The Hills are Alive...

...with the sound of music, of course!

This past weekend, Emily and I (...have you noticed that we spend a lot of time together yet?) made the hop, skip, and jump to Austria to spend some time in Vienna. Unfortunately, no time in Salzburg, but that's just another reason to go back to Austria one day.

We left on Friday from SAW (the airport on the Asian side of Istanbul). From where I live, it's kind of a trek (a two hour tour, to be exact) to get over there, but we made it using public transport, only spending 5TL getting there. I do love cheap transport with our IstanbulKarts.

Emily, being the sneaky person she is, got her bottle of water through both security lines until after the second one, the security man took the cap off the bottle. No, didn't make her drink it, just took the cap. Very strange.

Anyways, the flight was relatively smooth and took about 2 hours. There was hardly anyone on the flight so Emily and I each got a row to ourselves and were able to stretch out and look out the window (we flew over Budapest...where I will be in 3 weeks!). What was really surprising was the meal we got on the flight. We booked using a cheap airline carrier and were completely surprised that they served us food, first of all, and second of all, that the food was actually quite good. I'm not sure if my standards for non-Turkish food have dropped while being in Turkey, but I was fairly impressed with the rice-chicken-veggie combo we were served.

Upon arrival in Vienna, we quickly headed through customs for an entry stamp. No questions asked. They actually didn't even look at the photo on my passport to see if it was actually mine. Excellent sign. We found the bus our hostel told us to take towards the city center, and set off. Our hostel (Hostel Ruthensteiner, if you're curious) was located on a quiet side street but very close to one of the main roads of the city. It was a very clean hostel with very helpful staff and fairly inexpensive as well.

After checking in and dropping our bags, we decided (okay, I used WikiTravel and wanted) to see the famous cathedral in Vienna-Stephansdom. We first stopped off and got our first meal in Austria-a chicken schnitzel sandwich, followed by a glorious cup of gelato. Apparently, Vienna has the highest concentration of gelato places outside of Italy. Judging by all of the places we saw while there, I don't doubt it. It was about a 20 minute walk from our hostel to the old city of Vienna, where all the picturesque (okay...everything is picturesque) buildings are. We stopped by to take pictures of the giant Mozart statue in front of the Hofburg Palace and the public library as well as the famous Vienna Opera House (Staatsoper). We also passed by many outdoor cafes in the old city and plenty of chocolate/pastry shops. I knew I made the right decision in visiting Vienna. Once we arrived at the Cathedral, we did the tourist-photography thing but were unable to go up towards the altar as mass was in session.

After heading out of the cathedral, we checked out some local chocolate shops to ensure that we could find good chocolate before we left. After that, things turned into a "oh, that street looks pretty, let's go there!" This led us to the other side of the Hofburg Palace, the building where the Vienna Boy's Choir is, and the famed Spanish stables as well as some other buildings, namely the state building. Needing a potty break, we saw a huge crowd in front of the state building and headed towards it. Turns out, we ran into a national alcoholic beverage fest. Everyone had a beer or wine in their hand, and some people were dressed in what we would see as traditional Austrian garb. Oh, to be in Austria. We also spotted several random people with ski poles/hiking poles/extreme walking sticks.

By this time, we were feeling the pangs of hunger, and ended up having a few photo moments in front of the Austrian Parliament before going off in search of dinner. It was only about 8pm at that point, but most things seemed to be shutting down and my stomach was not happy. Finally, we stopped at a place called "Schnitzelhaus" and gorged on what else? Schnitzel (of the chicken variety). It came with fries and real ketchup, two very rare commodities in Istanbul. Props to Vienna for that. After demolishing our food, we headed back to our hostel and pretty much passed out.

The next morning, we woke up with plans to head to the famed Schönbrunn Palace, a 20 minute walk from our hostel. Before this, we went to the pastry shop near our hostel and tried their version of an apple jelly-filled doughnut. I don't think I can look at a doughnut the same ever again after devouring this glorious object. At the palace we got wonderful student discounts and were able to enter the palace with a complementary audioguide. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures in the palace, but I recommend you use Google Images to supplement your imagination. It was one of the most ornate places I have ever been in my life (including the Ottoman Palaces of Istanbul). After exploring the palace, we walked around the grounds before walking up to the Gloriette, a viewing point that gave us a view of all of Vienna. It was gorgeous! We went to go find our way through the maze on the palace grounds and rewarded ourselves with a bredzel (pretzel) the size of my face. Really. Following this feast, we made our way to the kitchens on the palace grounds. We attended a strudel show, got a free sample of apple strudel (no words. None.) and even got the recipe (Patty-I'm saving this one for you!).

Now that I felt significantly heavier and my jeans were fitting a little tighter, we decided to use the free bike rental system that Vienna offers to get to our next destination-Belvedere Palace (have you noticed the trend?). While I enjoy biking and the city was glorious, only having one gear setting (the highest) and minimal bike lanes did not really make me all that satisfied with my life. Nevertheless, we reached Belvedere, gladly ditching our bikes in favor of our feet. We did not pay to tour the palace but were able to freely walk around the grounds and snap some pictures.

After seeing so many delicious cakes and pastries the day before, we headed back towards the old city and dined on glorious chocolate mousse cakes. Mine (called the Schokobombe) entailed a chocolate cake crust, chocolate mousse, chocolate icing, and chocolate shavings. It was love at first sight. After this, we realized it was nearing dinner time (if we wanted to see the opera later) so we headed for what else? Chicken schnitzel. You really don't understand how much I've missed fries and real Heinz ketchup.

We then headed to the opera house (Staatsoper, legit) and were able to purchase tickets for a mere 3 euro. Okay, so they were standing room only...but still! We were able to attend an opera in one of the most famous opera houses in the world. I am thoroughly impressed with myself here. In between getting our tickets and the start of the opera, we made sure to make chocolate purchases, the real reason for coming to Vienna. The opera itself was sung in Italian and it was entitled "The Elixir of Love." If you know me at all, I'm sure you can tell that I was absolutely a fan of this. The standing room only section actually gave you railings to lean on with translations of the lyrics on a little screen above you which was quite nice. Not bad for 3 euro! After the opera, we decided to call it a night and headed back to our hostel.

The next morning, we got up and made plans for the day: pastry hopping. We started off where we got our doughnuts the morning before. This time, I opted for a croissant which was drizzled in dark and white chocolate and filled with Nutella. Delicious. Emily was not so impressed with her sweet cheese and powdered sugar pastry. I also ordered an espresso, which came with a glass of water. This was my first double shot of the day. Second breakfast consisted of a pastry filled with cheesecake-esque cream cheese and fresh strawberries. Heaven. On the way from first breakfast to second breakfast, we encountered a large pack of people with the strange walking poles I mentioned before. Several of the side streets were barricaded off and the people in this pack were all wearing numbers on their chest (like people in marathons do). Apparently, Vienna just likes to house power-walking races from time to time. After second breakfast, we ventured to third breakfast, where Emily somehow found room in her stomach to eat an apple strudel and homemade hot chocolate. I opted to get a(nother) espresso, this one came with a healthy serving of whipped cream. I suppose I was up to 4 shots of espresso by then and would hate myself later. Oh well, it was delicious and worth it.

Unfortunately, our time in Vienna had to come to an end as our flight left mid-day. We did not have a lot of time in Vienna but I saw all the things I wanted to see with good food. All in all, it was an excellent weekend.

You can check out pictures from Vienna by clicking here

This weekend, my big sister is coming to visit me! Very excited to see her and Ian and show them around my favorite city in the world. After that, I head to Italy for Spring Break, have a week of class, and then go to Budapest for a weekend. Moral of the story: I won't be updating this blog until hopefully after Italy.

Hope everyone is enjoying the (apparently) nice weather back home. I can't wait until it gets to be 70 and sunny everyday...!

Well, I told you that I would fail at updating this

I would start off with an apology for not updating my blog very frequently but I have to say, I did already warn you guys.

That being said, I've been fairly busy with school (gasp. Yes, I actually attend a university) and more traveling/exploring.

The weekend before last (March 25) I did indeed visit Topkapi Palace, the Archaeology Museum, Galata Tower, and Dolmabahçe (Dohl-muh-bah-che) Palace. Topkapi Palace was gorgeous and amazingly extensive in terms of size and the tiles (especially the ceilings) that were housed there. They also supposedly had the Staff of Moses and other religious artifacts that we weren't allowed to take pictures of. Can't say I particularly believe they were able to keep a bunch of bark in pristine condition for several thousand years (especially when it's only been a museum for less than a hundred years). The Archaeology Museum was very interesting but also very extensive. It was kind of like an overload in my brain of artifacts that I wasn't exactly sure of what they were/what context they came from. At least it was free to get into! Galata Tower may just have the best panoramic views of Istanbul and we were lucky enough to go on possibly the best weather day Istanbul has seen since I've been here. I honestly have no words and my pictures probably can't do it justice. Dolmabahçe Palace was different from the stereotypical Ottoman Palace that was Topkapi. It was built at the end of the sultanate in a more European (think of Versailles) style. We weren't allowed to take pictures in it but I highly suggest clicking here to learn more. I also ended up going on a cruise up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea. We stopped at a cute little town (that was obviously infested with tourists) and ate some good, fresh seafood. I still don't understand why they leave the bones in, though. Hello, health hazard. Anyways, we trekked up a very steep hill towards a castle for some more exploring only to find out that the castle was closed. However, the views from the top of the hill were gorgeous and there were hammocks nearby. Rough life.

This past weekend I went with Shannon, Emily, and Kayla (a friend of ours from Columbia) to Antalya, a gorgeous coastal town. We flew (yay no overnight busing!) on Thursday night and had two great days in Antalya. We stayed in the old city which is paved in cobblestone-esque streets and a very touristy, but gorgeous area that seems like it's been pulled out of a movie. We spent a lot of time just exploring the area which was fun.

Friday we were able to walk down to the beach (okay, we actually walked what felt like the entire length of the Antalyan coast..it was several miles). It was about 80 degrees which was a very welcome change from the weather we had been experiencing in Istanbul. The beach was actually made of rocks but it wasn't uncomfortable. Antalya is a very unique beach in that the mountain range behind it literally just drops right onto a beach surrounded by gorgeous cliffs. We were able to spend a couple hours with our feet in the Mediterranean. I got a really cute farmer's tan and Emily, well, Emily may have resembled a tomato for a bit there. We had dinner overlooking the harbor surrounded by cliffs and watched the sun set.

Saturday was a bit rainier which limited our options. We tried catching a bus to a supposedly nearby area with Lycian tombs but because of the windy coastal roads, it would have been a 3 hour bus ride. We decided to instead visit Duden Falls, which were beautiful but somewhat commercialized. It kind of looked like the place where they film those cheesy Irish Spring commercials. Afterwards, we headed back into the old town and did homework on a ledge overlooking the sea. Really the best place I've ever done homework. Not sure anything can come close to that one. We got cheaper dinner and baklava (cause you can't have a day without baklava) and ended up walking down to the harbor to watch the sun set. It was overall a really nice weekend to get away from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul and just be carefree for a bit.

Next weekend (aka this weekend) Emily and I are heading to Vienna for some delicious chocolate and fun shenanigans. The weekend after, my sister and her boyfriend are coming to visit so I finally get to be her tour guide after the time she spent leading myself and my parents around Honduras. After that, it's spring break and I'll be off to Italy! I honestly don't know where my time here has gone but I'm clinging to it. I really am going to miss Istanbul. It will be hard to go back to life in Chapel Hill (though I do miss Chipotle probably more than is humanly possible).

I'll attempt to update this after Vienna with pictures and hopefully good experiences to share!

To check out my Assos (last blog post) and Antalya pictures, click here

To check out updated photos of Istanbul (including things from the last post), click here