St. Stephen's and Zanoni's

The past few days have been a whirlwind. On Friday, the rest of the students came in, so the weekend was spent running to the airport to pick them up, helping them shop, and making sure they are settled. IGE spends a lot of time making sure students feel comfortable and fed.

T See St. Stephen's Cathedral. One of the first things I took some of the students to see was St. Stephen's cathedral in the first district. It's the iconic church on all the post cards of the city. It's a really cool church because it is right in the center of the old town. Additionally, street performers hang out there during the day. You can also go to the catacombs or up to the top of it: to be done on another day.

Food Tip: Get gelato at Zanoni and Zanoni's, an ice cream parlor about one block from St. Stephen's. We have already taken several trips there. Last year, we used to go there a few times a week. Personally, I like the cookie flavor the best, but it is all amazing.

Martins Biergartel!!

If Starbucks is happiness (and peace, love, harmony, etc.) in a cup, than the schnitzel from Martin's Biergartel is happiness on a plate.

Earlier today, two students, Kaitlin and Grant, arrived. For their first dinner, we met Kevin at Martin's. Now, I have a soft spot for this restaurant in my heart because my 21st birthday was celebrated there, and I have been craving it for about 8 months. It was honestly better than I remembered it.

: Go to Martin's. Yes, I know this entry is short, but I can't even think of words to describe how good it is. The beer is so smooth and good, you have to remember it's not water. Seriously. And when the schnitzel comes out, it is so hot you can't eat it for a minute. Reiner, one of the waiters there, is always so accomodating and friendly. It's one of those things that you'll just have to do and experience for yourself. It is an IGE favorite... and all the alumni get jealous if you say you're eating there. As Kevin describes it, "It's my happy place."

IGE Special: Get Picked Up from the Airport in a Mercedes

IGE is great because they pick you up from the airport. I know these seems like a small thing, but trust me... when you're in a new country where you don't speak the language and have no clue how to get to where you're going, it's nice to have someone take you to "home" instead of trying to find it yourself.

Earlier today, I met up with Kevin and Colin. Kevin had to meet with one of the staff members, so Colin and I went to the airport to pick up a new student, Logan. Our short trip to the airport was really an adventure.

First, we both had on matching shirts. No joke. Kevin bought us IGE polos, and while they look really nice, it was kind of interesting having matching outfits on the subway. We probably got some funny looks.

The plan was to take a train into the airport and a cab back to the Europahaus (where we live). We bought train tickets, but we forgot to validate them. Ooops. This was almost bad because the train conductor asked for them. When he saw we didn't validate them, we played dumb Americans. (Well, we were being dumb Americans because it was an honest mistake). He then asked us if it was our first time in Vienna, and we promtply said "Yes." Looking back, I'm not sure how convincing this was with the matching shirts and airport sign. Oh, well, he let us off.

We then had to locate Logan, which was a trick because there were tons of people there and neither Colin and I had a clue what he looked like. After a while, we were pretty sure we had missed him. We considered paging him, but neither one of us knew his last name. Turns out it was Goethe... you know, like the famous philosopher (Logan turns out to be a great, great, great, etc. grandson). Luckily, Logan found us, so we proceeded to the cab station.

The cab station that we normally used, though, was full. This was very unfortunate because they are less expensive than everyone else. We used a different company, and after confirming the address at least 3 times (429 Linzerstrasse) they give us the rate. But, as we're sitting in the cab, the driver puts in 49 Linzerstrasse. I told him it was 429 Linzerstrasse, and he said we didn't pay enough to get that far. Geesh... But at least the cab was a Mercedes.

But we got him there, and it was totally worth not making him figure out the subway system with jetlag and 4 bags in a city he's never been to in a foreign country where they speak German.

Study with IGE - Get picked up from the Airport in a Mercedes by people in matching polos.

Creamed Spinach, Starbucks, and Hairspray

August 24, flying day, finally came around. I flew Denver to Chicago to Zurich to Vienna. I saw IGE Director Kevin at the airport, along with his "assistant" Colin, who was a student on the program last year.

I was flying Swiss Air from Chicago to Zurich. To give a little background, the last time I flew Swiss Air, I was about 9 and my sister was about 6. The meal included this cooked, creamed spinach that was in a word... digusting. I can't really describe it, but think of the slimiest glob of goo in the world that is Oscar the Grouch green. It's also slightly cold and flavorless. Anyway, they put a pile of that on our plates, and the flight attendants decided to take it upon themselves to be "good parental figures" to my sister an I, and wouldn't take away our plates until we ate it. We of course appealed to Dad, who took one bite of the stuff and promptly spit it out in his coffee cup. That's where we ended up hiding the rest of it so the flight attendants would take it away.

Everyone in my family was lauging about that when they found out I was taking Swiss Air. I didn't worry too much about because what's the odds of the airline even feeding you at all, let alone feeding you the same thing twice. You can probably already guess where this is going...

Lesson du Jour: Avoid the Swiss Air Creamed Spinach like the Plague. Seriously. I was eating pasta, which seemed safe, and underneath the pasta was a layer of that vile stuff. I guess that's karma or something.

But, to Swiss Air's credit, both of my checked bags made it to through all those connections without a problem.

Coffee-lovers - you're in luck. I can make Vienna seem less like landing in a foreign country with one word: Starbucks. A little background of why this came up.

I made it to the Europahaus, our student dorm, and unpacked. I had a little time to kill afterwards, so I decided to go to one of the big shopping streets downtown (more on those later) to get the essentials: Starbucks and Hairspray. It took me about an hour each way to get the Starbucks and hairspray, but it was totally worth it. (In case you're wondering, it's the Starbucks that's hard to find. However, Vienna does have 5 of them downtown, so if you like your coffee, this is a good place to be... especially because Vienna introduced coffee to the Western World, so it's home to some of the best coffee houses you can find anywhere.)

walk somewhere on your first day. Let's be honest: I really didn't need hairspray. The Starbucks is debatable... Anyway, in case your wondering (Mom), No I do not consider Starbucks a sight seeing stop or a destination. What was important was the act of getting up, getting some fresh air, and moving a bit. It keeps you awake, and it is a good way to fight jet lag.

Flying 101: 50 Pounds

All packed! I leave tomorrow morning, and I managed to fit 3.5 months worth of stuff into 2 bags. The trick is getting the bags under 50 pounds to meet airline regulations.

Weigh your bags before you take them to the airport. Airlines are charging $125 for overweight bags, so make sure you pack less than 50 pounds. Clothes are heavier than you would think.

Also, if you can - leave with one bag fairly empty. You will be amazed at how much you buy.

Skype and Shoes

I missed yesterday because the internet was being very difficult and the only "internet related" thing that worked was Skype.

Tip: Get Skype. If you don't know, Skype is a chat/instant messenger/telephone from your computer all in one. You download it on your computer, and it allows you to talk to anyone in the world. You can either video chat/call another computer if it has a Skype account of you can call a phone line. The best part is it only cost $0.02 per minute or $2.35 for unlimited calls to the US a month. If you want to call home to talk to you family/friends, you will save a lot of money using Skype over phone cards, cell phones, etc.

I also checked my email today, and I had a question from David, one of the students who will be coming over to Vienna this fall. He asked me how often people go on overnight trips from Vienna and if he should bring hiking shoes.

I told him that Vienna is a very easy city to travel in and out of. It is located in central Europe, so you can get virtually anywhere in Europe from there. Rome, Florence, and Venice, Italy, are all a night train away. The Sudbahnhof (South Train Station) in Vienna will get you to Croatia, Slovakia, or Poland. Prague and Budapest are each about 3-4 hours away. If you want to go to Western Europe, it's only a 5 hour train ride to Munich, Germany or an overnight train ride to Zurich, Switzerland. From these two locations, you can go almost anywhere in Western Europe. I once went to Grenoble, France last year via Zurich and Geneva.

If you want to go further (such as a quicker way to Paris or to London or Spain or Northern Europe) you can always fly. It cost about $100 USD to fly to Paris on Austrian Air. There are also always cheap flights out of Brataslava, which is only an hour train ride from Vienna.

Since Vienna is so easy to travel from, people tend to travel a lot, and it is not uncommon for people to take weekend trips.

Pack comfortable shoes. It doesn't matter where you are traveling to, city or the woods, you will have to do a lot of walking. Therefore, regardless if you plan on hiking or not, you should bring shoes you can walk in for a long time. To answer David's question, you definitely can travel to places where there is hiking, so you might want to bring your hiking shoes. But, not matter what, the most important thing is to bring comfortable shoes.

Pack an Extra Set of Clothes

My dear friend Margy landed in Ireland today! This is good news. The bad news is the airline lost her luggage. Don't worry because they are finding it. But...

Bring an extra outfit with you in your carry-on luggage. This way, if your checked luggage gets lost, you're not stuck in a foreign country, jet lagged without a clean set of clothes while you wait for your bag.