Monday, July 16, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Leaving Vienna
Well our time in Vienna and Europe has come to a close for this summer. After a long and varied day, starting with a tour of the Hofburg and the Sisi Museum, followed by a short visit to the Spanish Riding School and then a tour of Vienna's underground as seen in the movie "The Third Man" (which we watched last night) we put the finishing touches on our time here. Jasmin, the program coordinator, found an excellent restaurant on the other side of the Danube to end the trip and we had excellent Middle Eastern food with a wonderful chocolate dessert and ice cream, sending us off to pack with a full stomach.
I hope that all the students stay in touch and that all will return to Central Europe sometime in the future. Thanks for an excellent trip! When I get back to the US and onto my regular computer I will post all my photos here from the past week. Thank you again for offering your students the wonderful opportunity to travel to Europe and meet such a great group of students.
Stay in touch!
Jeanne and Jasmin
I hope that all the students stay in touch and that all will return to Central Europe sometime in the future. Thanks for an excellent trip! When I get back to the US and onto my regular computer I will post all my photos here from the past week. Thank you again for offering your students the wonderful opportunity to travel to Europe and meet such a great group of students.
Stay in touch!
Jeanne and Jasmin
Vienna Update
Guten Tag from Vienna!
We have been here four days now and our trip is almost over. The time flew by and we have been super busy, hence the lack of posts here!
How to summarize our myriad adventures: we went to many sites related to the Hapsburg family from the Kunsthistorisches museum (the Louvre of Vienna) to their summer residence called Schonbrunn with a zillion beautiful white and gold Rococco rooms to wander through. On Wednesday we went to Slovakia to visit Bratislava, a town about an hour from Vienna, which has not quite made itself ready for tourists after their "Velvet Divorce" from Czechoslovakia in 1993 and the ending of the communist era in 1989. Perhaps one day it will be as splendid as Prague as it certainly has the ability to do so.
Yesterday we had a special tour of the Theater an der Wien, one of the oldest theaters in Vienna, and some of us visited Sigmund Freud's house as well. Later in the afternoon, we had a "breather" from history and visited the Vienna zoo, one of the oldest in Europe, and with three special Pandas, one baby Panda to awe at. A great break!
An excellent addition to the program has been the cooking aspect. Here in Vienna we have been staying at a hotel that is more of mini apartments with a two-burner stove, a microwave, and frig, and small kitchen. Students have, in small groups, cooked together, a sort of progressive dinner for the past two nights and we've had excellent excellent meals. One of our students will definitely be a pro chef in the future, Mason Awe, and last night he made gumbo from scratch. Delicious delicious!
Okay we are off on our last day's adventure here. More tonight. I am having trouble posting pictures from my IPAD here but I will try to find a regular computer and post more soon!
We have been here four days now and our trip is almost over. The time flew by and we have been super busy, hence the lack of posts here!
How to summarize our myriad adventures: we went to many sites related to the Hapsburg family from the Kunsthistorisches museum (the Louvre of Vienna) to their summer residence called Schonbrunn with a zillion beautiful white and gold Rococco rooms to wander through. On Wednesday we went to Slovakia to visit Bratislava, a town about an hour from Vienna, which has not quite made itself ready for tourists after their "Velvet Divorce" from Czechoslovakia in 1993 and the ending of the communist era in 1989. Perhaps one day it will be as splendid as Prague as it certainly has the ability to do so.
Yesterday we had a special tour of the Theater an der Wien, one of the oldest theaters in Vienna, and some of us visited Sigmund Freud's house as well. Later in the afternoon, we had a "breather" from history and visited the Vienna zoo, one of the oldest in Europe, and with three special Pandas, one baby Panda to awe at. A great break!
An excellent addition to the program has been the cooking aspect. Here in Vienna we have been staying at a hotel that is more of mini apartments with a two-burner stove, a microwave, and frig, and small kitchen. Students have, in small groups, cooked together, a sort of progressive dinner for the past two nights and we've had excellent excellent meals. One of our students will definitely be a pro chef in the future, Mason Awe, and last night he made gumbo from scratch. Delicious delicious!
Okay we are off on our last day's adventure here. More tonight. I am having trouble posting pictures from my IPAD here but I will try to find a regular computer and post more soon!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Day 2 Salzburg
Being a Sunday, students were able to have a free am and either sleep in or partake in a leisurely am. Many rented bikes from the hotel and road along the Salzbach River or hiked up to the castle and monastery. Many also wandered through town and took in a nice cafe and ice cream.
We attempted to have a group picnic at 1pm at the Mirabell Gardens, where one scene from the Sound of Music took place, but were moved to take shelter under an archway of the Mirabell Palace as a freak rainstorm hit us. Luckily it passed by in ten minutes and the sun was out again and shining bright and hot for our Sound of Music tour.
From 2 pm to 6pm, students were on board one of the ubiquitious Sound of Music Tour buses replete with a tour guide dressed in typical Austrian clothing and a bus driver that honked at the right points in a Sound of Music song and also sang high notes. We travelled throughout Salzburg and the nearby lake district to look at many of the sights from the movie as well as actual places where the von Trapp family lived. From the gazebo to the church where Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummber took their vows, we saw it all. While many did not like being in the herd of 40 other tourists on a big bus, at least we were able to see the drop dead gorgeous mountain lakes and scenery and sing along at the same time.
Students are off on their own now at dinner and will be back here shortly to pack and get ready for our departure to Vienna tomorrow. I will post more photos tomorrow. More updates soon! Tschus!
We attempted to have a group picnic at 1pm at the Mirabell Gardens, where one scene from the Sound of Music took place, but were moved to take shelter under an archway of the Mirabell Palace as a freak rainstorm hit us. Luckily it passed by in ten minutes and the sun was out again and shining bright and hot for our Sound of Music tour.
From 2 pm to 6pm, students were on board one of the ubiquitious Sound of Music Tour buses replete with a tour guide dressed in typical Austrian clothing and a bus driver that honked at the right points in a Sound of Music song and also sang high notes. We travelled throughout Salzburg and the nearby lake district to look at many of the sights from the movie as well as actual places where the von Trapp family lived. From the gazebo to the church where Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummber took their vows, we saw it all. While many did not like being in the herd of 40 other tourists on a big bus, at least we were able to see the drop dead gorgeous mountain lakes and scenery and sing along at the same time.
Students are off on their own now at dinner and will be back here shortly to pack and get ready for our departure to Vienna tomorrow. I will post more photos tomorrow. More updates soon! Tschus!
Day 1 Salzburg
Hello to all!
We have been in Salzburg now for two days and have gotten some much needed r and r. This weekend retreat in the mountains has been a wonderful break from the hussle and bustle of Prague. Yesterday we left Prague at 8 am, after a short am workout, tugging our luggage 1/2 mile to meet the us on the other side of the river as the driver could not come in the city center and pick us up. We recouped well on the bus and at 2pm arrived in Salzburg after a lunch stop. Students got a quick tour of the town square, with a look at gorgeous castle that looms above the town as well as many Mozart named squares, chocolates, and restaurants. Students had free time to shop and take in Salzburg on Saturday as today most places in the city center were closed. At 5pm on Saturday several of us ventured into Mozart's birth home and looked at relics of the composer, including several pieces of hair and two keyboards he used. Pretty impressive stuff!
Later we went to an Austrian-Mediterrean restaurant and students were able to sample typical Austrian food: from a wonderful noodle dish to turkey meatballs in cream sauce with mushrooms and chives. Super yummy food!
To take in as many sites as possible, we continued our time in Salzburg with a trip to a pleasure palace called Hellbrunn of one of the archbishops from the 16th century. We visited his so-called "trick fountains" garden with a guided tour and got completely soaked. Beautiful grottos, fountains that went off when you weren't expecting, and water powered wooden statues and scenes. It was a feast for the eyes with some suprise moments. A fun evening all together.
We ended the evening watching a portion of the Sound of Music to get ready for the next day's adventure.
We have been in Salzburg now for two days and have gotten some much needed r and r. This weekend retreat in the mountains has been a wonderful break from the hussle and bustle of Prague. Yesterday we left Prague at 8 am, after a short am workout, tugging our luggage 1/2 mile to meet the us on the other side of the river as the driver could not come in the city center and pick us up. We recouped well on the bus and at 2pm arrived in Salzburg after a lunch stop. Students got a quick tour of the town square, with a look at gorgeous castle that looms above the town as well as many Mozart named squares, chocolates, and restaurants. Students had free time to shop and take in Salzburg on Saturday as today most places in the city center were closed. At 5pm on Saturday several of us ventured into Mozart's birth home and looked at relics of the composer, including several pieces of hair and two keyboards he used. Pretty impressive stuff!
Later we went to an Austrian-Mediterrean restaurant and students were able to sample typical Austrian food: from a wonderful noodle dish to turkey meatballs in cream sauce with mushrooms and chives. Super yummy food!
To take in as many sites as possible, we continued our time in Salzburg with a trip to a pleasure palace called Hellbrunn of one of the archbishops from the 16th century. We visited his so-called "trick fountains" garden with a guided tour and got completely soaked. Beautiful grottos, fountains that went off when you weren't expecting, and water powered wooden statues and scenes. It was a feast for the eyes with some suprise moments. A fun evening all together.
We ended the evening watching a portion of the Sound of Music to get ready for the next day's adventure.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Prague Day 3
Hello all!
Well, here we are on Day 3 in Prague and the time is going so quickly. It is a scorcher today and while I write, students are on free time exploring the many sights and sounds of Prague. Today is a national holiday (for St. Cyril and St. Methodius) although you would never know it as tourism is in full swing here. This morning we had a group meeting and went over the journal students are keeping for the trip. We discussed the last days in Berlin and first impressions of Prague. We then talked briefly about the 1960s in Prague and went to the Museum of Communism, a one story museum dedicated to Czech history from 1900 to 1990. With lots of text, pictures, statues of Lenin and pictures of Stalin, a documentary dedicated to the so-called Velvet Revolutions, students were able to make their way through the many changes that happened in Prague's history through the 20th century in addition to looking at artifacts from the time. Here is a link to the museum if you are interested. Ironically, it was funded by an American businessman.
http://www.muzeumkomunismu.cz/articles/newsweek.htm
We then went to lunch at a noodle place (a sort of Pan-Asian restaurant), a type of restaurant that is gaining popularity throughout Europe and afterwards headed to Wenceslas Square where the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Velvet Revolution took place. Students then embarked on more touring of the city on their own and several made their way to the museum dedicated to Alfonso Mucha, the Czech Republic's famous Art Nouveau artist.
http://www.muchafoundation.org/about/mucha-museum
As we speak, they are on a hunt for a Czech food item that is meant to stump other classmates. We await the results of their great race with eagerness
Well, here we are on Day 3 in Prague and the time is going so quickly. It is a scorcher today and while I write, students are on free time exploring the many sights and sounds of Prague. Today is a national holiday (for St. Cyril and St. Methodius) although you would never know it as tourism is in full swing here. This morning we had a group meeting and went over the journal students are keeping for the trip. We discussed the last days in Berlin and first impressions of Prague. We then talked briefly about the 1960s in Prague and went to the Museum of Communism, a one story museum dedicated to Czech history from 1900 to 1990. With lots of text, pictures, statues of Lenin and pictures of Stalin, a documentary dedicated to the so-called Velvet Revolutions, students were able to make their way through the many changes that happened in Prague's history through the 20th century in addition to looking at artifacts from the time. Here is a link to the museum if you are interested. Ironically, it was funded by an American businessman.
http://www.muzeumkomunismu.cz/articles/newsweek.htm
We then went to lunch at a noodle place (a sort of Pan-Asian restaurant), a type of restaurant that is gaining popularity throughout Europe and afterwards headed to Wenceslas Square where the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Velvet Revolution took place. Students then embarked on more touring of the city on their own and several made their way to the museum dedicated to Alfonso Mucha, the Czech Republic's famous Art Nouveau artist.
http://www.muchafoundation.org/about/mucha-museum
As we speak, they are on a hunt for a Czech food item that is meant to stump other classmates. We await the results of their great race with eagerness
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Hello from Prague!
Hello from Prague!
As I am sure your students have already told you, we have all fallen in love with the city and are ready to book a trip back here next year for more time. It is such a gorgeous city and despite the throngs of tourists, we are loving every second. Yesterday, the group got up at the wee hour of 6:00 am in Berlin to department for Prague (via Paris) by 10 am. A hassleless journey and we made it here around 4pm. Our hotel is smack dab in the center of the city, two minutes away from the Old Town Square. We can even hear the famous clock tower ring from our hotel rooms! After resting up a bit, we ventured out in the town square and students did a mini scavenger hunt to find 5 items located around the main square. At around 6pm, it began to pour and we all found ourselves in a portico resting out from the downpour looking straigt up at the astronomical clock tower and got to see the changing of time at every hour with a little dance from the wooden puppets attached to the clock and a trumpet call. After this, we took an elevator up to the top floor of this very tower and were afforded spectatular views of the city. The sheer number of red tiles, church spires, and gilded roofs was an amazing site.
We then embarked on a dinner of typical Czech food: goulash and dumplings and went to bed happy but tired!
Today we got up early to walk off some of the dinner and visit the huge Prague Castle complex on the other side of the town. With a local guide, we received a tour of St. Vitus cathederal where several of the Hapsburgs who used to rule the city are buried and several chapels dedicated to national saints can be found. This is the cathedral of the Czech Republic and we learned why. We next visited several rooms of the palace attached to the cathedral and ended our tour with a quick glimpse of the changing of the guard ceremony. Students had free time afterwards and several of us took up some suggestions given by the guide to wander around this more quick side of Prague. We visited the gorgeous Baroque extravaganza of the St. Nicholas church, got a bagel sandwich at Bohemian Bagel Cafe and then walked along the cozy and beautiful island of Kampa in search of a UNESCO World Heritage Site where a wooden statue of the historical figure of the infant Jesus of Nazareth is found. Apparently it has miraculous qualities (with a special story attached to it) and again we were stunned by the ornate Baroque interior. We next moved onto a museum dedicated to the life and words of Franz Kafka and wend our way back to the hotel for some free time. Our stomach was calling again at 7: 30pm and we were all well fed at the famous Cafe Louvre where the likes of Kafka and Einstein once dined (but at separate times of course).
Tomorrow we are back in the realm of the Cold War with a visit to the Museum of Communism in Prague in the am followed by a trip around Wenceslas Square where both the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Velvet Revolution of 1989 took place. Students will then have free time and many will attend various musical events in town tomorrow. It is incidentally a national holiday tomorrow so we might all land up at a spontaneous culture event too. Stay tuned!
As I am sure your students have already told you, we have all fallen in love with the city and are ready to book a trip back here next year for more time. It is such a gorgeous city and despite the throngs of tourists, we are loving every second. Yesterday, the group got up at the wee hour of 6:00 am in Berlin to department for Prague (via Paris) by 10 am. A hassleless journey and we made it here around 4pm. Our hotel is smack dab in the center of the city, two minutes away from the Old Town Square. We can even hear the famous clock tower ring from our hotel rooms! After resting up a bit, we ventured out in the town square and students did a mini scavenger hunt to find 5 items located around the main square. At around 6pm, it began to pour and we all found ourselves in a portico resting out from the downpour looking straigt up at the astronomical clock tower and got to see the changing of time at every hour with a little dance from the wooden puppets attached to the clock and a trumpet call. After this, we took an elevator up to the top floor of this very tower and were afforded spectatular views of the city. The sheer number of red tiles, church spires, and gilded roofs was an amazing site.
We then embarked on a dinner of typical Czech food: goulash and dumplings and went to bed happy but tired!
Today we got up early to walk off some of the dinner and visit the huge Prague Castle complex on the other side of the town. With a local guide, we received a tour of St. Vitus cathederal where several of the Hapsburgs who used to rule the city are buried and several chapels dedicated to national saints can be found. This is the cathedral of the Czech Republic and we learned why. We next visited several rooms of the palace attached to the cathedral and ended our tour with a quick glimpse of the changing of the guard ceremony. Students had free time afterwards and several of us took up some suggestions given by the guide to wander around this more quick side of Prague. We visited the gorgeous Baroque extravaganza of the St. Nicholas church, got a bagel sandwich at Bohemian Bagel Cafe and then walked along the cozy and beautiful island of Kampa in search of a UNESCO World Heritage Site where a wooden statue of the historical figure of the infant Jesus of Nazareth is found. Apparently it has miraculous qualities (with a special story attached to it) and again we were stunned by the ornate Baroque interior. We next moved onto a museum dedicated to the life and words of Franz Kafka and wend our way back to the hotel for some free time. Our stomach was calling again at 7: 30pm and we were all well fed at the famous Cafe Louvre where the likes of Kafka and Einstein once dined (but at separate times of course).
Tomorrow we are back in the realm of the Cold War with a visit to the Museum of Communism in Prague in the am followed by a trip around Wenceslas Square where both the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Velvet Revolution of 1989 took place. Students will then have free time and many will attend various musical events in town tomorrow. It is incidentally a national holiday tomorrow so we might all land up at a spontaneous culture event too. Stay tuned!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
7/1/2012
Hello from cool weather Berlin,
Well the forecast for today's weather provided us welcome relief from the sun and humidity of the past several days. We awoke with a clear blue sky, however clouds headed in and some wind, providing a nice reprieve for the day. We started the morning, after our typical German breakfast of bread with different types of jam, yogurt, assorted fruit, and coffee (the hotel as a machine that makes either espressos, cappuccinos, or mochas...our students are loving these), with a talk about the start of the Cold War from Dr. Arthur Kian, Abbey Road´s director who stayed with the program for the past 24 hours. He spoke about the effects of the Yalta Conference and the development of the two superpowers after WWII. He also gave insight into life in the USSR as he grew up in Soviet Russia and told students about his schooling and daily life hardships under a totalitarian regime. Afterwards, we walked about 12 minutes up the street to Bernauer Strasse, where the official Berlin Wall Memorial is found. Our group met Angelika, a local guide, and we toured the memorial complex, replete with a reconstruction of the two walls, the so-called death strip, a memorial church, and a tower overlooking the structure. We then ended by watching a short documentary about the wall, its construction and how it was torn down.
Next, we headed down the famous Unter den Linden Boulevard and had lunch right next to the Berlin Dom at a Thai restaurant and students had free time to explore the area. Many went to the local Sunday market right behind Museum Island and several went back to the German History Museum to see a free exhibit about the DDR. We then met Dr. Kian again and visited the sensory over-loaded DDR Museum, where students could see, touch, and experience life in East Berlin during the Cold War. From crawling in a trabant, sitting in a replica 1970s kitchen, to looking at typical food and all sorts of various artifacts from the time períod, students learned that life in the DDR came with serious sacrifices. Students had the task of being photojournalists, finding and taking a picture of 3 artifacts from the museum that they felt were really shocking or stood out to them as something that fully encapsulated communist East Germany.
Departing from the Cold War, we moved onto the trendy Hackersche Hof area where students had dinner on their own and then met up either to watch the final Euro Cup Soccer Match or see the whimsical and quirky Moonrise Kingdom.
Tomorrow, students can sleep in and we will spend our last day in Berlin seeing some of the big highlights: the Pergamon Museum (with the famous Ishtar Gate), Brandenburg Gate, and the Reichstag. Students will have free time in the afternoon do so some last minute shopping, pack, and rest up for their departure for Prague the next day. We have an early morning flight and will need to stop over in Paris before heading to Prague. Stay tuned for more information on the last day of Berlin!
Well the forecast for today's weather provided us welcome relief from the sun and humidity of the past several days. We awoke with a clear blue sky, however clouds headed in and some wind, providing a nice reprieve for the day. We started the morning, after our typical German breakfast of bread with different types of jam, yogurt, assorted fruit, and coffee (the hotel as a machine that makes either espressos, cappuccinos, or mochas...our students are loving these), with a talk about the start of the Cold War from Dr. Arthur Kian, Abbey Road´s director who stayed with the program for the past 24 hours. He spoke about the effects of the Yalta Conference and the development of the two superpowers after WWII. He also gave insight into life in the USSR as he grew up in Soviet Russia and told students about his schooling and daily life hardships under a totalitarian regime. Afterwards, we walked about 12 minutes up the street to Bernauer Strasse, where the official Berlin Wall Memorial is found. Our group met Angelika, a local guide, and we toured the memorial complex, replete with a reconstruction of the two walls, the so-called death strip, a memorial church, and a tower overlooking the structure. We then ended by watching a short documentary about the wall, its construction and how it was torn down.
Next, we headed down the famous Unter den Linden Boulevard and had lunch right next to the Berlin Dom at a Thai restaurant and students had free time to explore the area. Many went to the local Sunday market right behind Museum Island and several went back to the German History Museum to see a free exhibit about the DDR. We then met Dr. Kian again and visited the sensory over-loaded DDR Museum, where students could see, touch, and experience life in East Berlin during the Cold War. From crawling in a trabant, sitting in a replica 1970s kitchen, to looking at typical food and all sorts of various artifacts from the time períod, students learned that life in the DDR came with serious sacrifices. Students had the task of being photojournalists, finding and taking a picture of 3 artifacts from the museum that they felt were really shocking or stood out to them as something that fully encapsulated communist East Germany.
Departing from the Cold War, we moved onto the trendy Hackersche Hof area where students had dinner on their own and then met up either to watch the final Euro Cup Soccer Match or see the whimsical and quirky Moonrise Kingdom.
Tomorrow, students can sleep in and we will spend our last day in Berlin seeing some of the big highlights: the Pergamon Museum (with the famous Ishtar Gate), Brandenburg Gate, and the Reichstag. Students will have free time in the afternoon do so some last minute shopping, pack, and rest up for their departure for Prague the next day. We have an early morning flight and will need to stop over in Paris before heading to Prague. Stay tuned for more information on the last day of Berlin!
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