I Love Paris In The Springtime

Yesterday Jeremy and I got in from our very first trip to a location in Europe strictly for fun (no tours with any prestigious bands).  We decided to go to Paris!  As any other girl, or boy for that matter, I have dreamed of going to Paris since I was little.  Visions of sparkling Eiffel Towers danced in my head as we made the reservations.  I can honestly say, I was not disappointed in what I experienced.  Even a terrible cold/infection with a hacking cough did not compromise how much I enjoyed this wonderful city.  Well, maybe a little…but not by much!

We arrived in Paris on Easter Sunday at lunchtime.  Paris is only about a two-hour flight from Vienna.  Luckily with the help of some very bad and almost non-existent high school French, I was able to understand everything a little better than in the Czech Republic.  We arrived at our conveniently located hotel to drop off our luggage, and then we set off to find some lunch.  The hotel staff recommended La Frigate, so that’s where we ended up.  It sat right on the banks of the Seine River, and the food did not disappoint!  We both had French onion soup (or just onion soup here), Beef Bourguignon, and Crème Brulée for dessert.  YUMMY!  With no particular plans after gorging ourselves, we decided to just stroll amongst the city. 

First, we strolled through the Jardin des Tuileries, a beautiful garden at the end of Champs-Elysées.  From here you could see the Eiffel Tower and the Place de la Concorde.  The Concorde is where the world famous guillotine was located that executed around 1,200 people which included Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI.  Now, in the guillotine’s place stands the 3,200-year-old Obelisk from the Luxor temple in Egypt.  It was pretty cold, so we walked around and ate some more before heading back to the hotel.

Monday, we slept in and had a wonderful breakfast of crepes before touring more of the city.  We tried to go inside the Louvre, which is the home of the Mona Lisa, but the line was crazy long, and it was freezing!  I figured it wasn’t worth frostbite, so we went to Notre Dame instead.  Ah, Notre Dame.  This was absolutely my favorite part of the trip.  I could have stayed inside here for hours.  The stained glass was breathtaking!  It was also really close.  All the beautiful stained glass I’ve seen in other churches is up high and you can’t see the details.  A lot of the glass in ND is down low and just a few feet from you.  I was blown away, and I’m sure my mom would love to make some of the patterns into quilts!  Afterwards, we went to get our first taste of French fries, and they were, of course, awesome.  I was pretty worn out from my cold, so we went back to the hotel for some much needed rest.  We did get back out again for a fancy-smancy dinner at La Petite Chaise, which ended badly when mixed with my cold medicine.  Sorry, France!

The next day, we had only two goals after my previous day: to see the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower during the day and lit up at night, and to go atop both of them.  Luckily we got to do both!  First, we walked up Champs-Elysées to the Arc, but after seeing the line, we decided to go to the top at night to get a good view of the Eiffel tower sparkling.  So, we headed to the Eiffel tower.  It’s really big!  Keep in mind, this was the largest structure in the world till the Empire State Building was erected.  Funnily enough, it was meant to only be a temporary addition to the Paris skyline for the Universal Exhibition in 1889.  Could you imagine Paris without it?  We went up to only the second level (about halfway up) since the line for the third level (very top) was very long.  It was still a great view!  The clouds even lifted to give us a pretty horizon.  

Since my lack of strength was keeping limiting us, we decided to go to a café and await darkness before we returned back to the Triomphe.  The Eiffel tower only sparkles for a few minutes on the hour, so we had to time our arrival just right.  It was 7:30, and we figured that would give us enough time to ride the subway to the Arc, stand in a short line (hopefully) for tickets, and then take the elevator up to the top.  We were right about all of that except for one part…the elevator.  There was no elevator, only 284 stairs that had to be climbed with virtually no lung capacity from congestion!  Jeremy saw that the Eiffel Tower was already sparkling, so we really pushed ourselves without stopping and were practically running.  We’re big picture-taking people, so we had to make it!  I have to tell you, I’ve run a marathon, and I’ve never felt burn like this before.  I almost passed out, but we made it with about 30 seconds to spare!  It was beautiful seeing it sparkle…either that or I was seeing some serious stars.  We took some more pictures of Paris lit up, and then we (very slowly) headed back down the stairs to crash for the night. 

We had planned on spending our last day touring the Palace of Versailles outside the city.  Unfortunately, two things stopped us:  snot and rain.  We spent the entire day inside the hotel relaxing, sleeping, and ordering room service.  Our slingbox came in handy on our computer, and we got caught up on missed episodes of Lost and American Idol too.  I was disappointed we couldn’t go, but I know we’ll be back!  Paris is too great not to!

On a side note, I would like to say that the French people we came in contact with treated us very friendly.  All I’ve heard is how much they hate Americans and how rude they are.  We experienced the exact opposite!  Merci and Au Revoir, Paris!

To see more pictures of the entire trip click here, and for pictures of Notre Dame click here!

I'm Not Crazy...Just Sad

Well, as promised from the post about our trip to NYC...I figured out who the actress was that I saw in Carnegie Deli.  It is Blake Lively who starred in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."  Now, we all know I'm not crazy, but I am in return being pitied because I actually watched this movie.  Seems like an even trade.

Apuzzo in Austria...and the Czech Republic

This past week we had my dear friend from my Belmont days, Emily Apuzzo, come and visit us while on her spring break.  I was so excited to see her!  We got to do all the sights I have already listed in other blogs and even got to do a few new things.  We saw an opera called "L'Elisir d'Amore,” saw the Imperial Apartments and Sisi museum, went to the King Tutankhamun exhibit that is new in Vienna, and shopped in the Easter Markets!  They are similar to the Christmas markets, but with less ornaments and more painted eggs.  We had a blast playing Wii at night and of course, ate way too much during the day!  

About halfway through her trip, Emily and I went to Prague in the Czech Republic (sans Jeremy since he had concerts).  This was actually going to be my first time in a European country besides Austria, so I was really pumped.  Prague is about 4 hours away from Vienna, so we decided that the easiest (and most economical) thing to do would be to travel by bus.  I had several recommendations to take Eurolines, which is the most extensive European chartered bus company.  It was extremely easy to book the tickets, and we headed out early Wednesday morning.  The bus was only about half full, so we got to spread out and take a whole section to ourselves and sleep.  I used this opportunity to read about Prague in my Eyewitness Travel guide.  It was an easy trip, and we got to see lots of beautiful snow covered landscapes on the way! 

We arrived in Prague about lunchtime, and we learned something real quick like:  Czech is the most crazy, difficult language to understand!  I didn’t realize how much German I knew until I went to a country where I knew NOTHING.  It is a disorienting array of accents, little “v” things over vowels, and WAY too many consonants!  None of the words are similar to German or English, so we were lost.  Luckily, we were able to figure out how to get money from the ATM and find a booth to purchase public transportation (Metro) tickets, so we could get to our bed & breakfast.  It was pretty easy to find our way to the B&B thanks to the directions on the website, and we arrived in one piece!  

The B&B owner ushered us in and basically took us under his wing.  I am not going to use his or his wife’s real name, nor the name of the B&B for reasons that shall become clear later on in this blog.  For now, I will call them Bobo and Bitsy.  So, Bobo sat us down, gave us some tea and bread, and explained Prague to us…everything from transportation to restaurants.  He was a big help, and we even decided to try out his favorite restaurant for lunch.

After lunch, we decided to head over to Prague Castle by way of tram.  This sounds easy enough, but the maps were a little confusing.  We ended up taking the right tram in the wrong direction really far.  When we finally started heading in the right direction, it was getting pretty late, and all the sights in the castle were closed.  We still enjoyed the beautiful view of the city.  Since all the tourist attractions were closed and it was starting to get dark, we just decided to eat some supper and head back to the B&B early.  Once we got into the room, we planned out a full day for Thursday, so that we could see everything and still make it back to the bus station by 5pm.  We were both really pooped, so we crashed early.

The next morning started a day Emily and I would soon not forget.  I got up early to take a shower.  Since Emi had taken hers the night before, she told me to just wake her up when I got out.  That I did, but probably not in the manner she intended.  Here is a small excerpt of our dialogue:

Emily – “What time is it?”

Kristi – “EMILY.  You need to get out of the bed RIGHT NOW!”

Emily – “What?  What time is it?”

Kristi – “The bed is covered in ANTS!”

Yep, I was absolutely terrified for my friend.  I started to look around and the entire room was covered in ants….not just in the bed.  I have to admit, Emily handled this news with a lot more grace than I would.  She calmly got up and pulled back the covers and inspected herself.  If this had been me, either one of two things would have occurred:

1. Heart attack with sudden death. 

2. Frantic, blind running around the room, which would have ended with me smacking head first against the wall…also, sudden death.

We spent the next 30 minutes inspecting every item we owned and shaking the ants off.  I had about 30 in my purse and 20 in my jacket.  I was completely freaked out and all I wanted to do was get out!  After we ridded our belongings of the infestation, we went down to breakfast with the intent of telling Bobo and Bitsy.  But after they gave us such a warm morning greeting, we realized we didn’t want to tell them.  They are so nice, and we really couldn’t bring ourselves to do it!  If we were staying another night, it would be different.  We figured they would just see it when they were cleaning, and we would be long gone by then.  This is why I didn’t want to use their names because I don’t want to do anything to hurt their business! 

After breakfast, we headed back over the castle with more success this time around.  We walked all through the city seeing the Charles bridge, The Church of our Lady before Tyn which is the most distinctive structure in Prague’s landscape, and The Old Town square and Easter Market.  We watched the Town Cock come to life at noon, ate grilled sausages in the snow, walked up to the Jewish quarter, and then did a little shopping.  At about 3pm, we headed back to the B&B to pick up our belongings, drank some tea to warm up, then went to catch our bus.  Prague is really beautiful, and we had a great experience regardless of our buggy morning!

Then, that all changed when we got on the bus trip from Hades. First of all the bus was completely sold out. There were no free seats, and we were all scrunched together. Second, the seats didn’t recline like they did on the first bus. It was very uncomfortable. The first hour or so was fine, but then we hit standstill traffic. We sat motionless for over and hour, then we started rolling at a glacial pace for another hour. We finally got directed to exit the Autobahn because it was now closed. The bus driver was taking us into the middle of nowhere!! Not only that, he was driving like a maniac around mountain edges in the snow. Not to mention, the bathroom was now full with well, you know, and could not be used anymore. People were getting very irate to say the least. The bus driver finally pulled over at a gas station, and everyone just assumed it was to let us use the bathroom. Nope! He was flat out lost, and he needed directions. Why wouldn’t a huge bus company have GPS’s in every bus?! So, everyone started yelling in their native tongue to let them go to the bathroom. I heard Russian, Czech, German, and English profanities all around me. The bus driver’s assistant insisted that there was no bathroom here, and we had to remain seated. Around 30 minutes later, we stopped at another gas station, and this time they let us go. There was only one toilet, so you can imagine how long it took for a busload to go. This was at around 10pm, an hour later than we should have arrived in Vienna. Emily very quietly and politely asked the assistant how much longer we had. She told us two hours. *sigh* It actually took 3, which means we arrived at 1am making this an 8 hour bus trip. Jeremy was waiting at the bus station with the car since public transportation had long since ended, and we couldn’t have been happier to see him. Onward home, right? Wrong. Jeremy got pulled over not two minutes after we left. The police thought he was drunk since he made a sharp, crazy turn when he looked at the GPS incorrectly. We were terrified because we “technically” aren’t driving legally in Austria right now. He actually made him do a breathalyzer, which was just funny because it was probably in the negative. After checking all our documents, they finally let us go, and we arrived at home around 2am.

Poor Emi had to get up at 5am to catch her flight, so she just decided to stay up all night long! Despite the craziness of all that, we truly had a fantastic time. It was so good to see her, and we both learned why people take trains!

Click here for more photos...and click here for more mobile uploads of the trip!

Jeremy and I leave for Paris tomorrow, so stay tuned for some French bloggings!

A Patriotic Tribute to...Cheese

I simply wanted to share this with the world...

I would seriously make this into a t-shirt if I could.  And for those of you wondering, Schmelzkäse Scheiben literally means "bloom cheese disks." Who knew we ate this on toast?

We Are The World...

Today I got the privilege of going to the United Nations and having lunch with my worship leader from church, Carolyn, who works in the International Atomic Energy Agency division.  For those of you who don't know, the United Nations location in Vienna is one of the main hubs of activity for the UN besides New York.  It's one of the reasons Vienna has such a diverse culture because there are an enormous amount of jobs in this huge place.  I was really excited because I had wanted to go for some time now and see the building. 

First of all, if you didn't catch it from the first paragraph, the place is humongous.  I really feel that all the nations COULD unite and fit into the building!  So, of course, I got confused as to where to go. How hard could it be to find Gate 1?!  The wind was blowing at 100 mph and raining, so my umbrella got turned inside out four times.  I searched for the entrance blinded by my hair and tears from the wind when I finally had a soldier tap me on the shoulder.  Now I'm really scared because I honestly believe I could look like a terrorist after I had endured that lovely little storm.  I was surprised when he said, "You are lost.  Do not cry, I will show you where to go."  I almost defended myself and explained that after living in a foreign country for 8 months, it would take a whole heck of a lot more than me not finding a gate to make me to cry. But he seemed genuinely concerned, so I let him be a gentleman and show me the way.

Once I got inside Gate 1, I had to be checked in by Carolyn at security.  They printed a visitors badge for me, and then I went through the radars and x-ray machines.  I was then informed that I was no longer on Austrian soil.  This was a neutral location and the primary language was English…joy in the morning! 

Once we got into the main building, there was immediate sensory overload from all the flags.  There were tons!  I couldn't even find the good ol' American red, white, and blue, but I'm sure it was up there.  I was also hit with the diversity of the people who worked here.  I saw everything black, white, Asian, Arab, eye patches, disabled, tattooed, scarred from tribal rituals, gothic, priests, and people from Gap commercials.  It was insane!  Once we got into the cafeteria, the food selections reflected the diverse culture as well.  They had everything from baba ghanoush to fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  I opted for a turkey burger and fries (oh how I've missed you).  I even got to ask for someone to pass the salt in pepper…in English…and they understood me…and they didn't look at me like I had sprouted horns! 

It was a neat experience to be on the inside of such a cultural place.  I may go back if I'm in a German slump.  I hear they even sell American goods at their commissary.  Triscuits!  Chips Ahoy! Pop Tarts!  I know that the UN does other things beside provide me with food, but right now I'm at a loss as to what they are…

A New Beginning for End Tables

You may all remember the sad day when we posted that our beloved end tables were demanded as a sacrifice in the move.   

It was a blood bath with splinters and appendages strewn about the apartment.  I can only imagine what they endured in the journey over the Atlantic.  Luckily, we had a specialist come and visit us a couple of months ago.  He told us the prognosis was grim, but he would do all he could to make them as comfortable as possible.  We are proud to say under the watchful eye of Dr. Ron Wilson and many prayers, our tables have made a complete recovery!   

I would like to thank all of you who supported us during this hard time...we wouldn't have had the strength to do it without you!  

Land der Berge, Land am Strome

I am happy to report after a LOT of blood, sweat, and tears, Jeremy and I are finally legal residents of Austria!!  Hallelujah, It's nice not having the looming fear of deportation following you around! 

Having said that, I would like to close with quoting the first stanza of "Land der Berge, Land am Strome," which is the Austrian National Anthem:

Land of mountains, land on the stream,

Land of fields, land of cathedrals,

Land of hammers, with a promising future,

You are home to great sons,

People blessed for the beautiful

Much-praised Austria,

Much-praised Austria!

(Click for a recording)