Vienna

Hi everyone :) I am happy to inform you all that my boyfriend lived through his crazy and exciting 21st birthday. What good news! Well I have lots to write about my trip to Vienna but Ill try to keep it short and simple. Friday afternoon, me and three friends headed to Vienna. We got a ride from a friend of ours that has a car here and was going there for the weekend as well. We arrived in Vienna around 2:30 p.m. and went straight to the hostel to check in. The lady at the front desk was so nice. We paid 15 euro each for the night which was supposed to be in a ten bed room but she ended up giving the four of us our own four bed room for the same price. That room was supposed to be 22 euro. We dropped our stuff off and then Roman (the guy that drove us there) said he had time to show us around before he was going to meet his friends. Hes been there many times so he showed us the commercial avenue where are the shops are. There were so many stores and restaurants! I almost felt like I was downtown minus the skyscrapers of course. We walked all the way down the avenue until it ended at the museum quad. Thats where they have a few museums and a huge park. It was such wonderful weather so everyone was outside laying in the grass, hanging out with friends, playing sports. It was awesome! We decided to play some hacky sack in the park for a while and then just hung out for a few minutes. After that we kept walking and saw all the governemtn buildings and the parliment. The parlament was so beautiful! We saw the theaters and all the other beautiful buildings in the area then decided to head back to the hostel. At the hostel they had instruments and stuff that were available to be played so we hung out, played some music and talked. We decided to stay in because we wanted to get up early and have a fresh start to the morning. After a good nights sleep we woke up at 9 a.m. and headed out for a small breakfast. We then caught the train and headed to Prater. It is the Vienna version of six flags. They didnt have as big of rollercoasters as six flags but they had some awesome rides. The thing I didnt like was that entry was free but you had to pay for each ride like at a carnival. I guess it was good because if entry would have been like 50 euro I would not have gotten my moneys worth but it still stunk to have to give 5 or 8 euro each time you wanted to ride a ride. One ride was awesome! You went up so high and were flipping around and it felt so unsafe but the adrenalin rush was crazy! After a few hours at the park we took the train back to the main city center, had lunch and did a little shopping. We caught the 6:30 train and got back at 8:10. It was an awesome trip and I love the city. I will be back there on Friday because that is where we are leaving from to fly to London. Can you believe this week spring break starts?! Im traveling Europe in 6 days! I cannot believe it but I am so excited. While Im gone Im going to try to blog a little because if I save it for when Im home you all will be sitting at the computer for hours reading my entry :) Have a great week! <3

All the cool blocks to hang out on infront of the museums!

Statue in the park



The park where we played hacky sack and hung out

Some governemtn building and statue :)

The Parlament Building

The theater

Prater Amusement Park

The group of us :)

Getting ready for the...

 Crazy Ride

Crowded city streets on the beautiful Saturday afternoon

The Danube



Happy Birthday Kyle

Happy Birthday Kyle :) I miss you and love you so much! I cant believe youre finally 21! Hope you have an amazing time climbing the Sydney Bridge and celebrating tonight. Maybe when youre home Ill treat you to a nice birthday dinner at Mos or Chipotle :) just kidding! Have a good day and I cant wait to skype you. Xoxo NAF <3

Now that it is Kyle's birthday & he has received the letter and pictures I sent him I can now show everyone :) If you recall back to my post about Salzburg with all the locks (key locks nicole, not locks of hair haha) I put a lock on the fence for me and Kyle :) I sent him the pictures and the other key in a letter for his birthday! He loved it so much. Now forever our love is locked together!

 

Skiing in the Austrian Alps

Hello friends and family :) I want to start off this soon to be very long entry with one sentence... I will never see anything more beautiful than what I saw this weekend! For those of you that didnt know, I went skiing in the Austrian alps this weekend in Nassfeld. On our way there we stopped at a restaurant that has an amazing view of the Mond See. We also drove an amazingly scenic route. We arrived Friday around 5:00 after a 6 hour bus ride. At 5:00 we picked up our rentals and had a buffet provided for us. At 7:30 we had speed friending/dating hahah. The reason they had this event planned was because this weekend was ESN (exchange student networks) weekend. So there were about 50 students that came with my from Linz and then also 50 from Vienna, salzburg and Graz. The speed friending was so cool because I met even more people from all over the world!! More counties I've never heard of :) We then went into the basement of the hostel and played pool, sumo wrestling with fat suits on and rode the mechanical bull. After that at 9:00 the ESN leaders hosted a party until 11:00. Thee theme of the party was once upon a time. I did not bring a costume though. I only had a teal dress to wear. One of my roomates happened to find a random gold headband with a huge gem and feather on it. I put it on and decided to be Jasmine. Everyone knew who I was right away! At 11:00 we went to the club in our hotel. The hotel location was great! Just a 30 second walk to the ski lift. Saturday morning we were up early for breakfast and then got on the lift at 9:00. I lost my friends who already knew how to ski so I stuck with my two friends that payed for lessons. I ended up getting free lessons because the instructor never took attendance :) I participated some what in lessons but was a little bored and my ski boots were soooo uncomfortable. They barley latched closed. When I tried them on the night before I though I just had to check if the boot fit... not if it would close. Typical Ashley. I know. Anyways at noon we had a break for lunch and that was one of my favorite parts. It was so warm out, I was laying in a Hammock just enjoying the mountains all around me. It looked really funny because there was no snow anywhere except for on the slopes. After lunch I went by myself down a slope because I was still separated from my friends and the other were too scared to come with me so they stayed at the bottom and took pictures of me when I came down. I rode the t bar up. That was a project in itself. Once I got to the top I made my way down. Got about half way down one slope and made myself fall. I was going so fast I freaked out. I was trying to break to slow down but I couldn't control my speed. So I tumbled down, lost my poles on the way and got back up. After that I was determined to try again a few times. I did the same thing again and again but made it almost to the bottom a few times. After that me and my friend Nikolina decided we wanted to take the gondola the top to check out the view. Oh my goodness. I could not believe my eyes. We were surrounded by amazing mountains. The view was priceless! I wish more than anything that I could take everyone to see it or be able to capture the true beauty in a picture but both are impossible :( after that we took the gondola all the way to the bottom. It was a 20 minute ride from top to bottom! The place was huge. They had a total of 30 lifts! Once we got off the lift we immediately ripped our boots off and walked back in our socks. It was so warm down at the bottom that veryone was in shorts and tshirts and sitting out on the deck. I joined them until dinner. After another buffet dinner it was time for everyone's power nap. At 8:15 me and my roommates were up getting ready for round two. That nights theme was obviously st pattys day :) I had nothing green to bring with so I decided to completely deck out. I wore my friends all sequence dress. I was so fancy :) at the club later that night there was a guest appearance. Mr. Captain Morgan! He was handing out keys to people. I got one :) I took the key to the treasure chest and got a captain Morgan bandanna! Sunday morning I could not walk. I literally fell out of bed because my calf's hurt so badly. I really don't think it was from skiing it was my stupid boots that were sooo right around my calf's. Anyways I decided not to ski but me and three friends still went up just to hang out. It was so foggy! We got off at the second stop of the godola and could barley ski. Some of my other friends are amazing snow boarders and skiers went to the very top to do the whole run (which by the way is 15 minutes long from top to bottom at a very fast speed!!!) ended up coming back down because it was so foggy they could not see a thing infront of them. It was really dangerous. They ended up riding the snow bikes instead. We watched them and it was awesome. I wish I would have worn proper clothes because then I could have done the snow bikes but I was just in jeans :( However, I think its better that I did not because my friends that are awesome skiers and snowboarders said they bikes were so fast and they had no control over the speed. I would have had some serious problems with that. In the afternoon we went back, packed up, returned our stuff and hung out in the lobby. Slowly the lobby became packed and everyone was in there. At 5:00 we hit the road to come home. We stopped for dinner at a restaurant after 2 hours and finally made it home around 10:30. Overall I had an awesome time and made life long memories (especially because of my totally ausgezeignet roommates. they were super funny and I loved them). Now that I've given you a quick run down of my weekend, I'd like to get a little mushy :) our drive there and home really made me do a lot of thinking. Seeing all the beautiful scenery really had me thinking again about how much I take for granted. Yes everyone takes things in life for granted but Im sure you all know I probably take more things for granted than the average person. The amazing mountains, beautiful little creeks and the pure blue sky really made me realize how much beauty and simplicity there is out in the world. Ive learned while here that the American mindset is all based around work. People schedule the rest of their lives around their careers. Yes work is very important and especially in places like America; you wont make it without a career. But it felt so good to just sit back and enjoy the simple things in life. I was thinking about how truly blessed I am to have the supporting, loving and awesome family I have. I was thinking how I could not be happier to have an amazing boyfriend who makes me feel like the most special girl in the world. I was thinking how lucky I am for Kyle's family to be so loving and sweet and to be like my second family. I was thinking of all my friends I've lost touch with and the one's I still have... they have all impacted me in some way and really shaped parts of who I am today. I am so thankful for all the opportunities I have been granted. Being able to be in whatever extra curricular activities I wanted to growing up, having a job that I could always go back to during breaks, being able to go away to college, being able to study abroad and travel all over Europe. Not to brag but I really am one of luckiest people I know :) Its amazing how passing by a tiny creek with beautiful teal water rushing through it and the cool rocks along its edges can make a person think so much about their life but being surrounded by all this nature and pureness really makes you see that no matter what tough things you are going through and ugly things you have faced... there is so much beauty out there and this world has so much to offer each and every single one us. We just have to give it the chance. Hope I havent bored you enough (Im sure Heidi quit reading 38935784 sentences ago) but I just really felt like sharing the thoughts and realizations I had this weekend. Miss you all and I wish you all a fabulous week!

The view from where we ate lunch :)



Our drive there

My Jasmin costume

The view from where I skied. Too bad it was hazy in the distance.

Professional skier :)

Look at me go! Told you mom :)

Ahhh. Relaxing in the sun. My face is so tan!

Taking the godola up to the top!

Getting out at the top!

Amazing!

Captain Morgan and I

Very foggy the second day!

Snow bikes :)

HOT

102 degrees on Wednesday? Cmon Carbondale! Share the warmth!

First Week of Classes

Hello :) Hope you are all enjoying your warm weather back home! So I have officially completed my first week of classes and I am pretty satisfied. I am taking a German course that is much too easy for me but the next level up is full :( To balance out that super easy class I am in an impossible grammar class. I am already so lost and I have only had it twice! The other two classes Im in are Language & Cultural Policies in the EU and Cross Cultural Virtual Teams. I loved both and I think they will be very interesting classes. For Cross Cultural Virtual Teams we are actually paired up with students from The University of Cincinnati. In our groups we have to communicate virtually to complete different case studies and projects. So far I am only taking 4 classes. The other 2 I am signed up for start later in the semester. One in April and one in May I believe. The schedules here are very strange! Monday: German and Grammar from 1:30-7:00. Tuesdays: no class. Wednesdays: German & every other week I have Culture & Language Policies. Thursdays: every other week I have Cross Cultural Virtual Teams. Fridays: no class. I know it seems like I am never in class but when we do have classes they last 3 to 4 hours and we get a lot of out of class work where in the U.S. we go to class for an hour a day and three days a week with not as much out of class work. Once my other two classes begin my schedule will definitely be busier. On a lighter note... I am going skiing in the ALPS this weekend! We are going to Nassfeld for those of you that are familiar. I am so excited! We leave Friday morning and come home Sunday night. We are staying at this resort that is all inclusive with activities like trampolines and snow bike, tubes and other snow toy rentals and parties. We have a group of about 150 students going. Wish me luck making it down those black diamonds safely ;) Take care everyone!

Happy Birthday OMA!

Happy Birthday Oma! I just want to say that I love you so much and that I really wish I could be home to celebrate with you :) You are the most amazing woman I know. You are so strong, loving, and you really are the rock of our family. I wouldnt be who I am today without you. Thank you for everything Oma. I love you!

Salzburg

Hi everyone! Hope everything is going well back in the states & Australia. Weve had some pretty awesome weather here these last few days. Thursday it was so beautiful and warm I even went for a run! Saturday I went to Salzburg. I absolutely adored it. Linz is great but Salzburg was really something else! I am super obsessed with the sound of music so being there was like a dream come true to me! We did not see many things from the movie due our lack of time and budget but I will tell you what we did see. We first arrived there at 10:00 a.m. It was just slightly more than an hour train ride! When we got there we headed towards the main strip. On our way there we got to see two things. One awesome and one so romantic! The awesome thing was the garden where Julie Andrews and the seven children were running through when singing “Do a deer, a female deer.” I couldn’t believe it!!! We saw the romantic thing when we were crossing over a bridge that was enclosed by a fence. The fence was covered with thousands of locks. We had no idea what it meant but someone in our group knew. He explained to us that the idea originated from an Italian book. Lovers go to the fence, place their lock onto the fence and toss the key over into the river. There love is forever locked. This started in Italy but has made its way all over Europe. I guess its actually illegal on some bridges in places like Italy because the weight of all the locks was impacting the bridge structure. I couldn’t image how many locks were on those bridges. Seeing all those locks was such an amazing thing. Knowing that so many couples were there and locked their love together forever put such a smile on my face. One day Kyle and I can put our lock on the fence with all the others J On the main street we saw so many beautiful shops, where Mozart was born and got a chance to buy Mozartkugel (chocolate balls) from the original place! I bought one to bring home but still haven’t decided who the lucky recipient of it will be J After that we walked through a huge flea market and tasted meats, breads and cheeses! We then kept walking and saw the Salzburg dom Cathedral. It was huge and beautiful! Afterwards we kept walking towards the fortress. We could have paid 11 euro to take the train up to the top and walk around but we all decided were young fit adults and we could walk. TERRIBLE IDEA! I am so sore today! The incline was unbelievable. Once you made it up one incline youd turn the corner and be blessed with the sight of another huge incline. It was never ending. Also it was not paved. It was all gravel which made it very hard to walk well and very slippery on the way down. Although the hike was crazy the view was breathtaking. I could not believe how far and how much I could see. The pictures just don’t do it justice. It was very foggy there yesterday so in the pictures its hard to see the mountains but my goodness! They were gigantic. They had perfect snowcapped peaks and ahh just so beautiful! From one side of the fortress you could overlook the river and the entire downtown area. The second I saw the view I recognized it. It’s the picture on every Salzburg postcard and all the images on google. After the very dangerous hike down it was time for lunch. We went to an Italian restaurant (of course) and had the best lasagna ever! After lunch it was more walking around and exploring. We ended up sitting down by the river for about two hours just enjoying the view and weather. At 6:00 we hopped back on the train and dreadfully headed back home. It was the best thing Ive done yet. I cant wait to continue my travels and share it all with you!

Here is the Garden from the sound of music. The steps Im standing on when I took the picture are the ones they all kept jumping on at the end of the song :)

Here are a few of the locks with couples names & anniversarys on them!

Doing some shopping on the main street. All the buildings and shops were beautiful!

Where Mozart was born!

My Mozartkugel :) Im accepting offers. Highest bidder will receive the chocolate when I get home!

The Salzburg Dom!

One incline down, too many more to go!

The priceless view from the fortress at the top. Look at the huge mountains behind me in the fog :)

Here is the famous view of Salzburg! Cant believe I got to see it with my own eyes!

But we should have paid the money and taken the train :) Maybe Id be able to walk today!

And here is where we relaxed and spent a few hours admiring Salzburg!