Back to Blogging

Hallo!

I am still alive, despite my lack of blogging. My extended absence has been due mostly to procrastination, but also to continued travels and a wee bit of class time. I'm down to less than a month left in Europe, and I can't believe how fast my time here has gone! It seems like only yesterday that I arrived at the Vienna airport, excited and exhausted, and now I am about to return to American soil with memories that will last a lifetime (and maybe a few new additions to my suitcases). Well, enough of my sentimental rambling about the swiftness of time. Let me tell you what I've been up to lately...

Czech-ing Out Prague

See what I did there? I can't resist a good pun. Anyways, awhile back, May 14th to 16th to be exact, I hopped on a bus to Prague, the capital of Austria's northern neighbor, the Czech Republic. I had heard great things about the city from a number of people and didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to visit while I'm living so close. I left on a Saturday morning, and after a five hour bus ride I arrived and met up with Stephanie and Tess, two other UF students studying in Vienna, who had gotten there the day before. After I checked into the hostel, we went out to explore the city for awhile before meeting up with a few other students from our dorm in Vienna for dinner and a pub crawl. I knew right away that I liked Prague. It had a medieval feel like Edinburgh, but was not as dark and spooky. I would call it "pastel medieval", more like the middle ages depicted in fairytales than historically accurate accounts of that time period. Have a look for yourself:

The Old Town Square

Another view from the square

Me on the Charles Bridge

Under the bridge... no trolls!

Prague's famous astronomical clock. It shows the position of the sun and moon, among other things, and is still working after over 600 years!

 On my first night we ate delicious traditional Czech food at a small restaurant on the Old Town Square, and I discovered something else I like about Prague: everything is quite cheap! I got a meal and a beer for around the equivalent of six euros! Later that night, a group of six of us visiting from Vienna went on a pub crawl. It was fun, but I think using the word "pub" was a misrepresentation of exactly what was entailed in the evening. I might have preferred sampling good Czech beer at cozy actual pubs, but instead we were hurried from club to club and given cheap drinks. And it was raining. All night.

The following day I set out on my own to go on a free walking tour of the city. Stephanie and Tess had been in Prague longer than I had and had already done it, but I had great experiences on my previous free walking tours and didn't want to miss the Prague edition. The tour was four hours long and as good the others I had been on. We saw most of the main sights of Prague and I learned a lot about the fascinating history of both Prague and the Czech Republic as a whole. After the tour I returned to the hostel to meet Stephanie and Tess, and we went out to dinner and called it an early night.

On Monday we ventured to the other side of the river and climbed the hill to the castle, which is in fact more like a city within a city. It contains a palace and a beautiful cathedral, along with a variety of smaller buildings and churches, and a great view of the entire city.

The other end of the Charles Bridge, heading towards the castle.

The cathedral had about 10 of these beautiful stained glass windows on each side

View of Prague's famed red tile roofs through the castle wall

Me on castle hill, overlooking the city

After visiting the castle, we made our way down the hill to the John Lennon Wall. This is basically a wall where graffiti is permitted, and it is constantly changing. It was bright and colorful and had an overall positive message about peace and love. I think my favorite message was, "Make coffee, not war".

Me at the John Lennon wall

 The rest of the night was spent eating, walking the cobbled streets and stopping in a few shops, and taking some night time pictures. At around 11:00 I headed back to the bus station and boarded a crowded overnight bus back to Vienna, and arrived as the sun was coming up at around 5:00 am. Needless to say I didn't sleep too well on the bus ride, and pretty much crashed as soon as I got back to my dorm.

Backpacking in the Swiss Alps

After only a couple days to recover back in Vienna, I hit the road, or rather the rails, again. On Wednesday night, May 18th, I left Vienna on an overnight train to Interlaken, Switzerland with six friends, a tent, and enough food for four days. We arrived in Interlaken, in the middle of the Swiss Alps, the next morning, and after stopping to pick up a few more groceries we headed up into the mountains. A train, bus and gondola ride later we were in Gimmelwald, a tiny alpine town I had dreamed about revisiting ever since I went there two years ago. We stopped to take a pre-hike (read clean) picture, bought some cheese and sausage from the local cheese shed, and were on our way (p.s. this part is going to include a LOT of pictures).

Our first "family photo" in Gimmelwald. From left: Siegfried, Bobby, Eric, Amanda, Me, Rob, Seth

The road out of Gimmelwald.

Our goal for the first afternoon was to camp somewhere around a small peak called Tanzbodeli. I had done this stretch of the hike on my previous visit to the area, and remembered it being very difficult. It was even more difficult with 40 pound packs on our backs. After about four hours of intense uphill hiking, we found a suitable camping site just below the peak, with a big enough flat spot for our tent, a water source, a small mountain hut, and an amazing view.

Amanda and Rob preparing dinner

The view from our first campsite.

Family photo number 2 at our first campsite

We got the tent set up and a fire started, then made tinfoil dinners with chicken and potatoes. After eating our fill, we sat around the fire talking and roasting marshmallows until after dark. I may or may not have eaten six marshmallows. They were delicious.

On the second morning we ate oatmeal and toast with peanut butter for breakfast, packed up camp, and set off to hike the rest of the way up to the peak and continue down the other side. The hike to the summit was again steep and difficult, but the view from the top made it all worthwhile.

Me at the top of Tanzbodeli

One of many amazing views of the surrounding mountains.

The girls at the top. Believe it or not, this only took two takes.

Top of Tanzbodeli family photo

We spent quite a bit of time at the summit before hiking down a little ways and stopping for lunch. After lunch, the hike was mostly flat or downhill until we reached a river, then the trail started climbing up again to a glacial lake. We made it up to the "lake" (more like a small pool) later that afternoon, and as the sun was still shining most of us decided to take the plunge. The water was freezing, but the experience was overall refreshing and worth it.

Bobby was the first to take the plunge

Me diving into the icy depths.

After drying off from our swim, we went back down to the main trail and stopped to set up camp at a grassy area near a small waterfall we had spotted on the way up. This was a perfect campsite, and once we got our tent set up it looked like it belonged in an outdoor store catalog.

Me near our campsite on night 2

Night 2 campsite

Bobby and Eric by the fire

Night two was cigar night... that's what Amanda and I get for going backpacking with 5 boys

Dinner on night two was delicious jambalaya with sausage, red and green peppers, onions, and tomatoes, followed by the remainder of our marshmallows and a variety of chocolate. The next morning we had breakfast and packed up, then Rob and Siegfried left to hike out because they had to be back in Vienna a day earlier than the rest of us.

The last photo before Rob and Siegfried left.

My pack all ready to go

The remaining five of us started the day with a fairly steep downhill hike to the valley floor. We walked along the valley for awhile, stopping by a river for lunch, and then things got more interesting. Our goal for the day was to reach a huge waterfall we had been able to see since day two. There didn't appear to be any trail to it on the map, but it looked easy enough to get to. At this time, I would like to warn you, in case you didn't know, that things are rarely as easy as they look. To make a long story short, we ended up hiking up a very steep grassy hill, then through a forest to a cliff that jutted out in front of the waterfall. There was a slightly sketchy river crossing involved as well, but I won't get into that. While we didn't quite reach the base of the waterfall as we had hoped we would, we still got to a point with a great view.

Our goal: so close, yet so far away.

Still on the trail through friendly flowered valleys at this point.

On the cliff in front of the falls.

After stopping for a few photos, we decided to make our way back down toward the valley and find a place to camp. This also turned out to be harder than it seemed. We found a creek and started to follow it down, knowing that it eventually joined the river below, but encountered a problem when the creek turned into a series of waterfalls, a.k.a. cliffs. Eventually, we made our way down through a heavily wooded area (read lots of branches to hold onto so we didn't slide down the very steep hill). We found a great campsite next to a creek, from which we could still hear the rushing waterfall in the distance. It was an adventurous day to say the least, and we were all happy to get the tent set up and relax around the fire with some pesto pasta for dinner.

Setting up at our final campsite

We had a little bit of a delayed start the next day due to some rain in the morning that made us not want to leave the tent, but it cleared off long enough for us to make breakfast and pack up camp. We only had a couple hours hike out to the town of Murren, where we would catch a bus and then a train to get back to Interlaken. About half an hour into the hike it started to rain, and by the time we reached Murren we were all soaked.

On the way out, just before the rain came.

We made our way back down to Interlaken and went to Hooter's for some food and a celebratory pitcher of beer before getting on a train back to Vienna that evening. Yes, there is a Hooter's in Interlaken. No, I did not buy a shirt. We got back to Vienna the next morning, and I took a much needed shower before going back to sleep for a few hours. It was a great trip with great friends, and an experience that I don't think any of us will forget any time soon.

Well, this post has already gotten quite long. I also spent a weekend in Krakow, Poland recently, but I think I'll save that for my next post. Right now I need to finish packing and doing laundry, as I am heading to Croatia in the morning for six days of camping and exploring lakes and islands. Don't worry Mom, whitewater rafting isn't that dangerous!

Until next time....

Kaitlin

Easter Break: Part Two

Greetings readers!

I hope you all had a Happy Easter, wherever you were. I am now back in Vienna after spending the second half of my break traveling about Europe, sometimes on my own and other times meeting up with friends from Vienna along the way. There's a lot to recap, so I'll break it down into sections, based on the destination, for your convenience. Without further ado...

Easter Break Part 2a: Palma Mallorca, Spain

On April 19th I left Vienna to fly to Palma Mallorca, an island off the East coast of Spain. I was planning to eet up with my roommate, Stephanie, and the two other girls from UF for the first night, and then spend a day and a night there by myself before continuing to my next destination. Two other girls from my dorm happened to be on my flight, so we took the bus to the airport together and sat together on the plane. It was nice to not have to travel alone. We arrived in Palma Mallorca around 10 pm and caught the last bus into town, parting ways when I got off a few stops before them to go to the hotel the UF girls were staying at. We were all pretty tired that night, and stayed up talking for a little while but then went to bed. The next morning they had to be at the airport around 9:30 am, so we all had breakfast together at the hotel and then they left to fly to Brussels. After a hearty continental breakfast (which included a couple sanwiches I made and stuck in my purse for later), I took the bus to the hostel I would be staying at that night, a couple miles down the beach. I checked in and asked where I could rent a bike for the day. The people who ran the hostel made a call, and ten minutes later I was being picked up and driven to a bike shop. For 5 euros I got a bike for the whole day! I hopped on and headed towards the city of Palma, about 10 kilometers away. There was a nice bike path along the beach the whole way, and it was a beautiful ride.

I ended at the city's massive cathedral, and parked my bike to go inside. It was beautiful inside and out, with a ton of intricate stained glass windows.

When I left the cathedral it looked like it was about to rain, so I started to head back to the bike shop. It never did rain, but was pretty cloudy all day. It was warm enough, but definitely not beach weather which was a little disappointing, being on an island and all. That evening I went to get tapas and a drink with a couple others from my hostel, and went to bed fairly early.

The next day I had a flight around 3:30, so I planned to leave for the airport at about 1:00. I had the morning to spend on the island, but once again it was cloudy so simply laying on the beach wasn't really an option. I got coffee to go and took a long walk down the beach before going back to my hostel to pack up and leave. I took the bus to the airport and was off to my next destination.

Overall, Palma Mallorca was nice but probably not somewhere I would go again. It may have been better if the weather had cooperated, but it was also pretty touristy and reminded me a lot of some of the beach towns in Florida that have T-shirt shops on every corner. The cathedral, however, was beautiful, and I enjoyed my bike ride despite the sun's reluctance to appear.

Easter Break Part 2b: Edinburgh

On the 21st I flew from Palma Mallorca to Edinburgh Scotland to meet up with my friend Bobby for a couple days and then travel on my own for a bit. I got in around 8 pm and took the bus from the airport into the city. Right away I knew I was going to like Edinburgh. It got a friendly, yet slightly spooky vibe when I got off the bus at dusk, and it didn't hurt that the directions to the hostel were basically, "to the left of the castle". I made the fairly short, yet very uphill, walk to the castle, then down a set of steep stairs on the left side to the street the hostel was on. I checked in and waited for Bobby, whose flight didn't arrive until 11 pm. We decided not to do anything that night, but get up early to see the city. We got up the next morning and went to the hostel breakfast, and about halfway through his bowl of cereal Bobby started to not feel so hot. We speculate that it was food poisoning, and he was sick all day. Luckily, he had arranged for us to spend the next two nights with a friend of his from Texas, Alex, who was studying in Edinburgh, so we got to her apartment where he was able to rest all day in close proximity to a bathroom. I ended up going on a walking tour of the city by myself at 1 pm. It was a great (and free!) three hour tour that was very informative. Edinburgh has a lot of interesting history, most of which is based on fighting the English. I forgot my camera, so I didn't take any pictures until the next day, but here are some of the main sights the tour covered:

The Royal Mile, a mostly pedestrian street in the old town between the castle and the palace.

The Mercat Cross, used for public torture, announcements, and, on one occasion, to dispense wine for 24 hours.

One of many closes, which are staircase alleyways that connect the various levels of the old town, which is on a hill

A memorial to Greyfriars Bobby, the "guard dog" of the cemetery's caretaker. When his master died, Bobby went back to the cemetery to visit his grave every day until he himself died.

Greyfriars church

By the time the tour ended it was early evening, so I went back to the apartment, then went to get a few groceries for dinner (including some chicken soup for Bobby), and went to bed early.

The next morning Bobby was feeling much better, and, as it was his last day in Edinburgh, we headed out fairly early to pack in a day of sightseeing. It was drizzling when we left, so we decided to go do an underground tour first, hoping that by the time we got back above ground the rain would have cleared off. The underground tour took place in some of the many vaults that are hidden under the city, which used to be the location of lots of shady activities, including but not limited to dead body storage. It was pretty spooky, but also included a lot of the city's history. Let's just say I don't think I would want to go down there at night. When we got back up to daylight, the rain had not stopped, but gotten worse. We got lunch at a pub, and then, despite the rain, decided to go tour the castle. We did a half hour guided tour outside in the rain, then were able to go inside a lot of the buildings to escape the weather.

Edinburgh Castle

The oldest building in the Castle, St. Margaret's Chapel, was built in the 12th century

A view from the castle

After the castle I took Bobby to some of the sights I had seen on the tour, stopping at a pub along the way to warm up for a bit (I had coffee of the Irish variety). Later that afternoon we went to a cafe called The Elephant Room for tea. This was on my list of sights to see in Edinburgh, as it was where J.K. Rowling wrote much of the first few Harry Potter books. It had a great view of the castle, and the tea was delicious!

The room where J.K. Rowling wrote

View of the castle from The Elephant House

Afternoon tea :)

When we finished our tea, the sun had finally come out! The timing was pretty good (though it would have been nice if the rain had stopped a little sooner), as we had planned to spend the later part of the afternoon hiking up Arthur's Saddle, a hill at the edge of Edinburgh with a great view from the top. The hike was a lot steeper than we anticipated, but we finally reached the top.

After the hike, we went back to the apartment for dinner with Alex and a couple of her friends, and that night we all went out to a pub. Bobby left early in the morning for a flight to Oslo, and I went an Easter Sunday service with Alex then spent the early afternoon planning where I would go for the next couple days. By that afternoon I had booked a train ticket and a bed in a hostel for two night, and at 5:00 pm I was off to...

Easter Break Part 2c: Highlands and Islands

I took a five hour train ride from Edinburgh to Oban, a small fishing town on Scotland's West coast and part of the lower highlands. I arrived around 10:30 pm, checked into my hostel, and went to bed soon after. I woke up early the ext morning to head out on a day trip to one of the many nearby islands. I ate breakfast at the hostel and walked down to the ferry dock around 9:30. I got there just as a 9:50 ferry to the Isle of Mull was about to leave, so I bought a ticket and hopped on. On board I got a cup of coffee and sat out on the deck on the back side of the boat. The 45 minute ferry ride was beautiful and relaxing, and included sights like these:

Once I got to the island, I really had no idea what I was going to do all day. There were a few buses at the ferry landing going to different towns, and the one to a place called Tobermory seemed pretty popular, so I got on it. About 45 minutes later I arrived here:

 And this was right next to where the bus stopped:

I walked up the main street a little ways, then back to the distillery to see if they had tours. They did, and the next one was about to start. The tour lasted about a half an hour, and included a walk through the distillery with explanations about the process of making Scotch whisky, and a tasting at the end. Tobermory Scotch is quite delicious, I recommend it. After the tour I was getting hungry, and had seen a fish and chips truck on the pier earlier, so I went there for lunch. there was quite a line, but the wait was worth it. I got haddock and chips and ate on the edge of the pier, near a small beach.

After lunch I walked to the end of the main street, where there was a hiking trail leading up the coast. I walked for about half an hour, then turned back towards town.

A view from the trail.

 By the time I got back, I only had about an hour before I had to catch the last bus back to the ferry landing at 3:50 pm. I went in some of the shops, including one interesting store that was called "Books and Tackle". I also went in the town's small, free museum to learn a little bit of it's history. there was an interesting exhibit about a ship from the Spanish Armada that had sunk right in the harbor. It was reported to have been carrying a vast treasure, but no one has ever found it, despite repeated attempts as recent as last year. I had some ice cream, got a sandwich at the grocery store and caught the bus back to the ferry, then took the 5:00 ferry back to Oban. I at my sandwich for dinner on the boat, and then spent a relaxing evening reading in the common room of my hostel, watching the sunset over the harbor.

The ferry coming back to get me.

The following day was my last on the coast, as I had tickets for a 6 pm train back to Edinburgh. In the morning, I walked to the castle ruins on the road out of Oban that I had seen from the ferry the morning before. I found a trail that went straight up to the castle, and was surprised to find that it was free and open to the public. I was the only one there at the time, so going into the one remaining tower (which was very dark on the bottom level) was a little spooky, but I was able to climb a winding staircase up the tower and see all of Oban and the harbor.

The tower I went in

Upstairs in the tower

After spending a little time in the castle, I walked back down to town. I wandered for awhile, going in and out of shops that looked interesting. I stopped for coffee and a scone, and then went to the Oban distillery (yes, another distillery. I was in Scotland after all) to sign up for a tour. I got a spot in the 2:30 tour, so I had some time to spare. I walked around to the other side of the bay and up the road for awhile where I found a nice park at the Oban sailing club. I sat in the sun and watched the boats for a little bit:

Oban from the other side of the harbor

A boat coming into the harbor

I then walked back to the ferry dock, where I had remembered seeing a fresh seafood stand the day before. I got some mussels, that were cooked in the shell in white wine and shallots, as a late lunch. They were fresh and delicious, and a bargain at 3 pounds!

Delicious box o' mussels

By this time it was nearly 2:30, and I had to get to my tour here:

The tour was similar to the one in Tobermory, but a little more in depth. Also, they were actually distilling in Oban, where as the tour I went on in Tobermory was of an empty facility, as it was a holiday (the day after Easter). It was neat to see the process in action, and it smelled delicious. We got to try a sample of whisky straight from a single barrel, which is rare because the contents of many barrels of the same year are mixed together and diluted slightly before bottling. The distillery itself is the oly place in the world where this opportunity exists. We then also got to try the finished product, Oban 14 Year, and I even go to keep the glass with the distillery's logo that I used for my samples! The tour and tasting lasted about an hour and a half, and after that I went back to my hostel to pack up and look up directions to my next hostel. I left the hostel around 5:30 and stopped to get some fish and chips to go for dinner on the train. It was a nice ride back through the rolling hills and lochs at sunset, and I arrived back in Edinburgh around 11 pm. I stayed with Alex again, and got up at 3:00 am to catch the 4:00 am bus to the airport and my 6:30 flight.

I really enjoyed my time in Scotland, and it is definitely somewhere I would recommend visiting. Edinburgh was a beautiful city with a very interesting history, and had more of a small town feel to it than many cities I have visited in Europe. I would say it is definitely in my top five cities I have been to so far. The coast of Scotland was also beautiful, and my train ride through the highlands left me wanting to see more of that part of the country as well. It was also pretty nice to be in an English speaking country for the first time in over two months!

Easter Break Part 2d: A Day In Munich

The last leg of my trip was a very short visit to Munich. I flew out of Edinburgh early, and got to the airport around 10:30 am. However, the airport was about an hour and a half outside the city, so I took a bus and got to Munich's main train station at about noon. I checked into my hostel, which was conveniently located about a block from the station, and then tried to figure out how I was going to find my friends from Vienna who were also in Munich. We were all staying at the same hostel, and I knew they had gone on the 11:00 free walking tour the hostel hosted. I asked the worker at the front desk where and when the tour ended. He gave me directions, and I set off into the city.  Unfortunately, I left my camera at the hostel, and therefore have no pictures of Munich, but I can at least explain what I did and saw.

I had about an hour before the tour was supposed to end, so I went to a church and stopped for coffee before heading to the square where I would hopefully be able to spot the tour group. I ran into them on the way, and actually caught the last 20 minutes or so of the tour myself. There were six of us altogether, and as we left the tour group it started to thunder and lightning. We took refuge in a Starbucks, and spent nearly two hours waiting out the storm, talking about our various travels. When the storm passed we walked around a little more, stopping at 5:00 pm to watch the famous Glockespiel go off. The Glockenspiel is the clock tower in Munich's city hall, and resembles a giant cuckoo clock. Three times a day, the tower plays a few songs, and life-size figures dance and joust. We went back to the hostel to freshen up, then made our way to the Hofbrauhaus beer hall for dinner, and, of course, a beer. We ate traditional German cuisine, including giant soft pretzels as appetizers, and toasted our giant one liter beers. Everything was delicious, and we sat around the long wooden table listening to live Bavarian music, eating and drinking until about 10:30. We went back to the hostel, where I showered and went to bed, setting my alarm for an early hour once again to catch my 7 am bus back to Vienna.

My stay in Munich was short, but pleasant. It was nice to see friends and hear stories about everyone's travels, and the city itself was pretty and friendly. The beer hall was probably my favorite part, as the atmosphere was so lively and the epitome of what I picture when I think of Germany. The bus back to Vienna was very nice and comfortable, and the promotional price of 9 euros (for a 7 hour trip) really can't be beat.

So, all in all I had a great trip, but it's nice to be back in Vienna, and to know I will be able to sleep in the same bed for awhile. Vienna welcomed me back yesterday with warmth and sunshine, and the city looks even more beautiful than when I left. I love traveling and there is so much I want to see and do, but I have also grown quite fond of my daily life in Vienna and will be happy to return to it, at least for a little while ;)