Howdy folks (or should I say Servus)! Welcome back to another week in Berlin except plot twist....................I'm actually in Austria this week! I started off Monday morning basically counting down the hours until my night train. I took a walk to Burgermeister to get my steps in and get that milkshake I've been craving for like 4 days haha. The milkshake was delicious and the walk was nice. Afterward, I headed back to my apartment to have an advising meeting with my prof from Bates (shout out Jakub!). We have everything figured out so we talked a lot about Berlin and he gave me some great tips for things to do with the second half of my semester. After talking to him, I packed up, read some game of thrones, and made dinner. It was honestly a bit sad saying goodbye to Petra, even though I'll only be gone a week! I gave her a hug and headed to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof. I'm traveling to Austria with my friend Lane so I met them at the train station then we boarded our train. We were sitting on the second level which was neat! Unfortunately, we both were unable to get some effective sleep on the long, overnight ride but we had an itinerary and we were gonna stick with it!
This is where things get a bit hazy because it was now technically Tuesday! Lane and I arrived in Salzburg Tuesday morning and headed to our hostel to drop off our bags before heading to Schloss Hellbrunn. We did a tour of the water fountains and saw the gazebo from the sound of music there before heading to the Hohensalzburg fortress. We took the Bergbahn (mountain train) up and walked around the museum and grounds for a bit - taking lots of photos! We decided to walk down which was very sketchy and steep but still fun. Then we headed to Mozart's birthplace and toured that building before walking across the river to his Salzburg residence. After that we walked through the gardens at Schloss Mirabell. We also saw lots of Sound of Music filming locations along the way - that's Salzburg for you! We were pretty pooped by the end of this adventuring so we went back to our hostel to officially check in and get a quick rest in before heading out to dinner. We had a quiet and early night to recover from our travels.
Some pictures from Salzburg!
We woke up early on Wednesday morning in hopes of catching the nuns singing in the abbey. We walked up to the abbey and took some pictures then realized the nuns sing in a church more in town. Unfortunately, by the time we got there they were done singing :/ It's okay though because we were able to walk around the alte stadt (old town) without any tourists! We headed back to our hostel for breakfast then got all our stuff packed up and ready to check out. We headed out one more time to get some souvenirs and take some last photos before heading to the train station and catching our train to Vienna! (final Salzburg pictures to the left!) The train ride was quite scenic so I mostly looked out the window which was really nice. Once we got to Vienna, we checked into our hostel then headed out for some sightseeing. We made it to Schloss Belvedere and saw lots of paintings in the upper gallery - including Gustav Klimt's "Der Kuss." We got a late lunch then headed to the Central Friedhof (central cemetery) where many famous people are buried including Beethoven and Strauss. It was dark when we got there (even though it was only 5:30 - that's the time change for ya!) so we walked around with flashlights which was kinda fun. I would have liked to see the place in the light but when you're only in Vienna for 36 hours you gotta make the best of it! After the cemetery, we picked up some quick dinner then headed back to our hostel for the night. Another long day!
Pictures of Vienna:
Got to sleep a bit longer on Thursday - Halloween! Unfortunately it's not really celebrated in Germany/Austria as much as it is in the US. I was honestly a bit bummed I didn't have any plans to dress up or anything since I was traveling! I do love Halloween. Anyway, I didn't let the lack-of-Halloween-fun blues get me down - I had to explore Vienna! Lane and I got breakfast then headed to the innen stadt (inner city) to do some sight seeing. It seemed like every corner turned lead to a new square with cool stuff! It was really great exploring the city and we got to do some meandering instead of rushing from place to place. The main things we saw in the city center were Stephanskirche (church), the Habsburg Crypt, and the Staatsoper (state opera house). We got some snacks along the way before heading to Schloss Schönbrunn. Schönbrunn is the big Habsburg Palace so it was really neat to see the Austrian-Hungarian side of things instead of the Prussian/Holy Roman Empire stuff we see in Berlin. After walking around those grounds for a while, we headed to see a few memorials and drink in the afternoon sun from the Schloss Belvedere gardens. From there, Lane and I parted ways since they had tickets to an art museum before their train. I still had a few hours to kill so I went to see some memorials I learned about in my classes at Bates (Shout out prof. Richter!) before heading back to the hostel to collect my bags. I got my stuff, grabbed a quick dinner, then hopped on the train to Graz! I was kind of struggling not to crash out on the train but I made it through by reading some Game of Thrones haha. After arriving in Graz, I headed to my hotel and put my feet up (literally) before heading to bed.
More pictures from Vienna:
I wasn't planning to meet up with David until 11:30 so I slept in a bit and had a casual morning walking around Graz. It was really quiet since it was All Saint's Day so it felt really peaceful to walk around without running into too many people. I checked out of my hotel then met up with David - my TA from last year at Bates! It was really great to see him again and have a local guide in Graz! He took me up to the Schlossberg (castle mountain) and we walked around the alte stadt (old city). We grabbed a coffee and then some lunch at a "Bauplatz." Basically the restaurant had sheets of paper where you marked what you want and which toppings/sides you get. I found this super amusing since I've been to many restaurants in America with this aspect but never would have expected to find one in a small city in Austria! To be honest, we mostly just walked around the city and chatted all day. We went into a monastery, another church, and walked along the river. Afterward we got a sweet treat before heading back to my hotel. He went to see a movie and I gathered my bags and headed to the hauptbahnhof (main train station) for a quick dinner and my train back to Berlin. This is where time gets a bit fuzzy again! I took the train from Graz to Vienna then had to wait 5 HOURS until my next train to Berlin. I did NOT realize how long this transfer was (or that it was from midnight to 5am) until it was too late but that's okay!
Graz pictures:
Since my transfer marked a transition period and did start at midnight, I'll start Saturday's entry here. My plan was to stay awake during the transfer and sleep on the train to Berlin. I figured since I'm a bit wired from traveling solo I'll be more effective getting sleep when I'm completely exhausted. I killed time by updating this blog (yay), chatting with my family at actually reasonable times (for them), and watching some Game Changer episodes (shout out Dropout TV and ÖBB wifi). It did get a bit chilly and a bit sketchy at times, but I made it through to my 5am train! I slept pretty much straight through the first 4 hours before I started to wake up a bit. I grabbed some food from the train and felt rejuvenated for a bit so I read some Game of Thrones. I did inevitably get tired again and slept on and off for the next 2 hours or so before finally giving up. I took the bus home from the train station, unpacked, did laundry, and went grocery shopping since the stores are closed on Sundays! Otherwise, I had a chill night and went to bed pretty early.
Sunday I pretty much did nothing and just relaxed after a long travel period. I read some Game of Thrones, watched some TV, and went for a quick walk. Nothing too exciting here to wrap up the week! Tune back in next week for classes to resume!
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