Travel Journal: Day #4 (Austria/Germany)

maybe I was a little nervous... 

scaring the grandmas (and my dad)

view from the top

the crew

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

I THINK I slept better last night but it’s hard to tell… I still wake up and I don’t really feel rested. Today we went to Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest.” We drove an hour to get there, then we took a bus, then an elevator up to the top! It was so beautiful and the mountains didn’t even seem real. I wish we had learned more about the history but it was nice to just explore and climb on the rocks. I wanted to take a picture on the cliff but Emily wouldn’t even take the picture or look at the cliff. Michael did it but complained the whole time… then he finally got in the picture with me :) Dad, too. Some of us walked down the mountain while other took the elevator. We finally took the bus back to the cars and drove to the town where the Sawyer’s always take their Christmas card. We went into the wood carving shop and I bought two cutting boards / hot plates and then a tree ornament. The woman rolled her eyes a few times when I tried to explain the names that I wanted her to wood burn onto the cutting boards, which was awkward but whatever. They are gifts for people!

We then drove to another town for dinner. Emily, Dad, and I all got the “mountain climber” dinner plate: sausage, pork, potatoes, fried onions, etc. All fried and/or oily, of course. After dessert (Emily and I split apple strudel with ice cream), we walked to the lake but it was way too cold to swim or keep your feet in the water for more than ten seconds.

It took two hours to drive back to the farm. With dad driving the standard, I was feeling pretty carsick (it’s not you, Dad, it’s the car…) so I tried to close my eyes during all of the car rides. But this leaves me feeling so sleepy and groggy whenever we arrive somewhere! I haven’t quite figured it out yet. 

Travel Journal: Day #3 (Austria)

view from the farm in the evening!

Gonna start smiling like this all the time

Monday, June 30, 2014

This morning was a struggle because I woke up at 3am (okay, okay, my mom was right – the nap was a bad idea). I was pretty much away from 3-5am, eating pretzels in the kitchen, counting sheep, etc. Apparently Emily was awake too because when I got back in bed, she creepily whispered, “Megaaaaan? Are you asleeeeeeeep?” and I was ready to smack her in the face with a pillow because she creeped me out so much with her scary, whispery voice. Anyways, Mom woke me up at 11am and we drove to the salt mines. While we waited one hour for the tour to begin, we had pretzels and potatoes at a restaurant. Michael nudged me and said “Ooooh Megan, our waiter is pretty cute!” (Michael is always looking out for me in terms of possible boyfriends). So on our way out, the waiter smiled at me and said “bye bye” just as I was about to put on my most charming smile and wave back, Dad grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the buffet area, shouting “MEG LOOK AT THIS BACON!” …I was unimpressed with the huge slab of Austrian bacon he was trying to show me, but mostly annoyed that I just lost my chance with that future (Austrian) husband.

After the bacon incident, we trekked back to where the tour begins. We put on our mining suits and took a “train” down through the salt mine. It was interesting/fun but the slides kind of scared me because they were so steep. We were on the tour with 30+ middle schoolers from Bath, England and they were seriously so funny to listen to (you have to read these with little British accents to get the full effect). We had to wear white one piece mining suits that had to be returned at the end of the tour but once of the kids didn’t want to take his off…

-       “I’m going to keep this mining suit”

-       “What’re you going to do with a suit?”

-       “Wear it around town, of course!”

We returned back to the farm and had pesto pasta for dinner, player Uno for a while, and watched the beginning of the Germany/Algeria World Cup game. 

Travel Journal: Day #2 (Austria)

view from my window this morning!

goats on the farm

deer at "Kinder Park"

weird birds and the one duck that thought he was also part of the weird bird family

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Sunday began at 11am when I woke up to my eye mask around my mouth and my earplugs on my face, listening to the strange noises of farm animals. I could’ve stayed in bed forever but I felt like anything over thirteen hours of sleep was a little excessive. Fresh rolls had been delivered to our apartment/rooms this morning so we had those for breakfast. I needed caffeine and Mom tried to give me herbal raspberry tea (which always tastes weird) so I decided that if I was going to suffer I would rather suffer by drinking black coffee. After finishing the entire cup of black coffee, I decided that I’m about as tough as they get and I had this strange feeling of invincibility: “If I drink black coffee, I can do anything!” (even though I had to run and brush my teeth because I still had the bitter taste in my mouth).

Later on in the day, we went for a walk down the trail that kind of follows the main road in Untertauern. It was a beautiful walk through the woods and they don’t seem to have many bugs here – just flies. SO MANY FLIES. At the end of the trail was “Kinder Park.” There was a small restaurant and a few different areas with animals. I started to go in the area with the two cute little donkeys but right when I approached, they started mating, so I hustled out of there and went to the muskrat pen instead. We fed some grass to the reindeer and then stopped at the restaurant on the way back for some chocolate ice cream.

It started to rain on the way back so naturally I took a nap when we returned to the farm. It was the perfect weather for a nap! But Mom was displeased with all of my napping… always yelling “Megan Louise! No sleeping now of you won’t be able to fall asleep tonight!”

For dinner, we ate here at the farm – potatoes, salad, carrots, watermelon, hamburgers, sausages, etc. Also, white wine from a soda bottle that tasted like it would be from a soda bottle. But it didn’t end here because Martin, the owner of the farm, said he had a surprise for us. We met in the house and he gave us a brief history lesson about his family farm and the area in general. He then wanted to show us the oldest part of the house and we went down to a cold wine cellar. Here he told us about all of the jams, honey, and liquor that they make. We got to try some but it was all so strong. The best part was the nonalcoholic drink that was similar to apple juice. 

Travel Journal: Day #1 (Austria)

classic Snapchat picture

view from the farm!

Saturday, June 28, 2014

So many strange feelings of déjà vu today – arriving to Terminal E, checking in luggage with Aer Lingus, etc. This time, my parents (and everyone else) went through security with me instead of saying goodbye right before. Two hours to spare in the airport and I talk to Sara on the phone: “I know, I know! I can’t believe I’m going back, with my family this time. It’ll be weird… and fun, I think.” We laugh and talk about where to bring my family and what to do. I miss Sara and wish she could come too, knowing that so much of my study abroad experience last spring was defined by the people I was with, in addition to the beauty of Orvieto.

I browse through the airport gift shops, looking at Harvard t-shirts and BostonStrong bumper stickers, wondering if I should splurge on a neck pillow or not. I end of spending my money on a mediocre slice of S’barro pizza, reminding myself that there will be better pasta and pizza to come.

Boarding the plane – this time I’m sitting with Emily instead of a total stranger. Michael keeps looking at my from across the aisle, mouthing, “Is this even REAL!?” I am quickly reminded that planes are both miserable and magical at the same time… magical because of the adventure but miserable since I’ve never discovered a way to comfortably sleep on a place. The 5.5 hour flight passes slowly even though I watched TV and took a ten minute nap (even though I swear the nap lasted for 4.5 hours).

In the Dublin airport, Michael and I split a sausage roll, which I thought looked like some sort of delicious Hot Pocket but turned out to be a strangely shaped pastry with a soft inside. Michael and I were suspicious of the “sausage” part and once again I reminded myself that there would be better food to come.

The red eye flight struggle begins to kick in here and 6:30am in Ireland is actually 1:30am at home. The next plane is smaller but somehow it’s easier to sleep here because my head is already right next to the window so I don’t have to figure out which way to lean.

Our arrival in Munich comes with a few (okay, maybe more than a few) moments of crankiness and the next ensuing moments of trying to find an open bank and getting the rental cars were less enjoyable moments in the journey. Dad couldn’t figure out how to turn the car on and I couldn’t figure out how to give him directions without sounding like an annoyed brat. A 2.5 hour drive to the farm was next and the only thing I could think about was where to lie down once we arrived. I threw my stuff down and collapsed on my bed, feeling torn because I wanted to explore but I also felt like my head was going to explode.

A few hours later, we all piled back into the cars and drove a few minutes down the road to a restaurant. Monica had to translate everything on the menu and I realized that I honestly don’t know any German. At least in Italy, I was used to Italian menus because we went to eat at Fratello’s almost every week during my childhood. Dad, Emily, and I all got schnitzel with potatoes and it was pretty good, considering I was still a zombie and was almost falling asleep on my plate.

We drove back to the farm, held some of the baby rabbits, and then I got into bed at 8pm. I wore my eye mask, earplugs, and shut all the blinds in our room. I vowed to keep the windows open another time but for tonight, I wasn’t messing around. This was going to be the best night’s rest. It seemed to work because I fell asleep at 8:15pm and work up the next morning at 11am. Although I DID wake up at 3am, wide awake and ready to start the day.