euro-cup fever

So I don't come from Europe and both switzerland (where my family is from ) and Austria (the place i currently live) are out of the competition. So I am a permanent fair-weathered fan. But we have face paint to make up for all that.




We are serious football fans



NOT

ich like-y hike-y

So the other day we went on a hike just South of Vienna.

I was pretty dirty, don't judge. But nature made up for it...

Travel Budapest!

We went to Budapest, Hungary last week and I loved it! The food was so good, there were such beautiful things to see and we spent a whole day at the Turkish baths...


All the place we have been have been so different but I liked that I didn't really know what to expect in Budapest. It was a pleasent surprise to say the least.

this is me in a labyrinth inside castle hill. We got real lanterns, not just the ones with light bulbs... which was good because it was cold down there!

Me and my friend Blake at a communist statue garden. When communism fell the people of Budapest tore down all the statues and they all ended up in this statue garden.

hero's square.

A man playing a crazy instrument in the park.

A market we went to...

OH AND THE FOOD!


I bought a chocolate covered waffle through this window. What else could you want? I will tell you...

Menza is communist chic. and good.



I really loved it.
heres a little more for you.

meinen Vater

My brothers and sisters and I were able to talk our parents into taking us to Disneyland, I think they liked it too. Amidst the candy high, teacups, and the scoldings from Disneyland employees for rowdy behavior (who says they are the happiest people on earth?) I often found myself in line for the Matterhorn. It was my dads favorite, the middle of the Disneyland world. The place I wanted to circle but never stop at. Wiping the churro sugar from my face I would look up at the mountain, in complete horror. “Dad, I don’t want to go this time” I didn’t beg, I knew that would get me nowhere. I tried reasoning with him, “I just don’t feel like it right now.” He wouldn’t budge, we were going. We always went. Some kind of twisted fun, I often thought, dad just wants to see me bawl my eyes out again. Part of this may have been true. I am the youngest of five and they all seemed to enjoy my fear (that had once been theirs). I still feel a twinge of fear every time I board one of those toboggans and head off, with my arms and legs remaining inside the roller car, toward the abominable snowman that I promise I won’t look at this time. I would sit in front of my dad and he would raise my hands up with his. He hooted and hollered, most of the time I cried. After we got off he always looked like he had had the time of his life, and I usually smiled even if my cheeks were stained with tears.



When it comes to dads I'm really spoiled. Not only is my dad real fun, i am the youngest and he was around a whole lot while i was growing up. Lets face it I was pretty much an only child in high school...I got to do so much stuff with just me and my parents. I love spending time with my dad.
I especially love the times that I am talking to him on the phone and then he says "ok, I'm done talking. Love you Karl" The story about the Matterhorn is part of a longer bunch of stories I am writing in my creative writing class about how he taught me to be brave and to always have fun. He is such a good example of that.

This is a picture of us at the top of a mountain. How brave and fun we are. This is Black-en-stein, we call it that because I got hit with a boulder on the way down and it made my thumb look like a zombie thumb.
The experience is really quite funny now and it has been logged away with other family stories but I am really grateful that my Dad holds the priesthood and that he was able to take care of me in such a scary situation.
I love you dad.

Hopp Schweiz!

The Euro cup is hosted by Switzerland and Austria this year so it is getting a little crazy around here. All around Vienna they have fan zones set up where you can go and watch the games. I am living in Vienna but I am also Swiss this creates a little problem when I decide who to cheer for, but they haven’t played each other yet and they have the same colors (plus their flags are the same… Austria’s is just set on its side) so I have been able to keep it in check. But secretly I am going for Switzerland (mostly because their chant is real fun to say “hopp Schweiz!”) The bad news is that both of these teams lost their first games… I was pretty upset.





This last week we didn’t travel anywhere so we got to do a lot of fun things in Vienna. I rode a city bike, which is really cheap and a great way to really see the city. Me and my roommate went to a museum called the Albertina. They had an exibit by a painter, Oskar Kokoschka, who I did a reaserch paper on last semester so it was really cool to see. They also had a paul klee exhibit and one about contemporary art (mostly expressionism) so I got to see some very good art this weekend. I saw Monet’s Water lilies, it was so beautiful and there was a Mark Rothko too, I got lost in it. Plus I got some really cool sunglasses at a flea market. Liebst du mine sonnigbrille?

Venice!

So we went to Venice this weekend, beautiful!
We took the train there! I love traveling by train. i love it, love it. We reserved little rooms and at night we pulled down beds and got to sleep. Ok, so my bed was a little short and I had to sleep diagonally... i don't care. I LOVE TRAINS.
Anyways our group didn't have any plans on wednesday, or any day for that matter, we got to run free all weekend. The first day i spent just wandering the streets with some of the other girls, we ended up at what used to be the Jewish Ghetto in Venice. It was the first in Europe, it was sad but now its is a really thriving jewish community which is cool. The streets of Venice are so cool, i felt like we didn't run out of things to be fascinated by, but our feet got real tired.



After our wanderings we took the boat-bus all the way from the top of the grand canal to St. Marks square. It was so pretty at night, I had fun trying to take pictures of it.
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the next day me and rachel and J. Lo headed out to the islands that surround venice. We went to Torcello first. It is the oldest inhabited island, but it isn't that inhabited any longer. We went there for a very specific purpose though... We sat on Attila's throne. Ya, the Attila...

anyways... the deal with the throne is that if you sit in it you are supposed to be married within the year. So my mom will be excited about that one!
It took quite a while to get around to all the islands but we also visited the island of borrano and mezzerbo. All the houses on these islands were so colorful, I took a ton of pictures. these are my favorites.




Venice was good to me. All of it, even the gelatto.

why does every post end with food?