Salzburg and Eisriesenwalt

Hello Everyone I now it has been a while since I have updated and I’m truly sorry. Life has just been very hectic and it will continue to become hectic until I come home. I only have 10 more days of class (only weekdays), 3 finals, and 1 recital before I come home. It is really scary to think about it but it is sort of time to come home and see everyone. It will feel awkward but nice at the same time.

Anyway This weekend I went to Salzburg and a small little town called Werfen. This trip by far was my favorite trip I have ever taken. It was beautiful. No words can really describe it. I went with 4 friends (Jenna, Marissa, Danielle, and Annemarie). We had so much fun. We left at 13:40 from Westbahnhof and then arrived in Salzburg around 17:00. It is a nice long trip, but well worth it. We check into our hostel and right from there we go exploring. Everything in town is closed except for tourist shops, which usually stay open late. We start trying to look for a place to eat but everything was really expensive. Salzburg is expensive because it is a huge tourist attraction. So many people were in the streets. We got some gelato, which was rather good. When we ordered the people spoke to us in English, which sorta made us really mad. When I order something or I want to ask where something is I ask in German. I want to practice. These people wouldn’t speak German to me or my friends at all. They saw we were American so they only spoke English to us. I wasn’t a fan. Anyway, we then head to Residenzplatz which is the main center place of Salzburg. In the Sound of Music Maria can be seen running around it when she heads to the Abbey. I also bought an Alpine Hat in this area. It is a Green hat with a feather. Its pretty sweet and it was made in Austria! When we were walking through the Platz we start to see different Austrian Bands playing. It was to celebrate May Day (May 1^st), which is Europe’s Labor Day. It’s a huge celebration in Vienna because they close off the Ringstrasse, which is main street that goes around the 1^st district. In Salzburg they bands playing and stands for alcohol and food. We kept looking around for a place to eat and decided to head back to the hostel to ask for recommendations. On our way back we walked through a garden and it was really sweet so we started jumping through and then I realized that it started looking very familiar but I couldn’t think of it. We started talking so many pictures of the Beautiful Garden and Hedges. When we got back to the Hostel I realized that it was the Garden where the Sound of Music cast runs through when they sing Do-Re-Mi! hahaha I couldn’t believe it. It just seemed surreal. At 20:00 we went to a Restaurant called Die Weisse – Meaning The White. The outside looked really boring but when you walk in it was a completely different world. We sat outside and it was a beautiful night. I got a Wiener Schnitzel with Cranberry Sauce. It was so good! After that I went back to the Hostel and feel asleep.

The next morning I wake up really early because the group of us decided to go to Eisriesenwelt – meaning Ice Giant World. It is in the small town of Werfen. We almost missed out train and I had to drag the girls out so we could make it in time. We made it by 2 minutes. I was so happy with made it because we would have to wait for another hour before we could go there. The first things that we see are these great mountains – the Alps! The clouds were down and it was hard to see some of the mountains. Then we also see the Hohenwerfen which is the castle in Werfen on this mountain. It was really sweet. It is also the castle seen in the background when the children and Maria are having a picnic on a hill. I tried to find the hill but couldn’t We start to walk around the town and we walked it in 10 minutes. It is very very small. We didn’t just go to see this town we went to go up the mountain (1600 meters to be exact) to see this amazing ice cave. It is the biggest Ice Cave in the world. We get on a bus and it takes up 15 minutes to go up this huge side of the mountain. After he drops us off we get our tickets and then we have to walk 20 minutes to the cable cars. People can either use a cable car or they can hike up this unsafe mountain haha. If you hike it takes you up to 90 minutes or you can use a cable car and be there in 3. They pack us into the cable car and it starts shaking. We got a little freaked out but it was fine. We then had to walk another 20 minutes to the opening of the cave. It was starting to get really cold and we finally changed our clothes. We waited a little because we needed a tour guide that spoke English. I’m the first person in line and I was given a lantern. We walk in and it is beautiful. I have never seen anything like it. It truly was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. While in the cave our tour guide tells us when it was found and so on. We walk through the cave for 1 kilometer. The cave is actually 42 km longs but we only got to see the first km. We walked up 700 steps and then it was time to walk down again. When we got back outside the clouds had finally lifted and you could see all of the mountains. It was surreal. Unbelievable. I hope to see something like it again but I don’t know if that will happen in the near future. We beginning to walk back down and we stop at the restaurant on the way down. Yes, there is a restaurant on the mountain and 1000 meters in the air haha. I got some goulash soup and then we headed back down. We get back on the train to Salzburg and then go back to explore just a little bit more before we finally leave. I run to go see the Abbey that was in the sound of music. It was really weird to see it. It is pretty small compared to what I thought it was. Now this is the cool part. It starts to rain and I take cover underneath a covered alley by the abbey. I then realized that the abbey door was unlocked and could be opened. I walk in and it was beautiful. It was small but very nice. When I walked in I started to hear the clock strike and I hear the nuns practicing for choir. It was weird because that is the same thing that happens in the movie. I didn’t see any of the nuns but I heard their beautiful voices. After this it was time for me to go back to Vienna. We all got on a train at 7:00 and got back in Vienna around 10:30. This trip was by far the most beautiful and exciting trip I have ever taken. It was also my last trip in Europe. I’m not going to Florence this weekend so I will be in Vienna for the rest of my time and I’m super excited about it!

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Life is Grand

Hello Everyone,

It has been awhile. So much has happened since I last updated. I will try and fill you in as much as I can. So after the Wachau trip I had a lot of school work and I still have a lot of school work. German is progressively getting harder and harder. No one really did well on the last test that we took. I told the teacher that I didn't feel that we covered the material adequately and she took it as I didn't study enough and I didn't prepare. We have learn so many things and it is to hard to process everything. Life is grand though. I'm working really hard on my recital and I have a lot to look forward to. I feel that my voice has changed a lot since I have been here and it is going to keep on changing. I'm sad I won't be working with my Amazing Voice Teacher and my Amazing Coach! They are really happy about the progress that I have made this semester. This weekend I plan on going to Budapest, Hungary and I want to go to the spas to relax, the opera house, and explore more of Europe. I hear it is absolutely beautiful. I will take a ton of pictures as I usually do and put them online for all of you to see.

I have gone to the Opera a lot recently. I went and saw la sonnambula with Jaun Diego Florez and Natalie Dessay! They are unbelievable. I got to meet them after the performance as well. I also went to Rigoletto with Dmitri Hvorstovsky - one of my idols! He was great. I would have never seen him in the states and if I wanted to tickets would have been so expensive. The opera is something that just calms me down and is so relaxing. Tonight I'm going to I Puritani by Bellini. It should be really great.

Next weekend I will be going to Salzburg and I will get to see all things related to the Sound of Music and also Mozart. I still haven't bought a gift for myself since I have been here. I want something that will remind me of Vienna, Europe, or Austria all the time but I still can't think of anything. Who knows I have another month to find something that will remind me of all the AMAZING times that I have had here. I know this is a short entry but I have to go study for a big German test tomorrow. Wish me Luck!!!!!

Tschüß Ba Ba,

Ben

Wachau Trip

This trip was so much fun. I just got to kick back a little and enjoy the scenery. In the morning we left around 8 o'clock and got to the first destination called Melk around 9:30. Melk is in a valley right by the Danube. They are known for their Monastery. This place was HUGE! They use to have 100 monks living there now they only have 30 and they have a school of 900 students there too. We got to be on a tour and see some really old stuff dating back to the year 800. We stayed there til round 11 and then we went to our next destination called Dürnstein. This is mostly where Wachau is. We walked through the town a little bit and then we were told we could climb this mountain to go see the castle ruins at the top. None of us knew how far it was up but lets just say it took a 20 minute walk to get up there. ughhhhh my legs were burning but it was well worth it. The view was gorgeous. I have never really seen anything like it. We got to climb up to the watch tower of the castle and see everything. We were really high up. I have never seen anything like it before. After being at Dürnstein and enjoying the view for a few hours we head to this place called Krems. It is known as a medieval town, but all I have to say is the place is not worth it unless you like looking at a lot of Frescos. We took a tour and it sorta seemed like the tour was just made up and not real. We walked into a room and they told us what was in it before but it didn't like it could be what they were saying and they are trying to restore it. They also showed up a medieval kitchen but the kitchen was completely black and you couldn't see anything. I wasn't a fan. We then headed to a Wine Tasting Place. It was really cool. I took some Benedryl before hand and had less then half a glass of wine. I became a little blotchy but I was fine. We tried for different wines. I didn't really care for the white wines and I had a taste for the red wine. I also didn't know how to drink it so I just smelled it like I was told to and gulped it all at one. The white wines I gave to someone if I didn't like it. We were should how wine was made and we then headed upstairs to their big dining room and had a really nice meal. Everything was great! It was such a great day and I got to meet some people I hadn't met yet. Which was really nice.

The View from the Wine Tasting

Us eating

The Wine Cellar

This huge Wine Keg

The View from Dürnstein

OH NO!!!!

Another View

This was only part way up

The Castle Ruins

The town of Melk

The Melk Abbey

The Abbey

I have a lot of crazy things coming up because I have to gear down for school. I will be in Vienna all week and then the week after I think I will be going to Rome. I will know within the next few days. I would be there saturday and sunday and I would get to go to Vatican City and see all the cool monuments. EXCITING! After that I think the next weekend I plan on going to Salzburg and the weekend after maybe Cinque Terra or Prague. Ughhhh So much to do in such little time. Well I need to go get ready for school. I miss you all.

Love,

Ben

Life Update

Hello Everyone,

So Mom has really gotten on my case to update this. I have just been super swamped. This week was not really fun at all. I had to make up all of my midterms but I don't know how I did on any of them, but they are over and I'm glad they are. It was nice to get them out of the way, now I have to focus on my recital and focus on my music. Also if I will be traveling or not. I have a little over a month to memorize about 10 songs for my recital. All of them are in a different language which will be interesting to try and remember all of them. On Thursday I wen to an opera. It was amazing. It is called La Bohéme. It started Anna Netrebko. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VOICE EVER!!!! The worst part was the man that was standing behind me in the standing room he was leaning on the bar behind me and leaned forward putting his face right by my and I moved and stood up straight and his wife told my friend that I was taking up the room of two people, because I was standing up straight. They wouldn't talk to me and then said I was rude for not leaning over. It really made me mad because they were ruining my experience of this amazing opera but I still really enjoyed it. On Friday I had a Voice Lesson and it was great! I'm so glad everything is going really well with my lessons. Tonight I will be going to Karlskirche, which is a church and go listen to the Mozart's Requiem. Its going to be great. There really isn't much going on with me until next week. Tomorrow I will be going to a place called Wachau which is a valley at the end of the Alps. It will be a lot of fun. I will take a lot of pictures. I can't wait. They are well known for their wine and apricots. I just want to go somewhere again. Well I need to go practice.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Life is general

So it has been over a week since I have posed another blog. This entry is not going to be long because I have a lot that I need to be doing and I'm taking a break right now. I have to make up my midterms that I was suppose to take before my Spring Break but I was sick. I already made up my German midterm today and tomorrow is Music History and the day after is The Lied. I have a listening quiz tomorrow for Music History that I need to make up also. That is going to be a lot of fun....NOT! Anyway life is interesting here. From this Thursday I only have 7 more weeks. It feels like I have been here for a very short amount of time. I have a lot that I need to do in these 7 weeks. I have a recital to plan, traveling, and going to Operas of course. On Thursday I will be going to La Boheme. It was on last night and I know some people that went and I heard it was absolutely beautiful and breath-taking. I will update you about spring break later this week. My mom came and we had a blast. No one was around my apartment at all during break so we basically had it to ourselves which was very nice. She also brought me some american food like peanut butter, brownie mix etc. I was so happy. She also brought me some other clothes from home. its nice to finally wear something different. Well I just wanted to inform you all that I'm alive and well and now I must go study more for my tests.

Tschüß Ba Ba,

Ben

London!

London Trip!

Ok! Here we go. This entry is going to be pretty long. I’m going to combine a journal that I will be keeping for my trip in London. I will first start with my experience to the unforsaken place called Braitslava. I woke up on Tuesday morning at 04:30. I was very tired but moving. I had to catch a bus, at 6:50, all the way on the opposite side of Vienna. It takes me about 35 minutes to get the bus stop. When I get there I start to freak out. On the buses website there is an address saying where the bus stop is. I find the address and all I see are two blue double doors and it was down an alleyway. I started to freak out. I had 30 minutes to find my bus. I thought the bus would be there but no luck. I call my RA and he told me I was in the right area. I started freaking out more and then at 6:46 I see my bus. I get on and then we leave 4 minutes later. We didn’t wait for anyone. There were only 5 passengers including myself on the bus. The bus could fit around 100 people. We then started on the highway from Vienna to Bratislava. I started to look around when we were at the halfway point and it looks just like home. All you see is land. I saw a few houses but not a lot. There was just a lot of unused land. The only way you can see something green in Vienna is if you go to a park otherwise it is all cement. Anyway, I get to Bratislava airport and then I got through security. This is a very small airport that maybe only 400 people go through a day and their security is much more strict than Indianapolis Airport. I had to show my passport to 4 people to get past checkpoints. The worst one was the last checkpoint. Where I’m standing there for 5 minutes while this lady looks at the passport and then looks at me and again at the passport and then at me. It was sorta ridiculous. I’m she started scratching at the passport on my picture to see if it was real. How does scratching a sticker tell you if the passport is real or not? I wasn’t a fan. I hate Bratislava and I always will. It is a death trap. I then got to the gate and see the convenience stores in the gate. They don’t sell any food. They just sell magazines and liquor. Lots and lots of liquor. Apparently you can take a huge two liter bottle of wine that they sell on the airplane. Very interesting.

Now off to London!

So I got on the plane and everyone was very interesting. The plane was a Boeing 737 and they tried to stuff the place. The flight wasn’t that long. It was 2 hours or so. They tried to sell everyone a lot of things. Ranging from food to cosmetics like makeup. They also tried to sell use lottery tickets and even smokeless cigarettes. I don’t know how they can be smokeless but they were.

So I arrive in the London Stansted airport and I’m so happy. I was in an English speaking country, and I knew I could go up to anyone and ask where anything is and they could probably help me. I get on my bus and it takes an hour to get into the city. We drove through the slumps of London and it was not pretty what so ever. I then get dropped off at a train station and it was very awkward. It was completely different from Vienna. There are also a lot more people here than in Vienna. There are also a lot of busses EVERYWHERE! Double deckers. It took me a while to realize that they were driving on the opposite side of the road. It is weird to get around because you have to look the other way. They have written out signs on the ground saying look left or look right. The drivers here also suck. They will knock you over if you get in their way. They don’t like people. I then find my hostel and it is a nice hostel but there were a lot of extra charges like for the key and a lock. It is a deposit though so I will get it back. I then headed next door to my hostel and saw the British Museum. It is the biggest museum I have ever been in. It has over 70 rooms full of stuff ranging from Greek statues to the Rosetta Stone from Egypt. They even had a room just for clocks and the history of clocks. I was there for an hour or so and then I headed over to oxford street to look at some stores. They have so much fashion here. It is ridiculous. After that I took the tube to the Parliament and the Westminster Abbey. Right when I walk out of the train station I see Big Ben and it truly is amazing. I have never seen anything like it. It was beautiful. I also went to the abbey for a service. They call it the Evensong. It was a group of men singing songs that I have studied in school. It was weird to finally hear a live performance of it. After the service I set up a time to meet with a friend from Butler, Rachel A.! We met right after the service. It was so good to see her. I haven’t seen anyone I know from home in person since the beginning of January. We walked up and down the Regent St and Oxford St. She showed me some cool shops and she also showed me Picadilly Circus. It is like the Time Square of London. It was really cool. A lot of people are on the streets and they try to ask you to sign things. People do this in Vienna too but I always say “No thank you” or something else in German. I get to London and I say the same thing. I didn’t realize I said it up until Rachel pointed it out. I did it at least 3 times that day. It was Rachel’s last night in London and she is on a Butler Study Abroad program with only Butler people. She was going to go to a last night party at a pub called Cittie of Yorke. She wanted me to come to see if I could eat with them. The professors did let me eat with them and it was really nice. I got Fish and Chips and I loved ir=t! It was really good. It was a little expensive but I really haven’t had a really good meal for a while so I decided to partake. I’m just glad Rachel and I got to catch up. After dinner we said our goodbyes. I headed back to my hostel because I was exhausted. That was my first day of London.

My Second Day!

I had a lot of trouble sleeping so I woke up in the middle of the night a lot. I finally woke up around 7 and got ready for the day. The hostel provides breakfast starting at 8. I headed down there and ate. I also talked to a person that works at the hostel and he started asking me questions about how I think the differences are in Vienna, London, and the USA. I had thought about it a lot in the first month of being in Wien but now it is like second nature. London is very fast pace but only after 6 pm. In the morning it is like a normal city like Indy. I started walking around London and went over to Hyde Park. I didn’t take the tube because if you take it before 9:30 in the morning you have to pay two extra pounds and I thought I could use the excersie. I didn’t realize how long it would take to get to hyde park. I went to say hello to the Peter Pan statue and also see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It was beautiful. After that I decided to head to Buckingham Palace and it was also beautiful. I saw a lot of guards but they are by the palace and you can’t walk up to them. It made me a little sad. After that I decided to head over to the London Bridge and the Pier. The London Bridge was very boring. I wasn’t a fan. After this I was completely exhausted but I decided to go to the most expensive part of the city and see what was there. It was Notting Hill. This is where a lot of celebrities live. I didn’t see any but this is obviously where I would live if I every lived in London. I would never be able to afford it but It was a really nice part of town. After walking a bit I had to head back to my hostel to change to get ready for the musical Sister Act. I was really really excited to see it and I have to say it was an AMAZING Show! I literally had a smile on my face the whole time and there were a lot of funny jokes. I was in the 13^th row and had great cheap tickets. After the show I still hadn’t had enough so I get on a train to Picadilly Circus and look to see what other shows are going on. I decided to try and get student tickets for Les Mis. Rachel had seen it and she said it was amazing. I get a student ticket for 27 pounds, which is a good price because the seat that I was in cost 90 pounds. I was in the second row front and center. The show was unbelievable. I haven’t see talent like that for a long long time. It was really one of the best shows I have ever seen. After this I tried to find a starbucks because it is a lot cheaper here than in Vienna. I couldn’t find one that was open so I went back and ended my night.

Day Three!

I woke up early again this morning and got ready to check out and get breakfast. I checked out and left my stuff at the hostel in the luggage room. I started to then walk down Oxford St because I wanted to buy some new clothes. I went to H&M and bought a shirt and sweater for really cheap. After that I headed to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. A lot of people where there and it was sorta intimidating. All of these policemen were yelling at people to get in line. Then it started at 11:30. Changing of the Guard was actually pretty boring. I saw them change the guards and it took 30 minutes for that to happen. They also had a band playing and they were playing the national anthem, songs from Les Mis, and the Beatles. It was very interesting. I then tried to find a place to eat and I couldn’t decide where. I started to think about Harrod’s department store. I went and it was like a castle full of clothes, jewelry, and accessories. I walked into the fragrance department and so at least 20 workers in this small room with a different fragrance and they were trying to spray it on all of the women. I wanted to go have a cup of tea at the Harrod’s café. One cup of tea cost 4 pounds which is $6. I decided to leave and I found a resturant by Picadilly Circus called Mermaid’s Tail. It was AMAZING! I got ribs for really cheap and I loved it. I love American food. I then went to a Starbucks and got a frap. A lot of the drinks are different in the UK compared to the US. After this I had to go catch my bus to the Airport. I really had a blast in London. I don’t think I could ever live there permanently but I would like to go back sometime and stay for a longer time!

Now my mom is here and all is well! I’m so excited to see her and we are going to have a blast!!!!!

PICTURE TIME

Rachel and I in a telephone Booth

Big Ben and Big Ben

Ben's Cookies!! So Good

Changing of the Guard Band

London Pier Bridge

The guards about to change

Guards in the Street

This is how close I was to the stage

Sister Act was AMAZING!

London Bridge

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park!

Me at Piccadilly Circus

Parliament

Double Decker

My First Plane!

SPRING BREAK!

Hello everyone,

Sorry it has been awhile since I have updated. I have been sick with the stomach flu and bronchitis. NOT FUN! Today is the first day since Tuesday that I have been up and back on my feet again. Wednesday was the worst day. I had a fever of about 102. Thursday I went to a doctor. I tried to go to a doctor in the inner city but that doctor was sick and almost all the doctors in the inner city were sick. I went to IES and they called a few doctors and they all said they were sick! I felt like death at this time and I was getting aggravated. IES then called the IES 24/7 emergency doctor. Kent, the student services guy, to me to the doctor. The man was very interesting. I thought this doctor was a normal doctor but it turns out that when i walk in all I see are woman. He took me to his office and then I only saw diagrams of woman's anatomy. It turns out the doctor is an OB/GYN! I could not handle it. He got me the right drugs and he gave me a strict diet. I really haven't been able to follow the diet because I haven't really been able to eat. Since Wednesday I have really only had pretzels, sprite, water, and cooked veggies. I diet consisted of only cooked veggies. ughhh not fun! I still have no appetite and when I try to make myself it I get sick to my stomach, but I'm doing a lot better!!!! No need to worry anymore!

I have officially started Spring Break. I actually started it on Wednesday when I got sick. This week is the week of midterms, meaning no other classes. It is just a big test that is just like a final. I got out of taking the 3 that I was suppose to take because I'm sick and really haven't had any motivation to study. I will take the 3 tests after spring break. I don't have to go back to school until April 6th. So I have 2 weeks of spring break left. Tomorrow I will be flying into London and staying there til Thursday night. I will be meeting up with a friend from Butler, Rachel A., for an hour or so. I am going to play everything I do by ear. I do know that I will be going to a musical on Wednesday Afternoon. I will be seeing Sister Act: The Musical! I know it seems corny but I'm so excited! It will be a great show. Right now it is only in London and they want to bring it to the states. I might also catch another show on Wednesday night but I might want to do something else. I just really want to eat some Fish n Chips! I get back to Vienna around 23:00 on Thursday, and then on Friday morning my mom comes!!!! I'm so excited to see someone I know. She will be here til April 4th. 10 DAYS! We will be going to Salzburg, Austria and hopefully Prague, Czech Republic. We are going to have so much fun. We will be taking lots of pictures and I will put them up quickly. I know I have become bad with this blog and picture taking.

Well I need to go finish packing and cleaning!

Love,

Ben