the normal usual way of dealing with or processing the experience fails.”

This exhibition didn’t exactly traumatize me… it was just made me feel really uncomfortable and weird because it was digging deep into my subconscious and revealing it. It touched on strange morbid sexual aspects of the subconscious. But nonetheless this was a rather strange yet interesting experience.

After Dream and Trauma, the 4 of us decided to take it easy and cruise down Stephansplatz for some more of Demel!

The next morning was our last lecture forever!

We discussed about the death of Franz Joseph I in 1914 and the becoming of the new emperor, Charles I. Charles I’s reign lasted for only 2 years before it ended. This marked the end of the Habsburg rule in Austria. It all started with Rudolf I in 1273 and ended with Charles I in 1918. We also touched on Hitler’s Austria. Hitler arrived in Vienna in 1938 and began his Nazi terror that spread all over Europe. During this time National Socialism was rising in Vienna.

After class, Sherry and I headed off to the Rathaus for the last time. The weather got really bad the last few days; it started to rain while we were walking.

While walking towards Museumquartier to meet up with Laura, Sherry and I passed by the Austrian Parliament.

The girls and I ate lunch at Café Sperl! I had the most amazing cakes and café!

Me and my 2 cakes: light and fluffy cheesecake (not like the NY ones) and plum cake

The best Grandma’s coffee. It's called the Grandma's coffee because it's made through the old styles of making coffee.

While walking around, we found a small festival happening in front of the Hofburg.

We also did major souvenir shopping! I will surely miss the shopping in Vienna when I leave… that’s for sure. We decided to go back to Simmering early to start packing for our trip back home.

August 26-27, 2007
I spent most of Sunday on my own. I visited Karlskirche and took a stroll in the Resselpark. The Karlskirche (aka the St. Charles’ Church) was built in 1716 in the Baroque style. It is located on the edge of the 1^st district, 660 feet from the Ringstrasse. Currently, the church is in the process or restoration and the ceiling is open for viewing. There is an elevator that takes people up the small platform and a tiny stair way that leads to the dome at the very tip of Karlskirche. I especially love the architecture of this church. I was speechless when I first saw what the structure looked like. It’s so magnificent and beautiful!

This is the beautiful façade of Karlskirche.

The alter and the interior of the Karlskirche.

I took the elevator and the stairs to very top! The tiny shaking stairs were a bit creepy to walk up though. But I made it to the top and back down alive.

The very tip of the top dome!

When evening hit, I met up with Laura and Sherry for some dinner at the Kebab place across the street from the dorms and a bike ride around the Danube. We had technical difficulties renting the public bikes and working my broken bike. Embarrassingly, I haven’t ridden a bike since I was kid, so I was not exactly sure I remembered how to ride a bike. Plus, the bike was a tad bit taller than me; that made it more difficult for me. Laura, the sweet gal that she is, helped me get on my bike each time I fell off. When I got on the bike, I only knew how to go straight…didn’t exactly know how to turn or stop. We biked along the Danube Canal and the whole way through, I was hoping and praying that I wouldn’t crash into the Danube! After biking for an hour, we decided to go on a search for an available bike box to return the bikes. We literally walked all over town trying to find open slots.

Me and my rather juicy Kebab

The view of the city from bike route along the Danube...it was such a beautiful night!

We ended the night with some Toblerone crepes at the Rathaus.

The next morning, Sherry and I visited the upper Belvedere.

The Belvedere Garden from the 3rd floor...

This is a painting of 'A Mother's Love' (1839) by Joseph Danhauser. The painting was considered a Biedermeier art, fitted for the ideal bourgeoisies at the time.


This is is a painting by Ruldulf von Alt of the 'St. Stephen's Cathedral' (1832). I particularly found this piece very facinating because it gave me a feel for what life back in the 1800's was like in Vienna.


Gustav Klimt's 'The Kiss' (1907-1908). This painting is painted with a lot of silver and gold. The piece, to me, is warm, loving and peaceful. It's really a sweet romantic treat.

I also observed other works by E. Schiele and O. Kokoschka.

Around the lunch hour, Sherry and I met up with Laura in Stephansplatz and ate at Café Leopold Hawelka. The café and plum cakes were absolutely superb. For dinner, the girls and I took the bus to Passauerhof Heurigen in Grinzing. The place was so cute! The food and wine was really good. After dinner, we headed back to the bus stop and waited there for awhile, but the bus never came. So we walked all the way down the hill to the U-Bahn station.

Me in front of the heurigen.


Ah, dinner is finally served.

August 25, 2007
Welcome to Bratislava, Slovakia!!!

Sherry, Laura and I took the 7:15am Westbahnhof train to Bratislava! It only took us about an hour to get there.

Me sitting in the wrong cart on the train to Bratislava... this cart reminded me of the Hogwarts Express!

The Bratislava Hlavna Stanica Train Station

We arrived at the Bratislava Hlavna Stanica Train Station. We found the city map and started our journey out into the city. We stopped and asked the locals how to get to Old Town, but not very many people spoke nor understood English. We figured that walking was our best option since we didn’t have any Slovakian Koruna. After a good half an hour walk through the city, we finally reached the outskirts of Old town and found ATM machines. I, on the other hand, needed to find a bank or currency exchange place. Once I found the bank, the lady gave me such a hard time with my US dollars. I was really frustrated and just gave her my Euros that I was saving for the last week of the program. After exchanging money from the very hostile lady, the girls and I were starving so we stopped by a nice outdoor restaurant to eat some local Slovakian food.

I had pork chops and the famous Vinea! It was deliciously satisfying.

After the nice lunch we cruised around the Old Town on foot and visited the St. Martin’s Cathedral. I guess there was a service going on so we were allowed to enter.

Somehow I managed to forget to use the WC before we started walking. I made a mad dash up the giant hill of the Bratislava Castle in search of a WC. I did manage to find one inside of the castle, which is now a museum.

The Bratislava Castle!!!


The view from the top at the castle.

The girls and I walking down the streets of Bratislava

Bratislava's Old Town Square

We wandered the city some more and went in search for an open massage/spa. Interestingly enough, most of the town was closed… and it was a Saturday! At the information center, a young woman helped us find a massage parlor that was open. We spent most of the day walking and on a hunt for a massage parlor. By late afternoon, the girls and I were tired, restless and thirsty. We decided to stop by a small café place for food and drinks. As soon as we finished eating, we continued on our massage hunt. I didn’t exactly know where to go. A kind and very sweet lady helped us get a taxi to our destination. The taxi driver took us far away from Old Town! Yeah, we would not have been able to walk the far. The massage place that we went to was out in rural Bratislava and it looked a bit creepy.

After the taxi driver dropped us off, we walked to the building and rung the door bell. I was really surprised to see a young Chinese woman at the door! She was super nice to us… maybe because she liked Sherry was speaking to her in Chinese. The Chinese back and foot massages were incredible!!! I felt so relaxed and I think might have fallen asleep for a few minutes during the massage. Too bad there was not enough time for each of us to have an hour massages, half an hour each was pretty good. Our session ended around 9:20pm, so we called a taxi to pick us up. The taxi driver said that he remembered us because we were the only girls that went to get massages. Laura blew the last of her Koruna on chocolates… I wanted to buy some postcards, but sadly all the souvenir shops at the train station were closed. We ended up catching the second to last train at 9:50pm back to Vienna.

The beginning of this Bratislava trip with the hostile bank lady was a bummer, but the massage totally made up for it. I was once again a happy camper and Bratislava satisfied.

August 22-24, 2007
In lecture, we learned about the Ringstrasse. It was built in 1860 and was associated with the great bourgeoisies. The buildings such as Kunsthistorisches Museum, Rathaus, and the Opera Museum, are more like imperial grandeur bourgeoisies styles. The around the Ringstrasse resides barons such as bankers, industrialists, and upper class nobility so that they could be closer to the Habsburg monarchy. A new style of living emerged for workers; they get to live in their private space and actually go to work, instead of living in the same place as their work.

When class ended, Laura, Sherry and I ate lunch at Café Europa in Stephansplatz.

I had a very light meal and it felt great to eat something healthy. Plus the meal was absolutely delightful, especially with café lattes!

After lunch, the girls and I went took tram 2 around the Ringstrasse.

We got off at Schwedenplatz and had gelato ice cream and strolled along the Danube Canal.

Once we finished our gelatos, we headed off to MAK (Museum für Angewandte Kunst) –Museum of Applied Arts—

This was the room that was filled with Biedermeier era/style chairs. Pictures were not allowed, but I snuck a few in. During the Biedermeier era, bentwood furniture was made by Michael Thonet. It was known as the “Viennese chair.”

Later that night, a group of us went to the Rathaus for dinner. I had this incredible Iranian dish. I can’t remember what it was called but it consisted of a whole chicken thigh with rice and a sauce.

The morning after, the class met up with Dr. O again for the Leopold Museum tour. Rudolf Leopold and his wife, owners of the entire collection of art in the museum, collected each piece of art by themselves and are still alive today!

During the tour we learned about Gustav Klimt and his painting of 1910 called ‘Death and Life.’ Five years later, Klimt added more to his painting because the gap between life and death was too large. He painted the image in such a way that with death and life collided, the pieces would match up. As a class, we interpreted that death was coming to the group of life whether the people are aware of it or not.

We also discussed Egon Schiele’s ‘Cardinal and the Nun’ (1912). This painting is similar to Klimt’s ‘The Kiss.’ In this piece, the nun has a scared terrified look on her face. And closely examining the work, both the cardinal and the nun are praying… praying that they won’t get caught, praying for God to forgive them. This painting is now one of my new favorites because it’s sweet in a very strange way. It definitely shows humanity in a humanistic way. I’m not sure what it is exactly that attracts me to this particular painting, but I am indeed intrigued.

At sun down, the class met at Molkereistr. 1 for pizza and a movie on the Jewish Holocaust. The place was located in a very rural area of Vienna. It was kind of creepy walking through the streets… not exactly safe looking. We also had a very interesting time trying to find restrooms. In the end, we had to walk down the street to a local bar to use the WC.

The next day was our visit to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp
This concentration camp was founded in 1938. About a thousand Jews arrived at the camp in 1944. The prisoners were originally political prisoners such as: pows from the US, England, Canada, Soviet Union, homosexuals, whom ever that did not respect religious backgrounds. Only from 1944-1945, Jews entered the camp. When prisoners enter the camp, their heads gets shaved and all their belongings get taken away, this goes for both men and women. Women were made into prostitutes and children, who were strong enough, were sent to the work force. In the camp, prisoners worked 11 hours per day, 7 days a week. They were required to carry heavy stones by hand and were labored hard until they die. The prisoners went on day to day with only a 500-600 calorie intake of food. The maximum living time span without food (the malnutrition treatment) was 3 days. During cold days, the SS soldiers made the prisoners open the barrack windows and shower with cold water and on hot days, the SS soldiers would tell the prisoners to do the exact opposite.
A concentration camp is a camp for cheap work force that works prisoners to death. An extermination camp is a camp with only gas chambers and the prisoners were gassed to death with cyclone B. Mauthausen had a gas chamber, but the camp was more dominant in the deathly work force…. The trip was rather depressing with all the stories that the guide told us and the documentary that we saw. We went to the actual gas chamber where real people died. We also visited and read the memorial plaques that were plastered on the camp walls.

Stairway of Death....

August 20-21, 2007
Laura, Sherry and I went to the Heeresgeschichtliche Museum (Military History Museum)

The Military Museum was built in 1850 in the many styles ranging Byzantine, Hispano-Moorish to Neo-Gothic.

The Hall of Fame was dedicated to Franz Joseph I who became Emperor of the Babenberg dynasty in 1848.

This is an oil painting of Emperor Franz Joseph I at age 26 in his Austrian uniform by Francis Adams. On the four corners of the painting’s frame are 4 different coats of arms: Hungary, Austria, Bohemia, and I didn’t catch what the other country was called.

Harnesses were used as armor during the 30 Years War that occurred in 1620.

A moving military tank outside of the building!

After we exited the building, it started to rain. We found shelter at small restaurant inside the military building.

I had a strong craving for something garlic-y and it was definitely satisfied with the creamy garlic soup!

Afterward, we headed back to Simmering. Since we were rained in, Laura and I had girls’ night out in my room! We watched Tokyo Drift on my computer and ate what girl’s like best… junk food! It was so much fun. =]

The very next day, class is back in session! During class, we learned that back in the 14^th century, Jewish prostitutes were required to wear earrings. Interestingly, upper class women started to wear earrings and changed the meaning of earrings overall.

From 1790 to 1792, Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruled Florence until his death. In 1792, Leopold’s 24 year old nephew, Franz II, took his place on the throne. That same year, France declared war on Austria. Every European power country went to war with France. France, however, prevails because of the draft, the mass subscription. A year later, Franz II’s aunt Marie Antoinette died. Back then, it was more honorable to be beheaded than it is to be hung. In 1799, Napoleon seizes power and military dictatorship in France. He declares himself Emperor of France in 1804. During this time, Napoleon was declared himself Holy Roman Emperor and that shook up Franz II. Franz II needed to insure himself the Emperor title so he declared himself the Holy Roman Emperor of Austria; thus, giving himself a double emperor title: Franz II (German nation / I (Austria –inherited). In 1806, Austria was defeated in the Battle of the 3 emperors (Napoleon, Russian Czar, and Franz II/I). Franz II/I declared the fall of the Holy Roman Empire and became only Franz I of Austria. The war finally ended with the Treaty of Schönbrunn.

The class touched on Prince Clint Metternich (1814) and how he persuaded Napoleon to marry Marie Louis.

We also discussed about the Biedermeier era/style (1815-1848). The Bourgeoisies, during this era, lived a very gemütlichkeit (cozy) home life.

After lecture, a group of us went to the same buffet place for lunch that we went to during the first week. Awhile later, we walked to Stephansplatz to find the Jewish Museum. I must admit that this museum was quite disappointing. There was nothing on the Jewish Holocaust; there was only a whole lot of information and displays of ornaments of the synagogues and about the Jewish community. I did not get very much out of my 4 Euros that I paid for this museum. I wish it had more content.

The entrance of the Jewish Museum

Belongings of the Jewish people that were taken away during the Jewish deportation.

Late in the afternoon, Sherry, Laura and I walked to Graben to eat at a famous café called Demel. The place is known for its Anna Torte and chocolate cakes.

The place is known for its Anna Torte and chocolate cakes.


My chocolate truffle torte with the anna torte cafe.

After consuming a whole lot of chocolate and sugar, we walked to the Haus der Musik. This was probably my most favorite museums/sites that I’ve been to.

Left image: Laura and I at the Haus der Musik. Right image: me listening to some classicals.

traces of sound waves... pretty neat stuff!!!

Top and bottom images: scenes from Mozart's "Magic Flute" by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (Berlin 1816)

Mozart's composition glasses.

Fun glow in the dark foot steps that teaches how to do the waltz.

I listened to clips of Schonberg's compositions and really enjoyed them. His songs were calm and soothing to my ears.

Word of the day— (g) sagen ; (e) say

August 18-19, 2007
A couple of people and I decided to wake up extremely early to go to the Naschmarkt for some flea market shopping and food before Henri’s 11am tennis match at the sports stadium. We walked up and down the market area for about an hour. People were selling a lot of old useless things. I found some pretty nice jewelry, but I wasn’t willing to pay the price for it. Some of the locals were selling some pretty old beat up stuff like shoes and broken electronics. Some of my friends did buy some really neat gears! We got hungry after walking around, so we stopped by a local café and had some really interesting food. The café served ‘dinkle pourage’ … we didn’t know what it was so we ordered it to find out! I had this really tasty mystery sandwich. We called it the mystery sandwich because we didn’t know what was in it. But luckily, it turned out very delicious.

It was getting close to time; we all headed back to Simmering and hopped on the S-Bahn to go to Henri’s match. The problem was that we didn’t know which S-Bahn train to get on. In the end, we asked around and got on the wrong train. We ended up going around in circles and that wasted like an hour of our time. But eventually, we all found the correct route to take to the tennis match. When we got of at our stop, we were already an hour and a half late! Little did we know that we had a good half an hour walk before arriving at the stadium. By the time we reached our destination, Henri’s match was over long before. After all that work, we just went back to Simmering.

Top and bottom image: Our mini adventures riding on the S-Bahn to random places...

Later the next day, Emily and I went to the Schönbrunn (beautiful well) Palace.

This was built in 1696 and was the summer home of the Habsburg. The architecture and gardens greatly defines the tastes of the Habsburg monarch. Empress Maria Theresa asked Nicolò Pacassi (an architect) to reshape the Schönbrunn Palace to fit the style of the Rococo era. The monarch lifestyle was very lavished and elaborate. Every room had a different theme and unique design. My absolute favorite room was the Blue Room.

The Schönbrunn palace gardens

August 14-17, 2007

My 4 days in Prague through pictures…

Prague Day 1

6 hour bus ride to Prague, Czech Republic at 8 am in the morning. I slept most of the way there. I woke up a few times for WC breaks and for passport check.

The class arrived in Prague around 2:30pm. When we got our hostel keys and determined who is rooming with who, we all headed towards our hostel.

We stayed at the Traveller's Hostel near Old town. After carrying all our luggages and bags up 5 flights of stairs, we finally reached our room. Natesha, Sherry, Laura and I shared a room. I walked into the room and just completely froze. I was thinking..."this is our hostel for the next 3 days?! Ew..." The place seriously looked like it was going to fall apart. A couple of the students felt really uncomfortable living in the conditions of the hostel so they went on a hotel search later on. I was not pleased with our accomdations for this Prague trip.

The hostel room that i stayed in....

The tiny hall way....

After dropping off our baggage, we met at check-in area for our guided walking tour at 4:30pm around Prague. The tour was lead by Irena, an old Czech lady whos English was not very clear. She was our tour guide for the next 3 days.

The class walking down the streets of Prague on our tour.

This is Old Town Square in Old Town (Staré Mĕsto)

The architecture of the buildings in Prague was absolutely amazing. Each building is unique with its own intricate design and color.

St. James Church at Old Town

The Stavovské divadlo, Prague's oldest theatre. This is also the theatre that Mozart's Don Giovanni premiered at.

Natesha and I in front of the famous Old Town Hall Tower and Astronomical Clock.

At the 5 o'clock hour the clock chimes. The windows open and inside little dolls are moving around. During the summer, the streets of Prague are scattered with tourists and watching the clock chime and the dolls moving around is quite a big event!

This is the Týn Church at Old Town. The church is currently undergoing restoration on the clock face of the tower.

After a long day, having fun is the best reward.

Prague Day 2

Sherry and I woke up extra early and explored Old Town. We wanted some tasty pastries and coffee, but we remembered that there was self-served breakfast at the hostel.

Beautiful Prague at 7:30 in morning.

After breakfast, everyone met downstairs at 9:15am for the tour with Irena.

We went to Charles Bridge. This picture is the bridge tower before setting foot on the bridge itself.

Me on the Charles Bridge.

The Bridge was so lively with people and small venders selling touristy goodies.

On this statue, people are suppose rub the gold and make a wish.

We crossed the Charles Bridge and into Malá Strana.

We passed by the St. Nick's Cathedral on our way to the Prague Castle.

(left to right) Me, Laura and Sherry sitting in front of a pond at St. Nick's.

Our walk to the Prague Castle....

After a long hike up to top, we make it to the castle gates.

The guards at the gate looked pretty neat!

The Pražský hrad (Prague Castle) is located over the River Vltava.

The St. Vitus Cathedral. There was a tremendous amount of people lined up to enter the cathedral. The line wrapped all the way around the the cathedral! It was crazy. This was where half the class went missing and we couldn't find each other.

Me and the view from the top.

After the tour ended for the day, a couple friends and went to find some local Czech food to eat. Sherry and I walked around the city and bought tickets to see Mozart's Don Giovanni (puppet show).

Before the Don Giovanni puppet show, Sherry and I walked along the Charles Bridge. It was so beautiful. It's a just different feel at night.

Mozart's Don Giovanni.

The cast of the puppeteers.

The puppet show was really funny. It's a shorter modernized version of the original. I really enjoyed the show! I'm especially amazed with the cast and their talent with manuvering the puppets. Next time if I ever go back to Prague, I would love to see what the original Don Giovanni has to offer.

I ended the night having fun with some friends. (left to right) Siobhan, me, Rricha.

Prague Day 3

On the last full day in Prague, Irena took the class on another tour around the Jewish Ghettos.

Jewish Cemetery in Josefov (Jewish Town)


A regular clock and a clock that works in the reverse order.

One of the few Jewish Synagogues that we visited on the last tour with Irena.

We visited the exhibition of children's drawings in Pinkasova Synagoga from the Jewish ghetto in Terezin (where Ruth Kluger was when she was a child). Seeing the children's depiction of what was going on in Terezin disturbed me.

After the last tour, Sherry and I walked around Old Town to do last minute souvenir shopping and stopped by a restaurant to eat lunch.

Lunch! Pork knuckle with horseradish! It was a gianormous portion!

Famous Czech pancakes. YUMMY.

During my souvenir shopping, a random mole was walking down the street...

Me in front of the Powder Tower located just outside of Old Town Square.

The National Theatre located near the Vltava River just before New Town.

Sherlock Holmes old place... now it's a cigar and tabacco pipe store.

Me in front of Hotel Imperial aka the Imperial Cafe.

What can I say.... I really liked my cappuccino.

When evening hit, Sherry and I made our journey up to the Petřínská rozhledna (Petřín lookout tower), even though the weather turned freezing and it was starting to rain. The tower kind of resembles the Eiffle Tower in Paris. The tower stands tall on top of the hills of Petřín. It was built in 1891 for the use of a watch tower and also a transmissions tower.

A view from the middle of the tower.

Me from the middle of the tower.

Yay! Sherry and I made it to the top!

The view from the top is spectacular... this is Praha! Isn't it just stunning?

After that long hike to the top, I treated myself to some delightful gelato ice cream! It was simply the best gelato I've ever had.

Prague Day 4

Not much of a day in Praha.. just a 6 hour bus ride back to Vienna. After those 3 days of non-stop walking on cobble stone, my feet and body needed a serious break! Later in the evening, the weather got really bad. It rained, thundered and lightening-ed like crazy!

August 12-13, 2007
In the late afternoon the day after Budapest, a couple students (who didn’t go to Budapest for 2 days) and the professor went to see the 1949 movie, The Third Man, showing at the Burgkino. The theater was definitely smaller than those in the US, but the seats are so much more comfortable and squishy. I really enjoyed the movie; this was not my first time seeing The Third Man though.

Afterwards, a small group of us went to a microbrewery that the professor recommended. It was absolutely appetizing.

The night ended with ice cream/ dessert at a gelato place in Stephansplatz. What a great way to end the night!

Stephansplatz at night... just beautiful. I love it.

The next night was Rricha’s 20^th Birthday Celebration Dinner!

(left to right) Siobhan, Rricha, and Mackenzie.

Happy Birthday Rricha!!!

Basically the whole entire class showed up to the dinner party at this amazing Italian restaurant. The food was wonderful; the atmosphere was fantastic and best of all everyone was having a great time. We ended the night at the Rathaus, celebrating with ice cream and dessert.

...deciding on what to eat... so many choices!

The best shrimp scampi I've ever had... YUM!

Rricha trying to blow out her flaming crackling candle...

August 11, 2007
Welcome to Budapest, Hungary!

Sherry, Laura and I woke up extremely early to make the 6:45 am train to Budapest. Man it was quite a morning! Right when we were about to leave the dorms, it started pouring in Vienna. We all returned to our rooms and grabbed umbrellas. We ran to the U-Bahn station to catch the U3 to Westbahnhof for the train. At the Westbahnhof stop, I decided to buy some breakfast to eat since it was going to be a 3 hour long ride without food. By the time I got my food it was already 6:44 am! I ran to the platform to look for the girls and I found them out in the pouring rain yelling and knocking on all the doors to let us in. With only 1 minute left before the train leaves, a door slides open and we got in and let out a giant sigh of relief! During the train ride, Hungarian Police stormed in and demanded to see passports twice. That was an interesting experience; although I must admit that I was a bit scared.

Budapest Keleti Railway Station

When we arrived at the Budapest Keleti (Eastern) Railway Station (on the Pest side), I exchanged some us dollars for Hungarian Forint… man the train station totally ripped me off. After obtaining a map of the city we headed out towards the city. I looked around and Eastern Europe was exactly like how it was portrayed in movies. The weather was not so nice. It was grey, hot and muggy.

We walked to Heroes' Square from the train station and took pictures…

Next, we paid a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts….

After, we strolled along in a beautiful park and found a famous well-known restaurant, Gundel… The food was incredible and the service was excellent! A bit on the pricy side, but it was definitely worth it.

Me with my roast duck, carmelized baked apples with sourberry sauce.

Once our 2 hour lunch ended, it started pouring cats and dogs! We were soaked with Budapest rain so we found shelter from the wetness at the subway station.

We took the subway to the Opera House.
I bought neat little souvenirs from the small shop inside. It was really cool, except for the part where I didn’t have enough Forint and the place did not accept credit cards. But in the end, I paid with Euros.

The girls and I visited the Szt. István Bazilika… We couldn’t make our way inside since there was a wedding going on.

We made our way to the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. There was some kind of a festival going on with live entertainment and food vendors. It was so much fun.

From the bridge, we saw the Hungarian Parliament over looking the Danube.

Finally, we crossed the Chain Bridge and entered the side of Buda! Buda is much less Eastern Europe like than Pest. In Buda, Sherry, Laura and I visited the Buda Castle!

We found a café called the Sisi Café around the evening time and had dessert and coffee. After we finished eating and drinking, we received the bill and the waitress woman tried to swindle us!!! She gave us a heck of a rough time with the bill. We ended up paying and just leaving.

With only half an hour left before the last train leaves to Vienna, we made a mad dash to search for a taxi that would take us to the Pest train station. After yelling and hollering down the streets of Buda, we found a speedy taxi driver that took us to the station just in time for the last train! Oh what great adventures! I had a blast running around Buda and Pest.

August 10, 2007
Mozart’s Vienna! Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756 in Salzburg. His music influenced the course of the Enlightenment period. He was a musical prodigy (wunderkind) at age 3. Mozart was son of Leopold, who was a music teacher as well as a violinist. Leopold was employed by Prince Bishop of Salzburg, but later abandoned his musical career for his son. By the age of 5, Wolfgang Mozart already wrote his first composition! Life as a musician and status of artists changed. Musicians grew more dependent on patronism; they must suck up to their patron to get money. Mozart worked on commission for the Prince Bishop, but was eventually dismissed from the Prince Bishop’s court due to a feud. In 1781, Mozart moved to Vienna and got married without his father’s consent in the very Stephansdom that lies in the heart of Vienna. He and his wife had 6 children, but unfortunately only 2 survived. Mozart began to write operas and his famous “The Marriage of Figaro” premiered in 1786. Italian operas dominated the opera houses and only comedy operas we played. The comedy operas do not have tragic endings; some has a potential to be tragic, but the ending is always happy. The year after, Mozart succeeded in achieving a position at Joseph II’s court. In 1791, Mozart died of a very high fever and was buried at St. Marc’s graveyard.
Following the Mozart lecture and continuing with the Mozart theme, Laura, Sherry and I walked across the street to dine at the Mozart Café.

(left to right) Laura, Sherry and I eating lunch at the Mozart Cafe.

Delicious warm and creamy Mozart cafe... Yummm.


There's ALWAYS room for dessert!!!

Around 7pm, the class went to see Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the Opernhaus. This was my first opera! It was such a blast getting all dressed up and attending a formal event. The opera was really wonderful; although, I was hoping to see something a bit more traditional. It was a modernized modern day version of the original “Le Nozze di Figaro.” The lady who played Cherubino was my favorite. She played a male character and pulled it off so well. I didn’t exactly understand what the characters were saying since the libretto was in Italian and the subtitles displayed were in German. It was truly a wonderful experience!

the lovely girls and I getting ready to go to the Opernhaus.

The anticipation before the show starts...

After “Le Nozze di Figaro,” a few of the students and I went to a gelato place in Stephansplatz and had sandwiches and ice cream! Delicious!

August 8-9, 2007
In class, we learned about the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. I found connections between the lecture and the paintings at the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Peter Breugel, a Flemist artist, painted “The Battle of Carnival vs Lent” in 1559. This painting is from the Catholic Reformation. Half of the painting represents carnival (mardi gras….fat Tuesday --> a period of excess and precession) and the other half of the painting represents lent.

This painting is a depiction of “The Last Judgment” (1565) by Frans Floris. Images of demons and hell present themselves in this painting. The depiction represents the resurrection, when Christ returns. Christ is beaconing with his right hand towards the heavens and all those who are rejected goes towards hell.

This painting by Peter Paul Rubens “The Lamentation” (1614) depicts Rubens concept of the Counter-Reformation. He concentrates on the passion and redemption of Christ.

During class we also studied on Martin Luther (1483-1536). Luther came from a second generation family in Saxony and studied law. One night during a frightening thunder storm, he yelled out “Help St. Mary! I will become a monk!” This was a promise/contract to the St. Mary if she does help him. So as a result, she helps him. Martin Luther enters a monastery and does everything required and more.

After lecture and before heading to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Laura, Sherry and I went to the Naschmarkt (farmer’s/ flea market) to have lunch and to shop for fresh fruits! We had kebabs and I bought peaches, strawberries and raspberries to satisfy my cravings for yummy fruits.

The next day was the visit to the United Nations and lecture on the IAEA!
The United Nations was first founded in 1957 and the first conference was held in San Francisco, CA. The international headquarter in Vienna is one of four in the world; others would include New York, Geneva, and Nairobi. There are a total of 192 countries in the UN, although a few countries are missing. According to our tour guide, approximately 1,000 UN conferences are held each and every day. In a conference room, problems and possible issues are confronted. Six official UN languages are spoken during the conferences (English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Russian and Chinese). It gets quite intense when there are so many interpreters interpreting all the many different languages. At the UN, majority vote is needed for certain issues. If an issue lies outside of a country and becomes a global issue, then the UN is involved. Otherwise, the United Nations is not above elected governments.

Memorial fountain of war veterans in front of the UN

One of the UN buildings

After the UN fun, Sherry, Laura and I headed off to the Danube and ate lunch at this wonderful Mexican food place. Yum! Kebab fajitas!

Word of the day--- (g) Deutschstunde ; (e) German class

August 6-7, 2007

During class, we watched a short film on the Habsburgs (The Habsburgs, Part 2: Cross and Crescent). I learned that the Habsburg name is property of present day Switzerland because the Swiss lands were a part of the German Holy Roman Empire!
A couple people from the class and I went to the Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury) after class….

Rudolf II’s crown of Austria

The Habsburg coat of arms

St. Leopold’s relic
Saint relics are sacred embodiment of saints. The body parts/ remains of Saints are kept in elaborate ornamental cases that are displayed in churches all over Europe. The body parts/ remains can be anything ranging from toes, fingers, and even heads.

After visiting the Schatzkammer, the group went to the Danube to hang out. Fun times!

The Blue Danube... so beautiful!

We were getting ready to get comfortable!

Me sitting back and relaxing... it felt so nice to be out near the Danube.

The next day was our trip to Melk Abbey! The class met up at 9am at Westbahnhof. Melk was about a 2 hour train ride from away from Vienna and is across from the Danube.

Melk Abbey or Stift Melk was founded by Leopold I and was built in 1089. This Baroque Austrian Benedictine Abbey is educated through the rules of St. Benedict. The Rules of St. Benedicts outlines how monks are supposed to live to find his way to God: poverty, chastity, and obedience. This abbey has been a museum for 80 years and was almost destroyed by wild fires.

The first words of St. Benedicts was Höre (listen)

A casket… During the Enlightenment reformation, people were buried in caskets for a few years. After a few years, the bodies were dumped in the ground by the lever on the coffin and the coffin is then reused. This was economically frugal, but the reformation didn’t last very long.

Melk is also known for it's fabulous library.

The Church is made of sage marble, which is more expensive and less cool than real marble.

For dinner, the whole class had dinner at the abbey restaurant. We did some wine tasting! We had a different wine for each dish (3 dishes total).

I always like to take pictures with my food! =]

August 4-5, 2007

Weekend time!!!
Klosterneuburg monastery! Most of the class took the bus to Klosterneuburg (north of Vienna on the Danube) and walked to the monastery from the bus stop. We bought our tickets for the monastery tour and explored the small town. There was a heurigen near by so we stopped by to look around. After exploring for about an hour, we walked back to the monastery and went on the tour. The Klosterneuburg monastery or Stift Klosterneuburg was founded by St. Leopold III, patron saint of Austria, and his wife Agnes in 1113. They were walking a long and found her veil that she had lost 9 years earlier and took it as a sign so they had a Catholic monastery built in that very spot.

- Klosterneuburg Monastery (exterior)

- Klosterneuburg Monastery (interior)

There’s a monument outside of the monastery called the ‘lighthouse.’ This place used to be a cemetery, but was later moved to another location. The lighthouse is now in its place commemorating the victims of the black plague and WWI.

Today, the original monastery’s clock towers were replaced by 19^th century Neo-Gothic clock towers due to massive decays.

This is one of the original stain glasses from the 13^th century. Not all the stain glass in the monastery is original. Most of the originals have been replaced and only a few of the old ones remain.

At the end of the tour, we got hungry so we walked back into the small town and found a place to eat at. It was getting late so we decided to leave. We didn’t know where the bus stop was so we decided to take the train back to Vienna. The train was definitely late and the weather turned pretty chilly!

The next day, a couple of us wanted to go to the oldest zoo in all of Europe… the Schönbrunn Zoo! The buildings are of Imperial Baroque architecture and the animals are so awesome.

- left: giraffe... right: polar bear

-left: koala....right: red fox

Later that night, Sherry, Laura and I went to see the Weiner Imperial Orchestra at Beethovensplatz. It was an Orchestra/ Ballet / Opera performing J. Strauss, W.A. Mozart, and L.v. Beethoven. It was a wonderful experience. We got lost trying to find the place! Running in heals around the city was quite painful. After the performance, the girls and I took a stroll in the park in the middle of the night. It was really peaceful there.

- The Wiener Imerial Orchestra.

August 3, 2007

First day of class! During class, we learned about the Babenberg history. Am Hof—at the “aristocratic” court— was set up during the Babenberg rule from 955 to 1246. When the Babenberg dynasty died out there was a power vacuum fight over territory. King Ottokar of Bohiemia took over and was eventually replaced by the founder of the Habsburg empire Rudolf I in 1273. Rudolf I was elected King of Germany and a monarch of the Holy Roman Empire. The Habsburg ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1273 onward.

After lecture, the class explored the city on foot. We visited the ancient ruins of Vienna (top image) and toured the streets of Vienna. We walked to the front of Hofburg (image below) and the Vienna Library.

During lunch, Laura, Sherry and I went to a small Café called Michele for lunch on Mariahilfer Strasse.

Next, we hung out in the courtyard of the Museumsquartier before heading off the Stephansdom for the catacombs tour.

-Interior of the Stephansdom

The St. Stephen’s Cathedral was built in 1147 as a community church of the Diocese of Passau, but was later extended and rebuilt by the year 1511. Today in present day Vienna, St. Stephen’s Cathedral is still being restored and repaired. This Romanesque and Gothic cathedral was dedicated to St. Stephen, who was the patron of the bishop's cathedral in Passau.

-Catacombs gated outside entrance way.

Below the Stephansdom lie the catacombs. It is basically a burial ground for the dead dating back to the 17^th century. When the black plague hit, the dead was stacked in rooms in the catacombs because of a new law that forbids burials within the city. Today, the skeletal remains of those who were buried back in the 17^th century can be seen below the cathedral. I found the catacombs completely fascinating! The ancient skeletons or just bones in general are all scattered in the catacomb rooms… and the best part… they bones were real!!! Too bad photos weren’t allowed during the tour…

-left to right: Me, Sherry, and Laura in front of the catacombs outside entrance.

After that amazing tour, the girls and I went to Vienna’s famous Original Sacher Torte and had ourselves the best mouthwatering sacher torte, apple struttle, and not to forget the 7 Euro original sacher café! Oh my! It was the so incredible.

- the 3 of us right before we devoured the sacher torte: Laura (left), Sherry (middle), and me (right)

- the famous and delicious sacher torte!

-the amazing fluffy apple struttle...

- Me and my really good 7 Euro sacher cafe!

August 2, 2007

Word of the day— (g) andere ; (e) other

Orientation day! I woke up extra early to make myself toast and cheese. The class met downstairs of the dormitories at 10 am to go to class together. This was the first time that I was meeting everyone (including the professor) because I wasn’t able to attend the Davis orientation back in May. I was exhilarated seeing all the new faces. This trip will be so much fun… new place, new friends…how exciting! After everyone gathered in the hallway, we walked across the street to the U-Bahn station to head off to school. From Simmering, we took the U3 line going towards Ottakring to Landstraße, got off and switched lines to U4 going towards Hütteldorf to Karlsplatz. The Austro-American Institute of Education (AAIE) was directly across the street from the Opera House. Orientation started off with an ice breaker so that everyone can be acquainted with each other, then the subject matter flowed into orientation stuff and ended with the distribution of museum ids. I must say that it was quite stuffy in the classrooms since there was no a/c and the only available source of ventilation was the windows. Apparently, air conditioning is considered a luxury item, since most of Europe does not have A/C in its buildings.

Around noon time, class was dismissed for lunch! I joined a couple students from the class for lunch at a buffet. Using Euros was a bit confusing… It has been only 2 days into the program; I guess I will eventually get familiar with currency. After lunch my classmates and I returned to school to meet up with the professor and the rest of the class for a bus tour around Vienna. The tour was guided by Dr. O. We went around the famous Ringstrasse and saw the Wien museum, Karlskirche, Hofburg (court castle), Rathaus (city hall), United Nations, the Ferris Wheel from the 1949 movie ‘The Third Man,’ lastly the Danube. The Bus took us to the Belvedere in the 3^rd district of Wien. The upper and lower Belvedere is a museum in present day Vienna, but currently the lower Belvedere is being renovated. The lower palace was built by Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1714.

-The lower palace (top image...way in the back past the garden) was built as garden villa for the Prince, but to make the garden axis symmetrical the upper Belvedere (bottom image) was constructed in 1720 to act as a villa for his guest. The upper guest house was grandeur and beautiful. However, the lower Belvedere where Prince Eugene resided was not so impressive. It is greatly more petite than the upper Belvedere. I enjoyed the sight of the upper than the lower Belvedere because it was much more magnificent.

After the Belvedere, we headed off to the Kalenberg mountains and on our way, we passed by some really neat looking heurigens (wine gardens)...

-The church Kahlenbergkirche was built in the late 1620’s and was destroyed by the Turks in 1683. The church was reconstructed and restored after the being destroyed and this is what it looks like today.

-The view from the top of the Kahlenberg mountain was so beautiful. I could see everything! It was seriously amazing.

-We also visited the Hundertwasserhaus designed by the architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser in 1983. This apartment was quite interesting and unique.

When the bus tour ended, my newly found friends and I went exploring around Vienna.

-I tried the Käsekrainer (aka puss dog) at a vendor near our school. It was delicious!!!

We walked and found the Hofburg and eventually made our way to the Rathaus for dinner. Every night there’s a ballet or opera screening right in front of the Rathaus. The atmosphere is so lively, crowded and energetic. All the Viennese comes to the Rathaus every night to eat, drink, and relax. Maybe 45 mins into the opera screening, it started to rain. My friends and I got up and started running towards the U-Bahn station. A couple of the girls and I needed to used the WC and so we found one. 50 Euro cents for using the WC!!! I was not used to paying to use a public restroom....

-The Hofburg Palace

- top: the Rathaus film festival... bottom: the Rathaus just before night fall.

August 1, 2007

Arriving in Vienna was quite an experience! I've never experienced such speedy service before. With 2 luggages in hand and a backpack on my back, I went to look for Cafe Wien (that was the meeting point). I walked back and forth, back and forth, but I couldn’t find the café. I finally asked a waitress who was standing at a near by bakery where Cafe Wien was and she pointed in the forward direction. After 20 minutes of walking around the airport, Cafe Wien was right in front of the baggage claim exit. While waiting for Siobhan and Rricha to arrive, the waitress at the café tried to teach me some German. I learned how to say “Thank-you” (Danke) or “Thank-you nicely” (Dankeschön). When the girls arrived, we all took a taxi to the dorms. I was totally amazed to see that Vienna reminded me a lot of L.A because the drivers were on the left side of the car!
After arriving at the dorms, Siobhan, Rricha and I checked in and struggled to fit ourselves and all our luggage in the tiny elevator. I walked into my room and suddenly yelled out, “WOW!” because the room was so big! I met my roommate, Emily, and we started to talk while I unpacked my stuff. We definitely needed toilet paper and food so we journeyed across the street to the grocery store; that was an interesting experience! The cashier lady must not like us very much because we were holding up the line. I guess she expects us to have all our groceries out of her way by the time she gives us the receipt. I was not used to bagging groceries myself.
A big group of us took the U-Bahn for the first time to Stephansplatz (location of the St. Stephen's Cathedral) for dinner. We strolled along the Danube Canal and found some local Viennese food. It was delicious, especially the kebabs… yum!

- The famous St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) at the center of Vienna.

- The beautiful busy sites of Stephansplatz.

- The outside of St. Peter's Cathedral.

- The interior of the St. Peter's Cathedral. This was my first time stepping foot inside a cathedral like this. It was a jawdropping sight!

July 31, 2007

I left Riverside approximately 12 hours ago. It's been a rather long day with getting boarding tickets and running through security check. Oh and not to mention almost missing my flight! I've never flown by myself before, so this is definitely the first. LAX wasn't as bad as Chicago was. Comparing the two, LAX was pretty simple. You've seen movies where the character is late for his/her flight and you see him/her run like crazy to their destined terminal... yeah that was me today at Chicago.
Now, I'm on my way to Vienna, Austria, where I will spend the next month learning and exploring the beautiful city.