Seeing the World: February 2013

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Vienna and Konstanz and Paris, Oh My! :)

*From May 13
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Well, I definitely have A LOT of catching up to do! I'm on the train going back to Konstanz--I visited one of my friends in Lausanne, Switzerland. Continuing from my May 3 entry:

April 27: After dinner, I prayed the rosary/novena with my mom's friend & her husband. Throughout the day, I met there three sons.

April 28: I ate breakfast and then spent the day touring around Vienna with my mom's friend's husband. We went to: Schönbrunn Palace, Belvedere, Hundertwasserhaus building--a funkily designed building, got some eis, and then döner for lunch.

Schönbrunn Palace

Belvedere

Hundertwasserhaus

Eis!

Döner Box!

We went back to the house to get ready for Mass. We went to Mass at "the black church." They call it the black church because the church building itself is black. The church is right outside of the UN, and quite fittingly, the Mass was said in English, 1 or 2 songs were sung in Filipino, the priest was Liberian or Nigerian. The majority of the people there were Filipino. After Mass, we took pictures outside of the UN building, and then went to the city's tower point. I went up with her and saw the view of the city. We went to the mall to meet up with some of their friends and then went back to the house for dinner and the novena. The night before or this night, I found out (via tv) about the Stuttgart Porsche tennis tournament.

Church near the UN

the black church

United Nations

Vienna

[Side note: Aside from being homesick, lately I've been feeling lonely. :/]

April 29: I ate breakfast and then went with my mom's friend and 2 of her sons to their friend's house for a get together/prayer group meeting. Before going to that get together, we stopped by a bubble tea place. I got mango bubble tea with mango-filled? "bubbles"--it wasn't tapioca or gummy...the bubble bursts out juice/syrup.

After the get together, we went to another friend's (who also went to college with my mom) house for another get together. I met some people around my age, and wish I had met them earlier in the weekend. I went on a walk with 2 of my new friends to hang out and chill at the park nearby. One of them lived in San Francisco, CA for a while, so it was nice to talk to her about the USA. Before our walk, I ate a late lunch of rice, bbq, and rice krispie bars. When we came back from the park, my parentals were on Skype. :) I then played guitar :) and ate dinner--rice, bbq, kase krainer (sausage with cheese), and hung out in the backyard.

We brought some of their family friends home before going back to the house. They gave me a lot of chocolate to bring home in the USA, and I got food from the party to bring back to Konstanz.

April 30: I had breakfast and went with my mom's friend's husband to the train station--leaving Vienna. The train left at 7:14am, and I got back to Konstanz around 5pm. I settled back in at Konstanz and ate dinner.

May 1: I had the day off from class because of a bank holiday (Labor Day). I had breakfast and then tried going to the Germany within Europe building to work on a project, but it was closed. Lunch. Dinner. Possibly Skyped with people.

May 2: Fluids, Germany within Europe, lunch in the cafeteria with 2 of my friends, Heat Transfer. Went to Aldi & Müller, had dinner, and then packed for Paris! I called my brother's friend to make sure plans were still okay for the weekend. I Skyped with my brother and then took a "nap." Most of the KU students decided not to go anywhere this weekend because of our Heat Transfer midterm that will be on Tuesday. It kind of made me feel bad & that I should stay, but I decided to make the most out of the weekend since I've been trying so long to get to Paris, and I would bring Heat Transfer with me to study.

May 3: I finished packing and then went to Fluids. I have one of my friends my Fluids stuff to bring back to the apartment so that I could go straight to the train station. I bought a pretzel and waited for the train. Konstanz --> Zurich. Zurich --> Paris. FINALLY arrived in Paris! :)

I arrived around 5:30pm at Gare de Lyon. After getting off the train, it took me quite a while to figure out how to get to the metro stop. I bought a 3 day metro pass for 21 EUR. I asked for directions, but she gave me walking directions (only 1 stop from the station). While outside, it said it was 750m away, so I decided to go back and try again. I finally found it & figured out what direction to go in (my brother's friend gave me metro directions, but she didn't say the final stop...& I had been looking at a bus or tram map instead of a metro map...) There were lots of people on the metro & it was a lot busier that I imagined. I finally got to the Convention stop where she was going to meet me at 6:30pm. i got there and went out of the metro. There was a market right outside, and then I realized I didn't know if I should wait outside or in the metro...and my phone didn't/doesn't have credit. I went back down and didn't see her, so I went back up. I waited a while & went back down again. I saw someone sitting & I walked towards her--I think we were both trying to figure out if the other was the right person. Thankfully, it was her. :) Then we walked to her apartment and stopped by a bakery to get a baguette--best when it's warm! I got settled in to her apartment & chilled.

We left to go out for dinner and explored since she had just moved there a week or two ago & wasn't too familiar with the area. We found somewhere to eat--I ordered something we both heard of, but weren't actually sure what it was. It ended up being similar to the smoked, not exactly cooked ham that my friend for with her crêpe in Nice. It came with salad, fries, and bread, and I got a glass of rosé.

Peace. Love. Happiness.
--TR

Monday, February 11, 2013

European Travel: Part I--Hostels

Hostels are kind of like a mix between a hotel, motel, and college dorm...and they're all over Europe! If you're looking for an extremely nice place to stay, then a hostel is probably not what you want. However, if you want a relatively inexpensive, decent place to spend the night after exploring a city, then check out a hostel. I never really had any problems with hostels, except for the one in Pisa...but that whole trip was something on its own. (I'll eventually get to blogging about that!)

I have stayed at hostels in (I added some prices to give you an idea):
-Frankfurt, Germany
-Salzburg, Austria: 3 nights (6 bed room) = 57 EUR
-Berlin, Germany
-Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 2 nights (18 bed room) = 62 EUR
-Dublin, Ireland: 4 nights (8 bed room) = 76 EUR
-Pisa, Italy: 2 nights (6 bed room) = 36 EUR

So if you take the most expensive room from that list at about 31 EUR for one night, that's about 42 USD. May be pricey to some, but it's actually not bad at all when compared to a US hotel or even motel. I'm not sure if this needs to be said, but weekend rates are usually higher than weekday rates. Also, try to make your reservations as early as you can, because sometimes the room that you want does get fully booked.

You can meet a lot of different people when you stay at a hostel. It's actually pretty cool! In Frankfurt, I met a guy there and we ended up touring the city together. In Salzburg, I got to hear a lot of travel stories from an American who was making her way to eastern Europe. In Amsterdam, I met people from a Christian youth group who were visiting from the UK. In Dublin, I hung out with a young woman around my age, who is originally from Australia and we bonded over tennis. Like I've said before, just be smart about who you trust and how much you trust them. At the same time, you don't really know a person unless you talk to them. I know it sounds a little contradictory...I guess all I can say is this: think before you act.

Hostels have different rooming options--how many people in a room, same gendered rooms, mixed gendered rooms, community bathroom, etc.--and these factor into the price. I personally always went for an all-female room because I was traveling alone at 5 of those 6 cities--In the 6th city, I roomed with the other ladies in my Germany within Europe class. I've been in rooms with one other person, and I've been in rooms with 6-12 people--there's not that much of a difference. Generally, mixed-gendered rooms with many occupants is the cheapest option. My advice would be to get a room that would make you content and fits within your budget.


Hostel bunk beds & closets (Frankfurt, Germany)

Some hostel rooms come with a sink. (Salzburg, Austria)

Side note: One of my friends had a bad experience one time at a hostel where she woke up and found out that a guy peed all over her backpack..not pleasant. At all. Just so you are aware--hostels are like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates...you never really know who you'll be rooming with when you're there (unless you're traveling with people you know).

The main things that I took into consideration when choosing hostels were: proximity to the train station, lockers, all-female rooms, and price. Just like hotels, hostels may have amenities/services, including, but not limited to: internet, meals (may or may not be included in the price of the room), bars, walking tours, available washers/dryers, linens/towels (sometimes you have to rent these or put in a deposit), special activities (such as at the hostel I stayed at in Amsterdam--they had an open mic night, and I got to play guitar and sing which was pretty sweet--I missed playing!), and ticket sales/tour bookings (I was able to get my ticket for The Sound of Music tour through the hostel I stayed at in Salzburg).

Random fact: some hostels have very interesting decoration...such as this one in Berlin. (I didn't choose this hostel--we went to Berlin for our class trip and our teacher made the hostel arrangements.)

...This was the ceiling in the hostel lobby...there were Milka cows?? (Berlin, Germany)

I hope to check out a hostel in the USA sometime--I was surprised when I learned that they existed here! If you have any hostel tips, feel free to leave a comment below! If I think of anything else to add this, I will be sure to update this post! Safe & happy travels, friends! :)

Peace. Love. Happiness.
--TR

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Daily Life in Konstanz, Germany & Adventures in Vienna, Austria

*from May 3
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Well, I definitely have some catching up to do! Then after this, I for real need to study some heat transfer. I just got on the train a few minutes ago--I'm waiting for my train to leave the station in Zurich and am on my way to PARIS! :)

April 23: I arrived safely in Konstanz, got off the train, and heard someone call my name. It was one of my friends--he & another friend were on the same train as me from Zurich! We walked back to the apartment together. They had just come back from Venice.

I did laundry...I was able to operate the washer and dryer, but when I got my clothes out of the dryer, they were still wet/damp...I broke out the rope for clothesline and hung it up in my room. It worked surprisingly well!--aside from having to duck under it.

Drying my clothes...very slowly. :P

[Just left the station!] I also cooked dinner--spaghetti (finished the tomato paste) with salami and green pepper. It was not the best thing I have made, but it was edible.

Edible Meal

While I was cooking, I could hear video game sounds coming from my roommate's room and could hear him and a friend yelling "nein!" haha. I said hi to his friend, and they eventually left the apartment...and I heard him come back at like 5am.

April 24: I had classes today: fluids, machine design (got out 30 minutes early), heat transfer (started 30 minutes late), had lunch in the mensa, and then machine design. I went to the Welcome Party for the mechanical engineering department, foreign students, and Helping Hand. [Side note: do not wait 10 days to update journal!] I talked with professors/staff and students. They had food (sausages) and beverages for everyone--including a keg of beer that was warm on the outside, but dispensed cold beer.

Sausage & Pilsner

April 25: Fluids, Germany within Europe, lunch in mensa, heat transfer. After class I went to Aldi with some friends.

April 26: Fluids, fluids lab, lunch in room, finished packing, talked with my mom, ate dinner, and then went to the train station to start my journey to Vienna, Austria. Konstanz-->Zurich. Zurich-->Vienna. I was on the night train, and I didn't have a reservation. I went on the train, checked the sign to make sure that the seat I was about to take wasn't reserved, was about to sit down, and then a lady told me that there were no free seats...Not wanting to argue/discuss the matter further, I just went to another "cabin." Luckily, I found a seat. Overnight, I sat across from a guy & there were also 2 ladies there, who made beds out of the seats. I slept on and off...so not very well.

April 27: I arrived in Vienna around 7:30am. My mom's best friend from college was waiting for me at the station. She got my a transportation ticket and we went to her family's apartment. I got settled in, took a shower, and ate breakfast--eggs, bread, cheese, tea, salami. [I am currently in Paris!--at my brother's friend's apartment] She and I went out sight-seeing. We went to/saw (not necessarily in order): St. Stephen (big cathedral), a book store (where she bought me a tour book of Vienna), eis (a.k.a ice cream--I got stracciatella), churches--St. Michael, St. Peter, Capuchin, Roman ruins, Parliament building, City Hall, museums, parks--Volksgarten & Stadtpark, lunch at Akakiko (where I had sushi for the 1st time in Europe!), and the opera house. Then I went to the crypt by myself. When I was done, I couldn't find her. I tried calling the house (to get her cell phone number), but it didn't go through because I didn't have enough credit on my phone. i asked the guy at the ticket counter if he knew where she went...he got out of the ticket booth, shook my hand & said that it was nice to meet me...honestly, it kind of creeped me out. He didn't understand what I was saying, so I went back outside, checked the church, looked up and down the street. A couple minutes later, she came back--turns out she was talking with a friend at a nearby cafe. We got eis (I chose mango & strawberry) before heading back to the house and having dinner--schnitzel & rice.