For the first weekend in two months, I decided not to travel, and instead to stay back at the Kartause, catch up on sleep, and basically do nothing. The week before this one I was on my post-midterm 10-day break, and it pretty much sucked the life out of me. Though travelling has been amazing, I have felt like I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and though I had originally planned to trip it to Switzerland... when the plans fell all ...

Yesterday we made an excursion to Salzburg. On the way there we stopped in Mondsee for lunch, the town where the wedding scene for Sound of Music was filmed! Once we arrived in Salzburg and settled into the hostel, we got a walking tour around the city to see all the famous churches. Then we went to Mirabell (a palace an archbishop in the 1600s built for his mistress and where the "Do-Re-Mi" song was filmed. Yes, I stood on those steps and sat on that fountain. W...

Last night after classes a group of friends enjoyed dinner at the Kartause restaraunt, Johanna Strubel. Afterwards we ventured into town for a drink or two at another pub (Urs was overcrowded). On our way back, we decided to go crazy and jump in the creek across the street, which is mainly only 5 or so inches deep but enjoys a 9-foot plunge in a small area near the Kartause. So Becky, Shirlea and I jumped in... twice! It was stinking FREEZING but we had so much f...

Yesterday all the students took a daytrip to Vienna. We had Mass in Kahlenberg, lunch at the Augustinerkeller, and then a tour through the city to see too many things to name here! The coolest of these were some ancient Roman ruins from when Marcus Aurelius came to Vienna, and St. Stephen's, a famous Gothic cathedral in the city. I had hoped to get to the art museum since I am taking a course in art appreciation, but we didn't have enough time. A group of friends...

Yesterday we settled into the Kartause (Shirlea and I are in "the Princess Tower") and then received a tour of the Kartause. Later that night there was a social, but a lot of the students left early to go to Urs (local Austrian pub that caters to FUS students), where I discovered my new favorite drink, an Appleswirl (Apple juice, vodka, and cinnamon). I also tried this thing called a Frog with Bacardi in it, but it tasted like sun tan oil and I didn't like it so ...