It's a shame that I don't write in this more often. I suppose that I haven't been travelling as much as I had hoped of I've become overly jaded by Salzburg. In reality, there are still adventures to be had here, even though it's like "home" and everything. I've yet to go to Hellbrunn Castle or the Stiegelbrau. It also snowed a bit this weekend, and I'm looking forward to peaceful walks through Mirabellplatz.
Tonight I went to dinner at Spaghetti and Co. for Linda's birthday with Sarah, Casey, Kaitelyn, Jessica, Linda, Clint, and this German guy who is friends with Casey...I think his name was Matteo I had broccoli spaghetti with a glass of white wine and I felt totally grown up. We all dressed up, too. Then, we went to Frauenbergers for cocktails, and that was nice, too. Clint, Sarah, and I went home at this point. I have so much studying to do and I doubt that I would have much fun dancing with homework on my mind. Yuck.
Speaking of homework, I should probably get back to it. I am going to Paris next weekend. Hopefully, I will have some stories then.
20 October 2007
08 October 2007
Swiss Army Romance
I wasn't sure what to expect from Geneva. I figured that Switzerland would be beautiful and have good chocolate and cheese and stuff. I was just excited to see Erika, for the most part.
The train ride from Salzburg to Zurich was fairly uneventful. I was in a compartment by myself, except on a few occasions when someone else rode for an hour or so. At one point, two men sat accross from me, and I resolved to see if I could understand their conversation. They talked about education the entire time--I think--Then, it turned out that they were teachers. Go figure.
As I boarded the train from Zurich to Geneva, the German was replaced by French and I knew I was in trouble. I put on my headphones and armed myself with, "Je ne parle pas francais."
I arrived in Geneva at about 3:30 pm, and waited by the enterance for Erika. I was so excited when I saw her! Haha--I wasn't in the wrong city, after all! We walked to the hostel and sat there, talking for a few hours. We were both tired and hungry, but it was awesome to be swapping stories again. She told me about Barcelona and a weird guy from Boston who grew up next door to the Bush family (as in George W. and Senior) and was supposidly exceedingly wealthy--but had been living in a "youth" hostel in Barcelona for the past month. We talked about classes, I told her about my friends and Austria and we discussed how insane it is that we're in a foreign country!
After dinner, we looked around Geneva and almost went to a jazz club (but there was a cover charge--no thank you). We walked along the lake and through a park. It started to rain a bit and we didn't have our umbrella. "It's OK--we lived in Portland for a year!" Nevertheless, we returned to the hostel fairly early because we had a big day ahead of us.
The next morning, we took the tram (that we called the MAX) to the UN offices of Geneva. We saw peacocks on the steps of one of the buildings, and all the tourists were taking pictures. The tour was interesting, though current events and issues weren't discussed as much as I would have hoped. My favorite room of the UN was the last conference room shown to us. It had been part of the original League of Nations. There were paintings on all the walls that represented progress in one field or another--be it technology or medicine. The ceiling depicted 5 giants, representing the 5 major continents (OK--I understand why Antartica wasn't included...but what about Australia?). They were joining hands in the middle of the ceiling as a sign of unity. Cool.
The Red Cross Museum was informative, though depressing. I dedicated a lot of my time to looking for new German vocabulary and trying to remember French in some way. I know I'm totally nerdy.
My favorite part of the day was probably the Botanical Gardens. Did I die and go to Portland? Seriously. Everything reminded me of Portland, except the whole French language thing. We watched some kids at play and looked at all the useful plants in the garden. It was beautiful and green and I took more photos of trees and flowers than anything else. There were also peacocks, deer, and flamingos. And ducks.
We then went to a flea market and watched some kids at a skate park, as the Doors blared over the loud speaker. We eventually found the Reformation Wall ('sup. Luther?) and did some souvenier shopping. I bought a Swiss Army Knife (naturally!) that's all cutsey with Eidelweisses on it.
The day ended with Swiss Cheese Fondue and beer tasting. We both boarded trains at 6 am the next morning to return to our respective European residences. There was a little girl on the train who I talked to in German. I could understand some of what she said. She wanted to buy the sweater I'm making. She was cute.
It was so nice to get away from the center and the 40 people I see day in and day out, but I was happy to see them when I got home.
Now, I have to pee. I will post pictures--I swear!
The train ride from Salzburg to Zurich was fairly uneventful. I was in a compartment by myself, except on a few occasions when someone else rode for an hour or so. At one point, two men sat accross from me, and I resolved to see if I could understand their conversation. They talked about education the entire time--I think--Then, it turned out that they were teachers. Go figure.
As I boarded the train from Zurich to Geneva, the German was replaced by French and I knew I was in trouble. I put on my headphones and armed myself with, "Je ne parle pas francais."
I arrived in Geneva at about 3:30 pm, and waited by the enterance for Erika. I was so excited when I saw her! Haha--I wasn't in the wrong city, after all! We walked to the hostel and sat there, talking for a few hours. We were both tired and hungry, but it was awesome to be swapping stories again. She told me about Barcelona and a weird guy from Boston who grew up next door to the Bush family (as in George W. and Senior) and was supposidly exceedingly wealthy--but had been living in a "youth" hostel in Barcelona for the past month. We talked about classes, I told her about my friends and Austria and we discussed how insane it is that we're in a foreign country!
After dinner, we looked around Geneva and almost went to a jazz club (but there was a cover charge--no thank you). We walked along the lake and through a park. It started to rain a bit and we didn't have our umbrella. "It's OK--we lived in Portland for a year!" Nevertheless, we returned to the hostel fairly early because we had a big day ahead of us.
The next morning, we took the tram (that we called the MAX) to the UN offices of Geneva. We saw peacocks on the steps of one of the buildings, and all the tourists were taking pictures. The tour was interesting, though current events and issues weren't discussed as much as I would have hoped. My favorite room of the UN was the last conference room shown to us. It had been part of the original League of Nations. There were paintings on all the walls that represented progress in one field or another--be it technology or medicine. The ceiling depicted 5 giants, representing the 5 major continents (OK--I understand why Antartica wasn't included...but what about Australia?). They were joining hands in the middle of the ceiling as a sign of unity. Cool.
The Red Cross Museum was informative, though depressing. I dedicated a lot of my time to looking for new German vocabulary and trying to remember French in some way. I know I'm totally nerdy.
My favorite part of the day was probably the Botanical Gardens. Did I die and go to Portland? Seriously. Everything reminded me of Portland, except the whole French language thing. We watched some kids at play and looked at all the useful plants in the garden. It was beautiful and green and I took more photos of trees and flowers than anything else. There were also peacocks, deer, and flamingos. And ducks.
We then went to a flea market and watched some kids at a skate park, as the Doors blared over the loud speaker. We eventually found the Reformation Wall ('sup. Luther?) and did some souvenier shopping. I bought a Swiss Army Knife (naturally!) that's all cutsey with Eidelweisses on it.
The day ended with Swiss Cheese Fondue and beer tasting. We both boarded trains at 6 am the next morning to return to our respective European residences. There was a little girl on the train who I talked to in German. I could understand some of what she said. She wanted to buy the sweater I'm making. She was cute.
It was so nice to get away from the center and the 40 people I see day in and day out, but I was happy to see them when I got home.
Now, I have to pee. I will post pictures--I swear!
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