Gondolas, Glaciers, and Goulash: The many joys of Innsbruck!

My trip to the Alps starts and ends with an 8 hour bus ride. We left on Thursday afternoon after school and arrived at the hostel in Innsbruck, Austria around 11pm. It was too bad that our drive into the Alps was in the dark, but we got to see our fill of the mountains during the weekend and on the drive back to Florence.

Friday morning I got up at 7am (a normal wake-up time for a ski day) and had breakfast in the hostel, they had Smacks cereal, yummy! Left the hostel at 8am and went to the rental place. The rentals were pretty cheap. I got skis, boots, poles, pants, and goggles for 2 days for 56 euros, not too bad. But the boots HURT so bad. I have never been in that much pain from skiing before. I tried to loosen the boots to make them more comfortable but that was really hard on my ankles. The skis were also too short. Nevertheless, it was all completely worth it, because I skied the ALPS! Anyways, it took about 2 hours for all 80 people to get their rentals and we had to leave together to get the mountain even though we were in two buses. Finally we made it to the mountain and got to ski! It was so much fun! I can’t imagine many things that would have been better than skiing. I felt so bad for all the kids on the program who never learned how to ski or snowboard so they either didn’t go on the trip to Austria or went but couldn’t ski. The mountain we went to that day was Axamer Lizum, and it was used during the 1964 Winter Olympics. Pretty sweet!

Had to take a picture of this before skiing down my first run.

I conquered that!

Snowbunny pose!



Innsbruck, home of the 1964 Winter Olympics, and here's the sign to prove it!

Friday night Peter (he is the travel director for Gonzaga-in-Florence and about the greatest person I know) arranged a group dinner for all of us that included Tyrolean dancers. The dancers were fantastic! The men wore lederhosen and the women had these beautiful dresses with full skirts that spun out as they twirled round. They danced so much! I do not know how they did not get tired! The girls spun around and never got dizzy and the men clapped and clopped and did some amazing high kicks! At one point they brought out a log, two axes and saw for the “Song of the Woodchopper.” The food at dinner was absolutely delicious too! And, it turns out that Innsbruck is Peter’s hometown. He was so happy during the dinner, and he really enjoyed showing us Innsbruck.

Peter said this was the song of the millers, hence the white hats and aprons.

Apple strudel!

Saturday there were two options, we could either go to Kitzbuhel to watch the World Cup Ski Race or go with Peter to Stubaier Gletscher, a 10,000 foot glacier for a second day of skiing. I went to the glacier and it was amazing! We had to take the public ski bus there so it took a long time to get there, but that was just part of the fun. It took almost 3 hours to get there because we had to make stops at other places and change buses once. The bus took us by the landing spot for paragliding. That was certainly a sight to see! Once we got to the glacier and rode the gondola up to the top it was like being on top of the world. All you could see for miles and miles and miles in every direction is mountains; it seems like they just go on forever. I’ve never seen anything like that before. The second day of skiing was so much better the first. We were completely above the tree line though, which is not at all like the skiing back home. I guess in the Alps it’s rare to ski below the tree line. But the snow was great; the runs were so fun and even though the dang rental boots hurt like heck, I was so happy to be there. Also, because of the ski race, there was almost no one on the mountain. Both days we almost never waited for a chairlift. I also had a pretty sweet wipeout that included a face plant into the snow and the “hike of shame” to get the ski that popped off 10 feet up the mountain!

Riding the gondola higher and higher.


This guy knows what's up.
On top of the glacier. It was the highest mountain around that area we all felt on top of the world from there.


After my sweet crash!

For dinner a group of us went downtown to a restaurant by the Golden Roof. (The Golden Roof is the most famous sight in Innsbruck, built by the Hapsburgs.) The dinner was again great. I had beef goulash with dumplings; along with a locally brewed beer. I wish this trip hadn’t been so short, we only got to see Innsbruck itself in the dark, and it was such a cool town. People from all over the world go to Innsbruck to ski and snowboard. I also think Dad and Nick would have loved it there, I so wish you guys could have been in Austria with me! I mean there was no one to make the hardboiled eggs that we need for skiing, right Dad? I did, however, out of habit have a candy bar in my pocket to let is freeze while I skied. But since we were getting to the mountain so late everyday I didn’t really need that 10:30 candy on the chairlift before lunch.

The Golden Roof



Enjoying my goulash and beer at the restaurant in downtown Innsbruck.

Sunday morning it was unfortunately time to pack up and head back to Florence. The drive through the mountains was absolutely breathtaking. All the little houses nestled up on the hills, it was like Heidi (sort of).

The bus ride was more eventful than normal. We had to stop in some town in northern Italy because a girl on the bus had to go to the hospital (she is okay now) and Federica from Student Life had to get off with her so it was just us and the bus driver for the second part of the trip. We also watched ConAir to fill up time.

I have decided that global warming sucks. All the postcards and pictures show snow in Innsbruck. There was none in town for us though. We had to go to such high elevations to get to the snow, even though it is January! I have heard that Europe is getting warmer more so than other places. But Dad told me that Oregon is having a really good snow year, so that is good news for us Oregonians!

Next weekend I am going to Venice for Carnevale!

I am pretty open this semester travel wise. Does anyone have any good suggestions for places that are not expensive to travel to? I want to go to Scotland. I am also hoping for Copenhagen, Denmark and maybe Switzerland or Munich. I also am going with my school to Southern France and Vienna, but I have a lot of open weekends right now.

Thoughts on Travel....

I found a copy of the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die in my Pensione. I looked through the book to see all the places I’ve been so far:

Before this trip:

1. Grand Canyon, Arizona
2. Red Rocks, Sedona, Arizona
3. Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
4. Pacific Coast Highway, California
5. Cable Cars, San Francisco, California
6. South Beach, Florida
7. Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
8. Maui, Hawaii
9. Oahi, Hawaii
10. Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
11. Las Vegas, Nevada
12. Route 66, Albuquerque, New Mexico
13. New York City
14. Oregon Coast
15. Lewis and Clark Trail (Columbia River Gorge), Oregon
16. Crater Lake, Oregon
17. Willamette Valley, Oregon
18. Nashville, Tennessee
19. Park City, Utah
20. Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington
21. Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois (I think I was like 6 or something and we were only in Chicago for like a few hours, but I remember we went up in the tall building and went to see the painting with the pitchforks.
    

During this trip:

22. La Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium
23. Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany
24. Capri, Italy
25. Pompeii, Italy
26. Amalfi Coast, Italy
27. Quadrilatero, Bologna, Italy
28. Ravenna, Italy
29. Rome, Italy
30. Sistene Chapel, Vatican City
31. Cinque Terre, Italy
32. Florence, Italy
33. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
34. Anne Frank House, Amsterdam, Netherlands
35. Red Light District, Amsterdam, Netherlands
36. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
37. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
38. La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
39. Picasso Museum, Barcelona, Spain
40. Castle District, Prague, Czech Republic
41. Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic
42. Old Town Square, Prague, Czech Republic
43. Rynek Glowny, Krakow, Poland
44. Wavel Hill, Krakow, Poland
45. Beijing Restaurants (Peking Duck), Beijing, China
46. Forbidden City, Beijing, China
47. Great Wall of China
48. Victoria Harbor and Peak, Hong Kong, China
    
    

But a good lesson I have learned this year is to never let a book or magazine tell you what you want to see in the world. Yes, Rick Steves has some good suggestions, but have to take charge of your own travels and see the world on your terms. But many of the places I have been are not on this list of the 1000 Places. For example, the Isle of Elba is still one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been and hiking up Monte Capanne was one of my favorite experiences of this whole year. But I have never seen Elba in a single travel guide. Also, the visit to Auschwitz during Opening Tour chilled me to the core, I would think a place that has such an effect on a person should be included on the list of 1000 Places. And also, Bosnia is such a beautiful country and Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast is breathtaking. There is no replacement for talking to people in person about the places they have been, that is the best travel advice you can get, and it’s free too.

I am happy that Oregon had several spots on the top 1000 Places, but having lived there for basically my whole life, I know there is so much more to Oregon and it shouldn’t matter that only 4 of Oregon’s treasures on the list. I would still take Mt. Hood over pretty much anything. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, I don’t care that I probably will never see most of those places the guide books tell you to go. That’s someone else’s list. I have my own.

Taste of China

This is a long one guys, a day by day look at my trip to China, with pictures!

Dec 22: I called Mom and Dad in the morning and then my brother. I haven’t talked to Nick the whole time I’ve been gone, so it was really nice to be able to talk to him on my birthday. I’ve never been away from my family on my birthday before and I never in my wildest dreams thought my 21^st birthday would be on an overnight plane to China. It was a very uneventful birthday, as far as 21 runs go. The only drink I had was the glass of wine on the plane with dinner. But I can’t complain about it. I feel so lucky to be able to live in Italy this year and travel to places like China, so sometimes if I get the short end of the stick (like missing my birthday) I just have to roll with it.

Dec 23: Landed in Beijing in the morning and even though we all were completely exhausted the tour guides took us to lunch before going to the hotel. Our first meal in Cina was good. We never ate anything too weird on the trip. Most of the meals were provided on the trip and so someone else chose what was served to us. (I discovered that I like peppers now.) At the hotel we had about an hour to rest and then went to the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was our first time seeing tradition Chinese architecture, so it was very enjoyable. There was a big park area where retired people go to exercise. There’s also the temple part, travelers aren’t allowed in it, but we could look through the windows. A lot of the places we went in Beijing were like that (blocked to the tourists) and after a while all the architecture started to look the same: red buildings with dragons on the roofs, red for good luck and fortune! Most were one store, except the temples, those were three. After the Temple of Heaven we had a little more time to rest and then had dinner at the hotel. One of the memorable dishes from that dinner was duck fat in a pumpkin. No one really ate that one. I had a piece of cake later on and called it my birthday cake. No candles or singing though.

Temple of Heaven:

Dec 24: Went first to the Forbidden City. It was where the emperor lived with his entourage (including 1000s of concubines), so the normal people were forbidden from going in. There was a really sweet moat around it too, and really high walls. We walked all the way through it, which took us through several corridors, squares, temples, bedrooms, old trees, and more. In one of the squares it had bricks layered 8 feet deep because the emperor was afraid of people tunneling under and coming after him. He was a bit paranoid I think. It was also very, very cold that day. Well, it was pretty cold most everyday we were in Beijing. On the other side of the Forbidden City is Tian An Men Square. It’s a very large square, but there wasn’t a lot to see there, except the GIANT picture of Mao. All the tour guides in China referred to 1949 as “liberation.” I guess when you start with imperialiam, communism could be liberation. We walked across the square and then went to lunch. On this trip it seemed like it was always time to eat. We would go somewhere and then eat and repeat that pattern for days on end. After lunch we went to the Summer Palace. It was most impressive and was situated right on a lake. We were there on a foggy winter day so it wasn’t as great as it could have been. Before dinner we had planned to go to mass, but the church was already completely full half an hour before it was set to start. So we left and went to our dinner of Peking Duck. After dinner Fr. Paul have mass at the hotel for us. In our hotel rooms everyone found a panda bear from Linda, the trip organizer as a Christmas present. It was very sweet.

Mr. Mao from Tian An Men Square

Forbidden City. There were tons of sqaures and literally hundreds of buildings that looked like this one.



Imaging my life at the Summer Palace. (Side note: Angie thats the scarf you gave me for my birthday, I love you!)



Story of the "Monkey King," Superman of ancient China, as told on the Corridor of the Summer Palace.

Dec 25: We went to a university in Beijing and met with some local students and teachers. One professor gave a lecture about calligraphy and it was actually pretty boring. But we had lunch at the university with students studying English which was fun. I talked to a woman named Judy who wants to go to California or Utah to do Chemistry research. Quite the ambitious woman! That afternoon I went to Kung Fu show! It was almost like a musical, there was singing and the show had a plot line and everything. I thought it would be like a demonstration so I was really excited about the show when they started singin. The King Fu was really good, it was almost like a dance. I loved it! Afterwards, they took us to dinner. The dinner was ok, but the best part were the cookies! It’s not Christmas without some cookies after all!

Dec 26: Went to the Great Wall of China! This was definitely a major highlight of the trip! On the drive over we went past some of the Olympic stuff they are building: the Water Cube and Bird’s Nest. The summer Olympics are going to be very interesting. Olympic stuff is all over the place in China, the people here want it so bad, and they got it. But the pollution really will be a problem. At the Great Wall we got to walk along it. The wall runs along the mountains so it’s all stairs, making it more of a climb than a walk. After the wall, they took us to lunch and then gave us the option of going to the Silk Market or to the Ming Tomb. I chose the market. People who went to the tomb said we didn’t really miss anything anyways. The silk market was about 6 floors of people selling fake things. I bought some fake Puma sneakers for 55 yuan (7 yuan - $1). I also bought make-up, chopsticks, and fake Burberry scarves. You have to barter with the people too, and pretend to walk away and then they call you back and you get the good price. It took us a while to learn the process and most everyone got had on the first item.

Video of me Acting out Mulan:

Video Shout-Out to my Asian Friends:

Dec 27: Flew to Shanghai, had really bad food on the plane. In Shanghai the guides took us to the Bund and then Nanjing Road, the main shopping street in all of China. I didn’t buy anything though. But I did get an ice-cream cone from Hagan Daas. Delicious! The hotel we stayed at in Shanghai was the nicest. I’m wearing the hotel slippers from there right now actually.

Dec 28: Another university visit. This one was a lot better than the first one in Beijing. My conversation partner was a really sweet girl named Fannie. She took me around the school on a tour. We also had a basketball match with some guys and a few girls from our program playing against a team from the Shanghai University. Our team won, but that doesn’t mean we were better players. The GiF team was good at getting the ball and made the Chinese team run a lot. But we shot and missed way more than they did. After the basketball we had dinner with the students. Fannie bought me tea as well.

Fannie and me watching the basketball game.

Dec 29: Slept in a little bit and they took us to lunch at Mongolian BBQ, a much appreciated break from Chinese food. It was almost exactly like Chang’s Mongolian Grill in Portland. The Mongolian restaurant was in the same building as a cashmere factory. They did to us a lot, the tour guides would take us to lunch and dinner in a restaurant that was owned by a pearl/silk/cashmere/enamel/embroidery factory, it got pretty old. After lunch we went to the Old City and the Yu Gardens. The Old City had a Starbucks and lots of shopping. The Yu Gardens were so pretty! If I had a lot of money, I would want something like that in my yard: bridges over a peaceful pond with koi fish. After dinner we went to an Acrobatic Show. It was mind blowingly amazingly incredibly awesome! I didn’t know people could seriously do things like that!

Old City

Yu Gardens

Dec 30: We went to a really tall building in the morning. The 4^th highest in the world and next to it they are currently building the next highest in the world. From up on the observatory level we could see the whole city. Shanghai is HUGE! And for anyone who’s seen Mission Impossible III, I saw the tower he jumps from and lands on up close! After the tall building (Jin Mao Tower) we got to ride the Maglev train to the airport. It goes 430km/hr! Fun! The plane landed in Hong Kong in the evening and we had dinner at the hotel. After dinner I went with some people on a walk around the city. We walked pretty far and took the metro back to the hotel. This hotel was actually in a good location, GU usually puts us in weird places, so this was good. Hong Kong metro is really nice too, it even has air conditioning and is super clean! The stations are huge, they have to number the exits so you get out at the right street.

In Mission Impossible III, Tom Cruise jumps off the biulding with the red dot to the one with the slanty roof.

Posing with the Skyline at the harbor.

Dec 31: The tour guides took us over to Hong Kong Island to visit the Stanley Market, Aberdeen and Victoria Peak. I bought a Rubik’s Cube at the Stanley Market for really cheap, a lot cheaper than in the US or Europe. Aberdeen was a supposed to be a fishing village, but it was more of a tourist spot. People were out on the beaches in swimsuits! It was that warm in Hong Kong! I still wore like a sweatshirt, but I felt plenty warm. Our final stop at Hong Kong Island was riding the tram up Victoria Peak where we could see the island the peninsula on the other side. Back at the hotel I did not feel well at all, so instead of celebrating New Year’s, I went to bed. Oh, woe is me!

The Aberdeen Fishing Village on Hong Kong Island.

View from restaurant at the top of Victoria Peak.

Jan 1: I went shopping like Angie told me to! I walked all over the place and it was great. I went to the Jade Market and the Ladies’ Market. I walked along Nathan and Canton Roads, the main streets for shopping. I didn’t really buy that much stuff though. It was a lot cheaper in Beijing and they don’t bargain as much in Hong Kong. Compared to Beijing, Hong Kong was more like Las Vegas than China. In Hong Kong everyone has air conditioning (even though it’s January) and in most of Beijing and Shanghai they don’t even use a dryer to dry clothes. I wonder what the global impact would be if those 15 million people in Beijing and 20 million in Shanghai bought dryers. So thanks for the global warming Hong Kong! (JK, its mostly America’s fault) In Hong Kong, kids from my school were all so excited to eat at places like Outback Steakhouse and see so many Starbucks (which I had my fair share of hazelnut lattes). The only American chain we have in Florence is McDonalds, and there’s very few of them. I do find it a bit odd that China is more like America than Europe. Thank you British people for colonizing Hong Kong!

Jan 2: Came back to Florence. The plane ride from Hong Kong to Frankfurt, Germany was over 11 hours! Easily the longest plane ride of my life! But I have realized that fighting jet lag is easier going West than East, so I’ll be ready when its time to come home to the Portland!

Chinese words I leared:

Hello: Ni Hao

Yes: Sur

No: Bu

Thank you: Shi Shi

and I can write/draw exit.

Also, there's a TON more pictures (ok, 88 more) on Shutterfly. So you can enjoy even more of my trip to China!

http://jessgiveup.shutterfly.com