Burning Winter Away

Switzerland has a special festival to help move the transition between seasons along faster. Fasnacht is the equivalent to Mardi Gras but there is also a Fire Parade that takes place the night before the Lantern Festival.  It is literally a parade of fire. After spending a couple of hours throwing confetti all over the ground they light torches (brooms) on fire and walk down the street with them.   They also have wagons stuffed with wood that they run down hill with.  It was 2 hours of fire. Two hours of complete madness with children running down the street carrying fire, men drink beers while holding fire, and roasting bratwurst on the fire they are carrying down the street. 

** Parade pictures taken by Whitney Card**

As we stood in awe of the fire, we couldn't help but repeating over and over how there is no permit that you could get in the States for a fire parade.  It looks like the city is on fire. There are moments when the wagon had such a big fire we felt like we were going to burn.  The Swiss women next to us were telling us to pull back our hair and make sure we looked away otherwise we would lose it all! 

The last picture is a archway that the fire had to go through at the end of the parade.  Each time a wagon would reached this point the crowd held their breathe as fire crews stood there to spray water at the just the right time.  It was a phenomenal event.  It also seemed to have scared winter away, which I am eternally grateful for. 

In a couple of weeks we are burning a wooden snowman to say goodbye to winter! 

Prague

From Budapest, we packed up the car again and head to Prague. By the time we reached Prague, I was reaching a point of exhaustion.  After spending a week and half switching cities and beds, it was catching up to me.  So we headed out for dinner and called it a night early.  We started off with a typical Czech meal at a local restaurant.  They claimed the schnitzel was invented in Czech and that Germany stole it. I don't know.. it might be a similar argument to the chicken or the egg.

Either way, it was a delicious meal and some of the best beer for very CHEAP! We did a walkng tour of the city, which was super intereting to hear some of the history of Prague and Czechoslovakia.  It was quite interesting to hear about the onslaught of protests once Czech went from Democracy to Communism.  Czech was the 8th largest economy in the world before they entered the Communist Bloc.  Our guide told stories of what he remembered from Communism.  While our guide told us a one-sided (anti-Communist) view of their history it was interesting to hear how quickly things have changed from progress to regression and back to progress.  

The crew on the Charles Bridge

By rubbing this I am now supposed

to become a millionaire! 

The Church by the Castle

Oh to be a guard!

A beautiful view of the city from the Castle

We walked around the city some more in the days to follow. We went to the Communist Museum, which was a small museum that explained the rise and fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia.  In the US, we are taught so little about what was happening in the COmmunist Bloc, other than they were the bad guys to over-simplify 12 years of history class, so I found it extremely interesting to read about it from a slightly different perspective. An American started the museum in hopes to education later generations on the realities of Communism in Prague.  

Some of the other highlights of Prague were finding a place that sold AMAZING bagels (we took them to Berlin with us), a great pub called the Propaganda Bar (or something like that) which was underground and had a very fun vibe and was filled with Propaganda from many generations, and delicious (and cheap) beer!

A Very European Christmas

We spent Christmas in Budapest.  I had anticipated it being a lot harder to be away from home than it was.  (Although, I don't plan on making it a habit to be away for the holidays.) I was so lucky to be with one of my good friends from home and a couple of new friends I have made in Switzerland.

We arrived in Budapest on the 23rd.  After dinner and a little walking around, we headed to bed for an early morning at the thermal baths! It was the perfect Christmas Eve. We got to the baths and it was sunny and 50 degrees out (this is a good thing). A few hours in a warm pool followed by a massage and some more pool time, all for the low cost of $30! It was absolutely fabulous!

Our Castle filled with piles of water!

After exploring the city some more we discovered another highlight of Budapest. This delicious treat caught our attention when there was an extremely long line at the stand. We couldn't not try it! 

Now in case you can't tell what that is let me try to explain. It is this absolutely delicious piece of hot doughy heaven covered in cinnamon and sugar.  Sound amazing right? It was! 

Then we headed back for a short and very unplanned nap. We then headed to check out the church and see the cityscape at night.  Then we headed back to our apartment to make our impromtu Christmas Eve dinner. Since none of us are competent in Hungarian, we bought cream cheese instead of ricotta cheese.  We were also left with very few pans! We are creative people though so we made a successful lasagna-esq dinner followed by several bottles of wine 

and night of playing cards! 

Christmas day was relaxing as well. We ventured out for a walk around the city. It didn't last too long because it was hailing and windy...and all around unpleasant to be outside. We did get a chance to check out the Parliament building (the third largest). We then made another dinner and spent the evening relaxing, watching Love Actually, and Skyping with our families. It was sooo great to be able to see my family on Christmas! Technology saved the day again! Stephen (my little brother) set a place for me at the table on Christmas Eve which meant the world to me! I am glad that I was with some great friends for the holidays, but nothing beats having an amazing family around you! 

On our way out we went to Memento Park, which is an accumulation of old Communist statues. We took it upon ourselves to pose as each statue was posing.  

Shelly reenacting the statue

Vienna - Now or Never

The second we got off the train in Vienna, it had the big city feel that Salzburg did not.  It also came with a bone-chilling cold which was absent in Salzburg.  After unsuccessfully looking for the "center" of the city, we heading back to the hostel.  We quickly discovered how many things we wanted to see and do in the city so the morning started after finally finding the city!

We walked around the St. Stephan's Church and the Hofburg buildings.  Then off to the Museum Quartier.  We saw a few exhibits, one of which was called Power Up - Female Pop Art. The list of artists that were displayed is below and I would recommended looking up some of their pieces.  It was an awesome exhibit filled with art that is often passed over.

We followed that with the Modern Art Museum which had an exposition of Hyper-Life Art.  I liked a lot of these pieces as well.  I feel like you cannot come to Europe and fall in love with the art world.  It seems like there are constantly quality exhibitions in every museum in every city.  

The State Opera House

After our Viennese cuisine we headed to the Opera for the evening (classy, I know).  We saw L'elisir D'amore at the State Opera House.  It is a beautiful building and the orchestra and singers were fantastic.  The Austrian man sitting next to me was very helpful in pointing out who among the singers were the best.  At the end of the day we definitely felt cultured! 

Chicken Schniztel and wine

The Opera House 

Wednesday we went to the Schloss Schonbrunn castle and the Butterfly House, and then we separated for the afternoon.  I wandered around the Jewish Quarter, a few Christmas Markets, the Parliament building, and the Rathaus.  It was quite lovely, but the cold got the best of me and I headed back to the hostel a little early to get into my warm covers and take a quick nap. I justified this because I know that there in still a laundry list of things I want to do in Vienna and must return again soon! 

Schloss Schönbrunn

Christmas Market Fun

Rathaus

Today, we walked to the Nachtmarkt which is a big market that is around all year with fresh meat, fruit, cheese,  and delicious goodies!  I got to type this in the hostel listening to a woman play Christmas music on piano next to me.  It was helpful for getting that Christmas feeling! Our next stop is Budapest for the holidays! 

The Sound of Music and so much more

I just spent a wonderful few days in Salzburg, Austria.  Some of you may recall that your beloved childhood film The Sound of Music was based on the Austrian Von Trapp Family.

Some of the film is filmed in Salzburg and much of the film is false (for instance the hills you see on the cover are in Germany).  Our eccentric tour guide it very clear that Hollywood took the basic story and made it "more interesting" but completely altering the events outside of the fact that they were Austrian and they escaped from the Nazi's.  I will spare you the rest of the details that prove the story we all know and love false (but you can read about it on the Wikipedia link above if you wish).

As for me, I was ecstatic to see the places that one of my favorite childhood movies was filmed! We sang on the bus as we drove around Salzburg and through the mountains! Although it was winter, so much of the scenery looks very different you may recognize just a few of the pictures!

The Tour Bus =) 

I am skipping down the lane where

Julie Andrews skipped to her new life with 

the von Trapp's!

16 going on 17! among other scenes

This is the lake where the kids fall in.

Unfortunately, winter has made it into an

ice skating rink.

The Church where they get married!

Outside of the tour, Andrew and I explored Salzburg. It is a stunning city surrounded by beautiful mountains, which were covered in snow.  We explored a fortress, the royal houses, and listened to a short Mozart concert in St. Stephen's Church.

Notice that I only had to wear a fleece for

the day! Best day ever! (and I am sad

to report that I have quickly returned to 

full winter jacket since that glorious day..)

This woman performed three of Mozart's

pieces without any music. It was unbelievable!

We also took a cable car up to the top of the Untersburg mountain, which is the natural border of Austria and Germany.  It was about 1,300 meters to the top.  Andrew and I were among four people who were not equipped to snow or ski down.  It was unbelievably cold when we reached the top and I lasted about a five minute walk around the top before heading inside to warm up with a delicious Stiglz lemon beer while watching the sun set over the snow covered Alps.

A view of Salzburg from above

Lemon Stiegl - Salzburg brewed beer

We ended our Salzburg adventure with a trip to the Stiegl brewery for a beer tasting.  It is home to the largest beer museum in Europe, which was surprising large, scary at times, and overall uninteresting.  We followed that with lunch and a beer tasting in their restaurant.  Then we were off to Vienna for more Austrian adventures!

The largest beer "samples" I have ever had!

Two Lessons about Snow

I am currently experiencing my second winter ever so I am learning things about snow that most people know already but I figured I would share.

1. I know there are different types of snow (when I tried to build a snowman last year, it failed miserably..it just wasn't the right kind), but I didn't know it could look so fuzzy.  We have been getting snow almost everyday for the last couple of weeks but Tuesday's snow was the prettiest snow I have ever seen. It was amazingly fluffy looking.

2. The snowflakes we make as children, well, they actually look like snowflakes. I have gotten through all of my snow experiences in my life, I have never seen such perfect snowflakes. I was in genuinely amazed with ever flake that landed on me!

One-Third Done

There is a time period after you move somewhere that it is new an exciting.  You are exploring a new place (and by exploring..I mean constantly getting lost).  When I arrived in Zurich, it was surreal and extremely overwhelming.  I was actually left to fend for myself and was living with a stranger for the first week.  I was jet-lagged and disoriented.  I actually remember thinking that I would never get a grip on this city, between the buses, trams, trains, and walking.

Four months later, it is no longer this exciting new place, but it has become my everyday life. I actually live in Switzerland.  I have a pretty regular schedule.  I have made a great group of friends who I adore (awww...).  I have explored a few countries and most importantly, I have figured out the city.  I know how to get places and can occasionally even give people directions.  I have cafes and bars that I love and I am still constantly discovering new places to go.

While I feel like I understand Zurich, I have isolated myself in an international bubble.  I am still trying to find the culture.  My family isn't Swiss and I don't have any Swiss friends. I am a little embarrassed to say that I have barely spoken to any Swiss people.  This was the opposite of what I thought would happen.  This isn't just my experience either, nearly all of my friends or people I have met seem to interact with the seemingly mysterious (or indifferent) Swiss people.  Maybe this will change in the next 8 months, but it doesn't seem likely.

(insert your own transitional sentence here...)

We are in the middle of the holiday season. The lights are up around the city, the Christmas Markets have arrived, and we even have a tree decorated in crystals!

It is glorious!

However, this is also bitter sweet.  I am so incredibly lucky and grateful for everything I have done and will get to do while I am here, but it doesn't make being away from family and friends for the holidays any easier.

The sweet part is what I am doing over Christmas and New Year's Eve.  I am so lucky to have a great group to travel to Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Germany with! It is going to be a holiday break for the books! I am sooo lucky to have a friend from college coming to visit and spend the next 3 weeks with me, in addition to a couple of other aupairs!

So while it is going to be a different kind of Christmas, I am so excited for it! I am amazed that I have reached my four month mark! Time is flying by and there is still so much to do before August rolls around.

Good-bye Thanksgiving, Hello Christmas

My Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful.  While it was more like a massive dinner party, it had a 27 pound turkey, mashed potatoes, greens beans, and apple pie so I couldn't have asked for anything more being 9,000 miles away from home.  It was a fun experience because, in addition to the Americans, there were people from all over the world.  I know we had Brazil, Italy, India, Iran, Denmark, South Africa, and several other countries represented.

Our turkey chef!

Our turkey carver!

It was great to share our traditions with people from all over the world! Someone had never had gravy before and another had never had an apple pie! I think everyone had a really great time! It was a unique Thanksgiving! I was able to talk to the family in San Diego for awhile when I got back to my dungeon which made it a successful day of giving thanks!

My apple pie was a success =) 

When I left the apartment where dinner was, I walked outside and it was snowing. As I made my way to Bahnhofstrasse (the main street in Zurich) where they had their Christmas lighting ceremony earlier that night. So I really did walk out of Thanksgiving into Christmas. It was such a crazy experience to see such an obvious visual of the holidays changing.

(Sorry about those pictures, they don't capture how pretty the street actually looked but I will work on getting something better)

Then I woke up in the next morning to this in our backyard... 

So winter is here and Christmas is just around the corner! It is time to embrace winter and what it has to offer!