Vienna

Tonight I have a skype date with Amy and Dylan :)  So I can catch up on my travel blog while I wait for 22:00 to roll around.

After Paris our next big trip was to Vienna or Wien as it is known in Europe.  What are the natives known as?  Wieners.

I had a great weekend with all of the Wieners (here ends the Wiener jokes).

 

This trip marks the start of slightly less well known touristy land marks (Berlin Wall, Eiffel Tower, Le Lourve...etc) and some

great random finds. 

 

When I was in Vienna I thought it felt like a very crisp, clean city.  In my other travels there has always been a hint of home in the air, but Vienna wasn't as inviting.  Not to say I didn't enjoy my time there--because I did.  The art museums alone were worth the trip.  Gustav Klimt's works were the main attraction (and I was in Modern Art heaven at the Munch exhibit).  We went to an opera/ballet/orchestra combo one evening--which sort of looked like a family talent show (but it was only a few Euro to go...we knew going into it that).  Mozart is a home town hero for the people of Vienna and as such he is on every t-shirt, coffee mug, and postcard.  The people that pretend to be statues (they are all over Europe) were all Mozarts as well.  We had some of the local treats like the Tortes from Hotel Sacher (which is a famous chocolate cake w/ apricot filling).  I was able to send some home to the family (and even after a week in the mail, they were (a bit drier) but still pretty good). 

The train ride to Vienna proved to be our most cramped one yet.  The five of us had to share a six person area in the train (think Harry Potter train compartments...and they even have a trolley that comes around...no every flavor beans though).  It was a long 12 hours and we were sore when we got there.  The ride back was not a night train, so it was less eventful.

Paris at a Glance (abridged)

So after we were unpacked and settled into our new home in Paris we had to attend to the first order of business: The Eiffel.

We took a nice scenic walk along the Seine until we arrived at the tower.  It was surreal standing underneath this international monument

that you have heard of your whole life.  It was like we weren't really there (though the vendors hawking mini-towers reminded us that

we truly were in Paris).  If you were to look through my pictures of this little trip you could use them like a flip book to see me walk closer and closer

to the tower, under it, and then farther and farther away. You can buy a handbag in STL with a picture of it on there--so who needs a million pictures of

one monument on their camera during their trip to Paris? Me.

Up next was the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees.  The Arc has the best view of Paris (as all major roads lead to the round-about that it sits in

the middle of).  This gave me the chance to get some additional Eiffel pictures as well (something I never passed up on).  A casual stroll

down the Champs gave us some great window shopping opportunities.  The week after we went there was a giant protest there by the 

French dairy farm industry (which has taken a major hit).  The farmers came and dumped their milk at the Champs (which is like Rodeo

Drive in Paris..pretty posh for a farm protest).  We were in bed pretty early that night (for our big day).

Le Lourve!!! was how I spent my first half of the day.  It was amazing...it would take forever to see everything there (so I did the highlights tour of the pieces that

I wanted to/had to see and it only took half the day).  After that we were off to Monte Marte district in Paris where we stumbled upon a wine fest (oh how the

Europeans love their fests!) and the Moulin Rouge.  We dragged ourselves back home that night to get ready for our long train the next morning back home.

 

Bonjour! (Part 1)

Whew, there is quite a bit to catch up on (though I am happy to report that all of my papers for this program are finished--so no homework over Christmas for me :)).  Paris was, as anticipated, amazing.  We took another night train (and this time I slept on a one of the couches across three seats).  We some how managed to spread out in there and catch a few hours before we arrived to Paris early that morning.  Only once did I fall off the seats (and almost on another traveler) when we slammed the breaks (somewhere around 3:30 or 4:00am).  We arrived and then it was only a matter of a few subway jumps to get to our hotel.

The hotel..was what we expected for only $28 Euro a night per person.  We were in a small, box shaped room (but we did have our own bathroom...however the showers were in the hall and closed each night around 10:00p).  Inside this dorm looking room was 5 beds and 0 floor space.  So we had to crawl over our beds to get to the bathroom and out of the door.  But we had a great location.  Only a 10 min walk to the Notre Dame and a 20 to 30 min walk to the Lourve :)  So we really can't complain.  The mornings came with a traditional breakfast of a baguette and spreads (mostly cheeses), some tea, and fruit.
Megan M. Gallagher