Innsbruck, Austria Slideshow

Happy Mother's day from Geneva!

First off, Happy Mother’s Day!  I’ve realized that I have been out of the country for the past three Mother’s Days… what a bad son.

Today was our longest day of travel so far, so I really don’t have much to write about.  We got up early to prepare for over a nine hour coach ride to Geneva, Switzerland.  Along the way, we stopped at a mix between a mall and a truck stop for lunch.  Being that in Europe you are expected to take a good couple of hours to sit and eat a meal, we went real creative and ate Burger King.  Our break for lunch was limited and we wanted as much extra time to walk around and stretch as possible.

One of the most interesting aspects of this travel, at least from an American standpoint, is the use of bathrooms.  All of the bathrooms, well most of them, have a charge for use.  Even bathrooms in restaurants often have a charge before being able to do your business.  I’m not sure if this is just annoying or a great business strategy.  Either way, it does take a bit to get used to.

We arrived to Geneva late in the afternoon, and wow, is the hotel we’re at nice.  It’s one of those classy places you only see in movies, or in real life Geneva.  We had a quick check in then a guided tour of the city.  First, our group walked down and around the streets, then jumped into the coach for a driven tour.  Again, this city has a rich history.  Not only is it rich as far as its past goes, but it’s just plain rich.  The term Geneva stands for banking and is one of the international business capitals of the world and the centre for diplomacy.  It is home to many global organizations such as the  World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Economic Forum (WEF), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) with the Red Cross being the first international organization in the world.

We had dinner as a group this evening.  It started with a raw salmon dish, the main course was a brat with mushroom potatoes, and then followed by a pudding desert.  I can’t say it has been my favorite meal so far, but I am always ready to try something new.  Tomorrow is a long day, so tonight will be a relaxing one staying in.  Until then, I’m going to practice up on my German an French.  Until next time, Au Revoir.

Up Through the Alps

A Lucky and Breezy Day in the Alps

My last day in Austria- Today was one of the only days we didn’t have anything actually planned out ahead of time.  First, I was able to start the day off right by sleeping in to… oh, about 7:30ish.  Doesn’t sound like much, but it was amazing.   After that, a group of us decided to get to the top of the Alps. I had a chance to take a train to Italy, which was only about 20 minutes from where we were staying, but somehow the travel would had taken a minimum of 3 hours one way.  I decided to try and cut out any extra travel time, so that idea was scrapped.   Anyways, back to the Alp: At about 9 in the morning we walked over to a train that took us over to the mountain.  After this shuttle, we jumped into our first cable car to start heading to the top.  These were made of glass so there was a good view all around.  There were three cable cars with check points after each to get out and walk around a bit before heading up to the next station.  At the final cable car we then had the option to hike up to the top.  Now, how could that be passed up?  So up to the summit a few of us went.  Going up mountains is always a little more difficult as far climbing goes because of the altitude and thin air.  Getting to the top, as out of breath as I was, could not have been more worth it; however, at the top of the Mountain began the starting point of it just not being my day.

Up at the top was a small section, partly being roped off and others blockaded by a man made stone ledge to keep people safe.  Well, I thought it was necessary to climb that protective ledge to get a good picture of everyone on the top. I hoped over to stand on the snow below.  What I didn’t realize was that the snow was much deeper than it appeared and I fel thigh deep into the snow, but don’t worry, my pants caught on the ledge, ripping out the back of my jeans.  It made for a good laugh though and a very breezy decline.  At the point where we got down to the cable cart, my camera decided to drop as well (I did get it back but also nearly dropped it in my soup later at dinner; luckily, the bowl was too small.)  A little later my sunglasses decided to fall down the mountain as well.  It was a fun time for us all to see them roll down the rocks.  At this point, I decided today was not the day to try and climb down after them. Who knows what could had happened then with the way my luck was going.

Once the cable cart came back to the top to get us, everyone walked in nicely, except for one.  I had a pretty graceful stumble into the cart if I say so myself.  Two more changeovers to cable carts down, back into the train, numerous trips and falls along the way, and then it was time to walk through the streets of Innsbruck back to the hotel exposing my rear end to everyone.  Late that afternoon we walked around in and out of shops, buying all those things no one really needs, but every American just has to get. We had dinner as a large group at the hotel, followed by a few of us going out for coffee afterwards.  This is starting to become a little tradition and is great for us all to relax and just get to know each other.

There, one of the guys tried to order a Radler, this is their local beer but that they mix it with Sprite, Fanta, or a fruit juice.  Strange sounding I know, but it’s actually quite tasty.  This place had no sprite or juice at the time, so the guy was just at a lost.  He kept asking for different things to try and mix in and finally came up with coke.  The young waiter gave him the funniest look, and in his accent said sarcastically, “you want coke…. In your beer??”  Its hard to get the image though writing, but seeing this guy pick on our friend was hilarious.  He settled on just having coffee, but later the waiter said coke isn’t that peculiar with beer.  They actually have a wheat beer that they mix with coke…. It’s real popular with young teenagers.  Of course this only lead us to more jokes.

From there it was more wandering.  In the middle of town we were able to catch a free concert and then walked back into the hotel where we sat in the lounge for a few hours before going to bed.  I’m really beginning to get to that laid back, free relaxation mode.  The low key go-with-the flow lifestyle here is getting almost addicting and its going to be hard to adjust once getting back home.  Back in the states we rush to get up, rush to have breakfast, rush to work, rush to have lunch, rush to get back, rush to meet deadlines, rush home, rush the time with our family and studies, then rush to bed to start the rushing process over.  Here, as I had posted earlier, life is slow and relaxing.  People only work when its necessary and enjoy the rest of the day.  It’s a very appealing pace of life, and I can’t say I’m quite ready to leave it yet, despite my ability to fall and stumble constantly while dropping things with ripped pants.

Travel and Relaxation

The eighth was a day of relaxation.  The morning consisted of us traveling over to the next stop.  Once there in Innsbruck we began the afternoon with a tour seeing the sights of the old city.  Next, it was shopping and more wandering.  We had another dinner as a group at our hotel, which is very upscale and extremely nice.  After dinner, we sat for about 3 hours playing Euchre in the hotel lobby.  This was fun, being that I haven’t played the game in quite some time (not counting being at the airport), except for one thing: there were a couple of local high school aged students harassing us from the window.  They kept tapping on the glass and yelling things.  We attempted to just ignore them, but it wasn’t all that easy.  Oh, well.  That’s really  about it.  Tomorrow should be more eventful.  I may take a train to Italy or climb to the top of the Alps.  Either way, pictures are sure to come.

Enjoying Coffee with Mozart to the “Sound of Music”

This past evening we had a city tour of Salzburg.  It started with a driven tour through the outer areas of the city to the sites where the movie The Sound of Music was filmed.  A few key spots for this part were seeing the houses that were in the movie (the palace actually consisted of two separate buildings for filming purposes), the gazebo, and the gardens.  From the coach, we began walking through old town with a hired guide.  This tour consisted mostly of seeing the area shops and churches with the last stop being at Mozart’s birthplace and free admittance into the Mozart Museum.  The museum is located in the house he grew up in and had several paintings and family objects including his first pianos.  I was able to snap a quick picture of one of the pianos even though photography was not allowed.  The guard offered to walk away and basically suggested if he didn't see it, then he can't stop us.

After the tour, we were left on our own, and so a small group of us set out to explore the city.  The culture of the old buildings and streets are quite fascinating.  Although most of the areas have been renovated and are now homes to modern shops and stores, all of that fundamental medieval feeling is left there.  Even some of the original iron shop signs remain outside the building.  Signs such as a picture  of a shoe for a shoemaker’s shop since many people of those times could not necessarily read or write.

We had another group dinner back at our hotel around 7pm and then a large group of us walked for coffee afterward.  The time at the café flew by and then it was off to Old Town again to explore most of the city. Since we had the chance to see some live music in Switzerland, we wanted to try to find something similar in Austria.  We walked for quite a while up and down side streets with no luck, so we began heading back the scenic route towards our hotel when a young girl handed us a small flyer for a club.  My first instinct was not to take the paper since my experience in South America was that these are typically for…. Lets just say, very adult clubs.

But, we grabbed a flyer and almost miraculously, it was for a small bar/café that was having live acoustic music.  We headed that way and came to a small place at the end of a hallway off a main street.  Inside was a man playing Austrian Pop with his guitar and a small foot drum to keep beat.  Our group of four was really the only ones in there, and so I think he played to our small crowd.  Instead of the Austrian pop that we walked into, he began to sing and play American songs such as Wonderwall and West Virginia.  The performer was great, but we thought it was a bit odd we were the only ones there, but decided to stay and enjoy the setting where we talked about everything and anything. At about midnight, we realized that we were way too earlier.  People just started pouring in the door, singing and yelling, and so on came some dance music and strobe lights.  This kind of ended our conversations as it became loud, but watching the way people interact and dance with each other is always fun for me.  

During the coffee trip and the time at our local bar/café area, I realized how much more our American culture is too devoted to time and money.  While drinking one cup of coffee, over two hours passed before we knew it.  That’s something we just don’t do back in the states, or at least I don’t.  Even if we go out for coffee with friends, it’s usually drink the coffee, get our points across, and get out to do the next thing.  We’re always thinking about what’s next and try to be as efficient in everything possible.  The places there work 9-5 and that’s it.  People think we are crazy if we go into work at 8 or leave after 5 or 6 in the evening.  The phrase “Americans live to work while the rest of the world works to live” is becoming more and more clear to me.  Even today, our coach driver told us that he will have to take one day off during the trip because he will actually get fined if he works more than 6 days in one week.  Can you imagine that? He’ll get a fine for putting in extra effort to his job.  For us, extra effort is now expected.  I think we have a lot to learn about the culture here around Europe, especially when it comes to social life and work.  Maybe if we lived life a little more, rather than worked at life, we would all have less stress and be a little bit happier through our day.  These people are content with where they are at, and I think that’s because friendship and family will top any amount of money they can make.  They have a patience for life that we do not.  If you’re going out to dinner, expect to sit there for a good few hours between courses and drinks, but know you’ll be in good company.  It’s going to be tough, but for me personally, I think it’s time to just develop a little patience, let life happen, and enjoy a 6 hour cup of coffee with friends once in a while.

Salzburg, Austria Slideshow