Wednesday, February 28, 2007
canterbury!
so this week has been absolutely crazy with school, and i am sorry i haven't posted anything in some time... We went to canterbury on friday morning and spent the day there. it was about a 3 hour drive on the coach bus and we just spent the day taking a tour of the cathedral and the st. augustine's abbey... it was gorgeous and i will put pictures up soon, but my camera is dead and i cannot put them on until it is charged. i head for scotland tomorrow so i probably wont put pictures up till i get back and ill just do it all at once! i hope you all are doing well!! love yall!!
Monday, February 19, 2007
austria!!!!!
sooo austria was amazing, it was a 4 day weekend and it was a blast to get to spend it there with a small group of kids that i dont normally hang out with. it was my first time to hang out with doug and katie, brian i had hung out with before, but it was lots of fun hanging out and just touring the country!
wednesday morning was valentines so the boys got up and got breakfast for all the girls from on the hoof and then we all ate, talked about our trips we were about to take and then they gave us all roses! it was nice and a good start to the day.. we had one class and then around 10am people started leaving to go to their destinations. some going to greece, spain, switzerland, paris, and then our group going to austria! we left around 1130ish and had a long morning of traveling. after switching buses and making it to london we got to the airport, after getting on the plane we had to switch planes once then had a safe flight into salzburg. we got in around 10 that night and that was probably the low point of the trip. it was so cold outside, it was raining, we had no idea where to go to find our hostel, everything closes early there so the hope of finding someone to ask was quickly overthrown and once we did find someone we most definitely didn't speak austrian/german. a little different from german but not by much. we finally found our hostel after making about a few circles around the city. it was tucked away in a shady little alley but once we found it things started looking up. we got to the hostel and were starving so we had pizza that they make there and it was really good. there was an italian guy there that asked me to come sit with him and told me he loved me haha and every time i saw him after he made kiss faces haha it was funny. after eating dinner and discussing our plans for the next day we headed up to bed
thursday was an exciting day! we (katie and i, the boys weren't interested so they went off on their own for the day and met us up for dinner) started out eating breakfast which was really good and then we got picked up from our hostel for the sound of music tour! we got to walk around a bunch of the locations that it was filmed and then we got to see a lot of the places that the real story took place, the real von trapp house things like that. toured all around the city and then we headed up to the mountains where the filmed the escape scene and were in the mountains and by then we were listening to the soundtrack and singing along.
mirabell gardens
in front of the one that the the von trapp kids were dancing around
its blurry, but i had to put it in because its a good scene in the movie
posing again
katie and i in front of the gazebo!!
us in front of the von trapp family house!! (not the actual one, just the one used for filming)
a better view
the church!!
there is a little town in the mountains, about 20 min outside salzburg and we ate lunch there at this cute little place and the butcher was talking to us all about where we are from and stuff then we were taking pictures and he wanted one with us, it was so fun.. after we went and got dessert and hung out in this little town!
please notice his beard!
yummm!
it was a real fancy place
so after that we went back into salzburg and took a charter bus to the salt mines! it was a interesting tour.. we walked around the inside of the mines and learned the history of how everything was used back when they still used it.. we got to slide down these slides that the miners used to move around faster so that was exciting. our tour guide was funny and he had to give the tour in german and english cause there was a good chunk of each in the groups so he would get confused a lot and then it was fun to hear him speak everything in german.. also, we got to wear these cool miner outfits over our coats and everything cause it was like cold in the mines and they wanted us to feel like miners
us in our outfits
cute huh?
katie was a little more excited about them
about to go down one of the slides!!!
just hop on and go!
going down the slide!!!
after the salt mines we went to this little place that the celts, early inhabitants of great britain, used to live and a little town that was set up like they would have had it! it was real cute and set up with fake people and everything then drove around and kinda saw the eagle's nest (hitler's retreat) but the clouds were low so it was hard to see
after a long day of walking around and tours we met up the boys for dinner at a place called the alter fuchs. it means the old fox and has great austrian food, which was recommended by our tour guide who told us about the butcher and dessert place, both of which we thoroughly enjoyed. we all got wiener schnitzel which was partly because we wanted to eat a typical austrian dish, and partly because we couldn't read the menu
brian and doug
the group!
so then after dinner katie and i were supposed to walk back to the hostel because we had planned on watching the sound of music after our exciting day in the hills!! buttt the boys went to look at the bus schedule for the next morning and katie and i decided the only thing we didnt get to see in salzburg was the fortress. its name is Festung Hohensalzburg (literally meaning "high salzburg fortress" in German) and is one of the largest medieval castles in europe. so we went up at night when it was closed and it was real creepy because nothing was up there, everything was closed and it used to be a prison. haha so that was fun and after we went back to the hostel to watch the sound of music!
the view from the top
the side of the fortress
me in the shadow of the spotlight
walking down the path with the fortress behind us
the view of the fortress from our hostel
friday we headed to hallstatt and enjoyed the day there... we got there around 2pm and just took pictures most of the afternoon.. it was fun and basically it was just a little little town that was on a lake and in the mountains and we just walked around and looked at it all. we did a little climbing and exploring and lots and lots of pictures
waiting for the bus to take us to the train station!
katie and brian on the train!
doug and i on the train
in hallstatt waiting on the ferry!
it was gorgeous!!!
eating lunch at a little shop
walking around the town, we found a trail and halfway up this is the view
a view from the top!
katie and brian with the alps in the background!
brian and i.. we found this waterfall tucked away!
lost in thought
eating pizza at this little diner! it was really gooood!
waiting for the ferry!
sat we headed to graz and got there the late afternoon as well.. the ride there was on the train it was long but gorgeous, just a long morning of reading, listening to music and enjoying god's beautiful country. there wasn't much to do in graz but it was fun, we just went to the market and walked around shopping. we grabbed dinner at a place that was probably the worst thing i had eaten since i got here and that was no fun. but we went back to the hostel and watched people on the rock climbing wall and just hung out watching them and chattin
we climbed the stairs behind us and were able to see the top of graz
graz!
graz with a beautiful sunset
walking around, we stopped to watch him for a while
hanging around the hostel
the boys the next morning at breakfast
rise and shine!
the next morning was sunday and we were headed back to oxford. although it was a really fun trip i was ready to be back where people spoke english and i could get food that i knew what i was eating. so that was my first trip that we planned by ourselves with many more to come! love and miss you all!
wednesday morning was valentines so the boys got up and got breakfast for all the girls from on the hoof and then we all ate, talked about our trips we were about to take and then they gave us all roses! it was nice and a good start to the day.. we had one class and then around 10am people started leaving to go to their destinations. some going to greece, spain, switzerland, paris, and then our group going to austria! we left around 1130ish and had a long morning of traveling. after switching buses and making it to london we got to the airport, after getting on the plane we had to switch planes once then had a safe flight into salzburg. we got in around 10 that night and that was probably the low point of the trip. it was so cold outside, it was raining, we had no idea where to go to find our hostel, everything closes early there so the hope of finding someone to ask was quickly overthrown and once we did find someone we most definitely didn't speak austrian/german. a little different from german but not by much. we finally found our hostel after making about a few circles around the city. it was tucked away in a shady little alley but once we found it things started looking up. we got to the hostel and were starving so we had pizza that they make there and it was really good. there was an italian guy there that asked me to come sit with him and told me he loved me haha and every time i saw him after he made kiss faces haha it was funny. after eating dinner and discussing our plans for the next day we headed up to bed
thursday was an exciting day! we (katie and i, the boys weren't interested so they went off on their own for the day and met us up for dinner) started out eating breakfast which was really good and then we got picked up from our hostel for the sound of music tour! we got to walk around a bunch of the locations that it was filmed and then we got to see a lot of the places that the real story took place, the real von trapp house things like that. toured all around the city and then we headed up to the mountains where the filmed the escape scene and were in the mountains and by then we were listening to the soundtrack and singing along.
mirabell gardens
in front of the one that the the von trapp kids were dancing around
its blurry, but i had to put it in because its a good scene in the movie
posing again
katie and i in front of the gazebo!!
us in front of the von trapp family house!! (not the actual one, just the one used for filming)
a better view
the church!!
there is a little town in the mountains, about 20 min outside salzburg and we ate lunch there at this cute little place and the butcher was talking to us all about where we are from and stuff then we were taking pictures and he wanted one with us, it was so fun.. after we went and got dessert and hung out in this little town!
please notice his beard!
yummm!
it was a real fancy place
so after that we went back into salzburg and took a charter bus to the salt mines! it was a interesting tour.. we walked around the inside of the mines and learned the history of how everything was used back when they still used it.. we got to slide down these slides that the miners used to move around faster so that was exciting. our tour guide was funny and he had to give the tour in german and english cause there was a good chunk of each in the groups so he would get confused a lot and then it was fun to hear him speak everything in german.. also, we got to wear these cool miner outfits over our coats and everything cause it was like cold in the mines and they wanted us to feel like miners
us in our outfits
cute huh?
katie was a little more excited about them
about to go down one of the slides!!!
just hop on and go!
going down the slide!!!
after the salt mines we went to this little place that the celts, early inhabitants of great britain, used to live and a little town that was set up like they would have had it! it was real cute and set up with fake people and everything then drove around and kinda saw the eagle's nest (hitler's retreat) but the clouds were low so it was hard to see
after a long day of walking around and tours we met up the boys for dinner at a place called the alter fuchs. it means the old fox and has great austrian food, which was recommended by our tour guide who told us about the butcher and dessert place, both of which we thoroughly enjoyed. we all got wiener schnitzel which was partly because we wanted to eat a typical austrian dish, and partly because we couldn't read the menu
brian and doug
the group!
so then after dinner katie and i were supposed to walk back to the hostel because we had planned on watching the sound of music after our exciting day in the hills!! buttt the boys went to look at the bus schedule for the next morning and katie and i decided the only thing we didnt get to see in salzburg was the fortress. its name is Festung Hohensalzburg (literally meaning "high salzburg fortress" in German) and is one of the largest medieval castles in europe. so we went up at night when it was closed and it was real creepy because nothing was up there, everything was closed and it used to be a prison. haha so that was fun and after we went back to the hostel to watch the sound of music!
the view from the top
the side of the fortress
me in the shadow of the spotlight
walking down the path with the fortress behind us
the view of the fortress from our hostel
friday we headed to hallstatt and enjoyed the day there... we got there around 2pm and just took pictures most of the afternoon.. it was fun and basically it was just a little little town that was on a lake and in the mountains and we just walked around and looked at it all. we did a little climbing and exploring and lots and lots of pictures
waiting for the bus to take us to the train station!
katie and brian on the train!
doug and i on the train
in hallstatt waiting on the ferry!
it was gorgeous!!!
eating lunch at a little shop
walking around the town, we found a trail and halfway up this is the view
a view from the top!
katie and brian with the alps in the background!
brian and i.. we found this waterfall tucked away!
lost in thought
eating pizza at this little diner! it was really gooood!
waiting for the ferry!
sat we headed to graz and got there the late afternoon as well.. the ride there was on the train it was long but gorgeous, just a long morning of reading, listening to music and enjoying god's beautiful country. there wasn't much to do in graz but it was fun, we just went to the market and walked around shopping. we grabbed dinner at a place that was probably the worst thing i had eaten since i got here and that was no fun. but we went back to the hostel and watched people on the rock climbing wall and just hung out watching them and chattin
we climbed the stairs behind us and were able to see the top of graz
graz!
graz with a beautiful sunset
walking around, we stopped to watch him for a while
hanging around the hostel
the boys the next morning at breakfast
rise and shine!
the next morning was sunday and we were headed back to oxford. although it was a really fun trip i was ready to be back where people spoke english and i could get food that i knew what i was eating. so that was my first trip that we planned by ourselves with many more to come! love and miss you all!
