1) I'm on fall break and therefore, unable to teach the children about the joys of Halloween. Which also means I can't dress up either.
AND YET ANOTHER YEAR GOES BY WHERE I WASTE
THE PERFECT COSTUME AND THE CHANCE
TO BE A GINGER SCOTTISH DISNEY PRINCESS.
2) Germans don't celebrate Halloween to begin with, so no delicious Tootsie Rolls or pumpkin shaped Reese's for me.
Anyway, here's Halloween video to get you in the mood if you're lucky enough to celebrate (or stand by the front door waiting for Trick-or-Treaters):
(Oh and if you're wondering, this Halloween, I'm playing the cold and slightly confused American tourist. Melody, my travelling buddy, is dressing up as a backpack turtle!)
I'll be back in Chemnitz this weekend, so expect lots of treats - blog updates that is.
Happy Independence Day to all my American readers! I hope you all have an amazing time with your friends and family!
It's weird being away from my yearly family celebration of the 4th. You can't even buy fireworks in Germany unless it's before New Year's Eve, the only time of the year when you can legally fire them off.
So instead, I'm going to eat hot dogs tonight with "riffle" chips and some knock-off "American cookies" while softly humming some classic American tunes:
In case you were all wondering, I have already decided on a couple of things I'm going to do once I get back. The first things I'm going to do when I land in Chicago:
Hug my family
Tell them to drive me to the nearest Red Robin restaurant
Order a huge hamburger
Order a bowl of "Endless Fries"
Order a giant glass of water (no bubbles) with ice cubes
Order a giant glass of root beer/Dr. Pepper also with ice cubes
Yes, I know, this isn't an update on my life here in Germany. It's actually a post for all you guys at home in America.
In case you didn't know, Congress is voting on two major bills soon - SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act). I rarely get political - in real life or on the internet - just because usually talking about politics just brings everybody down.
BUT THIS IS IMPORTANT, NO MATTER WHAT SIDE OF THE AISLE YOU'RE ON.
Both of these acts, created (probably) for a good purpose - to stop piracy online - will give Congress the power to censor and remove websites they see as infringing on copyright laws. Here's the problem: the wording of the laws are so vague that basically any site, like Facebook, YouTube or heck, even this blog, could be censored because someone posted a video of a girl singing the newest Lady GaGa song to her cat.
Actually, in all likelihood, this blog would be taken down because of the name - sorry, Simba.
Not only are these bills in direct violation of the First Amendment, but they also have the possibility of crippling our economy by bringing down websites like Amazon or squashing new start-up companies.
Not to mention the fact that's it's blatant - CENSORSHIP. You know, what other upstanding countries, like China, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Cuba the former USSR, have/had.
I'm here in Germany. I can't do much other than sign online petitions which I hope will get to my Senators and Congressmen. But for those of you at home, you can do something.
Sorry my darling readers! This post was stalled by my crazy week as well as Blogger hatin' on my pictures! I hope you enjoy it despite the delay!
Not ones to waste our last full day in Vienna, we set out with a huge checklist of things to do on Day 3 (which I guess is Day 4, but whatever). We first hit up the royal gardens ofSchönbrunn Palace, the old summer palace of the Habsburg monarchs for when they got bored of their other huge palaces. Although the gardens are little less resplendent in the late autumn, Schönbrunn and its gardens were amazing. Jake asked me as we were walking along if I could imagine myself living there. Um, yeah. Who doesn't want to be a princess?! If you're a princess, you get fabulous clothes and a castle (peasants, what peasants?!). If you're a princess you get a carriage and body gaurds. And you always look good.
And eventually you can play Catwoman too!
This movie is adorable, by the way.
And as a princess, you occasionally get to go on a Roman Holiday.
My favorite movie, y'all.
Anyway, your humble blogger thinks that being a princess ain't so terrible and Schönbrunn gardens made it look easy.
We had a lovely, crisp morning in the sunshine to walk through the gardens!
The Greenhouse, I think.
A first glimpse of the palace.
Above the palace is the Glorietta.
They originally were going to build the palace there
and they realized they didn't want to carry everything uphill.
The backside of Schoenbrunn palace.
The whole gang!
Left to right: Helina, Emily, Zach, Rachel, Jake
A moody photoshoot with Zach and his new jacket.
Part Deux.
On the front side...
Bam! That's what I call a palace.
Although we all really wanted to go inside, the museum was expensive and we had bigger fish to fry. We first hit up the Nashmarkt, a huge section of town divided into a outdoor market and ethnic food bazaar. There were so many choices and they all looked amazing! We settled for Doener Kababs (amazing), which are the Turkish answer to Greek Gyros. They are amazing. But if you're ever in Vienna, feeling adventurous and looking for a cheap eat, hit up the Nashmarkt.
Beyond the Nashmarkt is the Secession House. A brief history lesson fueled by Wikipedia and my old German 220 class:
In 1897, a whole group of artists, including Gustav Klimt, said "Screw the rules!" to the Vienna art scene and clubs and decided to build their own house to exhibit their progressive art work. The whole house was created in the art nouveau style (jugendstil, remember?) and they've been rocking the progressive art ever since.
Check out all the gold foil and paint detail!
The gold leaf dome is fabulous from a distance.
The house is really famous for Klimt's Beethoven frieze (aka wall mural) that depicts the 9th Symphony. (For those of you who aren't so into music or just forget all the numbers, it's the one with "Ode to Joy".) Unfortunately, the grouchy security guy didn't let us snap any photos, but look it up. It's super cool.
As for the rest of the house, I was really looking forward to seeing artwork from Klimt's contemporaries. Alas, it was not to be. The house had "filled" up the rooms with pieces of modern art and in my humble opinion, they severely misused the spaces. One room simply had a black line on the wall and half the word "und" (the German "and") on it. Not quite sure what they meant, but they knew how to draw a straight line? Which is better than the other room, which had nothing in it, except for the fact that it was really cold. The use of an air conditioner apparently counts as art now. Maybe I should enter my dorm room here in Tuebingen as an exhibit....
I think my eyeball muscles got a great workout from the number of times I rolled them.
Luckily, my sarcasm was short-lived as I was soon to be blown away by the gorgeous Hofburg Palace, the home of the Austrian-Hungarian Emperors and Empresses. The Hofburg houses at least 4 museums: The Royal Silvery, the Sissi Museum (my favorite!), the Royal Apartments, and the Spanish Riding School. We got tickets to see the first three museums, which bleed right into the next ones, but it wasn't cheap.
Outer part of the Palace
The Inner courtyard.
Spanish Riding School
Emily photobombs my otherwise decent pic.
The front gate.
I really enjoyed these museums at the Hofburg. Okay, yes, I never need to see another piece of imperial silverware, pottery, porcelain, let alone another tureen dish, ever again. But I really, really liked the palace tours. It captured the grandeur, the insanity, the pressure, and everything else about royal life that makes Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries look like a cake walk.
My favorite museum was the Sissi museum, dedicated to the last Empress of Austria-Hungary, Empress Elisabeth (aka Sissi) who was really quite unusual for her time (and even for today) and who is universally loved by the Austrians.
Her most famous portrait done in 1865
And by eight year old me. When I lived in Germany, there was this animated show all about Sissi and her adventures. She rode horses, put on pretty dresses, fell in love with the Kaiser, danced a lot...It was pretty awesome. Take a look.
Why she has this totally kitsch pink locket from the 90s, I have no idea.
And then I found out that Sissi's life was actually a living hell, partially because she was kinda crazy and partially because being Empress was a terrible job. She married her cousin (ew) at the age of 16 (double ew) and lost one of her four children at the age of 21. She was most likely anorexic and obsessed with her own beauty. She was also creepily obsessed with the German poet, Heinrich Heine. She wrote some poetry and traveled all over the place, trying to find meaning in her life. After her son, the heir, committed suicide, she only ever wore black. Oh and she got stabbed to death with a rusty shiv by an Italian anarchist at the ripe old age of 60. Jolly.
Nevertheless, I'm adding the German language version of her biography onto my summer reading list.
After the Hofburg, we tried to see the UN building, but alas they were closed on Saturday!!! We were all very sad.
And we ended our Viennese adventure with a return to the restaurant we ate at the first night. And yes, the schnitzel was amazing the second time around too.
I loved Vienna and I really would like to go again. I think there is something for everyone to enjoy in Vienna - from the shopping to the museums, to the art halls to very sparkly musicals, from ethnic food at the Nashmarkt to Weiner Schnitzel, Vienna was awesome. I hope you all get the chance to visit someday!
Also, this entire blog entry was fueled by the rockin' tunes and DJ Prowess of Will Power, the greatest rock show known to man, featured on FM 95.1 WVUR on Monday nights, hosted by this humble blogger's brother. Go check it out.
