That Darn Spirit

This weekend was supposed to be the weekend of my trip to Budapest. And I was so excited to go and experience, and then come back and tell everyone about it! However... over the last week or two I had been having this nagging feeling that I shouldn't go. Of course I tried to ignore it, because I really wanted to go, but in the end there really just isn't a way around the spirit....at least not comfortably. So I finally decided to pray about it, and I knew that I should NOT go to Budapest this weekend... for whatever reason I don't know. On top of that my parents had been getting really nervous about my trip alone (more than usual), and had also been getting strong feelings that I should not go. So after discussing it with them it was finalized that I would stay home this weekend and make my dream trip to Budapest another weekend. :(

Wish I had a better story to tell, but all I can say is... that darn spirit...it'll get ya. :) But as frustrating as it can be, I'm grateful for 'that darn spirit'.... because even though I don't know why, I know I made the right decision.

Bittersweet Birthday Wish

Flora's birthday is coming up in a few weeks. She will be turning 8 on Dec. 6. The other day while we were discussing party plans, and she was showing me all the decorations she wanted, I asked her what she would like for her birthday from me. I personally thought it was a fairly simple question, but apparently I was wrong. Because she then proceeded to spend the next two hours going back and forth and back and forth with a million different ideas. Her list consisted of barbie ponies, horse stickers and posters, games... and thousands of other things I've already forgotten. Every time I thought she had made up her mind, she would change it again or say, "oh I don't know Neecol, it's too hard to decide." To which I would respond, "Flora, it's really ok, you don't have to decide right this second." Finally after literally hours of ping-ponging ideas I thought she'd given up for the day. But then she came up to me again and said, "No Neecol, I KNOW NOW what I wish from you for my birthday....I wish that you never have to go back to America and just stay with me forever."

Martin, Martin...wait... Who the heck is Martin?

For weeks I have listened to Fanny and Christoph sing songs that they have learned in Kindergarten. The main song goes something like "Martin, Martin hat einen grossen Mantel an....." I could never for the life of me figure out why they were singing about a man named Martin who has a big coat. But eventually I figured it out when I had to take the kids to a 'Martin's Fest' hosted by Fanny's and Christoph's kindergarten. (kindergarten here is more like pre-school or daycare) The fest consisted of all the kindergarten kids walking around a huge catholic church with little homemade lanterns and singing songs. After which they went to the front of the church and sang more songs about lanterns and Martin and presented a little production about the holy Saint Martin. And then at the all the parents (or au pairs) would go stand behind their kids, and the kids would take a piece of bread and 'ceremoniously' rip it half and share it with the parent (or au pair). :)

So naturally I was curious about this Holy Martin guy, therefore, I had to look it up.

Martin apparently started out as a Roman soldier. When he was an adult he was baptized a catholic and became a monk. He supposedly led a really simple life and was always kind and generous to everyone he met. But the story that made him famous is the story that he once ripped his large coat in half and gave half of it to a beggar during a really bad snowstorm to keep him from dying in the cold. Later that night Martin had a dream that Christ was wearing the half of the coat that he gave away. He heard Christ say to the angels, "here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized: he has clothed me."

So now St. Martin has an entire day dedicated to him and it is celebrated in many different ways throughout Europe. In Belgium, Germany, Netherland and here in Austria the day is celebrated on the evening of November 11. Children walk through the streets (or in our case huge catholic churches due to the rain) carrying lanterns and singing songs about lanterns and Martin. I still have no idea what the lanterns are supposed to mean, but the sharing of the bread is supposed to symbolize when Martin shared his coat.

Martins fest songs:

Ich gehe mit meiner Laterne

Ich gehe mit meiner Laterne

und meiner Laterne mit mir

Dort oben leuchten die Sterne

Mein Licht is aus,

wir gehen nach Haus

ra-bimmel, ra-bammel, ra-bumm

Martin's Lied

Martin, Martin hat einen grossen Mantel an

...oh dang it...now I can't remember the rest... :)

Laterne Laterne

Laterne, laterne

Sonne, Mond, und Sterne

Brenne auf, mein Licht

Brenne auf, mein Licht

Aber nur meine liebe Laterne nicht

Venice History/Info

Venice was created on a series of mud banks with canals instead of roads, making it truly one of the most unique cities in the world! It was orginally a province of the Byzantine Empire and by the 12th century it was a completely independent city-state. Through its control of the spice and silk trade form the East, it was the richest trading nation in Europe. The canals are lined with many beautiful palaces that date back to the 18th century. Venice's power was beginning to wind down around the 18th century and finally lost its independence in 1797....and has since been somewhat frozen in time.






The Grand Canal-
The Grand Canal weaves through the heart of the city ranging in width from 100 to 230 ft and is approximately 2.5 miles long. It is lined with palaces that were built over a span of 5 centuries, almost all of them bearing the name of a once-great Venetian family. There are 3 bridges that cross over the Grand Canal (...and I'm proud to announce that I've crossed all three!) the Calzi, the Rialto and the Accademia. As stated by the French Ambassador in 1495, the Grand Canal is "the most beautiful street in the world".

Ponte di Rialto


Ponte Accademia


Ponte Scalzi




Gondolas-
Most of the time when people think 'Venice' they think 'Gondola'. Rightfully so because the gondola has been a part of Venice culture since the 11th century and are still extremely popular today! We saw them everywhere! With its slim shape and flat underside it is designed to handle the narrow shallow canals. In the past it was simply a way of transportation but today it is mainly just a tourist attraction, and an expensive one at that!









Basilica di San Marco/ St. Marks Basilica-
In St. Marks Basilica you can find a mixture of architecural and decorative styles from the east and west to create one of the greatest buildings in Europe. Built on a Greek-cross plan, it is actually the 3rd church to stand on this site. The first one was built to enshrine the body of St. Mark in the 9th century but was destroyed by fire. In the 11th century, the 2nd one was pulled down to make room for spectacular edifice that would reflect the growing power of the Republic and it's connections to Byzantium. Many of the treasures, statues, and icons that stand inside were brought to St. marks after the 4th crusade had plundered Constantinople in 1204.

Venezia

As I sit down to write this blog I am so excited and yet a little confused. Excited because the trip to Venice was AMAZING but confused because there is so much I want to say that I don't know where to begin and my head is about to explode. You know how when you forget what you want to say to someone so you say "Oh man, I just lost my train of thought." ? Well, this time I did not lose my train of thought, in fact I'm painfully aware of its location and existence. The problem is that I don't just have one...I have about 20 and they can only go one at a time and, of course they all want to go first. And now (because I've taught them well) they've all lost patience and have all collided!!

*a few minutes later*

Ok, now that I've had a few minutes to clean up the mess in my head... bring on the Venice blog!

Last week my friend Ana Inestrillas, who is also and au pair here and a member of the churhc, suggested we go to Venice sometime because we have both always wanted to go there. Little did I know that she meant this weekend!! After a few days of hesitating over stupid things like time, money, etc... I finally just decided to go! And OH MAN! am I glad I did!

It all started Friday night when I met Ana at the train station after we both got off work. From there we got our tickets and then set off to find our seats on the train. WE were rally hoping for our own compartment considering that we would be on this train from 8:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., 12 hours!!!! ...but unfortunately that was not the case. After a few hours on the train we attempted to sleep but it didn't come easy, partly because we were so excited to get to Venice and partly because we were propped up in stiff positions in a crowded compartment with strangers. so by the time we actually reached Venice the next morning, we had each only gotten about 3, maybe 4 hours of sleep.

Upon our arrival in Venice we were so giddy that our lack of sleep (temporarily) had no effect. As we stepped outside of the train station the whole, unique world of Venice was opened up to us. I felt like I was dreaming as I realized that I was only a few feet away from THE Grand Canal, which I have desperately wanted to see for so long! Although the city is crawling with people, it is still strangely peaceful. Most of the credit, I'm sure, going to the fact that there really are NO cars in the whole city. The only modes of transportation consisted of walking and water-ways. There were so many small ferries, boats and gondolas gliding over the Grand Canal and weaving peacefully through the smaller canals. It was soooo cute!

Most of the cities main sites are located along the Grand Canal so we figured that we would just walk along the side forming the 'S' that weaves through the city from the train station to the Adriatic Sea. However, much to our surprise, there are not always footpaths along the Grand Canal, forcing us to take side alleys (I call them alleys because they cannot be justified as streets_ and across cute little bridges over the smaller canals. Which ended up being great because we not only got to see the sights but got to experience the actual city. Inside the city there are teeny canals and really teeny alleys everywhere! There is no real structure or organization to them and you constantly surrounded by buildings and water, which can and did make it extremely difficult to navigate yourself to the places you go...even with our 'trusty' map.

As we strolled for hours through the city we were offered many gondola rides, but unfortunately didn't have enough money to take them up on their offers. We explored the many great sights that the city has to offer and crossed the world famous bridges know as Ponte di Rialto and Ponte Accademia. We kept busy all day just soaking it all in stopping only to enjoy some authenitc Italian lasagna, pizza, and gelatto...and of course by some cool Venetian souvenirs! :)

Although we enjoyed it thoroughly, by the end of the day our lack of sleep was catching up with us. We were so wiped out from walking miles and miles and miles that it felt like we would never make it back to the train station We were so tired and 'slap happy' that everything we said or did was not only funny but absolutely hilarious! But the two things we found most hilarious on the way back were: 1st- the man that tried to sell us purses of the black market. He was seriously the funniest man I think I've ever seen in my life. He had a really cool Indian accent and would get about in inch from your face ever time he suggested a new price. As if it were a secret. He was so determined to sell us a purse that he weaseled his prices all the way down to 15 euros for a purse that was easily worth 100, and my friend finally just bought it! Of course to anyone reading this, it probably doesn't sound remotely funny...but we laughed so hard that my abs and face still hurt! 2nd- the old man that came up to us and started singing to us in an attempt to give us some true Italian culture! He sang for a good 10 minutes before we were finally able to make a smooth escape!

Now, for one of my favorite parts of the trip... After finally making it back to the train station we were literally praying that we would have our own compartment so we could lay down and sleep...because this would be yet another all-night, 12-hour train ride back to Vienna! We were getting excited with only a few minutes before departure because no one had come to sit with us yet. With literally seconds before departure, just a we were spreading out and getting comfortable...two people came in and completely dashed our hopes of a peaceful ride back. After sitting back up and moving to make room for them we discovered by their 'accents' they they were American. Which usually always makes me smile but we were a little cranky that they had invaded our space. But we began to lighten up when the guy (very good looking by the way) just started talking to us. He asked my where I was from and when I said 'Montana' he just about jumped out of his seat and exclaimed "REALLY?!? WHAT PART?!?!" After explaining to him where Hamilton was he told me that he actually knew where that was! Which is always surprising to me! Being a little intrigued at this point I returned the favor and asked him where he and the girl, his sister, were from. When the words 'Powell, Wyoming' came out of his mouth it was my turn to just about jump out of my seat with an exclamation!! Upon telling him that my parents were form Cody, and I have family in both Cody and Powell we instatnly became great friends! We ended up talking with them, Aaron and Leah, for a very long time about anything and everything! So even though we got less sleep tit was so fun to truly see how small the world can be sometimes! Especially when we need to be small...because to be honest I've needed it lately. Meeting two people from Powell, Wyoming in the middle of Europe on a night train put a huge smile on my face and gave me a great memory of Italy to keep forever!



As bad as I wanted to just dive in...you know I had to at least put my foot in!! :)

For anyone who doesn't know what the Danube is

First of all, for anyone who doesn't know what the Danube is...shame on you! haha I decided to do a blog about the Danube River, (Donau in German) because it plays various roles in European history, economy, and environment... and it happens to flow only a few minutes from my house.

The Danube is one of Europe's longest rivers, second only to the Volga. It's origin rests in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) in Germany (Deutschland). It begins as the two small rivers known as Brigach and Breg, which later join forces near the German town of Donaueschingen and henceforth taking the name 'Danube'. The Danube flows smoothly eastward for approximately 1771 miles leaving its mark in 4 central and eastern European capitals (Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, and Belgrade), and covering parts of 10 countries before spilling out into the Black Sea.

Throughout history the Danube basis has been the site of some of the earliest human cultures such as Linear Pottery cultures, Vucedol culture and many more. It was also part of the Roman Empire's Limes Germanicus. It was often used as a border for the Roman Empire.

Although here in Vienna the Danube is not used for drinking water, it still remains a source of drinking water for approximately 10 million people in other countries. Today it remains a vital part of European transportation by connecting the Black Sea with many industrial centers within Western Europe and the Port of Rotterdam.