Harrison's Travels.....

Sorry I haven't kept up with the blog very well.  It's been hard not having easy access to a computer. 

 

We arrived at our little guesthouse last Sat. afternoon and we've been on the run since.  The guesthouse is so traditional looking with flower boxes, etc.  The owners are so happy to have us.  It is a family run business and the father speaks no English at all, but every morning he'll say to all of us 'Morgan America!'.

 

We have visited the Borg, or castle, the Salt Mines, Mirabelle Palace & Gardens, Twila's host family from when she was a student here, Mauthausen, the concentration camp and an exchange student, Christian's house for a cook out.

 

It was a steep climb to the borg which sits on top of a mountain above Salzburg, but once you get there the view is magnificent.  The entry ticket allows you a tour of the castle, the museum and other things. 

 

The salt mines were lots of fun.  We rode a rail into the mine then went on a walking tour for about an hour and half in the  mine.  There we went down two rail slides and took a boat across the underground lake.  We were sorry to leave the coolness of the mine and go back into the heat and humidity.  The mine is accessed high in the mountains where there were beautiful green meadows with wildflowers and trees surrounding it. 

 

Mauthausen was a ver sobering experience.  I don't think any of the students had been to a concentration camp before and they said it was a very valuable experience.

 

Twila, one of our students, was an exchange student here a few years ago, so her host family invited us all to their house which is by Wallersee ( a lake) for a cookout of kabobs, pork cutlets and salad.  it was great.  Some of the students went swimming in the lake after dinner.  The next night, some of the students went to Christian's house which is right over the Austrian Border in Germany for another cookout and swim at a water park.  Christian is a student at SUU as well and they were all happy to see each other again.

 

The students are starting to leave for the last part of their trips to Europe.  Some are going on to other places to meet up with friends and family and some are going home.

 

We have enjoyed this study abroad program as much this year as  in other years.  The kids have been cooperative and responsible and that always makes for a lot of fun.  The weather has been hot and humid.  While the rest of us are us are sweating terribly because of the humidity, Molly, our student from Boston, has remained cool as a cucumber.  This humidity is nothing she told us.  I'm glad I'm not going to Boston this summer if that's true!

 

Thanks for coming along with us on this 3d SUU German Study Abroad Program.  We hope you've enjoyed reading a little bit about our activities and we've had a great time experiencing them.

Well, we're winding down our stay in Vienna.  This week we did our last two culture classes.  I have been asked how we do the culture classes since the students are divided into two groups for their lanugage classes.  We take the afternoon group on the tour in the morning and the morning group in the afternoon, so Jim does the culture class twice each time.  He also does two classes a week.

 

This week we toured the Belvedere Palace, a beautiful palace built right in the heart of Vienna for Eugene of Savoy for saving Vienna from a Turkish invasion.  The palace was built in the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries.  It looks a little like Versailles.  It has an upper and a lower part to the palace with French gardens in between the two.  Eugene lived in the lower Belvedere and used the upper and more ornate palace for receptions, etc.  

 

Thursday we took the students to the Vienna cemetery which is huge.  There are many different sections in the cemetery, Jewish, Russian, public officials, etc.  The one that we were interested in was the musician\s section where Brahms, Beethoven, Schumann, Hugo Wolf and the Strauss' were buried.  There is also a Mozart memorial, but no one is really sure where he was actually buried because he was buried in a pauper's grave.    There is a beautiful chapel at the cemetery which is very large.  There is a lot of gold leaf mozaic in it which is breathtaking.  The students all really enjoyed visiting the cemetery even though some were a little hesitant at first.

 

The students are finishing their language course today and we will be leaving for Salzburg tomorrow morning.  They are all looking forward to going to Salzburg, but would like to stay in Vienna a little longer too.  They have all have a fun experience and are so glad they have had the opportunity to come on this Study Abroad Program.

 

 

Hello Again:

 

Jim got permission to get the students out of class at ActiLingua last Friday so that we could get an early start on our weekend in Prague.  We left on the 10:04 train from the South Train Station in Vienna and arrived at the Holesevica Train Station  in Prague after 2. We arrived in a downpour so those of us who took our umbrellas were really glad!  The students stayed in Plus Prague, a youth hostel.  The hostel was clean and the students seemd to think it was okay. There was even a pool at the hostel where two of our girls went swimming!

 

 After getting the students all checked in and settled, we all went our separate ways and explored the beautiful city with the Charles Bridge, the astronomical clock, the Prague Castle, Kafka's house and many other wonderful sites.

 

Saturday's weather was better, it was cloudy, but it wasn't cold and there was a small drizzle for a few minutes, but no downpour until later that night.  On Saturday, the students that went with us to the castle were lucky enough to see an exhibit with birds of prey that they were allowed to hold, for a price, and that was a lot of fun for those who held the birds.  Gabe held a huge Horned Owl with big orange eyes, and Meredith held a barn owl that was more her size.

 

After seeing the birds of prey exhibit, we went to the inner courtyard of the castle where we watched the changing of the guards.  The change lasts about 15  minutes and is really interesting.

We weren't able to go into the castle cathedral because the line to get in was so long that it wrapped around the back of the church.  But we walked through the castle and took pictures of the outside of the cathedral while Jim explained about flying buttresses and how and why they are so important in the construction of the huge cathedrals.

 

We had lunch at a charming little outside cafe.  Charming until we got the bill, that is.  There was a 25 crown per person "cover charge" and they charged us 200 crowns or about $12 American dollars, for a liter of water.  Of course we didn't know the water was going to be that much until we got the bill.  It was a real learning experience, but the food was good and the company even better.

 

After touring the castle we went to the beautiful and touristy Charles Bridge.  It's a gorgeous cobblestone bridge with many large statues on the sides and it was very crowded. But it was worth fighting the crowd to cross it.  After crossing the Charles Bridge, we took the students to an outside market in Wensceslas Square where they had a good time looking and buying a few souveniers.  Then the kids went to do some REAL shopping and Jim and I just roamed around.  Everyone seemed to have a really good time in Pragu and were really glad that we went. 

 

We left to come back to Vienna on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.  It as raining again when we left Prague and it rained on us all the way to Vienna, where it continued to rain all night.  Being from the southwest, rain is an exciting thing, so no one minded getting a little wet.

 

Today everyone is back in class and tonight we are going to a concert at the Golden Hall, a beautiful concert hall where the Vienna Philharmonic plays. 

 

This week we will be taking the students to the Belvedere Palace and the cemetery where Strauss, Brahms, Beethoven, Hugo Wolf and many other important Viennese citizens are buried. 

 

Hi everyone:

 

We've had several experiences since I last wrote and I'll share a little bit of what we did.

 

Last Saturday we visited a house that Beethoven lived in during the summer of 1802 in Heiligenstadt, a suburb of Vienna. Beethoven went there when he found out he was going deaf.  He believed that the deafness was from something that would prove fatal, so it was in Heiligenstadt that he spent his summer and wrote his final testament or will.  When he discovered that the deafness wouldn't be fatal, he returned to Vienna and composed his 3d symphony which was really the beginning of Beethoven's music that we now know.   We also went up the mountain from Heiligenstadt to Kahlenberg where we had a fantastic view of the Vienna basin.  It also was where Jim explained some of the battles between the Austrians and the Turks when the Turks tried to invade Austria. 

 

Sunday the Brückner Mass in D Minor was being performed at the St. Steven's Cathedral.  It was also Pentecost or Pfingsten so it was a long Mass and a Cardinal presided and gave the sermon.  The music was beautiful and the chapel was packed.  Afterwards, those who chose to, went to an LDS Sacrament meeting.

 

Tuesday the students didn't have class at ActiLingua because of Pfinsten, so they explored Vienna on their own.  Yesterday Jim and I took them to see the Hofburg or the Hapsburgs winter palace, the Karlskirche and the Nasch Markt.  The Karslkirche is the best example of the Baroque style architecture of the 360 churches in Veinna. It's undergoing renovation, so we didn't go inside, but it is a beautiful building. 

 

The Nasch Markt is an outdoor bazaar with lots of different kinds of foods, beverages and other items being sold. It was fun to walk through and see everything that was being sold and accept a few samples of the interesting food they sell.

 

We hope all is going well where you are and want you to know the students are having a wonderful time exploring Vienna.

Hi Again:

 

Today was the first culture class and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.  The skies were blue, the sun was warm and there wasn't a raincloud in sight. 

 

Our first stop was at the St. Stephan's cathedral, which was started in the year 1137 and was completed sometime in the 17th century.  It's undergoing some repair and maintenance work right now, so there is scaffolding around the south tower and half of the front is covered as well.  But it's still a beautiful cathedral and the inside is as remarkable as ever.  Prof. Harrison explained about many of the aspects of the church which made it more interesting.

 

Our next stop was at a clock that is a fun thing to watch. There are12 figures of different famous people, one comes out and crosses the front of the clock every hour.  At noon, all twelve figure cross the front of the clock and there is music with it.  It's on a side street, so it would be an easy thing to miss unless one was told about it.

 

On to the oldest Roman church in Vienna, the St. Ruprect.  It is very small and not at all ornate.  There are some small stained glass windows, but that is all the ornamentation there is in the church.  It's quite a feeling to know that the Romans used this little church all those years ago to worship.

 

We finished with the Schottenkirche, a church that the Irish built years ago.  The celts and quite an impact on the area here.

 

The students are enjoying their German classes and are learning a lot.  Everyone says their apartments are comfortable and they like the accomodations.  So all in all, things are going well with the students.   They are excited to be here and we are so glad to have them here.  Each one is a delight and their enthusiasm is contagious!

 

Thanks for your support and we'd love to hear any comments you'd like to share.