Jam-packed weekend in Germany...

Well, I am back in Vienna after a long weekend in Germany.  I flew to Stuttgart on Thursday afternoon where my friend Andrea picked me up for the weekend.  It was Sinzheim/Baden-Baden weekend!  Andrea has a group of friends from the Karlsruhe area who come together once a year to show off their hometowns.  Last year, I had the pleasure of joining them for Maria's weekend in Schwandorf.  This year Andrea was up, next year is Wiesbaden, and 2013 is Alabama.  But that will come...

As for Sinzheim/Baden-Baden, we had a packed weekend.  It started on Friday with coffee and cake at 3 pm at Melanie and Karl's, Andrea's parents.  It was nice to be there early to help out.  Eventually everyone arrived and the group was complete; Fritz and Maria, Achim and Isolde, Wolfgang and Margarete, Uwe and Ines, Gerhard and Steffi, Christiane, Ulrike, Andrea, and me.  We enjoyed a cup of coffee and some cake before heading to the St. Martin's Church in Sinzheim, which is absolutely beautiful!  We ended the evening at the Angelika Vogel Weingut with a wine tasting and dinner.  That made bedtime midnight!  1 day down...

  

8 am came early Saturday morning for breakfast.  Golf from 11 - 2 was next on the list.  We had a 3 hour session on putting, chipping, and driving from 2 German pros, Patrick and Kevin.  It was a lot of fun but I am not very good at the game.  Anybody who says Golf is not a sport, is wrong.  I actually had sore muscles which means I was doing it right =)  I drove 3 buckets of balls and at least 10 of them went over 100 meters. The rest went somewhere else.  I now feel I can join my fam on the course for some entertainment.  Of course, food was up next before heading to Schloss Favorite for a guided tour.  It was a nice palace but not necessarily my taste.  Amazingly enough, after the tour, it was time to eat again.  The next meal was at Monte Christo's, a Tapas bar, and it was DELICIOUS!!  Bedtime was a little earlier, 11:30 pm.  A good night's sleep and then it was time for breakfast again at 8 am.  Day 2 down...

 

 

 

Sunday was a cold day.  It was so cold that even I borrowed a jacket from Andrea but I did wear my sandals so it wasn't THAT cold.  I was the focus of most of the weekend due to my clothing attire.  Most of them were wrapped in scarves and layers while I was in short sleeves and sandals.  It was quite interesting but those who know me know that I am Grandmama Lemmond in many ways.  One of them being my hot nature.  Well, so moving on from my clothing...we took a 2 hour guided tour of the Casino and Baden-Baden which was really informative.  You are probably picturing Las Vegas or New Orleans but you would have the wrong idea in your head.  It was actually extremely sophisticated and had been used as a palace in previous years.  It is now the Casino with a dress code and entry fee.  You do not have to play if you're there but you do have to pay to get in.  The Germans also know how to regulate the gambling.  The citizens of Baden-Baden are not allowed to gamble at this Casino which makes perfect sense.  You do not have the citizens of your own town going into debt so quickly.  There are also 3 casinos in Baden-Württemberg that are all owned by the state.  The money goes back into that state.  The city of Baden-Baden received 20 Million Euros last year from the casino.  Smart right?  Now moving into the city for our tour...it's a beautiful city and our tour guide was clever.  She gave us some good information, told some jokes, and was really relaxed.  It was a nice 2 hours.  Now that we were done with the tour, it was time to...yes, you guessed it...eat once again.  We headed to the mountain top for some lunch and then back into the city for some "shopping", coffee, and cake.  About 5 or so, we headed to the Red Cross for a tour.  Andrea works there so she was able to explain the blood donating process as well as show us a little of her daily job.  It was REALLY interesting and I was the only one of the group that was a blood donor.  I did America proud!!  The clock struck 7 and it was time to eat once again.  We ended our hometown weekend with dinner at one of Andrea's favorite Italian restaurants.  Now I wasn't really hungry but somehow I managed to eat an entire plate of spaghetti.  Amazing how that works...after dinner, we all said our good-byes and went our separate ways.  I wanted to say good-bye to Andrea's parents before leaving so we made our way there.  It's always sad saying good-bye to them.  They are some of the sweetest people I know =)  After a short chat and lots of hugs, I made it back to Andrea's to pack.  Sunday's bedtime, 12.00 am.

 

3 am came early on Monday morning.  My flight was out of Stuttgart at 6.55 and it's an hours drive from Sinzheim.  Andrea was more than nice to drive me that early in the morning.  I made to the airport and back to Vienna on time.  Then it was straight to the institute for class.  Needless to say, my brain function was rather limited but I survived.  Now we're in our last week and time is FLYING by...will have to fill you all in on that later....until then, love to all!!

1st, 2nd, 3rd Century A.D....Impressive

Ok...before I move on to today's fun I have to say how proud I am of the students' presentations.  In previous blogs, I mentioned how they were struggling...as was I.  I made it to the Institute today to hear the one in particular which I had been helping with.  They did an excellent job and the teacher sounded pleased!  I was relieved and proud!!!  Congrats!!!!
Now...moving on...today was a typical day as far as language class goes.  We laughed, we listened to music, and we learned a little German.  After class, I had the pleasure of helping some students with a report and then learning a new card game.  Around 1:30, a group of us met to go the Roman Museum.  It was a small museum which actually turned out to be fairly interesting.  The city of Vienna was first mentioned in writing around 900 A.D. as Vindobona and is located 3,5 Meters or 11 1/2 feet under the current city.  The museum shows these ruins under the city as well as some of the finds from this time.  I must admit, I am extremely impressed with the futuristic skills of the Romans.  We were looking at things from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd century which I didn't think possible at that time.  They had colanders, hair pins, needles, dice, jewelry, and all sorts of other neat things.  Of course, it may sound as if I am doubting the skills of the Romans but in fact, I am actually praising them.  The items were cool to see.  It was a nice 30 to 40 minute visit to the museum.  One of the best parts was the interactive section they had for kids.  Just because I was with college students doesn't mean they didn't enjoy that part as well.  In fact, they had the most fun playing with the fort and men.  I would have pics but my batteries died just before the children's portion =(  


Now I am home delaying my packing for the weekend.  I fly to Stuttgart tomorrow to visit Andrea for the weekend!  I'll be back on Monday so until then enjoy the Roman pics and have a wonderful weekend!  Love to all!!

Colander

Ruins

Pots with faces

   

Heating system under the floor

Map in relation to current Vienna (light gray section are the ruins)

Design of what the city would have looked like

     

Questioning my German Skills

Ok...so leading up to this very moment I thought I knew some German.  I was not 100% confident in my language skills because let's face it, there is ALWAYS something for me to learn.  As of today, I really feel I have studied in vain.  The 3rd year class is doing presentations on various works selected by their teacher.  Many of them have asked for help on some of their articles, which I had did not have too much trouble answering.  One particular group came to me for help with the first chapter of a book.  I was completely floored by the chapter.  Not only could I not answer their questions, but I also couldn't understand the overall plot.  I decided I would take a copy home with me to work on, which needless to say was a mistake.  I stayed up until 2 am this morning reading and re-reading the chapter.  After the 3rd read, I finally got the gist...ONLY the gist.  Once I got involved and felt like I was understanding, I couldn't stop reading it.  As I rode the subway to class this morning, I re-read the chapter again.  It is now 10 minutes after 3 and I have spent what feels like the past 2 days trying to comprehend.  After yesterday's lost adventure and my not being able to understand this book chapter, I am really feeling like a let down to the students.  I have helped the group the best I could and have tried to give them as much input as possible but man oh man....I just really hope they do well tomorrow.  They have to ramble about this author and this chapter for 15 minutes IN GERMAN...I will just have to keep my fingers crossed that I didn't let them down or steer them in the wrong direction...check back in tomorrow to see how it went...

Lost in Vienna....

Yes...can you believe it...I've been to Vienna numerous times and have lived here the past three summers. Today, our group was to leave the institute at 12:45 and head to the Jewish Synagogue for a guided tour. I was actually looking forward to this since I had never been to one before. Everyone was, as usual, not quite ready when our fearless leader Valeria was walking out the door. I always pull up the rear to make sure everyone stays together but this time, we were too far behind. Three students and myself got left behind so they were relying on my to get there. I had been several times plus there's a REALLY good ice cream place around the corner so I was thinking, "No problem". Needless to say, I was in a hurry and got myself turned around so we walked briskly in the wrong direction until we found a streetcar stop that could take us there. It was the most frustrated I've been the whole trip. If it had just been me, I wouldn't have thought anything about it. I actually enjoy getting lost but having three students with me made it worse. I felt terrible that we showed up 20 minutes late. In the end, we made it to our destination and they got 40 minutes of the tour. The students aren't upset with me which is important and I learned a valuable lesson...no matter how well you know a city, ALWAYS have a map handy =)

Geburtstag Post!!!

ALLES GUTE ZUM GEBURTSTAG, DAVIS!!!

I would like to take this time to do a special entry for my sweet nephew who turned 1 on July 14th. This time last year, he came into this world as I was awaiting his arrival thousands of miles away. I saw him for the first time via Skype. This year, I was not there for his 1^st birthday and I hope he will forgive me for missing it. He was in my thoughts the entire day. In fact, my wonderful students and I celebrated in class. I bought a cake and some sandwich fixings. Later, I called to talk to Nae but Little Man was still napping. So I didn’t get to speak to him personally but I woke up thinking of him and went to bed sending him many warm, loving birthday wishes. Ich hab’ dich Lieb (I love you), Davis, and can’t wait to get home and back into our visiting routine!!! =D

(Pics left to right: Birthday message on the board, lunch with cake, my students happy to celebrate your birthday)

Weeks 2 and 3 in a nut shell!

Alright, so I guess it’s time for me to fill you all in on weeks 2 and 3 of our summer program…hope you’re ready for an adventure!

Well, weeks 2 & 3 was quite interesting. The students are still trucking along and enjoying themselves. Nothing new on the language class front but the culture class and the free time are always open for adventure. We have spent a good bit of time underway. We have had a tour of the Art History Museum and the Belvedere from our beloved art teacher Dr. O. She is so interesting and enthusiastic about everything she does. She talked about some of the most famous artists in each museum; Dürer, Reubens, Breughel, Raphael, Klimt, and Shiele to name a few. Of course, she pointed out some of the interesting aspects of the works that I would have NEVER noticed or known if I had come on my own. I can’t wait to bring my family to Vienna to impress them with my knowledge on these subjects ;) Over the course of 3 years I have taken A LOT of notes. That concludes our time with Dr. O. We spend the rest of our culture time with Dr. Heuberger. She is also a wonderfully knowledgeable teacher with an interesting and funny personality. So as not to leave the topic of death completely, we took a tour of the Viennese Funeral Museum. This seems strange to any tourist but the burial history in Vienna is quite intriguing. We also have a funny tour guide who is extremely nice. While dealing with so much death, we experienced a historical event while in Vienna. Otto, the last crown prince of the Habsburg Empire pasted away on July 3^rd at the age of 98. Now, I won’t go into detail of the complicated empirical history but let’s just say it’s important. While talking of the Habsburgs, I must tell you that we also went to the Empirical Crypt. This is the burial site of the royal family and it is quite a site to see. The sarcophagi of these great leaders are extravagantly decorated.

Now we will leave death for a brief moment and take a few tours of something a little more upbeat. We spent one afternoon at the US Embassy where we were met at the gate with TONS of security and escorted to the conference room. There we listened to an agent of some sort talk about the purpose of the Embassy for a good hour and a half. I didn’t mind sitting that long to listen because the place was air conditioned and we were seated. There was another trip to ATIB and the Military History Museum (I have included a picture of Franz Ferdinand’s shirt, he was wearing when he was shot, which was on a limited display at the museum) which are always interesting but I chose to take the time off. Traci went with the group to both of these and I went home to do laundry, watch tv, cook, make phone calls to family and friends, and other random things. I love spending time with the students, but it is nice to take some time for me. We also had the opportunity to experience the alcohol culture a bit and not in the “I am an alcoholic kind of way”. The group was given a little history about the Heurigen, or new wine, of Vienna and then we actually went to one together. The hills surrounding the city are perfect for growing grapes and there are growers who produce their own wine. Many of them own restaurants in the area where you can enjoy a glass of this year’s wine as well as a nice meal. We also took a tour of the second largest family owned brewery in Austria, Ottakringer. After a tour of the brewing process, we were allowed to sample the various beers. That’s one of the best parts of seeing the process…tasting the outcomes. One nice thing Traci and I decided to do this year was to host a movie night at her apartment. We had the students over for dinner and some talk with “real” Austrians before watching The Third Man with Orson Welles. It’s a classic black and white shot in Vienna post WWII. As we watched, many of the students recognized various sites which made me proud to know this program isn’t a complete waste of time =)

(Pics from left to right: group picture at ATIB, group at the Heurigen, Franz Ferdinand's shirt)

The weekend of the July 8^th through 10^th, the group went to Prague. As usual, it got some mixed reviews. It was nice for Traci and I because we felt “at home”. We had our restaurants and our shops. We had also been learning some Czech which was fun to practice with our tour guide, Lucie, who has been with us 4 years. It was a great feeling to see the Czechs smile when we spoke to them in their language. Now don’t get me wrong, there was some laughter at our expense due to our accents and mispronunciation but nonetheless I was proud. One big event was our last meal in Prague. Traci and I had saved up our appetite to split some ribs at one of our favorite restaurants. Man oh man were they YUMMY!!! They were not near as good as my dad's but they were quite tasty. You may also notice a picture of cappuccinos. Those are from the McDonald's across the street from our hotel. They not only looked pretty, but they tasted good as well! We did have a little bit of adventure while we were there. The first night, someone went into my room and took about $100 and my cell phone. Fortunately, they did not take my passport, camera, or ipod. The saddest part of the event was the text message I had saved from last July 14^th when my Davis, my nephew was born. That was the most important of the items =( On our last day, we were on our way to the train station when one of our students got pick pocketed on the subway. Once again, she did not lose her passport and only lost about $10. The worst part was having to cancel all her cards from the train station in the Czech Republic. In the end, everything worked out. No one was hurt and no large amount of money was lost.

(Pics left to right: stain glass in Cathedral, city, John Lenon wall, street signs, one of the beautiful apartment buildings, the Powder Gate, Cappuccinos, group picture, those yummy ribs and a salad)

And now I am on the train from Salzburg back to Vienna. The second weekend trip with the students is almost over. We left Friday morning headed for the city of Mozart and are heading back on a windy, rainy Sunday. It was a nice trip. The students were given a lot of freedom and handled it quite well. I personally visited the Festung, toured the Hellbrunn Palace and trick fountains, climbed the Untersberg, toured the State Rooms, and visited the Stiegl Brewery. I mentioned the second largest family owned brewery in Austria and Stiegl is the largest. Once again, there was a museum visit followed by some dinner and a sampling of brews. It was a nice ending to the day since we had all climbed the mountain earlier. The view from the mountaintop was heavenly and worth every breathless step. We were amazingly lucky since the weather was SO nice for the day. It was not too terribly hot but also not rainy. I personally thought it was perfect. While up there, we took tons of photos and I took some time to feed the birds. I also mentioned the trick fountains which I am sure you are curious about. Before we toured the Hellbrunn Palace, we went through the elaborate water system in the gardens. As one of the students got squirted in the face with water he stated, “I didn’t know we were going to White Water.” It wasn’t that bad but it was a surprise when water started shooting out of the ground or the wall. It was neat and somewhat amusing. The gardens were beautiful to walk through and I saw the gazebo Lisl ran through as she sang “I am 16 going on 17” in The Sound of Music. Now, I am not a HUGE fan of the musical but it was cool to see. Some of the students took some time for an action photo and as you can also see, Traci and I decided to “run” around the fountain…just like the von Trapps did!

(Pics left to right: me climbing down the mountain, taking a break with some of the students after feeding the birds, one of my first lunchtime friends, mountain view, student group shot, mountain view, Traci and I "running" around the fountain, group shot, student action shot, next 3 are from the trick water tour, last is a shot of the city from the river)

Before I go, I have to share one thing. I’ve had the pleasure of going on this trip 3 years in a row and have gained a couple of nicknames along the way. At home, it’s RaeRae or RaeLee or even Ronald. Last year, the group decided I was Ragonious. This year, the group has decided to dub me Pooky RaeRae. Now I have no clue where these come from but it does make them saying my name a thousand times a day more enjoyable. I love it!

Alright…now I think I’ve gotten you all caught up on our adventures. It’s amazing how time flies. I can’t believe three weeks have gone by. I have two more weeks and then I’ll be back home. Until then, love to everyone!