Dear Diary, London to Austria

December 29, 2014

Dear Diary, London to Austria

(Excerpt from my travel journal; 24 years old; London to Austria; if you see == within parenthesis, they are comments I'm making while typing this up.):

(==> Photos at the bottom!)

2014 December 18

London

Fortunately, I brought motion sickness pills, because it just started hitting me half an hour before landing. It was about an 8 to 9-hour flight, so I have an hour train ride. Glad I had Contiki buy my ticket in advance. This bag is too heavy, but mostly because of the snow boots. I literally brought the minimum I could bring. We'll see how that goes.

(==> I did the whole trip with just a backpack. In my journal, I already had written restaurant ideas, descriptions of popular foods in Austria, and made tiny, hand-drawn maps, which came in handy. At this point, I'd only been overseas once before.)

Nausea!! Yuck. Plus a little dizzy.

I got vegetarian meals which I requested in advance to make sure they wouldn't be a problem. Ended up getting my meals first. I think with some of this travel time, I may have time to start a novel. Maybe I shouldn't dismiss my ideas so easily. Perhaps it'd be better to just write it all out and then plan it and then re-write it. That would give it the bit of spontaneity people enjoyed from my blogs.

(==> If you read my blogs from back in college, I'm sorry.)

It's become clear to me that I should've looked up how to read the London Underground maps. Trains. Why did I think it was called the tube over here? Well, thanks to my thorough planning, though, I believe I've figured it out! Stupid me for bringing two pairs of new shoes.

Now. So. Hungry...

All these men with their ties. Otherwise, they maintain funny expressions.

Grumble, grumble (<== Doodles... Should I just upload my journal? The doodling is probably half the experience, really.)

Crowded brick houses that are two-stories high. Big junk garden. Messes every now and then. Pastel brick colors. Couldn't figure out the familiar smell. Got it. Grandma's house back when she used to cook in it. But it's an Arab man sitting beside me. I wonder what Picadilly line means. It's interesting to me how apartments here are termed 'flats' when they are far from flat.

An announcer came on, last stop, asking people to leave the station immediately for an emergency, the striped-tie guy got a kick out of that.

Italian Restaurant 1:

Sever asked if I needed to go to the dumpster.

Italian owner swore I was French. They warned me about a shooting in Australia and suggested I stay in London because people in Austria are crazy. Not sure what country they actually meant.

Italian Restaurant 2:

Drank blackberry and apple cider. Posted on Snapchat along with the leafy pizza which I dumped in the cranberry sauce. Yes. Cranberry sauce. Had a slightly spice Roscato ball appetizer. And had take-away dessert of a chocolate trovana, yum!!! (<== Omg, can I please trade places with past me right now?)

Got lost as soon as I got to London. Went down the wrong street. A porter of a hotel/cafe noticed this >_<

2014 December 19

I woke up later then I meant to.

Today was a bit of a mass of randomness. Had toast on egg with a cup of hot chocolate at The Cafe in The Garden. What creative names, huh?

Anyways, I'm on a trip with the tour group right now... I checked out a church and a comedy museum, featuring an 80's film on Tom O'Connor.

2014 December 21

Tyrol, Austria

I was not happy about being on the road for 21 hours. I am actually looking into flights for my return to London. About $200 and a night at a hotel, which means I have a chance at doing the Harry Potter tour, after all! Which makes me super happy. Today, everyone is going up to the ski resort. I debated this as I was getting dressed this morning. Why am I freaking out over going snowboarding? I can do that any winter I want! Once I accepted this and remembered the true reason I'm here, I felt so much stress lift off my shoulders.

(==> By this point, I realized I was sick. This ended up ruining my initial plans for the week of going snowboarding. Paying for the whole week for just a few days didn't make sense. I got a refund from the slopes and just did some solo exploring, instead.)

I plan to draw the town today. While it rests for Sabbath day and tourists are on the slopes. This is my vacation, and it's up to me to enjoy it as I wish to.

With that written! I believe I will do some yoga, go down and finish finalizing some arrangements, and then head into town. Let's see if I can improve my drawing skills ;)

Note to self: Next time, bring a pencil!!

Midday, small cafe in Austria

I thought everything was closed today, but cafes are not. Fortunately, this small town is very friendly to tourists! In fact, as I was drawing that first building, a woman came to ask what I was doing, why was I fascinated with it, and wished me a good time here! This place reminds me a lot of Virginia, actually.

I'm kind of wishing I had my watercolors... of course, I am! The newspapers here are tossed in a bag with a tin cup for the money, no security. I've heard of this before.

The cafe was nice. Latte macchiato, soup, and pizza for 12 euros. Not bad at all. People are very nice, but I do wish I knew more German. Note to self: Learn language BEFORE BOOKING! Ya!

Alright, dinner time.

2014 December 22

Monday Morning

I had told the manager here that I'd go snowboarding today, but again I woke up not feeling it. I don't feel like going to the slopes at all. Maybe part of it is because mom used to take Megan and me. Having a nervous breakdown is the last thing I want!

I think I'd like to just do some yoga, get dressed, and then go out into town again, today. Eat breakfast out there this time, instead of the continental breakfast they have here.

2014 December 24

Wednesday Morning

I never made it back out into town other than for groceries. I've been sick with a fever. Today, I feel relatively well, though.

Owed: 345
Check-in bag: 70
= 415
Airport food: 20
= 435
Exploring tomorrow: 65
= 500 Euro
- 148
= 353 total that I need to withdraw, if possible.

I plan on taking a shower and walking out into town to get what I need. Maybe try to figure out the bus/train thing.

Here to museum: Trainstation Berglift (3 stops) to S6 towards Worgl Hbf to 1c towards Bregenz (2 stops); arrive at Innsbruck Hbf. Walk: head N on Sudtoroller Pl toward Nruneck Str, turn left onto MuseumstraBse.

2014 December 25

Thursday, Christmas in Hopfgarten, Austria

No museum yesterday, I was still too sick. And it's closed today >_<

I remembered at that cafe I went to before that I could print. So I'm checked in early for my flight tomorrow. 1.50 Euro for Internet and to print, but probably worth it in my case. I'm going to be cutting it close as it is. I keep missing the train, though.

My handwriting is getting slightly worse because my fingers are cold. Glad am I to have brought hand warmers! 12 minutes to the next train. There are two sides and I only hope I am on the right side!

(I drew boxes and made an X for each stop to make sure I was paying attention and got off when I needed to.)

Their places of worship are quite beautiful.
Blue house. Many beige homes with brown roofs. Light mint green house. Darker mint green house. Very light pink house. White house, brown roof, brown bakery, light green shutters. Train attendant with a permanent frown. Lots of green grass. <3 skater <3 Lots of brownish-red rooftops. Pile of vegetables beside a garden.

I should learn German and come back. These people are nice. I wonder what they have to say...

Thank goodness I brought cough drops. I only started coughing last night and just a little. If I doodled more, I wonder if I'd get better at drawing. Just journal like this all the time.

Who builds places like these? *Hall in Tirol*

These reflections are making my photography quite noisy. Keeping my tissues in the same pockets as my hand warmers, they become rather heated!

I wish I could draw people better. Then I'd draw her crazy hair with the fluffiness of her scarf and the kindness of her smile.

Well, 2 euros and I've made it to the bus. A kind, old man talked to me, I think about being cold. He smiled and laughed as I bundled up. I smiled, wishing I knew German.

I find some people pronounce it dahn-keh while others pronounce it day-nk-uh

Many religious statues in crevices in buildings.

Frohe Weignachten, Christmas evening

Well, brilliant me, I'm trying to figure out how to get back to the trains.

1st Rough Draft of Blog

"How Not to Speak German"

(==> Apparently, I was planning some blog posts? I'll add it here, anyway.)

I'm sure I've lost my previous devoted readers, due to me letting this blog go stale, so I'm assuming if you're reading this, you already know what this will be about. Just for me in case, though, a brief intro: I'm in Austria.

Now, when I booked this trip, I sort of just jumped into it without doing my research. I never had any curiosity to learn German, but I quickly discovered Austria is a German-speaking country. The few months leading to this trip, I unsuccessfully learned Dytch! (<== no idea what that was supposed to mean)

I walked down the street Sunday morning (all by myself, naturally) and was approached by many of the local, friendly folk, who greeted me in German. I know Halo! for Hi! or even Guten Morgen! for Good Morning! What came out of my mouth each time, though? Spanish. I got nervous and spat out Spanish in a German-speaking country. Now, as it turns out, in Austria, they all know German. Many even speak English, my first language. (<== Why did I say this? It's my only language!) None of them speak Spanish.

IDK what that man's cologne is, but holy hell, he smells good! Um, Mr. Train Man, give me some of that! ... Just kidding... kind of.

Ok, back to my blog...

I am surrounded by meat, which I can't eat because I risk getting sick. (<== I later discovered I'm actually lactose intolerant. How I thought meat was the problem is beyond me.) Which is exactly what happened Saturday, which is why I was wandering around town Sunday, drawing, instead of snowboarding.

On a side note, did anyone know Australians eat lasagna with french fries? BTW, this is what made me sick. (<== I feel it relevant to mention since many people try to correct me and say Austrians are called Austrians and not Australians. My Contiki tour group was full of Australians, from Australia, visiting Austria. So when I said Australians, I did mean from down under and not the German-speaking people whose country I was touring.)

So I draw this bakery and discover I should have brought my pencils and I really wished I'd had my watercolors! Then I discover the similarities of Hopfgarten, Austria and Narrows, Va, USA. I draw some and discover I suck at these up-close angles.

And that even in small towns, everybody here is an alcoholic and they have beautiful cobblestone to massage your feet as you walk.

I go into a small cafe, get an amazing cafe latte, soup (that turned out to be Asian soup), and a meal (that turned out to be a plate-sized pizza... I honestly did not see that coming at all!)

On a side note, again, why are Italian restaurants literally all over the world? They're more populous than Starbucks or even McDonald's (<== I did eat at McDonald's while I was in Austria, on Christmas, when I was starving and a little lost and didn't know where else to go.).

In Austria, I'm stuck in bed getting over my fever, with no TV, I do things like complete this amazing game. It's $3, called Monument Valley, and worth every penny! The puzzles, the design, the subtle storyline, you guys. This game. Somebody! This is what I want to create. A-May-Zing.

Alright, a little background on Contiki. It's really popular with Australians, and so that's who they cater to. I mention this because this is the travel agency I went through and stayed at their hotel which had a bar. My room was just across said bar. So for the next few nights, I discovered all English-speaking countries (including those who 'claim' to speak English, as the many Australians joke about Americans) all play the same god-awful music in the young-generation bars.

(==> Holy crap, was I hating so hard on the music! Now, I'd probably go down and join the party. But I was sick with a fever, so maybe that played a big role in it. Also, most of the Australians there were super racist against Americans, so I tended to keep to myself while I was there. I mean, they were just awful--not all of them, but most of them. I was one of 2 Americans total in the group. The rest were Australians or New Zealanders. There was one guy whom I can no longer remember except that he was extremely nice. When it felt like the others were shunning me, he was extremely sweet. At one point, a group of them were watching Wreck-It Ralph on a laptop by the kitchen area of the inn, which I later found out is a hostel. He invited me to sit next to him. Everybody else gave me funny looks and hushed when I was near, but I sat next to him anyway and watched. I regretted not having kept in touch with him. I do have a few of the girls from Australia on my Facebook, though. Obviously not the ones who were mean to me.)

I would like to take a moment and slap my generation across the face. All the music we have in the world, and THAT is what's popular? We have resources to some amazing tunes... THAT is what we cling to? Really?

Ok, So I finally get back out in the world and discover all the snow I had been missing out on. Austrians celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, though nation-wide, December 25th is the official holiday. Fortunately, I felt well enough to get to dinner at the inn that day, Wednesday, just not well enough to explore the museums that were open. So we feasted!

I tried, but didn't eat the turkey. All this time, the only alcohol I've consumed in Austria was the apple schnapps Welcome shot Day 1, Saturday night. (<== in all fairness, I don't drink when I travel. I did in Chicago, but I was with friends.)

Christmas day, I felt much better! That's today. Although, today for me writing this, not typing this. (<== haha, little did I know...)

Next, I discovered how to miss a train, three times. I figured out the easy 2 euro bus rides, and love, even more, the people here. a man who stood behind me as I talked to the conductor must have heard my awkward "Ambras Scholl?" "Yas, SclooB Ambras..." "Two?" "Ok" and figured out I was new to Innsbruk and to the bus thing, and I spoke English. He made sure to sit behind me and let me know when we reached my stop.

End of Blog

2014 December 26

Friday Morning

Good thing I didn't pre-book my train ticket. My ride took me all the way to Worgl, not to where I was expecting. I didn't have the expected stops written, so I'll write it as I go along.

Jenbach (X) Innsbrook ( )

Well, that was anti-climatic. (<== I guess I only had 2 stops!)

I thought the pictures from the train of the snow would be cool, but I didn't anticipate the fogginess of the snow clouds making visibility less potential. Also, I'm mostly in a tunnel.

Was this the same man with the same jacket and the same black umbrella I saw yesterday?

So, my flight was delayed pretty far back. I may be late for the connection flight. I do hope I make it on time, or I may not be getting in until around 8.

Stuck in Germany. I've completely blown up my daddy's phone, giving him minute-by-minute detail of my trip just to the airport.

The snowfall has cost a lot of unexpected delays. I think I may take a nap. After I finish sucking on this cough drop. The magazine suggests going to Mallorca for winter. Hmm...

"A Winter in Mallorca" by George Sand.

Sauna weekly or bi-weekly over the course of 3 months can help boost the immune system, but don't go in if you're already sick. I wouldn't mind getting back into playing basketball.

After loads of people telling me how others feel about Washington, I finally listened to the Irish man who drove me to the train. It's significant he's Irish simply because he mentioned it being like home. So now I'm finding myself being pulled back into the lifestyle I grew up dreaming about. A pace not too crowded, near the beach, not overly humid, nice waves. Question is, where the hell will I find a place like that? At least, in the USA. I think I gave up on it because I couldn't find it. But maybe I gave up on it too soon.

My New Year's resolution was going to be to record an album. I'm changing my mind on that. Now, it's going to be to find my perfect place. Maybe I'll add on to get lessons in recording and mixing my own music. My musician status has been stale for far, too long.

Waking up with bed rays.

What if you wake up one night in someone else's dream?

Green felt hat.

London

LXV - Catholic Apostles

National Gallery, 10am to 6pm

Her Majesty Theatre, Phantom of the Opera

French Restaurant, Brassierie Zedel

Internet @ Imperial Hotel

2014 December 28

London, Sunday Morning

London has parks and gardens everywhere. I finally walked into a tourist shop and asked for earbuds. I should've said headphones. She thought I said earplugs. Nonetheless, they have a very nice selection of fancy earplugs. (<== Seriously, right now? Oh my!)

I took a long walk to the National History Museum. Found London's Chinatown. Walked through St. George, or some famous church. I don't understand the whole lighting candles thing. I feel like I used to know.

Ate chili, sour cream, baked potato. My breakfast consisted of baked beans. Weird... This morning, though, I had blueberry buttermilk pancakes. yummmm...

So I bought a lollipop at the museum. Note to self: You want a Bohemian leather bag. (<== sadly, still on my wish list.)

The clerk was a jokester. He picked on me for talking softly. Then heard my accent and detected I didn't want to be picked on since I'm from the North East. What does that mean? And why can they never guess I'm American? I should create another persona for myself. People would totally eat that up.

Glad I didn't watch Phantom of the Opera just because I was so tired yesterday. I mean, completely spent.

I like watching the dogs at the parks, though it makes me want one a million times more. I'll be heading up to Newcastle shortly.

The birds are funny. All at once, they relocate to just a few yards away.

I'm typically eating two meals a day. I have a reservation for tonight, though. So maybe I'll actually get three in. Guess that depends on if I eat lunch. I think my hair is long enough, though, that I can start styling it now. For New Years, I think I want to reinvent myself. Or just further my new style, anyway. Bohemian clothes and scene hair. (<== I have no idea what I was thinking...)

I'm right by the Founding Museum. I wonder if they'll let me in with my luggage. Maybe I should visit Nicaragua. (<== the museum did let me in, they just had me store my bag in a room)

Sunday Evening

I got to enjoy the Founding Museum that was right beside the park I was at. Learned about a guy who petitioned for 37 years before it finally got through. There was an exhibition downstairs on a doctor and his collection of art. A lot of art on a few stories. On the second was a pianist and singer practicing. It was beautiful. Then a musician's exhibition on the top floor. I sat in a seat for a few, listening to the stereos of the compositions. It was pretty cool. Then I did end up going to 9 3/4. Had a professional photo taken.

(==> End of excerpt. I am "publishing" this around the date I wrote it, but the real date is 2019 June 18. I didn't write down any of the rest of the trip, sadly. Or if I did, it was somewhere else. I ended up going to Newcastle for just a night or two. I remember thoroughly enjoying it. Then, I continued on, by train, to Scotland. There, I met Amanda, someone who became a close friend of mine recently. We went to a trip in Costa Rica together, despite having not seen each other since this trip. Then, I visited her in Boston. We still keep in touch! Perhaps I'll have her co-write a post with me and we can talk about our New Years trip in Scotland.)