June 1st:
Bad reflection because I used the flash, but this shows both the castle in Bratislava and the UFO bridge. I took this on a boat trip that my mom and I took from Vienna to Budapest on the Danube.
June 2nd:
View of Budapest from the Castle District with the parliament building in the background.
Stift Altenburg
May 29th:
This was a huge snail from one of my walks. This picture doesn’t really do it justice.
May 30th:
This was at Stift Altenburg (sorry the site is in German). I believe “stift” is monastery in English, although I’m not positive at the moment. The audio tour my mom and I took of the place was great, but for some reason failed to mention what this room was/is. I’ll post some more pictures from this place later. It was pretty interesting and only about 10 minutes from my town!
May 31st:
Something went wrong with the peanut butter cookie recipe that was baked in one of my classes on their last day with me. Not only did it turn out to be more of a cake, but the “cookies” also kind of tasted like popcorn. The chocolate chip cookies were a success though.
So the Life Ball counted for both May 21st and 22nd since I was there/at the after party about 16 hours. I babysat a few hours later, fyi. Never again.
Also, I seem to have lost the memory card for my blackberry when I took it out to get the phone fixed. So all of my pictures from there are gone I guess. Sad times. Ooooh well. Moving on.
May 24th:
Me,WORKING. Shocking, I know. Believe it or not I actually did teach on a regular basis this last school year. To be honest, we were playing a game in this picture, but everyone looks really serious. Still counts as working though.
May 26th:
I was running last (as usual) and had to ride my bike to catch the train. Taking my bike on the train=not as irritating as taking it on the public transportation once I got to Vienna. Also, bike riders in Vienna are COMPLETELY INSANE. I probably only rode for about a mile in the city, but it was terrifying.
May 27th:
A rave at Stephansdom. Ok so not really, but that’s what it looks like, right? This was one of the things the Stephansdom did for “Lange Nacht der Kirchen” (Long Night of the Churches). Every few months Vienna has a Long Night of Something Interesting and then everything related with that stays open until 1 or 2 in the morning and has special programs. For the churches there were plenty of concerts, some special talks and of course food. And the crazy lights at Stephansdom.
May 28th:
My mom! Eating some Wiener Schnitzel. She came during a great week. This was an outdoor food festival with fresh food from all over Austria. Yum.
More Life Ball!
Clip from the Life Ball Dsquared2 fashion show.
The next pictures are from this year’s Life Ball. My friend Tina and I were lucky enough to get tickets this year. ”The Life Ball is the largest charity event in Europe in the fight against AIDS.” (www.lifeball.org) It was a great time with a few celebrities, plenty of performances, a fashion show by Dsquared2 and of course, dancing. All of this took place in and around Vienna’s Rathaus (city hall). It was definitely cool to dance all night in such a gorgeous building!
May 21st:
Bad lighting, but this was my outfit for the ball. The “element” this year was air with the theme “spread the wings of tolerance”. The event puts out a “style bible” every year. Those who meet the style requirements (well, go above and beyond, actually) can purchase reduced price tickets. I didn’t have a reduced price ticket, but a costume is always more fun than normal formal wear! I went as some kind of Greek goddess with wings. I think it turned out alright!
This is Tina! Her wings were much more intense than mine!
Mini opera performance.
Nadine Beiler, Austria’s Eurovision Song Contest contestant for 2011.
Natalia Kills performing “Mirrors”. (Sorry for the awful pictures!)
Janet Jackson
Dsquared2
Beginning of the fashion show
more from the fashion show
Castle ruins!
May 14th:
Apartment hunting. This is the first and only apartment that my friend, Abby, and I looked at. It was great! We’ll move in around the first of September!
May 18th:
Mallory and I biked to this castle, the Rosenburg. The last mile or so was up tan awful hill. I thought I would pass out, but I made it with only a few stops. In Austrian fashion we had a beer once at the top. And some water (not so Austrian).
May 19th:
Climbing wall in Horn. I was able to climb it (er, with help). It was pretty difficult though.
