Travel Journal: Day #10 (Germany) aka the “what happens on the night train, stays on the night train” day

sending out SOS snapchats

Monday, July 7, 2014

I’m currently in the PITS OF HELL: the night train. I don’t know why we were imagining a more luxurious suite but this is literally a closet with six beds stacked in threes on the two walls. There’s a large, sweaty Italian man on the bottom bunk and he’s snoring. At five minute intervals, he will roll himself up, complain about the mini vent/fan that is directly pointed at him, and then he’ll roll himself back onto his bottom bunk and immediately start snoring again. Ugh. This is proof that I will doing anything for Orvieto. ANYTHING!!!!! Not that I even have a choice though. Although I think it’s fitting that my family’s first trip to Italy includes this large, snoring Italian. It’s an introduction to the culture of sorts.

I had a meltdown when we first got on the train (surprise – I’m like three years old again) and then Mom said we can’t check into the hotel until 3pm. So naturally I threw a fit - as 22 year olds do, right? 

Michael’s trying to lift my spirits by being funny (he’s sleeping in the bed/shelf across from me) and I can’t help but smile because he’s being hilarious. Doesn’t he know I can’t smile right now? I’m focusing all my energy on glaring at Mom in her bunk. Anyways, Michael’s cracking me up and I’m not sure how this situation has suddenly spurred him into being so jolly and full of high spirits.

But how lucky I am to return to Orvieto! I’ve been dreaming about this since the moment I left and I’m literally HOURS away from returning to this home of mine. Just thinking about getting off this train, riding the funicular, stepping out onto cobblestone streets that became so familiar to me. HOW I’VE MISSED THIS PLACE! I can’t wait! I just can’t wait!

**Our morning: packed up the apartment, left Austria, 2.5 hour drive to Munich, returned rental car, found the Sawyer’s (they left after us) ate pizza in the square, went to Hofbrauhaus to try famous beer, found our way to the train station, wandered around for four hours, then got on the hell train (where I’m currently writing from). 

Travel Journal: Day #9 (Austria)

walking up to the ice caves

Sunday, July 6, 2014

I considered going for a run this morning but we left the farm at 10am and there was NO way I was getting up that early (not sure when 10am because “early” but whatever…). It’s a good thing I didn’t run though, because we walked for two hours and 45 min today (with only a few short breaks). We drove to the ice caves, which I thought would be similar to the flat Polar Caves in NH, but it was probably one of the more strenuous hikes I’ve ever done. Well, I’m sure the air and elevation affected the difficulty too. Such a victory when we all made it out of the caves and then again when we reached the gift shop. Dad and I liked the caves (I was slightly freezing though because I was unprepared and was wearing shorts). It was just so cold. SO COLD. We ate snacks at the bottoms and then it was the afternoon so we headed out to explore another town. We went to the longest alpine slide in Austria. I think the ice caves were also the largest in Austria, too (maybe…).

We took a 15-20 minute chairlift to the top, waited in line for twenty minutes, and then it look like five minutes to actually slide down the mountain. The man behind Monica was complaining in German about how the Americans would be so slow on the slide (this was me – I was the slowest one FYI) but then Monica made it known that she could speak German too and understood every word he was saying. Anyways, this guy probably hated me because I was so slow on the slide… I would’ve gone at that leisurely pace ALL DAY but if there weren’t people behind me.

We went back to the farm to freshen up before going out to dinner at a hotel in Radstadt. It was the best salad/dinner I’ve had so far! Chicken with pumpkin seeds, balsamic dressing, potatoes, tomatoes – SO GOOD.

After dinner, we sat outside and talked, fed the cats again, and then began to pack for Orvieto (!!!!!!!!!). I can’t even think of returning to Orvieto without crying. I’ve missed that place so much and I can’t believe I’ll fall asleep (hopefully) on the train on Monday night, wake up on Tuesday morning, and we will be in ITALY! There are o many things I want to make sure we do in the two days that we’ll be there...

• Clocktower, duomo, necropolis (maybe), St. Patrick’s well
• Gelato by the duomo, gelato at La Musa
• Cappuccini in the morning!
•  Chocolate at Montanucci’s
• Charlie’s Pizza, Locanca, La Palomba
• Walk/run around Orvieto
• Sunset Park, the palazzo, monastery, turf field, Via del Popolo, Villa Mercede
• Federico’s shop, kitchen stores, olive wood stores, etc

Travel Journal: Day #8 (Austria)

Saturday, July 5, 2014

We went to the medieval festival today, which was in the next town over. There was a sword fight happening when we arrived, but that was the extent of the excitement. We traveled through different rooms in the castle to look at all the medieval stuff. Thank God we don’t live in medieval times. It didn’t look enjoyable at all. We sat at the rooftop restaurant for a while, drinking and eating pretzels while listening to a band prepare for a wedding reception that was about to happen in the castle. After that, we eventually got kicked out of the festival because Sammy went to do summersaults on the front lawn. We then made our way to the grocery store for lunch (more pretzels, chocolates, ham sandwiches, you know).

After lunch, we went for a hike and I pees in the woods like a true La Vida alum. There were 5-6 horses just chilling in the woods. Dad, Emily and I ventured into the woods and pet the foal – it was huuuuugeee. Like seriously, some sort of Clydesdale foal. 

For diner we ate at the farm. Chicken pesto pasta, bruschetta, etc. WE fed the leftovers to the barn cats again. The owners definitely think we are crazy Americans, feeding their barn animals. 

Travel Journal: Day #7 (Austria)

under the waterfall

Friday, July 4, 2014

This morning we left the farm at 9am with Martin, drove 12-13 kilometers to Obertauern where he keeps his thirty-eight cows. It was pretty much a ghost town because tourists really only come here in the winter to ski. The cows were cool but they kinda scared me because they could swing their heads around so quickly and they had horns. One smaller cow plowing right by me and her horn hit me right on the funny bone. All I could think of was how embarrassing it would be to get a cracked elbow from a cow.

After that, Martin drove us a little ways down the road where we parked on the side to look at one of the Roman mile markers. This one was for the ruler Septimus Severus around 172 AD. Then we crossed the road and walked down steep steps (sometimes rock steps) to reach the waterfall below. Here we could stand under the waterfall while little water droplets fell above us. Martin said this is a good place to make a wish (there are so many ways to make wishes or have good luck in Europe :)

My wish was that I could make it back up all the rock steps… and that wish barely came true as we were all huffing and puffing on the way up.

We made it to the tail end of the market in Radstadt. I bought raspberries, a chocolate donut (so good! They never really had good donuts in Italy), and soap from a cute soap shop. Oh and hazelnut ice cream too, of course.

Back at the farm I took a nap, sat in the hammock chair, and read my “Speak Italian” book. We had pizza for dinner, Emily and I fed carrots to the horses and then gave cat treats to the cats. 

Travel Journal: Day #6 (Austria)

view of Salzburg from the fortress

I know, I know - you're wondering why Michael looks so excited

posing with chocolate (recommended by Amy)

Thursday, July 3, 2014

On Thursday morning, we woke up and left by 9:45am for Salzburg. Dad had a bit of trouble once we got into the city – he almost drove down a bike path. We parked the three cars and walked to the base of the fortress. We took a funicular up to the top, where you could see all of Salzburg. We then went on a thirty minute tour through the castle (also the audio guides were pretty faulty). After a brief stop in the gift shops, Mom, Emily, and I stopped in a little art gallery. The rest of the group continued on without us though, so we had a few minutes of scrambling around to figure out where they might’ve gone. 

After rejoining the group, we took the funicular down into the main square area. Everyone wanted to stop for hotdogs but I was on a mission to find a chocolate pretzel (my friend Amy studied in Salzburg last summer and she gave me a whole list of things to do and eat while in the city). Right near the cathedral was the booth with soooo many fresh pretzels: chocolate, chocolate and marzipan, cheese, cheese and bacon, apple, mixed nut, poppyseed, etc. The chocolate pretzel was pretty much a donut in the shape of a pretzel. SO GOOD though. We then went into the cathedral and I was instantly going back to everything I’ve learned in Renaissance Narrative. Even though that class was about Italy, not Austria… but still. There was a choir group from Canada and their voices combined with the incense… I forgot how much I loved being in the old churches and cathedrals. We were always in and out of these beautiful cathedrals in Italy, and they eventually lost just a little bit of their special-ness. This cathedral was a reminder of that.

We went in a few more shops, took a few more pictures with a Mozart statue (they love him here), etc. Then right as we were about to cross a bridge, I saw a little booth/hut that said “We <3 Chai” and I looked up at the bridge to see a sign that said “Mozartzteg” which was exactly where Amy told me to get the “best chai ever!!!!!” But since we were in a large group of sixteen people traveling around, I never thought I would be able to find it out of all the bridges in Salzburg. Anyways, it was the best iced chai I’ve ever had! And I’m not even just saying that.

We went back to the farm for a few minutes to freshen up, then we went back to the restaurant down the road that we went to earlier this week. This time, I got a turkey salad. It was really good but I’m still counting down the days until I’m reunited with Italian pizza and pasta!

Travel Journal: Day #5 (Austria)

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Emily and I kept waking up last night because we had these two annoying flies landing on us. They were so aggressive! Once again, I didn’t set an alarm and woke up to the sound of the sheep and rooster outside. After breakfast and coffee (I actually miss coffee at home), I went for a run. It was beautiful and the weather was nice—just a little bit cloudy—but it was so hard to breathe! I mean I’m probably out of shape so I can’t totally blame it on the altitude but it really was difficult to breathe. But I did feel refreshed after a forty minute run/walk by myself.

In the afternoon, we walked two miles to the next town over with the petting zoo / mating donkeys / ice cream / etc. You could pay to fish there so we rented four fishing poles and caught eight fish! I caught one but immediately felt bad when we had to bash it’s head with a club. We then had ice cream and saw the pig/hog with her 8-9 piglets. They looked like little spotted dalmatians – they were sooooo cute!

For dinner we had the fish and it was really good but I was scared of the fish bones. We fed the scraps to the barn cats (they have like 5-6 barn cats here). 

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.