Wolfgangsee Hike

Today was my first hiking experience in Austria, we all went to Wolfgangsee in the Salzkammergut Lake District.

Lesson of the day: Hiking is not my thing!

The hike was absolutely beautiful, but it was long and crazy! We walked and hiked over 11 or 12 miles, I definitely got a workout.  Even though I didn't love the hiking, I did LOVE the beautiful views! Here are a couple pictures, of the many I took!

No boats with motors are allowed on the lake, the water is crystal clear.

Church near the top of the mountain.

Turn the top stone in the building completely around
three times, and a wish will be granted.

View from the top of the mountain!

I LOVE this lake! It's SO clear!

Traditional Austrian home with roses!

Must be nice!!!

Group of us hiking.

McDonalds

I NEVER thought I would say this, but I love the Austrian McDonalds!  The beef is all 100% Austrian meat, with NO preservatives, NO additives, NO hormones, and no trans fat allowed in the cooking oils.  The food actually tastes good, and you don't feel like crap after you eat! It's an awesome idea, and the Austrian farmers are always in business because McDonalds will only serve Austrian meat!

The potatoes are 100% Austrian, and hand picked.

Mauthausen Concentration Camp

Mauthausen Concentration Camp

This trip was possible one of the most intense places I have been to, but I feel it is something everyone should experience.  An Austrian tour guide brought us through Mauthausen Concentration Camp, explaining the horrific details from the entrance of the camp to the execution chambers. 

The first portion of the tour was spent in the Memorial Park; this area was part of the working camp, and is now dedicated to the countries in which victims had suffered.  These countries actually own the land the monuments are built on.  The picture to the right is from the Russian memorial.

These doors were the way into the concentration camp; guards would tell prisoners when they arrived that they would be "going in these doors, and out the chimney." Mauthausen was not exclusively an execution camp, it was actually a working camp.  Prisoners would die of exhaustion, starvation, illness, and execution.  The entire camp was built by rocks prisoners carried up the "stairs of death"-- grown men that weighed only 80 pounds, carrying 60 pound rocks up a steep hill from the quarry several times a day.

Stairs of Death from the Quarry

Prisoners would also die from guards lining them up, and forcing them to push each other off the side of the mountain.  Guards would also push one prisoner over, causing them to all collapse down the stairs and many to die.

The camp was surrounded by electrified barbed wire, which
is still original and present today.

This is part of the cleansing room, one of the first places victims went.  All hair was shaved off, they were showered, and stripped of everything they owned.  Uniforms with symbols and numbers were given instead.

We were also able to tour one of the original barracks where almost 1,000 people were forced to live.  They were over crowded, unsanitary, uncomfortable, and inhumane.

One of the last stops on the guided tour was to the Extermination section of the camp; this area was hidden from residents and often they assumed they were going to shower when they walked into their death.  All shower rooms, gas chambers, etc. had original pipes, flooring, walls, etc.  It was really hard to imagine what had happened in those very rooms not too long ago, and that I stood where all those innocent people died painfully.

Room connected to the gas chambers, where bodies were
stored to be cremated.

Original furnaces used to burn bodies.

Overall this experience was extremely difficult to understand; it is hard to imagine how people could be so cruel to treat another human in this way. I think it is important to continue educating the community and to never forget.

Monsee,Monastery, and Salzkammergut

Monsee

The first stop on our long day trip was to Monsee, a cute village with authentic Austrian architecture, bright shops, wonderful chocolate pastries, and the church where Maria von Trapp married in The Sound of Music.  The church has incredible detail and artwork, the inside was absolutely gorgeous.  Europe definitely knows how to build a church, that's for sure!

Church from Sound of Music

 Monsee is near the Salzkammergut Lake District, an area of beautiful mountains and valleys.  The weather was perfect and there was clear view of the Alps. Our stop in Monsee was short, but worth getting up early to see. The shops weren't open for the day yet, so we stopped at a small coffee house to try the famous "Caterpillar" pastry.

'Caterpillar' chocolate, a specialty from this town.

Downtown shops

Monastery

After we left Monsee, we took a bus to a large Monastery, St. Florian.  Here we had a guided tour throughout the building, highlighting important history events in relation to the Monastery. Our guide showed us several of the most important rooms, including a HUGE library filled with old books.  Every ceiling in the building had murals painted, and walls were made of marble.  There was a wedding taking place in the church right after our tour, so we listened to music rehearsals and saw the reception room. (Can you say expensive?! but beautiful!)

HUGE library... it takes up several rooms and is several stories high!

Hallstatt

Hallstatt is one of several small towns within the Salzkammergut Lake District.  This was probably my favorite stop of the day!  After a short tour of the bone house, a portion of the church where ancient bones are preserved and painted, we were free to walk around town and explore.  This is possibly the most beautiful place I have seen in Austria so far! I really wish I could live here!

Bone House at the Church

There are no "bubblers" in Austria. Just fresh mountain water
in locations like this!

Host Family & School Day 1

Sunday, fist day with my host family

Eating lunch at the festival.

My host family was nice and let me sleep in on Sunday morning.  My host mom was working in her garden when I got up so Alexandra gave me yummy pastries and hot chocolate. Family friends came over and we all went to a nearby farm that hosts an annual traditional Austrian party.  The girls were dressed in dirndl's and the boys in lederhosen.  Everything was authentic... food, music, crafts, horse rides, etc.  The farms here are so beautiful, clean, and so well maintained.  I have decided all the food here is just amazing, because the food at the party was no exception!

After we left the farm party we went in town and my family showed me around Salzburg... where my college is located, important buildings, history, etc etc. My favorite part was when they took me on a horse carriage ride through town that lasted a good half hour or more. Everyone else complains about the horse smell in town, but I LOVE it! :) the air is so fresh here. And the water, I found out that it comes from the mountain top springs and it isn't necessary to filter it because it's so fresh.
After the horse ride through town we walked through the main shopping streets and they bought me ice cream.... basically they are the best family ever!

Horse ride through town.

Host mom Karoline, and daughter Alexandra

Horses in Salzburg :)

Mozart's Birthplace

Monday, first day of class

Class was easy the first day, I had orientation in the morning and one class after lunch.  Phoebe (Salzburg College director) walked us around Salzburg to show us important buildings and places we will need to go. I am so glad my host family took me through town once already, I feel like I'm learning how to get around so much faster already. We went to lunch as a group and afterwords everyone had 'Understanding Austria' class... which was interesting.
The college building itself is really strange... it is built into a mountain and used to be a living place. There was a mountain slide and parts had to be rebuilt so it is now a college. Some of the windows look right into the mountain, and in the music room there's a bathtub! The real windows that actually look outside are gorgeous though, I have a view of the Alps and castles and important buildings/churches.

Salzburg!

Turning the ring to make a wish come true!

Early Saturday morning we left for breakfast in town, which to my relief had eggs and bacon! It also had traditional Austrian foods, it was the best breakfast I've had since I left. Following breakfast we went on a two and a half hour tour throughout Nuremberg, highlighting the historical locations in the midevil town.  The small marketplace outside the 14th century Gothic Catholic church had lots of fresh food and gingerbread, it was awesome.  Buildings are over 400 years old and the town itself is over 900 years old; they still have the dungeons still that were used to torture and prison people!  (Zumspiessgesellen)  The Fembo-Haus is a building converted to museum that holds the history of the town before and after bombing in the World War, so visitors can see the history.  Every road is cobblestone and absolutely beautiful, we walked up to the castle and got to walk through.  The tour guide told a story that a man was sentenced to be hung, and his last wish was to sit on his horse.  He got  his last wish and sat on  his horse, who then jumped off the dry moat walls to freedom.  I took pictures of the "hoofprint" in the stone wall.

Looking down at Nuremberg from the Castle.

I wish I had more time in Nuremberg and less time in Munich, I loved Nuremberg so much.  After a short lunch we boarded the bus and drove past Court Room 600 where the Nazi trials were held and leaders were prosecuted.  After a short ride we went to the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, a semi-circle stadium Hitler had begun to build but never finished for meeting once a year.  The museum is built in the brick walls of the rally ground, showing a timeline of Hitler and his progress. At one point I was able to walk to the center of the circle and see the meeting grounds where thousands of Nazi met.. kind of creepy! At the end of the museum there were illuminated train tracks that had cards under the tracks of names who had died. It was interesting but lots of facts and listening to lectures because everything had to be translated from German.





Finally the bus left for Salzburg! We had to drive about four hours to reach Salzburg from Nuremberg, so I slept most of the way. The difference between Germany and Salzburg is very apparent, Austria is absolutely beautiful!!! My host dad and his 6 year old daughter Alexandra met me and brought me to their modern house. The back yard does indeed have a beautiful pond with lots of gardening and a gorgeous view of the Alps! My host mom is also very nice, she made a delicious dinner!

Driving into Salzburg.... FINALLY!

Munich and Nuremberg

Day 3

Classic BMW Car in the Showroom.

Today I got the opportunity to tour the BMW plant, which is truly amazing! It is a full working plant that produces over 200,000 cars a year, start to finish. Robots do most of the work with extreme precision and through a tour guide we were allowed to see all steps of production. (no pictures allowed) Everything is recycled in the plant, even the paint fumes. If you are ever in Germany you MUST go see!!! so so cool. If you order a custom BMW you can fly to Munich and pick up the new vehicle when it is completed, and drive it down an indoor spiral to the roadway.

View from Olympia Tower.

After BMW, we went to Olympiaturm (Olympia Park) where the olympics were held.  There is a platform which allowed us to see the entire city of Munich birds-eye view. From here I saw the hotel where the murder terrorism acts happened which killed athletes at the Olympics.  (See movie "Munich")

On the bus ride (2 hour trip) to Nuremberg, I found out the housing situation!!!!
I will be living with a family approx. 5 miles from Salzburg College. The husband works for a bank, and the wife works for the bank as well, but she works from home.  Their 6 year old daughter rides horses!!! :) They have a beautiful private pond in the backyard and I have also been told my room is beautiful as well.  They have internet in the house and have even provided a computer in the room.  I will meet them tomorrow evening, I am very excited! (Oh, and they love to eat! haha)

Hostel in Nuremberg is definitely not as nice as the one in Munich. The lights don't really work and the bathrooms do not lock.  Could be worse I guess. Overall I absolutely LOVE Nuremberg, it is so beautiful and still has the walls built through the city. I went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant which had insanely huge servings and was delicious!

Group of us in front of Nuremburg market.