CA in Austria 2008

Monday, June 9th

2008-06-08T01:32:00.000-07:00

One final hello from Austria!

Today is our last full day in Graz, and we just completed what was probably the most eagerly anticipated excursion of the entire trip: the tour and tasting at the Zotter gourmet chocolate factory. One of the nice things about this particular fieldtrip is that many of you back home will likely also have the opportunity to participate in the fun, at least judging from the large quantities of chocolate purchased by the students at the end of the tour.

I hope you all have enjoyed our travel blog, and we'll see you tomorrow at 10:47pm at RDU.

Bis dann alles Gute und herzliche Gruesse,
Frau Greene

Friday, June 6th (Part 2)

2008-06-08T01:31:00.001-07:00

Greetings from Graz!

Today was our last day to visit classes at the Akademisches Gymnasium. However, some of us opted out of classes involving test review and such and chose to venture around the city instead. As has become our custom, many of us enjoyed ice cream treats at various cafes, after which we browsed and shopped in the many stores of Graz. Some searched for something to wear at the theater in the evening, while others more casually window-shopped. In the afternoon several of us met up with our exchange students and joined them for gym class. The rest of us who are not as brave continued our comfortable shopping and eating routine.

That evening we had tickets to see the play "Das Kaetchen von Heilbronn" at the Schauspielhaus (playhouse) in Graz. We all got a chance to dress up and look nice, which was fun. The play was a love story, but it was difficult to understand much more than that. However, the lights, costumes and special effects were all very entertaining, and every once in a while we would understand bits and pieces of what was being said. Frau Greene said that was quite an accomplishment, considering the 18th century vocabulary and the Austrian accents. After the play, some of us went to cafes, where we all confirmed that we hadn't understood much.

All in all, today was another fabulous day in Graz. However, we all miss home and can't wait to see our families.

Best wishes,
Ally

Friday, June 6th (Part 1)

2008-06-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

Servus!
Ally will be writing about our group's activities today, but since the students are with their host families this entire weekend, I won't have a chance to collect and post her report for you until Monday. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few photos from our Friday morning climb to the top of the Schlossberg, where we enjoyed the view from the city's giant clocktower and explored the ruins of the old castle and prison. As I think you can tell from the student blog entries, we're all having a great time here in Austria, but at the same time, we're looking forward to returning home on Tuesday and reconnecting with our family and friends.

For now, herzliche Gruesse aus Graz!
Frau Greene

John poses below the clock tower on the Schlossberg

Will and Kedar take a break in the gardens surrounding the clock tower

The stone lion gets some help protecting the city of Graz

The group checks out a former prison cell that now serves as a box seat in an outdoor theater

Christian, Andrew, Kelsey and John enjoy a snack at their favorite sandwich shop in Graz

Ian locates the perfect pair of Lederhosen

Thursday, June 5th

2008-06-05T13:17:00.001-07:00

We kicked off a busy day at 8:00 this morning in the rain. After barely having a bad day all trip, the weather today didn't quite live up to our expectations. It started out cloudy, with a drizzle, and as the day went on, the clouds thickened and the rain became heavier. We boarded our charter bus with umbrellas dripping and drove for about 45 minutes to a horse farm in a village called Piber. This wasn't just any horse farm; they breed Lipizzaner horses at this farm. These horses are Spanish and are some of the nicest horses in the world. Our guide led us around the main stables, showing us horses of all different ages. We started with the oldest horses; they were all above 15 years old. The oldest horse there was a 28 year old black male The older horses were the easiest of all for us to aproach. As the horses got younger and younger, they became darker and darker. Our guide explained to us that when their are born, the horses are black, and as they get older they turn white. When we finally walked into the stable with all of the foals, there was a huge "Awwwwww" from the girls. Inside there were 10 two-month old foals with their mothrs. All the foals were jet black, and some were suckling, while others were either walking around on their wobbly legs or just sleeping. After seeing some horseshoes and antique carriages, watching the horses being exercised, and going through the gift shop, we got to the best part of the excursion, yet another playground! Charlie, Bill, Bradley, Nick and Kedar went straight for the swings, and every body else climbed onto a big spinny thing. When it began to drizzle again, we all went into the little cafe on the farm grounds to get some warmth. Some ate Apfelstrudel, others played the drums, and some people tried to make the jukebox work without money.

After the Piber horse farm, we set out to the Stoelze glass factory. The bus ride to the glass center was pretty quick, and once we got there, we split up into two groups, one with Frau Greene and one with Frau Smith. Frau Smith's group started its tour by observing glass being blown, which we found really interesting. Glass blowing, molding and drying is a long and intricate process, and we spent about 15 minutes watching the men at work. We then left the glass-blowing area and went into the glass museum. While the glass structures were amazing and the age of some of the items was incredible, our tour guide was WAY too into the glass manufacturing process. She spent more time talking than actually letting us look at the glass art. (We heard later that Frau Greene's group had a tour guide who was more interesting and funny). During the tour of the museum we also saw some very large bottles for alcohol, such as Smirnoff, Bacardi, Absolute, Grey Goose and Bombay Sapphire. After the tour we spent a long time in the gift shop, where a lot of people in the group bought souvenirs, and then we took a short but very rainy bus ride to the Hundertwasserkirche. The church was designed by the same artist who did the Dr. Seuss-like apartment complex we saw in Vienna. Strangely enough, while the church looked like no other on the outside, in the interior, it took on the same look as a practical Catholic church. After looking at the church we sprinted back to the bus in the pouring rain and returned to Graz, where we will be spending the rest of the afternoon and evening with our exchange partners and host families. Fortunately, the weather is supposed to improve tomorrow. (posted by Brent and Kedar)

The Bundesgestuet Piber (Federal Lipizzaner Stud Farm)

Today's bloggers Brent and Kedar at Piber

Ally connects with a Lipizzaner

Another Lipizzaner enjoys his lunch in his stall

David finds a way to quench his thirst at the glass factory
(The huge beer glass was hand-blown, which we now know is quite a feat!)

Wednesday, June 4th

2008-06-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Graz!

Our day began with morning classes with our exchange students at the Akademische Gymnasium. Because school started today at 7:40am, most of us were up by 6:30am (except for those of us who happen to live next door to the school...*cough*Nick*cough*). Some of us were brave enough to attend the school's gym class, while the rest of us followed our exchange students to their German class. Those who did not attend gym class were glad, as we heard stories of interesting shower experiences that took place after gym (apparently there was one open room where all the guys showered...no privacy whatsoever).

After first period we had all had enough of class for the day, and most of us decided to do some souvenir shopping or stop by the nearest Spar (Austrian supermarket) for a snack. After killing some time in downtown Graz, some of us headed back to attend our exchange students' psychology class. Psychology was rather interesting as the teacher has long, scraggly, Tarzan-type hair and, according to the Austrians, is a hard-core snowboarder. He also succeeded in making the class laugh several different times. Unfortunately, most of us Americans were left staring blankly at him, unable to comprehend the jokes.

At 11:30 we all met outside the school to start our trip over to Schloss Eggenberg (a well-known palace in Graz). With a short tram ride and a short walk we were there. Upon arriving, we felt like we had stepped foot in a Discovery Channel show on the mating calls of peacocks. Yes, I said peacocks. The grounds around Schloss Eggenberg are filled with "wild" peacocks. (I put wild in quotation marks as it is obvious that someone put the peacocks there). We were all eager to interact with the peacocks, but we were shuffled inside to start our tour of the palace. Our tour guide spoke to us in German, but she spoke extremely slow (which made us all quite happy, as it was the first German any of us have been able to fully understand in Austria). The tour took us through several rooms within the palace, all filled with extravagant paintings. According to our tour guide, the palace is based on the calendar, with 365 windows, 52 doors, and 24 rooms--representative of the 365 days in a year, 52 weeks in a year, and 24 hours in a day.

Our tour lasted about one hour, and, although it was interesting, we were all thrilled to go back outside and chill with our peacock friends. Hillary soon discovered that the female peacocks were quite interested in eating bits of our sandwich bread, so we proceeded to feed them some while the male peacocks tried relentlessly to get their attention (flared feathers and all). Some of the guys then decided to lure the females toward the males with the bread. Although entertaining, the attempt to "hook up" the peacocks failed, as the females were never interested.

We left Schloss Eggenberg and our peacock friends at around 1:30pm, and we all headed back to our host school to meet up with our exchange students and go home. We each did our own things after school with our exchange students and their families. I spent some time in the city and saw many others there with their exchange partners. Graz continues to be a wonderful city and one that we will never grow sick of. There are always new foods to try, new people to meet and new stores to shop in. Still, I speak on behalf of all the CA students here when I say, "We love and miss you guys!" See you soon! (posted by Mary Beth)

Schloss Eggenberg

The group enjoys the view from the palace into the courtyard

A peacock struts his stuff for Sonja and Kelsey

Christian also finds a new Austrian friend

More peacock splendor

Leaving Eggenberg Palace (or was that Eggenberg Zoo?)

A bonus video presentation from Ian, who learned this song at a soccer game

Tuesday, June 3rd

2008-06-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this is John and I’m writing today’s blog entry. I and the other people who had my same schedule had the opportunity to visit the religion class at our host school again. The principal of the school teaches the religion class and today, they talked about how the Roman Catholic church was founded and its views toward pregnancy. A student also gave a presentation about Jehovah’s Witnesses. We also had the opportunity to visit the Latin class again, and the French class. The French class was very difficult to understand, as most of what was spoken was in French. The Latin class, however, was mostly a student presentation about translating a section of text by Vergil, and as such, was mostly in German. Therefore, it was far easier to understand. We were supposed to visit a chemistry class, but a few people had to make up chemistry tests, so we waited in the library instead.

After these three classes, we went to the “Landeszeughaus,” a medieval armory housing the largest collection of medieval arms on earth. The tour was in German, but the tour guide was fairly understandable. We learned several interesting facts about the arsenal housed within this armory. Did you know that several of the armor pieces used in medieval times (including shields, chest plates, and helmets) were designed in a pointed or sloped fashion so that incoming blows would be more likely to glance off the sides and not penetrate the armor, or that several castles used mortars rather than cannons, because mortars fire projectiles with a much higher trajectory over the castle walls? Did you also know that 70% of people who went into battle wielding a two-handed sword died, but they got double pay? We learned all this, and more (like the fact that tournament armor for jousting has a special slot that the lance rests on, so it isn’t so hard to hold). We weren’t allowed to photograph in the museum, so we (ie. myself and Frau Greene) were only able to sneak a few pictures, but it looked really cool: there were rows and rows of armor and weapons.

After the trip to the Landeszeughaus, most people went home, but Sonja, Ally, Kenzie, MaryBeth, and I visited the conflict resolution class at our host school. It is taught by the same person who teaches psychology and gym (a strange combination), and it was lots of fun. He speaks a bit faster than the religion and Latin teachers, but he also projects lots of notes on the board, so the class is easier to understand. Today, they practiced conflict resolution by engaging in a role-playing exercise. One person played a daughter who had recently adopted a new set of friends, started to drink, and was now doing poorly in school. The other person played the concerned mother and two others played mediators. It started out well, but what it turned into was aptly termed a “soap” by Sonja. It turned out that the daughter had been doing all of these things because the mother had recently had a baby (the father isn’t around anymore), and the child felt that her mother was not spending enough time with her. They were also given a more realistic assignment for homework about a daughter who wanted more freedom and a grandfather who didn’t want her to make the same mistakes he did.

After the class, I went home with my exchange partner, Johanna. She told me a little bit about the Matura, their end-of-school exam, and I figured that you might also like to know about it. Basically, the Matura is important for getting a diploma and getting into college. Unless students want to apply to a university outside of Austria, they usually won’t take the SAT or ACT. Rather, colleges use the Matura scores and grades in school to determine admission (they aren’t evaluated on extracurricular activities). The Matura is given in seven subjects, and the student has some control over the seven he or she wants to be tested on. Three of the subjects are tested in a written format, while four are tested in an oral format. The three written ones students must take are math, German, and a choice of either French or Latin. The four oral ones are much more flexible. Students can choose from a wide assortment of subjects, including music, English, biology, and chemistry. Interestingly, the Matura is not a standardized test; it varies by school. There are certain constant characteristics, but another student at another school might take it in more or different subjects. The tests are created by the teachers who taught the courses they are being tested on, and in the case of oral examinations, the tests are also administered by these same teachers, in addition to a panel composed of other teachers from the school, the principal, and a high-ranking official or principal from another school. The Matura is graded on a scale of 1-5, with 1 roughly corresponding to an “A” and 5 roughly corresponding to an “F”.

That's all for today from Graz.

Nick and David in front of the Armory

John checks out a 500-year-old iron money box

Sir Charles?

Monday, June 2nd

2008-06-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

Today we went to school for the first half of the day and then we went to the highest point in the Graz area, a.k.a. the Schöckl Mountain. We went to the religion class for the first period. There we looked at pictures of significant religious paintings on the projector and listened in as the class had a conversation about each one. Then a majority of the Austrian students had to take a 2-hour Latin exam--needless to say, we were not going to stick around for that. Instead, we went to one of the best cafés in Graz, Tribeka, which stands for Trink Besser Kaffee (Drink Better Coffee). We lounged there for a while, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed off on a shopping rendezvous to our favorite store: the Blue Tomato. There we tried on some hip clothing and CK bought a fly pair of Nike 6.0 shoes. Soon after we came back to the school and headed for a bus that would take us to the Schöckl Mountain. The bus ride took about 40 minutes and then we saw the large mountain jutting, scraping against the sky, appearing to us as amazing as the glorious glaciers. We then bought tickets for the lift that would take us to the apex, summit, peak of the mountain. It was said that on a clear day, from the top of the mountain, one could see all the way to Slovenia, but for us, we were stuck in a cloud (literally). Nonetheless, we had a beautiful view of the surrounding towns. We then took a short hike across the mountain crest to a point where a large cross stood atop the mountain. We briefly stopped there and had a photo shoot by the cross and headed to the Hexenexpress, which was a roller coaster type ride down the side of the mountain. We were all very excited to ride it, except for the pessimists that were deterred by the 4-year old on the brochure. To their surprise the ride was a lot of fun and some even rode it again. There were a few problems on the ride concerning a certain Bill who was involved in numerous collisions on the ride with Kedar and Ally. After a great experience on the ride, we were all hungry and went to the folk restaurant atop the mountain. The menu was in Austrian dialect so none of us understood what it said. We all planned on guessing our orders, but luckily our waiter spoke English. Most of us ordered the Kindawiena, which translated to a children’s portion of Wienerschnitzel and French Fries. It was delicious and they gave us lollipops with our meal. Before taking the 11-minute sky ride back down the mountain, there were a few accidents at the playground, nothing serious but enough for Frau Greene to get worried and drag us off the equipment. Once back at the base of the mountain we took the bus back to Graz and left for home with our partners. Overall it was a fun filled day and we look forward to tomorrow! Hi mom.

Dearest,
Nick and Charlie

Kyle on the skilift up to the Schoeckl Mountain

Brent, Bradley and Bill show their excitement on board the skilift

View from the skilift

The playground atop Schoeckl Mountain

Will boards the Hexenexpress

Sonja and Kelsey decide to double up on the Hexenexpress

A group Jause (snack) atop the Schoeckl

Video Supplement to Sunday, June 1st

2008-06-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

Servus!
As promised, here are two videos from our Sunday fieldtrip to Admont and the Aussee Saltmine. Please see the June 1st post for corresponding text and photos.

All the best from Graz,
Frau Greene

Sunday, June 1st

2008-06-02T07:52:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

Today, Sunday June 1st, we went on another excursion. We left early in the morning on a charter bus with our exchange partners. After an hour and a half on the bus we arrived at the Admont Abbey. The architecture was amazing and the library was quite impressive. The main library that we took a tour of held around 70,000 books and there were another 130,000 in storage throughout the monastery. The main library contained only printed books while the handwritten books were contained in a climate controlled storage room underground. We were able to see a few of these handwritten books in the monastery's museum. The second floor of the monastery contained a natural history museum full of stuffed animals, insects, an assortment of rocks, and wax fruits. Probably the most interesting animal we saw was the stuffed adult lion. We got a few pictures with it. We also saw perhaps the only kangaroo in Austria. I guess it counts even though it was dead and stuffed.

After this we got back on the bus and headed off for our next stop. The drive over was hardly something to sleep through. The scenery was majestic with the foothills of the Alps on either side of the road. The snow capped mountains were something else. Little villages were scattered throughout the hills as well, and they were exactly what you think of when you think of a small European village.

We stopped in the small town right outside the salt mine and spent an hour and half there since we had some time to spare before our tour. There wasn't much to do since it was Sunday, and everything is closed here on Sundays. The stop in the town was not a waste though! Here is where we got our first taste of Spaghetti-Eis. GANZ GUT!

We later arrived at a salt mine and took a tour. We were all required to wear amazingly stylish all-white suits. When we say suits, we don't mean buisiness suits. We mean jump suits. Our tour started with a walk deep into the mine. For the first time on the trip we were actually cold, a feeling we had nearly forgotten. We stopped in numerous rooms and learned about the different techniques for harvesting salt from the earth, but we didn't catch much more than that considering the tour was competely in German. There were also two slides in the cave that were probably the highlight of the tour. After many different sites and a final room with a video presentation, we walked the 700 m out of the cave and back to the bus to begin our beautiful and restful bus ride home.

Hope all is well in America!

Sincerely,
Bradley and Bill

Mountain landscape as seen from Admont Abbey

Admont Abbey

Another view of the mountains from Admont

Brent and Kenzie admire one of the flower floats from the recent Narzissusfest.

Bradley, David, Kedar and Charlie sample Spaghetti-Eis...

... while Bill takes a different ice cream path.

Christiana chats with her Austrian partner

Dressed for the salt mine

Good times in the salt mine

Note from Frau Greene: Video from this day's excursion coming soon!

Friday, May 30th

2008-06-01T12:32:00.001-07:00

Our second “real” day in Graz today started off with a morning of classes at the Akademische Gymnasium. While the classes themselves weren’t that much different, the actual journey to school was certainly more interesting and exciting than our standard car rides to Cary Academy. Mopeds, streetcars, buses, regular cars, walking—all sorts of transportation were used in all sorts of combinations. So, we all arrived at school and attended various classes (French, math, English, etc.) French was a little hard to sit through because, naturally, none of us know French, but the other classes all had their interesting bits. The very fact that they have a religion class here was pretty interesting, as well, not to mention the kinds of topics covered—abortion, homosexuality, etc, all in one class period.

Around 11:30 the Cary Academy students met in front of the school and walked to the Kunsthaus, a rather nifty art museum in Graz. The museum is known as “the friendly alien” because of its funky, alien-like experience. It looks something like an amoeba or a giant bubble with a bunch of little bubbles stuck on it. Inside is art from contemporary artists, such as bean-bag sculptures, optical illusions involving lighted tunnels and mirrors, photos featuring soccer games played with famous landscapes like the Alps in the background, and other unusual pieces. We split into two groups, one with a German-speaking guide and one with an English-speaking guide, and toured the museum. Afterwards we all headed to one of the local ice cream cafes, and Frau Greene paid the bill for the students who volunteered to take the German tour as a reward for their bravery. We’ve discovered that there are endless opportunities for ice cream here, all of which taste equally wonderful—hazelnut has become my personal favorite!

After the ice cream, we had a bit of free time until our partners finished with school, most of which I spent on a bench enjoying the shade. After school, many of us met at a local swimming pool to hang out. It was a bit strange because while we lazed in the sun, the headmaster of our partner school came up to us to chat. We were very surprised to see him, but that passed quickly, and we enjoyed the warm sun and occasional dips in the cold water. Apparently, the weather here right now is unusually warm, but compared to Cary weather, it’s really not that ridiculously hot, though it certainly is hot, especially in the sun and without air conditioning most places . So at the pool, there was the actual pool (good-sized, quite cold, a slide in the shallow end) and also a grassy area where the students our age and also from the university layed out, read, talked, and played a little Frisbee and soccer.

After a few hours at the pool, we all departed for our various homes. That night there was a big party that most of us went to and enjoyed. We were all curious how Austrians would dance, but it turns out that they dance just like we do and even play some of the same songs. After the party, we all went home and, most likely, straight to bed (maybe stopping for a quick shower first)—a wonderful day all in all. (posted by Sonja)

Charlie reaches out to the "friendly alien"

The tour guide explains (in German!) how the "alien" was made

The brave ones...

...and their ice cream treat

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Video Footage from Vienna

2008-05-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

We don't have a daily report to post at this time, but we thought we'd share some video memories of our time in Vienna as captured by our students. Enjoy!

Frau Greene und Frau Smith

Thursday, May 29

2008-05-30T06:45:00.001-07:00

*Knock, knock* was the first thing I heard this morning. My host mother woke me up at 6:20; which happened to be 10 minutes earlier than I set my alarm. I then got ready as fast as a sleep- deprived person could. As soon as I was done I sat down at the kitchen table with my host family for some bread with butter, cold cuts, and cheese. Then Elisabeth (my exchange student) and I walked a bit in order to catch a street car to school. After I stamped my card, we rode for several stops down to Jakominiplatz. Jakominiplatz, the center of the city, is where all the street-cars end up in the morning, and it happens to be right around the corner from the school.

Once we got inside the school, all the exchange students, Austrian and American, gathered in the library; there we heard a welcome speech from the principal. After that we talked about how the Austrian students' schedules work and learned that we would first go on a walking tour of Graz and then come back to the school for the start of their fourth period to visit some classes.

The tour was difficult to understand because it was in German, of course, but you don't have to understand the language to see how beautiful the city is. I personally like Graz a bit better than Vienna because it's smaller and doesn’t involve as much walking.

After our tour we were split up into three groups assigned to us earlier in the morning. Each group followed one of three schedules. I was lucky enough to be in the same classroom as my exchange partner, so I didn't have to search for her at the end of the day. Unlike in America, the Austrians have most of their classes in the same room, and the teachers move from classroom to classroom. First we had religion class; one of the few words I understood was "schwanger" which means pregnant. I never thought knowing that word would come in handy, but it did. The next class was German class. None of the Cary Academy students really understood what was going on because they were discussing a book that we hadn't read. Another difference between the classes at Cary Academy and the Akademische Gymnasium is that the students here talk more. It seems as if the class is one huge discussion as opposed to the teacher talking and the students just listening. The next class was history--three students gave presentations. By then, we were all exhausted from concentrating so much on understanding German, so it was really nice to be able to go home at 1:20.

After school was over Elisabeth and I met up with her boyfriend and took the street-car back to her house to enjoy a lovely lunch prepared by her grandmother. The rest of the day we just hung out and watched “Life of Brian”. (posted by Christiana)

Our first gathering at the Akademisches Gymnasium (as seen through the blurry eyes of the sleep-deprived?)

The Austrian students explain their class schedule to the Americans

The CA group gathered outside the school for a walking tour of Graz

Our group admiring the old City Hall courtyard

Will studies the interior of a baroque church

A brief pause for the group on the bridge over the river Mur

The Graz Cathedral

Charlie and his partner Andreas enjoy a snack between classes

Wednesday, May 28

2008-05-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

Gruess Gott!

Today started out normally with breakfast at the Pallottihaus. The only difference was that we had to wake up a little earlier so that we could finish our packing and still see a few more things before our trip to Graz. When we got out the door, our first destination was the Schönbrunn Zoo. By this time, riding the U-Bahn (subway) was becoming the natural way of getting around the city, but Schönbrunn is only one stop away from the station closest to the Pallottihaus (Hietzing), so we left our packed bags at the Pallottihaus and just walked over to the zoo. The zoo was crowded with groups of small children on field trips. We didn’t mind, though, because our group has unanimously decided that kids in Austria are cuter than kids in America. The students in our group were unleashed for two hours. We explored as much as we could. There were lions, tigers, bears (oh my!), penguins, hippos, monkeys, donkeys, giraffes, insects, birds and fish. The weather was a little on the hot side, but I think we all really enjoyed the zoo. Personally, it was my favorite part of Vienna.

We left the zoo to explore the Schönbrunn Palace, which was the summer residence of the Austrian royal family. Schönbrunn Palace is one of the main tourist attractions in Vienna, and our guide told us that sometimes there are as many as 12,000 visitors in a day. Our tour guide was very funny, and he spoke with the accent of an Austrian trying to speak British English. The thing that I will remember the most about Schönbrunn Palace, though, was that it was definitely not air-conditioned! (posted by C.K.)

After our tour of the Schönbrunn Palace, we walked across the courtyard and down into a basement that turned out to be the court bakery. We found ourselves in a room with a kitchen set-up and several tables holding plates with large pieces of Apfelstrudel. I sat down at one of the tables and found that my fork was already in the Strudel. A man came around and asked us if we wanted coffee, tea or hot chocolate, but most of really wanted a cold drink, because it was so hot outside. Many of us ended up drinking both bottled water and hot chocolate. We started feasting on our Strudel but were surprised when we took a sip of the hot chocolate and discovered that there was no sugar in it and that it was only lukewarm. Oh, well, at least the Apfelstrudel was really good. A lady stepped out onto the kitchen stage and told us all about making Apfelstrudel, and then she started making one right in front of us. I felt like I was watching a young, Austrian, black-haired Paula Dean. The lady asked if one of us wanted to come up and help her move the giant Apfelstrudel onto the baking sheet, and after waiting to see if anyone else wanted to help, I, Kyle, raised my hand proudly and was chosen to complete the task. So I went up on stage and helped her move the Strudel and then put a large amount of butter on it, after which I received my Strudel-making diploma.

After the Apfelstrudel, we headed back to the Pallottihaus, picked up our luggage, and boarded a charter bus for Graz. Thankfully, the bus had air-conditioning! We rode on the bus for about two hours and pulled up to a bus stop where all the host families were waiting for us. We then all either walked or drove back to our host family’s house and enjoyed our first evening with them. Love you, Mom! (posted by Kyle)

Schoenbrunn Zoo

The group at Schoenbrunn Palace

Enjoying Apfelstrudel at the Hofbackstube (Court Bakery)

Watching the Apfelstrudel-Show

Kyle receives his diploma

Sonja meets her host family

John meets his host family

Kyle meets his host family

Tuesday, May 27

2008-05-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

Viele Gruesse aus Wien!

We started this day with another great breakfast at the Pallottihaus featuring an assortment of breads, meats and fruits. Then we took the U-Bahn (subway) to the Naschmarkt. The Naschmarkt is a huge outdoor produce market combined with a flea market. The stands included sunglasses, t-shirts, scarves, herbs, fruits, vegetables, fish, cheese, sausage, and much more. The Naschmarkt also had a wide variety of ethnic stores with foods from other countries, such as India and China. The market had such a wide variety of items that it would be impossible not to find what you need.

When the group finished at the Naschmarkt, we walked to the Secession building. The Secession building is an art museum dedicated to modern art and even has a quote above the door which reads “Der Zeit ihre Kunst, der Kunst ihre Freiheit,” which means “to time its art, to art its freedom,” or more simply put, that the artist should always be free to invent new forms of art. Inside the building were works from the famous Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (who painted “Der Kuss”). The building also hosted some modern works by Jo Baer, which we didn’t really understand, and there was also a music room arranged by Dave Allen which was equally confusing but enjoyable to listen to. There was also a room comprised of art that included a lot of writing and optical illusions, with each piece being part of a larger work. The Secession was really interesting and it was cool to see the devotion to liberal ideas throughout the artwork.

Later we walked down the Mariahilferstrasse, which is where the more affordable shopping in Vienna is located. The prices were still pretty high (especially with the euro to dollar ratio), but it was a lot more affordable than the shops we looked at yesterday. This also where we ate another great lunch that we would not usually have had back in NC.

Next we made a long, hot dash to Café Demel, a really famous and really expensive coffeehouse and pastry shop in Vienna. Luckily, Frau Greene had already paid for the café, and we each had a choice of hot tea, coffee or ice tea along with a huge piece of cake that we each got to pick off a tray that the waitress carried to the tables. It was sooo delicious and fun to trade cakes so that we could taste all the different desserts.

After Demel, we went to the Haus der Musik at a much slower place. The Haus der Musik was an interactive music museum dedicated to the history and future of music, as well as what makes us hear and the biology of sound. It was really interesting and fun to see who was the best composer at different interactive booths, one of which we named “Composer Hero II.” When we left the museum, Frau Greene challenged the group to find its own way back to the Pallottihaus without any input from her. This resulted in us heading in four different directions and some heated discussions over map interpretation before the controversial election of Ally as our leader. With Ally’s help, we finally found our way back to the Pallottihaus, proving that we had indeed learned to use the Vienna transit system.

We then had dinner at the Pallottihaus, which was spaghetti and once again was really delicious. After dinner we got to do a little exploring in the neighborhood around the Pallottihaus, heading up and down the streets to see what the quiet suburb of Hietzing looked like, as opposed to the main part of Vienna. All in all, it's been another busy and exciting day in Vienna. (posted by Hillary, Kelsey and Devin)

Nick examines some of the more "unusual" wares at the Naschmarkt

Bill shows off his Naschmarkt acquisition

Andrew conducts the Vienna Philharmonic at the Haus der Musik

Kedar entertains entering guests in the lobby of the Haus der Musik

Our visit to Cafe Demel

Cafe Demel

Monday, May 26

2008-05-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

This truly amazing day began at 6am—not for all of us, just for a truly dedicated runner, David. David embarked on his hour-long run, returning to the palace grounds that he discovered on Sunday with his sidekick runner-in-training whiz-kid Ian. Rumor had it that the palace grounds had both a swimming pool as well as herds of patrolling emus. The first part of the rumor was confirmed when a fenced-in pool was discovered, but the emus were decisively missing in action. For the rest of us, we contented ourselves with staying nice and cozy in our plush Austrian beds until our 8:15 breakfast. It was decadent (the breakfast, that is!). We dined on fresh breads, choice ham slicelets, artisan cheese, yogurt, fruit, OJ, butter and jam. It was a great way to start a new day.
As soon as we were done “frühstück”-ing, we boldly ventured out to meet everyone’s favorite Pennsylvanian Austrian, Frau Gartlehner. Thus began our insider’s tour of Vienna. She showed us the ins and outs of the city, taking us to the most important parts and giving us information almost faster than we could absorb, starting with the oldest church in Austria, built by the Romans. In front was a statue of St. Ruprecht holding a bucket of salt, which at the time was worth more than gold. Next, we visited the Austrian Holocaust memorial. The structure contains the names of the victims, encased by a protective tomb designed to look like books with their spines turned inward. We also visited the only synagogue in the inner part of the city. A guard was stationed in front because the founder of Israel was an Austrian Jew, making the site into a potential terrorist target. Next we got to see the Specht law firm where Frau Gartlehner works. Then it was on to the Austrian Parliament and other government buildings on the Ringstrasse, many of which were architecturally similar to the buildings in Washington, D.C. After that, we visited the Hofburg, or imperial palace, which currently houses the Austrian National Library. There we saw the balcony where Hitler famously announced the annexation of Austria.
After our morning tour of Vienna, we were let loose to explore the city in smaller groups. This was a time for shopping and eating. As guys, we found that the majority of menswear shops in the area were Gucci, Armani and others well out of our price range. Our group did peruse through a few shops slightly lower on the pricing hierarchy, such as Lacoste, Burberry and H&M—emphasis on the slightly. It was quickly apparent that the prices looked more or less the same as in America (say 100 for a shirt), but there was a major cost difference because of the exchange rate , making 100 Euros into 150 dollars. We also explored a gourmet grocery store that was very similar to a Southern Season in Chapel Hill. Most of the students lunched at one of the many pizzerias, which were generally manned by real Italians. And let us tell you, they serve some of the strangest combinations! Who would’ve thought corn goes on pizza? The crusts were also very thin and delicious.
After our free time we regrouped and caught the subway over to the Hundertwasserhaus, an apartment complex that looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. It is very curvy with no straight lines, and colorful would be an understatement for the paint. It was truly a work of art, and the people who live there must love it.
After the Hundertwasserhaus, it was time for some fun, so we decided to go to Vienna’s famous amusement park, Prater. Imagine the NC State Fair minus the fried twinkies, the demolition derby and agricultural aspects. Now glorify this by about 400%, and you’ve got Prater. The main difference is that instead of a cover charge and the tickets, you just buy individual admissions to the various games and rides. There were also several casinos in Prater, which caused a great deal of excitement in the group, until we read the sign that said you must be 18 years old to play.
After Prater, we headed over to Restaurant Smutny, where the majority of us ate Wiener Schnitzel, dumpling soup, scalloped potatoes and Apfelstrudel. It was unbeatable, especially the Wiener Schnitzel. After this packed day, we headed back to the Pallottihaus, happily tired and very enamored with Austria. (posted by Ian, David and William)

The group outside the Stephansdom

Successful shopping on the Kaerntnerstrasse.

In front of the Austrian Parliament building

On the tram to the Hundertwasserhaus

Today's bloggers in front of the Hundertwasserhaus

The brave group who took the spinning raft ride at the Prater amusement park

Restaurant Smutny

Restaurant Smutny

Our reunion with Frau Gartlehner

Saturday and Sunday, May 24 and 25

2008-05-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hello from Austria!

After a 10 ½ hour flight from Atlanta, our group and our luggage all arrived safely in Vienna. The flight went smoothly until the sun went down. Unlike the entire rest of the plane, I along with Charlie could not sleep, mainly because we are TOO tall. I spent the never-ending night watching everyone else sleep, having conversations with my sleeping neighbor Andrew, watching Frasier and rocking out to techno. As soon as the sun came up, life in the cabin resumed for most, but there were still three hours of the flight to go. Those hours dragged on, until we finally got off the plane and pushed our way through the mobs of people at the Vienna airport to get to the baggage claim. Once our luggage was gathered, we prepared for our trek to the Pallottihaus. We boarded one of the smoothest trains I’ve ever been on and traveled through the lush green farmlands of rural Vienna. We exited the train, and that’s where our fearless leader Frau Greene ran into some trouble finding a place to buy our subway tickets. We all thought she was lost, but it turned out that the ticket machine just took forever because she could only buy 5 tickets at a time. Once she came back with the tickets, we boarded the subway and continued on to the Pallottihaus, where we had one hour “resting” time before beginning our tour of Vienna. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve been up for 31+ hours now, and the program has only just begun. (posted by Christian)

Due to everyone’s exhaustion, only two activities were scheduled for today. Which was more valuable an experience is arguable, so I’ll go in chronological order. First, we tried Viennese ice cream. Now, that might not sound like much of an activity, but it was an eye-opener, to say the last. The four employees of the “Eiscafe” (ice cream café) were stationed behind the refrigerated glass bar, and dozens of people bustled in, shoved their way to the front to place their order, then pushed against the oncoming tide of new patrons with their prize in hand. As Americans used to a laid-back ordering style, this system was very foreign and intimidating. One by one we got our orders through, paid, and hurried back out to the open-air sidewalk. We each held our own persona trophy, a small mass of variously flavored ice creams atop a baked waffle cone tower. Those trophies didn’t last long, however, as every American had finished their treat before the end of the three block walk to the second site, the Stephansdom. The Stephansdom is the central cathedral of Vienna and is quite a sight to behold. The pedestrian pathway suddenly opened into a square, and in the middle of this plaza sat the 700 year old church. Our first task was the most daunting. Frau Greene offered to take us on an elevator ride up the shorter church tower, but the class decided to skip the easy way and climb the 343 steps up to the taller church tower. The climb was well worth it, because from the summit almost all of Vienna could be seen. After snapping off a few more photos, we headed back down the way we came, dodging those that were ascending just as we had. After reaching safe land, the students entered the cathedral proper. The 75 foot ceiling and ornate gothic architecture knocked us all off our feet (although that might have also been just plain exhaustion.) After half an hour of admiring the elaborate craftsmanship, we began a guided tour of the catacombs. The catacombs held the tombs of everyone from bishops to Hapsburgs to those left dead by the Black Death. The tour began with extravagant coffins and ended with piles of bones stacked by prisoners nearly three hundred years ago. After the tour of the catacombs, we headed back to the Pallottihaus for a meal of chicken, salad, strudel and a fruit medley for dessert. After nearly 24 hours without a good meal, everyone found the food delicious. Now we’re all ready at long last for bed! (posted by Andrew)

The exchange group at RDU.

Today's blog authors enjoying their ice cream.

Note from Frau Greene: Many more pictures to accompany May 26th posting.

About Our Travel Blog

2008-04-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

We plan to begin posting text and photos to this blog beginning Sunday, May 25th. If you would like to leave a comment about something we have posted, please feel free to click on the comments link at the bottom of each post. Your comment will appear after we have had a chance to verify that it is from an appropriate source. We hope you enjoy reading our blog and following along on our adventures in Austria.