ABroad In Austria: And as Spring rolls in . . .

. . . I have finally motivated myself to sit down and write an update. So it goes, no weekly updates, no monthly updates, in 2011 they have become seasonal! I suppose it would be easier to jot down a quit recap of any highlights each week, so maybe, as I'm 29 now, and a bit older and wiser, I will start to do that from here on out. But then again, who am I trying to kid, probably not!

Anyway, to get down to it, the first few months of 2011 have flown by. In a extremely quick recap (which will allow you to skip straight to the pictures if you'd like) I have skied at 6 different resorts in the Austrian Alps, visited Vienna, Budapest, Hallstatt, and Bad Ischl, turned 29, hosted two visitors, and tried veal lung. I would say the last was the most adventurous, but more on that later.

Each winter the school plans 5 ski trips for the kids. The Saturdays are great fun, free to me for "working", and involve relatively little involvement with the kids once they are on the slopes. Unfortunately we had a few injuries, which has kept my weekly visits to the "accident" hospital going strong. Eventually I might get VIP status in the parking lot:)

We have a long weekend holiday in February. The kids were hauled off to Vienna, while Nichole, Louie, Jan and I stayed here to maintain a bit of sanity in the peaceful school. The highlight to the weekend was when we turned the upstairs landing into our own personal movie theater showing ALL THREE Jurassic Park Movies. Can't beat that on a Friday night in Salzburg.

Next came along my unwelcome 29th birthday. I guess there's no denying it now, one month later. We had the Winter Trimester awards dinner so the evening was celebrated at an all school dinner... sort of. Drinks followed for a bit afterward! Friday I was joined by a table full of coworkers and friends for dinner and had a wonderful time to ease the stress of being one year closer (and now only one year away from) 30. UGH!

Somehow that brings us almost to Spring Break. The week before break I got a surprise email from my CISV Interchange partner, Marie. She found herself with a surprise week off work and wanted to come to Salzburg to visit. After 13 years of keeping in touch and no reunion, my day/week/month had been made. She flew down from Norway for a 4 day visit, and since she'd been to Salzburg previously we took a little adventure to the mountains east of us. We spent the night in Bad Ischl. An Austrian town where the Kaiser would spend much of his time, bring a lot of culture and wealth to the small town. Its filled with beautiful mansions, a pretty river, and the Kaiservilla. Which, unfortunately, was not open as it was "off season," and in the off season its only open on Wednesdays. Really, Wednesdays? Sunday morning we took the train to Hallstatt. A tiny town in the side of a mountain that you must reach by ferry crossing. It was amazing. They have a salt mine, which we also tried to go to, and surprisingly, wasn't open. It tended to be the theme for the weekend. "March is off season, live with it."

Before that visit was barely over Spring Break rolled in and the school was busting at the seams to get out on friday. The kids had shut their brains off on Wednesday and the teachers lost motivation shortly there after. The holiday started off with a trip to Vienna to help a fellow teacher at a Whisk(e)y Fair. She and her husband own a Scotch Whisky distribution business and have a stand that does tasting and such at this little fair in Vienna. If anyone from Indy is reading this think "Beer and Wine fest at the Rathskeller" but strictly for whiskey. Could be bad news bears for some people . . . like the 65 year old man that tried to convince me he was fine to take the stairs after he nearly fell coming out of the Master Class room. After a late trip back Sunday night, I was up early Monday for our 2 day ski trip to Kitzbühel. Four of us skied, and Nichole came along for the mountain views. The snow was pretty wet and heavy the first day, but we were blessed to have a great Tuesday to close out the ski season of 2011. Oh, and on this trip is when I got to taste the delicacy that is veal lung. After ordering was sounded like a veal stew the waiter said "Do you know what that is?" I should have taken that as a sign, but instead said "I think so." Looking at Louie for some German translation assistance. After going back and forth with the waiter we decided it was what the menu said, Veal, and I ordered it anyway. It looked pretty tasty with a nice big knüdel in the middle and a creamy looking gravy. It also tasted pretty tasty, except with a bit of questionable texture. I convinced myself there must be mushrooms in there, and continued to eat. In the end (not all of the meal gone) I decided we needed to ask one more time what I was eating, at which point it was revealed that it was in fact veal LUNG. The waiter looked at Louie, in a manner of "I tried to tell you in German." Ah well, its not often one gets, or takes (whether knowingly or not), an opportunity to try a little bit of lung. The texture is not recommended.

The next big adventure of Spring Break involved a visit from my college friend Sara. She flew in from DC for a week in Salzburg, Vienna, and Budapest. I took her to some of our favorite spots in Salzburg, including the cheapest/best Italian, 4 churches, and of course Augustinerbräu. We made a quick stop in Vienna for the afternoon, once again treating myself, and those I was with to Rick Steves' self-guided walking tour. I love that man, and recommend his travel books to anyone that needs one! Final destination was Budapest. We had an fantastic apartment RIGHT in front of St Istvan's Basilica, only a few minor problems, one involving the smell of gas, could keep its status from being absolutely amazing. We pretty much covered that city! We walked all over, from Heroes Square to Castle Hill and nearly everywhere in between. We visited the Szechenyi Thermal Baths, strolled through City Park, and even say St Istvan's 1000 year old hand! No real gastronomical adventures here, though not much can beat the lunch. I did have the best duck breast of my life, and delicious Chicken Prapikas' from the small market we happened upon at lunchtime. Since the city was pretty much destroyed in WWII much of the high points had been rebuilt, some historically accurate, some not. The other thing I found interesting about the city is that a lot of these same "must sees" were only about 50 years old when they were destroyed in the war. Budapest underwent a huge shape-up in 1896 in preparation for its 1000th anniversary and World's Fair, building a bunch of new structures including the basilica, Vajdahunyad Vára in City Park, and even Parliament. Much of the city has yet to be renovated to its full glory, but even so manages to be charming in its own way. We enjoyed Hungarian beer, Hungarian wine, and even a couple Hungarian Langos. Personally I think they are the original elephant ear, but they are offered in MANY more varieties than just cinnamon sugar.

I returned from Budapest for a few more days of relaxation before school starts back up again. Thursday afternoon felt like summer, so we capitalized on the weather and headed to the park. A last minute trip to Munich was thwarted when we discovered some train line issues, but it just gave me more time to finish my last book before heading back tomorrow. I think three books in one holiday is my personal record, especially three books I absolutely loved!

Tomorrow we start bright and early as usual. Only 6 weeks separate me from a summer reminiscent of when I was 14! I suppose starting grad school in May might involve a bit of studying over the summer, but I'm excited to get going. In 12 months I should be able to complete everything through USC online to get my Masters in Teaching and Credential in secondary math.

So that brings us up to date. And after the nearly two hours it took me to get this down, I will definitely be making a better attempt to do more frequent, shorter posts. Also, I'm including a few pictures here, but will update with more over the next few days. I hope you enjoy, and hope everyone is well at home!