Vienna (Wien) - June Half Term

Sunday 3rd June

Left the college relatively early to catch my flight to Wien today. I got to the airport (gatwick) way too early and had to wait three hours for my flight! Now that was a long time but what made it worse was the flight was delayed by an hour! I was already getting pretty edgy by this point becasue I had been sitting so long... Anyhows finally got to walk to the gate and get on the plane just to sit a little longer...
The best ahdn't come yet... When I thought I only had another 3 hours on the plane.. We sat on the tarmac for an hour and a half waiting for a new slot to take off. I seriously must be bad luck for everybody else who is trying to catch the same plane as me. I always seem to having issues at airports, one way or another. Anyway, took off, had the most turbulent flight, and arrived in the city of Wien. Caught the Express CAT train into the city and started wondering. Couldn't figure out how the streets worked - they were numbered as well as named - or where i was supposed to go so after about an hour, I had to ask.For those who know me, I don't like talking to strangers on my own (STRANGER DANGER!) so was a tad embarrassed. With directions, a tube ticket and some sense of where I was, I found my hostel in time and had a bit of dinner and a look around the area.I was able to order dinner and get what I wanted which is always good! Gnocci Pomodora. Went for a walk and found a church, it was just the beginning of some amazing buildings!
Decided to hit the sack early as I had lost so much of my first day, I wanted to get up early the next day.

Moday 4th June

Today started with a trip (accidentally) past Parliament. I didn't go in beacuse it looked like there were massive school groups and what not going on, but it was so pretty. Gold Leafed, lots of statues - obviously lots of stories.Went for a walk through Volkgarten and saw lots of buildings lead onto it including the Koftbergtheater and there were so many statues and a massive rose garden. Volkgarten overall was small but so pretty.

 
I then went for a walk through a heap of little streets (I was trying to find Am Hof - but not successful). Eventually I did a loop and ended up back at Koftbergtheater and saw Rathausplatz as well. Both, magnificently grand buildings! Inside Rathausplatz was an amatuer art amrket which had some amazing pictures!

Koftbergtheather

 Rathausplatz

I then walked towards the Rooseveltplatz which I sure would have been amazing but it had so much scaffolding with advertisement you couldn't see half of it. I continued and after looking for Am Hof again I decided to leave it and go towards Michaelplatz and Hofberg Palace.

Some massive buildings around here, a lot in sandstone and marble. They all have such intricate detailing and I am surprised by how much gold leaf there is on the buildings. All the engraving on the outside and painting/embroidery/work in general is just simply amazing. It makes our houses back home look boring. By now it was absolutely pouring down with rain so I went to buy myself an umbrella and found one that had this sign:

I laughed so hard in the shop when I saw this that people actually stopped and stared... oops :) As the rain continued to pour, I ran into the Albertina museum which had a display called 'Monet Bis Picasso'. I decided to check it out. Yes Mum, I went into an art gallery. :) For some reason being an international person and under 19, I got free entry. Yay me! I saw Monet, Picasso, Degas & Munch, and some other amazing people's work that I can't remember off the top of my head.

I then went off and just across the road was the Opera House, just in time for a tour.
Some facts you may not typically know:

• part of the building is origial, but most rebuilt after WWII when the place was bomed directly on the stage.
• The two architects both died before the first performance. One due to Tuberculosis, the other commited suicide after critics were puttin ghim down as the building apparently was not grande enough on the outside.
• there is one room which leads into the most elegant box in the house. It is known as the Emporer's Room as this was the place he would be during intermission and no one else was allowed. He often went into this room as he didn't particularly like Opera. He would start his night in the box as people came into the auditorium so they could see him and then once the performance had begun he would disappear into the room to have some tea.
• The Emporer's Room can be hired by the public for intermission but it costs €500 for the 20 minute intermission and people still need to get there, go and buy their drinks, come back, and then leave again to find their seats before the show starts again. So it's really only used for special ceremonies and occaisional conferences/receptions.

The whole building is incredible and well worth a tour.

 ROH

 Entrance

 Emporer's Room

 One of the 4 waiting rooms/bar rooms that can hold 500+ people.

After the Opera House, I walked through a very busy shopping street and ended up finding Stephansdomplatz. The Cathedral was breath taking. All the windows were covered in cellophane and there were lights on the statues and aimed at the windows and the sun coming in the windows made the place look so colourful and ... the list goes on really. If anyone ever goes to Vienna you can not miss this place! I took video because there was too much to see in a single photograph!

After sitting there for the best part of an hour I went to Peterskirche which was another massive Chapel. it was so full of engravings, gold leaf and pictures it was simply stunning. There was a service going on and I just couldn't help but listen to all the prayers - even recite some myself (when I could find my place in the service).

As it was getting close to 6pm I headed to a place called Weiner Stadtbrau where I got a Wiener Schnitzel, as I had been told by many I must seeing as I am in Austria. I also ordered a Wiener Apfelstrudel but they didn't have any in so decided to get that at another point.

It has been an absolutely amazing trip and I haven't even mentioned the Hostel yet! Westend City Hostel - cheap but really nice. Definitely worth the recommendation. Slightly out of the main city but within short tube/tram ride of all the main areas in town.
Lots of thinigs I didn't get to see in Vienna but there is always next time eh. national History Museum, National Library, Schloss Schonbrunn, Ferris Wheel in Prater, Mariatretzplatz, (have a proper look at) Heldenplatz, Karlzplatz, and the castle which is slightly out of town.

Tuesday 5th June

I decided very late last night that i wasn't going to catch the first train to Prague as I still wanted to see a few things. So woke up and headed towards the National History Museum as I couldn't seem to find it yesterday. Turns out I was standing right behind it. But the silly thing is, it was closed... on a TUESDAY! Anyways...

Saw everything in that area without the rain and headed back to get my bags and go to the train station. I got my Apfelstrudel here and got on the train. I was in a compartment with a lovely Czech couple and even though we did not speak the same language we got the drift of each others conversations and thoughts and laughed all together. This is why I love language.
I got into Praha and it took kme about 45 mins to find my hostel and when I got there I met a Ukrainian who lives in Poland and she gave me a 20 minute walk to give me bearings. On the way back to the hostel I got some dinner and had an early night.

Quick Overview Summer Term, Lancing College.

There is probably so much more stuff that I haven't written but this will do:

Week 1:

• Inset Day
• So good to finally have people around, nearly went insane with a week by myself.
• Tennis season has started, and well... I'm crap!
• Short Weekend - discos, chapel, making sure nothing is to out of control etc.

Week 2:

• Babysat Lewis on the Saturday night and met some of Kelly's friends - Chez, Jo, and Frankie.

Week 3:

• Thursday night I went out with the gappers into Brighton.
• Saturday was Open Morning. I had to take a family around which was really hard because I didn't actually know where the places were that the student wanted to go to.
• Exeact weekend so all the kids had gone places, and I babysat on the Saturday night for the Norris'.
• On Sunday I went to Frankie's birthday (as mentioned above) in the mind that I would be face painting but didn't have to do it eventually, so just had a few drinks. :)

Week 4:

• Got really sick again... Don't think I am ever going to get over this illness.
• I ended up having duty this weekend so I couldn't go to the Six60 Concert in London... :( Didn't get my money back either.... hmm

Week 5:

•  Was a very tough week. I wasn't the happiest of chaps.
• Sometimes the lesson learnt is you need a little selfishness.
• We went to the farm for the Outreach program this week. Roseanna and I got chased by a sheep and I got attacked by a Rabbit. I still have a scar 5 weeks later.
• The weekend was exactly what I needed though.. I went to London with Morgan and Ross for my birthday and it was just so good :)

Week 6:

• Junior School Play - Maskerade. Was really well done.
• Senior house Tennis - Handford did really well.

 Week 7:

•  Had a lot of meetings this week.
• Finalised all my half term plans about 3/4 days before I left.
• Founders Day: Chapel, Awards ceremony, Drinks in House
• Half term began!!!!!! .........

Scotland!!!

Saturday:
Went to Gatwick airport nice and early this morning - well left the house early anyway. I was waiting for Sian for quite some time when I started feeling a bit weird and felt that time was starting to become restricted. Finally realised that I was actually the one in the wrong and was at the wrong terminal.. Oops :) Anyhow, Met up with Sian and we checked in, went through Duty Free and finally boarded the plane. Was a bit of a bumpy flight but overall not so bad. Sian an I drank Sparkling Rosé however many km's in the air, but Sian was disappointed that she had not been asked for ID as of yet. The deal was we would have at least one drink a day and hope that she would get asked for ID eventually :)

When we arrived in Aberdeen Sian (not Gwynnie) and Lloyd picked us up and we headed back to the house and I met the rest of the family, Dylan and Martin, and their dog Molly. Lovely lovely lovely people. Went for a walk up the hill with Molly and had a bit of a look at where we were in comparison to our surroundings. It was really windy so we didn't stay up there too long.

For the evening, we went into Aberdeen and went shopping for a little bit - got another Jumper that wasn't "ugly". I could actually wear it out to dinner if need be - and then we headed off to Wagamama's for dinner. Was my first time there (I know we have it back home, I had just never gone), but was very good and very yummy :) :)

Had an early night as we were going Mountain Climbing the next day!

Sunday:
So today we climbed Lochnagar which was amazing. :) Was very hard but so very much worth it :)
It was incredibly windy when we were going up there, to the point we had to sit down a number of times so that we didn't get blown away. :)

Monday:
To be brutally honest I can not remember for the life of me what we did today. (I should really have typed this up earlier. oops ).

Tuesday:
We head to Edinburgh today. We got on the Red Bus Tour and saw the beginnings of Edinburgh.Went to St James Church and I got to get my readings for the week, seeing as I had missed Chapel for two weeks (which just felt really weird).

We then went to Edinburgh Castle. It was a beautiful place to see although very windy and it was hailing like crazy!!

We only did half the tour before we head back to the Bank Hotel where we were staying. We ordered Cheesy Chips and head up to our rooms to start getting ready for a good night out. Looking absolutely gorjus we headed off to dinner at Howie's which was a lovely suggestion made by Sian (R). Many glasses of Champagne and 3 courses of goodness! We then headed back to the Bank Hotel were we were downstairs for predrinks and a pub quiz. We met up with a couple of Sian's friends from back home and they joined us for the Quiz. The Aussies did not come last!!!! :) (by 3 points). After a few drinks and a non-win/non-lost pub quiz we headed to the Beehive. I have to say, I was not the biggest fan of this place - felt like I was dancing with a lot of underaged people (AND I'M NOT THAT OLD!). So we headed back to the Bank Hotel for a few more drinks and some suggestions on where to head. It was then we headed to Stinky Pete's. I really enjoyed this place: small, chilled music and lots of people dancing. Not sure what happened but we ended up leaving and heading back, unfortunately the wrong street was taken by the leader and we nearly ended up at Edinburgh Castle. But it was all good and we went back to our Hotel for a few more drinks and then Sian was off to the Beehive again. I was not as keen anymore and so Sian and I headed to our room. Sian fell asleep straight away and I stayed awake most of the night. Could not sleep for some reason.

 Wednesday:
Woke up feeling somewhat OK this morning after the night we had... I'm loving the fact that I don't get hangovers, or if anything I am just a little more tired than usual. Got back on the Red Bus Tour and kept going around Edinburgh. The weather since we had been there had been so drastically odd. One minute it would be so sunny we wanted to take off our coats and literally the next, we would be hailed upon, and then it would be somewhere between sleet and snow. The weather just could not make it's mind up. Anyhow, we headed to a few places along the way today - House of Parliament, The Fudge Factory, Children's Toy Museum, Workers Museum and a few shops as well ;).We decided that the weather had gotten the better of us, and sat at the train station for about 2 hours whilst waiting for our train. Once we got back to Aberdeen it was a restful night watching movies and whatnot.

Thursday:
We slept in quite late after our trip to Edinburgh. In the afternoon we went for a walk around an old castle which was gorgeous. Very small considering how many rooms were supposedly in it and how many people would have stayed there, but very pretty. :)
Tonight we met the Tuesday club. It is a group of people (most weeks just the mothers) who used to meet up on a Tuesday every week for a good old chat. Now it's on a Thursday but it is still called the Tuesday Club.Anyhow, we met quite a number of people who were all just so lovely. Sian and I went to the Pub and later on, the Casino, with the younger guys. Was a pretty chilled evening. :)

Friday:
Today was a lazy day really. We didn't do too much. We watched movies, slept, ate - all the usual lazy day things that you do. Later on in the afternoon, Sian and I were asked to go out into Aberdeen for the nightlife, celebrating Craig's birthday. Let's just say it was a messy night. Very good though, no fights or passing out people just a lot of alcohol and a lot of laughs. :)

Saturday:
Even though last night was a massive night, it didn't stop me from getting up early and getting on with the days doings. We went to Dunnottar Castle which was on the edge of the ocean. It was so pretty and I think we must have walked around there for a few hours!! After this we went to the beach. It was very pretty but once again, it was stones! We had some amazing hot chocolates and icecreams on the beach too. They were HUGE!!!

 

Sunday:
EASTER SUNDAY! Well we went to Church this morning (nearly said chapel) and it reminded me heaps of the church we went to in Wagga. :) It was really nice to be in that atmosphere. We got lots of chocolate from the Roughtons and I made sure to give everyone chocolate too. It was a lovely day. In the afternoon we went into old Aberdeen around the University and went for a walk in the direction of Seaton Park. It was a very beautiful area. I realised how morbid I am though. I really enjoy walking around graveyards, learning about the holocaust, knowing about the white people taking over the Aboriginals and the Dutch taking over the Africans has never failed to intrigue me.

We then went  to Aberdeen beach, but by this time it had started raining so we didn't get out, we just drove around. Was a very chilled day, but reminded me a lot of home and celebrations back there.

Monday:
Today we went shopping in the morning to get a few things for Sian to take to Greece with her and to get Lloyd some new shoes. We got some lunch and then headed home. In the afternoon we went flower shopping with Sian and helped her get some flowers for spring. :)

Tuesday:
Today was the day we had to pack up and say goodbye. The flight home was pretty good and the air hosts were hilarious. They were talking to myself and Sian quite a bit, and they made some funny remarks. Overall this trip was so good and I am very glad to have been able to go somewhere just to chill out and relax. A big Thank You to the Roughton's for their amazing hospitality. I will make sure that I come and see you again at least once :)