Intern International

    Another weird dream I've had since I was a little girl is to see a performance at the Spanish Riding School. If you aren't familiar with the Spanish Riding School, it is a prestigious equestrian institute that trains Lipizzaner horses, a meticulously bred and highly desired horse breed. They are often called "the dancing horses" because of their incredible footwork, elegant jumps, and synchronized movements. Unfortunately, the school only has performances on the weekends so I was not able to get tickets to see one. Instead, I booked a ticket to go see a training session. I figured it would be like a rehearsal and I would see most of the cool stuff either way. That wasn't necessarily true.    Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed my time, and I wasn't disappointed, but the horses we saw were very young and inexperienced so we only got to watch them do the basics. However, the experience was super cheap and totally worth it. I would love to go back and wa...

   Of everything I saw and did, my favorite was the Palmenhaus at Schönbrunn Schloss. This was a location of personal interest and I had to speed run the zoo to see it, but it was worth it. I don't know what it is about me, but sometimes I find these little things that I just fall in love with, and getting to see them again can top an entire trip. This time, that little thing was the novelty of a Victorian-style greenhouse. I love greenhouses in general, but these ones are just so beautiful, I've always wanted to get lost in one. I think my original love for these buildings was from the movie, "Barbie Island Princess".    But I mean, honestly, look at how pretty they made it seem. After being stuck in a sea of tourists, with the constant buzz of chatter ringing around me, and stale air hanging in the air, the Palmenhaus was a breath of fresh air. A cool, damp breeze carried the smell of fresh dirt and green things, an ambiance of birds and frogs chatted in the branch...

    I will start by talking about my favorite thing; archaeology. You may want to skip this post if you don't want a history lesson. :D Thankfully for me, Vienna was full of grave goods and artifacts plucked from neighboring countries such as Greece and Italy, as well as a few from far-off countries like Turkey and Egypt. Besides the fact that the Viennese have impressive Greco-Roman and Egyptological collections, I was also shocked to learn that Vienna started out as a Roman city.     In 16-15 BC, the Romans occupied the foothills of the Alps under the direction of Emperor Tiberius, the emperor during Jesus' ministry. Later, the Celtic town of Vindobona, which would later become Vienna, was occupied by the Romans and became a strategic garrison. Gradually, the population expanded because of the town's important position on the Danube River which made it the base for the Roman fleet. Because of its increasing importance, it received the Roman city charter which ...

    I've just returned from a trip to Austria's capital city; Vienna. We did and saw so much that it would be a drag for me to give you a detailed account of each activity. Instead, I decided to break the trip up into multiple posts. Each post will focus on a specific topic that I found interesting while I was there, including architecture, Vienna's musical heritage, archaeology, art, culture, and other things.     But here is a brief rundown of how it went; We arrived on Sunday and left on Wednesday. Essentially, we were there for three full days. In that time I visited/saw the Belvedere Castle and the interior art museum, the Cathedral of Karlskirche, The House of Music Museum, Schonnbrunn Schloss and the exterior gardens, coffee house, zoo, and greenhouse, the Albertina Art Museum, parliament, the Spanish Riding School, Saint Stephen's Cathedral and its catacombs, the National Library, The Ephesus Museum, The State Opera House, an amusement park plus a wax mu...

    Last year my friend Karis invited me to Oktoberfest in Chattanooga. I asked her what it was, and when she said it was a German festival and explained that there was generally a lot of drinking, but we'd be going for the cultural aspects, I had to refuse. I just didn't feel comfortable going to a festival where one of the main forms of entertainment was drinking. So imagine my surprise when the Adventist seminary school I attend told me we'd be attending the Oktoberfest. I was a little confused, but not uncomfortable. Knowing we had the blessing of our school made me feel at ease. Besides, from what I had heard, all of the drinking took place in large tents and the rest of the festival was a relatively family-friendly event.      But you can't go to Oktoberfest dressed in any odd outfit. The women wear dirndls, and the men wear lederhosen. I already thought it would be neat to buy a dirndl since I am Austrian and German by blood. But it is very pricey to get ...

   There were rumors. Rumors about the Germans. People whispered that they were serious, un-fun folk. I quickly dismissed these rumors, but since arriving, I have found that the saying "in every rumor, there is a bit of truth" is true. When it comes to hiking, the Germans and Austrians are very serious... and perhaps not always the most fun.      The first thing they did was try to scare me. There were three hikes we could sign up for. Group one, Group Two, and Group Three. I was told that Group Three would be too hard for me because "in Austria, we do it differently." I was also told that I needed "real hiking boots". . . Challenge accepted. I signed up for group three.     Everyone seemed shocked to see me in group three. There was only one other American who had signed up for it. But we were determined to prove ourselves. We would pull ourselves up by our bootstraps (because we had real hiking boots) and fight for our right to be true hikers....

     Forenote: Sorry if this post is a little messy or has some grammar mistakes. Not sure what it is but I've lost my writing mojo. 😖    We finally made it off campus. Salzburg was the kind of city that felt old; as if it had never stepped foot into the modern era. The tall mint green, banana cream yellow, and baby blue houses were packed tightly in the valley, the snowcapped peaks rising around them, and steep cliffs pushing them so close to the river it seemed they might fall in. Church spires rose to the height of the cliffsides, and standing like a gaudy sentry above it all, was a white castle with the Austrian flag fluttering in the afternoon breeze.      I have dreamt about seeing Europe for many years, and this was what I meant. Salzburg is what I had always imagined. It was the perfect city to call my first. It was a hodgepodge of different histories, eras, and architectural/art styles, yet there was something synonymous and pleasing abo...