6.8.10 (ctnd)--Holzkirchen
So the Abschiedsabend was pretty fun. Tasty buffet, some boring thank you speeches, some hilarious plays and songs and certificates. The teachers all made funny joke certificate things to prove that we are done. Mine was "group photographer," no big surprises there... Everyone loved the slideshow, one kids host father said it was the best he´s seen in all 11 years of hosting students, so that was pretty sweet. After the night was over, a few of us went to a local pub for one last time. It´s so strange to think that after seeing these guys every day for the past 2 months, I most likely won´t see any of them ever again...
7.8.10--Holzkirchen
This morning, the last of those in Holzkirchen, my host father took me to the Trachten Outlet (Trachten= Dirndls and Lederhosen). I got a Dirndl, its brown with a lime green apron! The best part about it is that it was only 130 Euro! (As opposed to the normal 200 or higher). Later, my host mom and 2 of the girls had lunch with my family at a local restaurant, which was pretty interesting and fun. I then gathered my things and left my host family´s house for the last time...which was pretty bittersweet. =( Me and my family dropped off the luggage at the hotel (back at Alte Post again!) and went wandering. However, since it was Saturday, and since it was Holzkirchen, there wasn´t much places open, so we went to the HEP (and a grocery store, where I bought a Vuvuzela). At the HEP we bought a CD and had some coffee, both were pretty good.
8.8.10--Salzburg
After one last breakfast at the Alte Post, we started our trip to Österreich. We reached Salzburg, checked into our hotel, ate a record-fast lunch, and hopped on our own private 4-hour Sound of Music bus tour. Some of it was pretty cool, but other parts were a bit dry. We did get to ride down an alpine slide though, which was pretty sweet. Sound of Music-wise, we saw the steps from Do Re Mi, and the lake they fell in, and the house (from the movie and real), the trees they hung in, the wedding church, and the mountain they climbed over into "Switzerland" (it actually leads to Germany, and it is also the same mountain Hitler´s place was on in Berchtesgaden. After the tour, we walked around for a bit, and then grabbed some dinner. We then walked around the dark, closed-up city for a bit more, then called it a night.
9.8.10--Salzburg/Wien
This morning we went to Schloss Hellbrunn, which was built by a very rich archbishop with a sense of humor. It is full of trick fountains that spray the guests from all angles, as well as some pretty cool hydraulic technology. For example, he had a table in the garden (the Prince´s Table) that was made for cocktail parties. If the guests got too loud, he´d turn on the water, which sprayed upwards from every chair, and from the back, so the party-goers got sopping wet. He was smart, however, and made it so his chair stayed completely dry. There were a few other cool things too, but I´ll talk more about that on the pics I´ll eventually upload (if you are very curious, wiki it). After looking around the castle, which wasn´t too interesting inside, we boarded the rent-a-car and departed for Wien. On the way, we hit Melk, which is a small town built around an abbey, and we only stopped because my dad remembered having good beer there on his high school trip. It turns out that my Oma and her family were there even longer ago. It was the first place they went after they escaped the concentration camp, and they stayed there for a bit while her dad worked to get enough money to get to the next train station. (I got quite a lot of interesting family history on the car ride afterwards.) At the restaurant in Melk, a cat came up by our table, and I petted it, and it was SO ADORABLE. The waitress gave it a few coffee creamers and some ham, and it was just such a cute kitten! Unfortunately, we had to leave the kitty behind, for there is barely room in the car for us and our luggage. We soon arrived in Wien, where we ate some dinner and then just bummed around until bedtime. You all should Youtube Bernd das Brot by the way, he is the looping nighttime show for the children´s channel KIKA, and he´s pretty hilarious.
10.8.10--Wien
Today after breakfast (which had a pretty large selection by the way), we saw a bit of the city by accidentally going in the complete opposite direction. We eventually figured out where we were and hopped on a touristy sight-seeing bus. We got off at the Stephansdom, which is pretty cool looking on the outside, and just your standard cathedral on the inside. There were at least 5 people dressed up as Mozart outside the Dom selling tickets for a concert tonight. I probably saw at least 30 Mozarts today, not counting the ones on candies. Austria LOVES Mozart. It´s pretty ridiculous. They also really love Sisi, or Kaiserin Elisabeth. We went to Schloss Schönbrunn after lunch, which was the Wien residence of the Hapsburg family (mainly Maria Theresia), and later Sisi and her husband, Franz Joseph. Basically just your standard palace, with the rich people from years ago, and the restorations of the old things. We didn´t end up going to the zoo, even though it is the oldest one in the world and has giant pandas. What was quite exciting, however, was the Oma cookie store (Manner wafers, for anyone who had a sad childhood). They have everything with the Manner logo on it there! Alex bought a towel, lol. Anyway, after the castle, we got some dinner at a tasty chinese noodles place, which was by the Anker clock, which is very interesting, yet hard to describe. Google it or wait until I upload pictures. We then went to the Prater, which was a small carnival-type amusement park, with a world-famous ferris wheel. Each car fits about 10-20 people, and you can even rent them out for cocktail parties or other dinners, which is pretty sweet. Since it was dark, we didn´t get much skyline pics, but we did get to see what little smount of things were lit up at night. I also bought a hat today for my Dirndl, so thats pretty sweet too. Its dark green, and Tirol style. The one thing I´m really frustrated about on this trip is the amount of english everywhere, especially on the souvenirs. I´ve found maybe 2 shirts that say Österreich and not Austria, or Wien isntead of Vienna. Oh well... I am falling asleep on this now, so I am going to bed. Tomorrow we leave for München, and then the next day is CHICAGO!!! Wooooo!!!!
