Recaperoo

The time since Spring Break has flown by! Most days consist of going to class, reading German literature, skyping/facebooking with friends, and making dinner at Stozzigasse (pasta or grilled salami&cheese sandwich, anyone?). There's been a lot less pub-visiting of late, but a couple movie nights and such have taken place. Rather than trying to cover more than a month day-by-day, I'll give you the highlights!

Friday, May 1: Visited the Prater Amusement Park! I was surprised by how large the park was and also by some of the bizarre, burlesque decor. The rides were pay-per-ride, so I didn't go on too many, but it was also fun just walking around. Particularly exciting was being on "First of May Street" on the first of May and seeing a ride called "Hallo Wien" (a play on Halloween). Silly Austrians.

Wednesday, May 6: Tandem Culinary Evening. This was put on by the group that I have my Language-Buddy. I represented America with Rice Krispie Treats (Marshmallows were difficult to come by, but my effort was worth it when people liked my dish!) I enjoyed Russian pancakes, Argentinian cookies, an Austrian casserole-ish dish, and many more! Additionally, I participated in World Trivia (Who was the first female Vice Presidential candidate to run for a major party in the US?).

Thursday, May 7: Pseudo-field trip for my program's German literature class to the one-man show "Werther!" Connection: It was an artsy interpretation of Die Leiden des jungen Werthers by Goethe, on which Die neuen Leiden des jungen W., which our class read, is based. We had front-row seats, meaning that not only did we get to see the sweaty shirtless actor up close the whole time, but, when he angrily threw chopped up lettuce at the crowd, we were the ones covered.

Friday, May 8: Saw "Frühlingserwachen," the German version of "Spring Awakening," with my friend Jess. Quick history of the show - German play turned English musical turned German musical. It was really well performed, we had fourth row seats (behind a couple in love with PDA, but no matter), and I love musicals! That said, it's not a musical to go see with your parents.

Saturday, May 9: First of several BBQs at Haus Panorama. I invited my friend from the Netherlands, who experienced his first American-style hamburger. Sad fact - I can't pronounce this friend's name properly. Something about Dutch G's...Anyway, the grilling quenched my thirst, so to say, for American summer food (especially since I won't be back until after July 4th). Good times.

Saturday, May 16: Arrive in Rome at after a 13-hr night train and run, literally, to meet Chapman and hop on another train to the beach town of Anzio! Spend the day walking around, lounging on the Mediterranean Beach (so much sand!), eating amazing Italian pizza slices and gelato with Chapman and her European-trip friends. We return to Rome for a late dinner at a "leg-It'ly" Italian restaurant and I get to see the outside of the Colosseum at night, along with other Rome sights (including the Roman Forum) in passing. None of us can speak Italian, but between Chapman's Spanish and her friend's French we survive.

Sunday, May 17: Rome Rome Rome. We find a ridiculously large market, a park, Garibaldi and a Love-Lock fence, Bridge of Angels, St. Pete's, Swiss Guards, Spanish Steps, and Trevi Fountain before I hop on the night train back to Vienna. Thanks for everything, Chapman!

Thursday, May 21: Wien Rapid Professional Soccer Game! Unfortunately our green team loses in their final home match of the season, but the European football-atmosphere was amazing! The fans don't stop singing/chanting/cheering the whole game.

Friday, May 22: After class I meet up with my friend Mitch and we catch a flight to LONDON! After checking into our hostel near London Bridge and seeing Piccadilly Circus, we spent out first night in Soho visiting bars with fantastic British names like "The Great Frog" and I have a Guiness Red with dinner. Outside of "Shakespeare's Head" Mitch introduces himself to two guys we heard speaking German, and we end up talking to them (Andreas and Daniel, real-life Germans living in the Tottenham district) auf Deutsch for quite some time! Topics included soccer, language, how silly it is for me to like math.

Saturday, May 23: Tour of London with our Canadian-British guide, Marcel, seeing Hyde Park (take that, Napoleon), Buckingham Palace, St. James, Trafalgar's Square (sans pigeons), the MP's house, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey among other things. Then we did some walking along the Thames, I ate fish and chips at a restaurant called Wetherspoons, and we went into the Tower of London (currently with a big Henry VIII exhibit). For some reason, the Tower of London was overrun with German-speaking tourists, and in honor of this fact I took the German brochure instead of the Engiish one. Being super tired, we decide to stay close to the hostel that night, although we do make a run out for late-night bacon sandwiches at the soon-to-be-called London Bridge Kebaps (Great Decision).

Sunday, May 24: Wake up to take a bus from London to Manchester. Unfortunately traffic was an absolute mess and we got to Manchester two hours late (ahh!). Whilst wandering around downtown trying to find a cab that could get us to our hostel and then the game, some City jersey-wearing Mancurians asked us if we were alright and proceeded to walk us basically to the door of our hostel (which was really nice and had free 24-hr tea and toast)!! We taxied it to the stadium thinking we'd already missed much of the first half, but the game started an hour later than we'd been thinking and we were there in time to get foods and find our "posh" 4th-row, practically center-field seats before kickoff. After the city win, the team came back out (including Ched Evans, lookin' good), we hit the City Store and then saw a gathering of fans by the front entrance. Long story short, SHAY GIVEN signed Mitch's city jersey. We ate dinner in downtown Manchester and went to bed early so we could catch an inhumanely early bus back to London and fly home.

Saturday, May 30: Take train to Regensburg to meet my old host family, the Pramschüfers! I meet my "sister," Toni, and "mom" at the train station and spend some time in Regensburg. The bridge, cathetral, and other classic Regensburg sights are still there, but there was also a high-jumping exhibition with German Olympian Tim Lobinger! Relaxing night back in Nittenau. Only sad thing is that host-Dad is sick. :(

Sunday, May 31: Stockenfels (fortress ruins in Nittenau), delicious Käse Spätzle, wandering around, see "Illuminati" (Angels and Demons) auf Deutsch with Toni and her sister, Julia. Gotta love Bavaria.

Wednesday, June 3-Friday, June 5: The torture that is school. German presentation on the Higher Education Programs of the EU and latest literary analysis paper due. When all this finishes my body rewards itself with 13 straight hours of sleep. Welcome to the last month in Europe!

Posaunezahl: I've lost count! Some sort of band festival was taking place at Spanish Steps in Rome and I saw royal trombones at Buckingham Palace!

I know I'm in Europe because:
1) May Day is an actual no-school holiday around here, meaning brass bands were scattered all around the city!
2) I got to make American food for an international dinner instead of having to attempt cooking something from another culture.
3) I walked in the Mediterranean.
4) there were so many Evans-named people and institutions around me (in London).
5) at the local movie theater (in Nittenau) the popcorn I got was a sugary kettle-corn popcorn instead of buttery-salty flavor (and only 2 Euro!). mmmm.
6) the doors around here are about three times as heavy as they need to be. I think the Austrians are constantly trying to prove how strong they are.
7) I'm constantly checking the exchange rate.