february break

February break is getting a little long here. I traveled the globe for two weeks and then returned to Salzburg, where winter is fully active. It won't stop snowing, which is getting quite bothersome, especially since I don't have a bus pass.

So I've stayed inside a lot, sleeping, watching movies and browsing the Internet. Life's pretty boring after my adventure.

But as for my adventure...

I was in London for the great snow storm, which caused the city to shut down, more or less. This was quite bothersome for me. But alas, I was able to do a couple of things I wouldn't have done otherwise, like go to Paddington Station and see Paddington Bear and have innumerable hours available to work on my essay that was due the next day.

When I finally made it to Dublin, I was worn out and not at all impressed. I don't have much to say about the city, other than Guiness tastes better there. And the hamburger I had for lunch was quite fantastic. The hostel wasn't too shabby either, so I was able to get some good sleep.

But the tides turned against me and the one to two inches of snow canceled my flight back to Salzburg. So I spent the night in the Dublin airport, which I wouldn't recommend to anyone. But with my expensive Lufthansa flight to Athens the next morning at 6:45, I was able to finally make it to Athens. We didn't leave Dublin until 8:30, after being de-iced and tugged from our berth. We were one of the last three planes to leave the airport for the day.

Athens was much better. The weather was glorious. It was sunny. It was t-shirt weather. There weren't very many tourists. The food was outstanding. I got to sleep in a nice bed. The Acropolis was unbelievable.

And then we got to Santorini, where most places were closed, because it was February. We managed to entertain ourselves well enough, go to sleep before 10 and be followed by stray dogs at least once a day. The bakery there was probably our favorite place, but the beach at Kamari was also quite fantastic. We were all set to get off the island, when we found out our ferry had been canceled. Fortunately for us, there was already a ferry at Santorini, waiting to go back to Athens. YAY! So we bought new tickets for this ferry and departed around 7 p.m. The ride was supposed to be 10.5 hours. It lasted 12. Sleeping on the ferry isn't as bad as sleeping in the airport.

We went shopping on our last day in Athens, and then headed to the airport. The bus ride was excruciatingly long, but we finally arrived, only to find out that our departure time had been changed, and we weren't notified. And then it was postponed, so we left Athens about an hour after our original time. But we left.

So here are the links for a couple of columns, along with some photos from the trip.

Column 16: Taking a bit of Bowling Green to East Europe

Column 17: Almost done with finals and London's calling

Column 18: Snow and being an American create problems in Dublin, London

Column 19: When traveling, Murphy's Law is the only thing that will hold true

Column 20: Two weeks into her month long break, Alison discovers it is possible to become bored in another country

The British Museum

The Natural History Museum

At the Prime Meridian in Greenwich

At the Tower of London after the snow

The gardens at the Museum of Modern Art in Dublin

The Temple of Hephaistos

The Parthenon

The Temple of Olympian Zeus

Hadrian's Library

Roman Agora

Kamari Beach

Sunset in Fira

The Red Beach

Giants rocks of lava at the Red Beach

Keramiekos Cemetery

the final stretch

I have one more week of classes here, and then I'm off to travel the globe. I'm starting in London, then going to Dublin. Journey number two starts in Athens with some days spent in Santorini. After that, I'm not sure what's happening, but I know I'll be going to Linz and Mauthausen with some Austrian friends of mine, and we should also go on a snowboarding trip.

Today my art class had an excursion to Schloss Leopoldskron, the palace that is the back of The Sound of Music house. It was really nice to see inside because the palace is private property, and there are no tours given.

Here are some photos:

From the fence at Schloss Leopoldskron

We had a special guest last week from the U.S. Flat Stanley came to visit and we went snowshoeing



Another Sound of Music moment, the Felsenreitschule in the Festspiel Haus

Overlooking Graz

An ice sculpture in Graz



The Bicaz dam in Romania


Stefan the Greatest's tower in Piatra-Neamt, Romania


Last, but not least, is the link to column 15: A Romanian Christmas and an Austrian New Year

a bit more on christmas

This past weekend I day tripped to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It was quite charming in the evening, especially because of the Christmas markets. I also saw the market at the Rathaus (the local government building) in Vienna. This market is huge and incredibly decorated.

The Rathaus decorated for Advent with the market in the foreground.

Cedric in front of the president's house in Bratislava.

Cedric with some Slovakian money. This currency will be exchanged with the Euro on the first of January.

The little bit of snow we had last week in Salzburg.

Snow on the Festung.

And the latest column: Noisy (former) Yugoslavians and odd expressions

more oktober columns and pictures and some from november, too!

Since my last update, Cedric and I made a second trip to Vienna for a Cardiac move concert, visited his gnome relatives in Mirabell Gardens and went to Venice, Italy, where Cedric had a small stay in prison. Check out the photos and read the columns to hear about all of those adventures and more!


In Piazzo San Marco

At one of Venice's many canals

The second night's sunset


In prison in the doge's palace in Venice


The sunset from Murano our first night in Venice


The Cardiac Move kitchen


Gnome buddies!





Column six: Oktoberfest: the first of many adventures

Column seven: Cupcakes, Oktoberfest and other Austrian fun

Column eight: Slow down you crazy child, Vienna is waiting

Column nine: Getting the sniffles in Austria

Column 10: Train rides, rock shows and elections abroad

columns and pictures

Finally, I'm getting some pictures and columns up on the blog. The Internet wasn't working the greatest last night, but it's better today!

This first picture is of Cedric on the train when we finally got seats. We are on our way to Salzburg for the first time.

Here we are at Oktoberfest in the Hacker-Festzelt tent.


This is at our second journey to Oktoberfest on Sunday, 28. September. Behind Cedric are the masses of people.


On Monday Cedric and I went for a walk down Hellbrunn Allee and found Frohnburg, the palace that was used for the front of the von Trapp house in "The Sound of Music."


Here is Cedric at Mirabell, with the Festung and gardens behind him. This was after our first big bike ride.


We continued our journey across the river and stopped for another photo.



And here are some column links:

Column three: Packing the essentials; books and snowpants

Column four: Final auf wiedersehens have been said, Austria here I come

Column five: Six days to Europe and a computer meltdown

the rest of the new york city columns (10 and 11)

Column 10: Ways to see NYC on a budget

Column 11: Leaving the hustle and bustle


At IKEA in Red Hook, Brooklyn, at the new park at the Navy piers


At Trinity Church in the Financial District



On Liberty Island with the Financial District in the background


Visiting the Statue of Liberty


At the Top of the Rock looking south

column nine

Here's column nine: The amazing adventures of the side show.

And some pictures:

Going to see Wicked:
Dancing on the Big keyboard at F.A.O. Schwartz:


Hanging out in Bryant Park before the summer classic movie starts:


At Coney Island: