The misadventures of Segovia. Plus, a really beautiful city.

A friend and I decided to take a day trip to Segovia the day before at 8PM. This would have been plenty of time to prepare, but I was going out with a few friends since it was a Friday night and had been in my apartment most of the day. This left little to no planning time. Hence a few hiccups along the way...

We were planning on taking the 10:30 train there, not too early so that we could sleep in a bit. However, I woke up at 6am with an upset stomach and a few problems related to trying new foods and not being able to digest them properly (I'll leave what it was to your imagination, but it was not pretty). So 11:30 train it was. 

I'd never been to Chamartin, neither the metro station nor the Renfe train station there. This wasn't a problem, but we had no idea the line for the train tickets would be ridiculous. Arriving at 11:10 was too optimistic. We finally got to the front of the line at 11:30 only to be told that instead of 12 euros, the tickets were 24 each way!!! And this is a city only 30 minutes away by train. Ridiculous. Did we stop there? No way.

I knew there were buses leaving from Principe Pio, so we booked it in that direction, hoping to catch the 12:00 bus. No such luck, but we bought tickets for the 12:30 and had to book our time for the trip back. Our thought process was, ok we'll get there at 1:45 (the bus takes longer than the train) and can take the 9:00 train back so that we have plenty of time to see everything. The bus tickets only cost 14 euros round trip, a steal compared to the train. 

Finally we were on our way. It was a beautiful bus ride there, and I had my Lonely Planet Spain book in tow, so we were able to scope out the sights beforehand and read up on everything. Our number one priority was Alcazar, the castle Walt Disney used as inspiration for the one in Sleeping Beauty.

Arriving in Segovia, it looked like everyone was getting off, so we gathered all of our belongings and got off the bus. Little did we know, not everyone was getting off. We tried to ask the bus driver where the next stop was, but he had already shut the door and was heading off. However, we checked our map to get our bearings and figured it was such a small city that it didn't matter. Stopping in to get some melocotónes in the local fruteria gave us some energy to walk the 1.5 miles to Alcazar. 

Along the way, we saw the massive ancient aqueduct, the cathedral, and many beautiful plazas. After getting lost a bit, we finally managed to make our way to the breath-taking castle. I normally don't care about looking inside castles, the outside is normally enough, but I was dead set on climbing up the tower to get a view of the city, so we paid the 2 euros and were on our way.

About 2/3 of the way up, we weren't sure this idea was the greatest. Those were some big-ass stairs, but we managed and it was well worth the climb. 

Nothing too eventful followed. We rewarded ourselves with frozen yoghurt afterwards, and had a relaxing tapas y canas in the Plaza Mayor, but we were ready to head back after that trek. By this time, it was only about 5:00. We figured we would try our luck at the actual bus station, not the middle of nowhere where we were dropped off, to see if we could exchange our tickets for an earlier time. 

Of course once we got there, there was nobody in the ticket office, and nobody at the information desk. So we waited until the next bus was due at 6:00. The 6:00 bus was full and the driver was a bit of on arse, but we were able to exchange our tickets for the 7:00 bus and watched the local kids bike race to pass the time.

Overall, Segovia was a beautiful city and well worth the visit. However, for future reference, it is an easy day trip and is small enough to do in a few hours (for those who are planning to go).      

Tales of Travels and Scrumptious Soups!

As the cold is fast approaching, and warm food is all that I crave, the only answer to fight the cold (and colds) is soup. Last week, I tackled pumpkin soup for the first time, and this week zucchini with yogurt soup. Now, mind you, I am not an avid chef by any means. My typical meal involves less cooking, and more preparing. Having my own apartment is nice, but it doesn't condone big portions. So instead, I stick to salads and sandwiches, and the occasional stray from the ordinary like a nice, big pot of mac n' cheese that I buy in advance in the states because it is nowhere to be found on the shelves in Austrian supermarkets. Yes I know it's easy enough to cook without the packets and fake cheese, but that's the glory of mac n' cheese. It takes close to no time to prepare, and is so incredibly bad for you that it makes for the perfect comfort food. The closest thing the Austrians can get is käse spätzle, and without using chedder cheese it just doesn't compare (not saying that it isn't good, it just can't be a substitute for the good ole American flavor).

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. This blog is supposed to be about soups and travel. Now, you might ask why I decided to combine these two things. Simple. Since a week ago, I've been obsessed with soup. It's all I want to eat. It's hot, it's tasty, and it's so darn easy to cook. Plus, it's healthy and cheap! I don't see any downsides (unless you don't have time to cut up veggies and let it cook for a bit, which really doesn't take long). The blog idea came from my boyfriend though, so I can't take all the credit. Thanks to technology, I was able to text him while he was at work to proudly inform him about how good my zucchini soup turned out, and how I want to make a different soup every week. He simply replied: Why don't you blog about it? The answer in my head was: Why not?

So here it is: My inspired day 1. We will see how quickly my motivation wanes, but so far my excitement for soup is still there, and I enjoy writing...so maybe it won't wane for a while.

As for the travel bit, I just realized the other day that I've been to 4 different countries (5 if you count driving through one) in the past 2 months (Poland, Greece, Slovakia and of course Austria), and as an Ex-pat living in Vienna, I feel like I have a different approach toward traveling now than I did prior to 3 years ago, pre-ex-pat stage.

Well...I don't want to make day 1 too long. I haven't gone into much detail today, but I felt like I had to set the stage, rather than diving in to the juicy stuff. Some people need the fluffy stuff first, and I think I'm one of those people. It's getting late, and I have a feeling my legs are going to be rebelling tomorrow as I played indoor football tonight (I'm not really allowed to call it soccer over here) and it was only our 2nd time playing together, so I was pretty out of shape. This means: Go to Sleep Brianna! Otherwise, you won't be able to get up tomorrow!

So good night!
Cheers,
Bri  

Ch-Ch-Changes

Now that I have lived in this beautiful city for over a year, it is interesting to look back and see how different my life is now compared to when I first got here. On the one hand, it is much harder because I have to figure out how to do everything myself: how to get a residence permit, get an internet contract (which I still don't have), a semester pass for the subway. All of these things take time and energy, but on the other hand...I am establishing a rather normal life here. I have a regular job: babysitting, tutoring, teaching violin. I have my lessons with Barbara twice a week. I have a German class twice a week. I have plenty of friends, sometimes I think too much because it almost seems like a chore trying to see everyone that I want to see each week! All this combined with the 6 hours of practicing Barbara expects all add up to a pretty busy schedule, so much so that I almost feel like an old woman because I can't party like I could before. On the weekend, I would prefer to stay in and read a book, than go to a disco since it is my one day where I have time to catch up on me time...but usually I end up having a quiet drink with friends at one of our regular locations.

Another thing I have noticed, is how I have changed in regards to the people with whom I choose to spend my time. Last year, when I was surrounded by all of the Americans studying abroad, I found them a bit obnoxious and overbearing. However, this year I have four American friends who are also living in Vienna for an extended amount of time, and I cherish these friends because we can reference American idioms and talk as fast as we want without worrying about something being "lost in translation." As I always tend to write before going to bed, I am falling asleep as I type. I'm assuming the Chili con carne that Roman made for dinner has added to the sleepiness as we all went into a food coma directly following the meal. Thank God for wonderful friends, who also are wonderful cooks in turn!

Note the David Bowie reference in the title. Heard that song in Pickwicks yesterday, and just had to include it.

Eat, Meet, Love

Since I don't pray too often, I figured the Pray section of the title would do me no good because I would have nothing to say on the matter, besides the fact that I simply cannot remember the last time I actually tried to communicate my thoughts with God. However, that is not the reason I am writing this particular blog. The title comes simply from my recent addiction to the book, which I received from my mother on my 23rd birthday, yes I am 23 now Gasp!

To some this may seem young, to others old...but I'm just me and am going through that period of self-discovery as I live in a foreign land and have been forced to overcome difficulties that only one living in Austria would have to deal with. Just the other day, I waited for about 20 minutes in one line, only to be told that I had to go to another station about 20 minutes away where I had to wait in another line for an hour, to wait once more in another line for 10 minutes. Tell me, kind people, if you have ever heard of so many lines. To make matters worse, just the previous day I went to finally get the internet contract I'd been so waiting for, only to find out that (guess what?) I had to wait for another 2 months. Apparently even though I had my residence permit (granting me temporary citizenship for a year, like a visa), an Austrian Bank Account, A Meldezettel for not one but 2 addresses in Vienna (registration for one's apartment), and also a shitload of other documents if they needed them...and yet I still have to wait 2 more months because I just moved into a new apartment a month ago, and one has to live in their apartment for 3 months in order to obtain a contract. No, this country is not frustrating....not in the slightest (pardon my sarcasm).

On a more positive note, in the past few days it has amazed me how many diverse people I have met and how open they have been to meeting me in return. Living in a completely foreign country, I have gotten used to spending time with people I already know, or friends of those people since Austrians are not particularly welcoming upon first introduction...not to say that they are cold or anything. It just takes a bit longer to get to know them, and this is not just from my experience but also from the words of others. There are several exceptions, mind you, but I was just making a broad generalization so no offense. However, the international people that I have met in the past few days, not just Erasmus people living here short-term, but the people who have taken it upon themselves to live in a completely new country for either part of their life or the rest of it, provide a fresh outlook on life.

For example, just yesterday I had a random encounter with a guy from Nigeria. It was approximately 21:20, and we were both waiting on the corner of the street for the 5 tram. On the sign, it said that the tram should come in 2 minutes, but we waited...and waited...and no tram came for about 10 minutes. At this point, the guy comes over to me and asks why the tram wasn't coming (in English). I had no idea obviously, but he was running late for work (at 21:20 haha) and needed to get there on time, so he suggested we share a cab. Immediately I thought, ugh but cabs are so expensive here and I expressed that concern, but he insisted on paying and since we were both going the same direction I was like "why not?" One might think I was crazy to get in a cab with a random Black guy (I'm not racist or anything, just saying) but he turned out to be an incredibly decent guy. We talked about living in Vienna and how he came here for a better life and random other stuff like the fact that his English is so good because that's the only language they can speak to other Africans because there are so many languages in just one country alone. At the end of the ride, he made sure I knew which direction I was going...it was by a major subway station, so I just had to look on a map and we went our separate ways. Simple encounters like this make one appreciate the unselfish kindness of others.

I think this entry has far exceeded the limit I intended, but one final note. Patrick got his cribbage board delivered today and we played two incredibly fun games of it tonight. It is amazing. I mean, any cribbage board would be amazing at this point because he just told me that he knows how to play and I love the game....but this board is made of marble and has his name inscribed on it. How cool. Ok, I'm done. Night.

Guten Rutsch in Neue Jahr! (Have a good slide into the new year)

Even though I just wrote a blog, so much has happened in the past 2 weeks, that I feel the need to write more, especially since I can't fall asleep so what else is there to do? New Years Eve was a lot of fun. I went to Lisa's and my friend Hannah Qualls came from Salzburg to celebrate with us. Lisa cooked a nice dinner and there were about 8 of us total. Around 11:30, we decided to get outside to catch some fireworks and walked to a nearby park. It is crazy here on New Years! They are allowed to shoot off fireworks, so everyone is setting them off everywhere! There was a guy next to us shooting a gun into the air. There were popping noises all around that after a while we could not tell where they were coming from. We were not in the best spot to see a lot of fireworks, but we still saw quite a few, and were in good company so I did not mind. The subway was running all night, so Hannah and I went home around 2 or so, and in the subway station some stupid boys blew off a firework in the subway station a few feet away from us! No wonder they banned fireworks in the states. It was scary, but no harm was done. The next day was prime sleeping time since I had been traveling and socializing far too much.

On the 2nd, I made the trek out to Henndorf, a town close to Salzburg. My friend Christoph was conducting a New Year's concert there and asked me to play in the orchestra. We played a huge selection of pieces, including Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and TONS of Austrian Waltzes and a few opera pieces like Carmen. It was fun because I have never played most of these pieces before and I got to meet several musicians from Vienna. We were also fed very well and the accomodations were really nice. I stayed in a place with a big room connected to our own personal kitchen and bathroom with shower. There was a lot of rehearsing, but for putting together a concert in two days, I didn't mind. The concert ended up being 3 hours long, but you could tell the audience really enjoyed it, and it was a full house!

Now I am back in Vienna. I got a babysitting job yesterday, and found a new apartment for February so things are turning out quite well. I also bought my plane ticket home. March 29th, so count down the days. Right now it seems so far away, but I know it will fly by. I also registered for a German course because I am determined to learn German while I am here. It is a month course, 4 days a week for 3 hours a day. I think that should help do the trick! Anyway, should get to bed soon. Went and saw the Vienna Phil today and have my first lesson after the break on Wednesday and also a rehearsal with a new pianist on Thursday for the Brahms Sonata I am playing! Night all.

An Austrian Weihnachten (Christmas)

As someone reminded me today, thanks Fabio, I have been slacking a bit with this blog writing. I have tried my best to keep in touch with everyone, but I assume this is the best way to communicate everything to everybody in one cohesive mass. So where to begin since I last blogged in what, September haha. So much has changed since I arrived in August a mere 4ish months ago. I made the decision to extend my stay a bit considering how well everything was going here music-wise. For Christmas, I stayed in the countryside of Austria in a town called Knittlefeld in the Styrian region with my friend Lisa and her family. Her family is very similar to mind. Warm and overly-caring. They were always asking if I was hungry or thirsty or needed coffee (which I never declined because it was so good!) I love how everyone has their simple coffee machines here where they push a button and coffee comes out ready to go. Christmas dinner was delicious, but significantly different from the dinner I would have had if I were home in the states. We started with some Grisknockerl Suppe, which is my favorite soup here, and then had pork with a pepper sauce, potatoes, broccoli, and a delicious salad with balsamic vinegar and their special pumpkin seed oil. I like how here they put potatoes and beans in their salads and the dressing is much lighter than the creamy, heavy dressings we use in the states. One other thing to mention is the insignificance of Santa here. They detest Santa and think that he is evil. Rather, they have Christkind. They also have Heilege Nikolaus and Krampus who puts children in his basket to take to hell. He actually came into my German class, but didn't take me to hell. Thank god!

Christmas Eve is far more significant than Christmas day here, which is similar to the tradition in my family, but different from most others in the states. They open all of their presents on Christmas Eve, and make a big deal out of putting real candles on the tree and lighting the candles. It's very pretty, but it's a good thing the candles were fake so that they did not burn down the tree haha! I played a few Christmas songs on my violin at this time, and Lisa's family seemed ot appreciate it very much, especially since my German is not so good and neither was their English, so it was a way to communicate non-verbally (like my favorite quote where in a perfect world, music would be the universal language). The rest of the trip there was filled with going to her family friend's house to see their unique travel pictures, as they have traveled all over the world from Bali, to Peru, and the list goes on...

A trip I made of my own, was to London for 3 short days at the end of the month. I traveled by myself and on the first day was on my own to figure out what I wanted to see and do. The weather was typical London, cold and rainy, but I made the most of it by going to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, and getting my fill of food with a HUGE fish and chips at a little hole in the wall that one of the locals pointed out to me. It was very filling and satisfying after a long day of traveling and sight-seeing. Then, I called a friend of a friend Eugene who I was staying with for this trip and he met up with me and took me to a traditional English Pub. There, I told the bartender that I had never had English beer, so he gave me a sample of all 5 beers on tap and let me choose which I liked best. I chose one called Honey Dew that was really tasty and did the trick after one beer. The next day was an epic journey to see as much of London as I could in a day. Eugene was a wonderful tour guide as we hit St. Paul's, Tower Bridge and Tower of London, Tate Modern, stumbled upon the Burrough Market, briefly checked out Harrads, met my friend Lisa for coffee, and then went to a Belgian restaurant for dinner with more amazing beer with fruity flavors. On the walk back, I talked with one of Eugene's friends who turned out to be a singer and when I asked him about Winterreise since I had just studied it, he was actually singing the piece at the moment, so we talked about the piece the entire way home and he gave me 3 versions of the piece with one of the versions being sung by a tenor rather than the usual baritone (yes I know I'm a dork!). Waking up at 2:45 the next morning after going to bed at 12 was not very fun, but I managed and caught the first bus right on time. The second bus passed me right by after I had been waiting 30 minutes in the cold already, so I had to find the other bus station and catch a bus to Victoria. Once there, I had to take a train to the airport. Talk about crazy public transportation! I made it with plenty of time though so no worries. It was a fun, successful trip!

Amsterdam Continued...

Wednesday started wonderfully because I had an empty house to myself and was able to practice and shower without being on anyone else's schedule! I practiced till about 11:30 and then decided I wanted to venture out in search of things to do. I headed over to the museum quarter, got a little lost at times, but made it there nevertheless around 12:30 and checked out the Van Gogh Museum. It was a bit pricey, 12 euros, but I figure it was the only museum I paid to get into in Amsterdam. I was supposed to see the museum with my friend Allison, but she showed up about an hour late, so I was pretty much done seeing everything by the time she got there, so I just found my way to the market, which is an outdoor market with just about anything you need there for cheap prices. I bought a scarf for a euro, and then headed back to Juliette's to meet her for dinner. It was so nice to spend some time with her since we met this summer and hit it off quite well.

After dinner, we debated going to the Concertgebouw, but the tickets were all sold out, so instead she showed me her conservatory, which was absolutely beautiful as it is brand new, and there was a jayy concert going on so we sat in for a few numbers. Afterwards, we went to this club called the MilkWeg, which is apparently one of the hottest clubs in Amsterdam and I got in for free! It was her school's party that night, so I used her new Id while she used her old to get in, and it worked perfectly. There were two big rooms with live bands and DJs, and then other smaller rooms upstairs. We stayed for about an hour and then made our way back to her place to get some sleep.

The next day, I was on my own again, so I practiced, made breakfast, and headed over to another one of the markets near the Concertgebouw since I wanted to try to get tickets for their concert that night. I found books for super cheap at the market, which was a great find b/c english books are hard to find here. Theres a nice park right in front of the Concertgebouw, so I just sat there and read until about an hour before the concert. I was the first one to get to the concert hall to wait for student tickets, but soon afterwards two germans came in and we started talking. One was a violist, and the other was her brother. They ended up being really nice and we even walked home together after the concert. I also met a bass player from the conservatory, and a percussionist from Chicago of all places whose girlfriend just graduated from Northwestern...small world! The concert was amazing, but how could it not be with the program they played that night: Beethovens Eroica, and Shostakovich's Cello Concerto. I sat in the 2nd row, and I could literally hear the cellist, Johannes Moser, breathe!

Friday was my last day in Amsterdam, and also my birthday. Of course in Amsterdam, one needs to check out the coffee houses, so I went to one with Allison and her roommate and some other IES Amsterdam people and it was basically what I thought it would be like. There's a little window where you order what you want, and then there's an indoor place to smoke, with all sorts of interesting people there. The funny thing is, most Dutch people dont smoke. Only the tourists go there. The same goes for the red light district. I was hoping to make our way back to Randee's place to get my luggage and head over to the train station, but Allison still had not returned her bike, so she went to return her bike and by that time we were booking it trying to get to the station. We didnt get there until 5, and our train was scheduled to leave at 5:02! I was so furious, but luckily the train was running ten minutes late, and we had enough time to board. Unfortunately, our entire car was full and we didnt have access to sleeper cars, so I didnt get to sleep on the train, but I had enough time to nap the next day so it was not a problem, although I did get kind of cranky haha. The people in our car were really nice though. We have gotten lucky that way. Anyway, that concludes my crazy week to Amsterdam. The next day I celebrated my birthday, but I'll save that for a later blog...