It's Friday
morning here, and I am on the first of three trains to Hallstatt, Austria: east
and south of Bregenz. I have been here a week now, and we have been packing in
the adventures! Classes started Monday, so each day we head to the convent for
a few hours of art history and opera education (not the official title). We are
set free at 2:00 each afternoon, which leaves plenty of time for
exploration.
On Monday we set
out up the Pfänder, which is the “mountain” on the edge of Bregenz. Compared to
the snow capped Alp off in the distance, it’s not a real mountain, but it took us a agood hour and a half to hike to
the summit. The view was breathtaking (ok, it also might have had something to
do with the steep incline and being out of shape), the cows really sported huge
bells, and the valley we beneath us could have been a screen shot from the The Sound of Music. Jumping in the mountain
lake water when we got back down was heavenly.
Tuesday was recovery day from our hike for swimming, gelato, and
exploring. I have a bike now, so I can cover a lot more ground in less time. The
driving style here is… confident, to put it mildly. With all of the tall hedges
and narrow, winding streets, blind corners are more common than not. Austrian drivers
deal with this by pulling halfway into the turn, slowing down a bit, and then
edging in anyway. This makes biking an exciting experience, but I have adopted
tried to adopt their confidence on two wheels; it seems to be working so
far.
my street
A rainy Wednesday left time for homework, Euchre, and patriotic
music, and Thursday dawned with no plans for barbecue or fireworks. In fact, the
most patriotic sight I spotted in Bregenz was an American flag strategically
placed in the hand of the shiny Statue of Liberty in our neighbor’s yard. My
house mom has declared that I am sehr
sportlich after our hike Monday and a long run yesterday afternoon. Most
Americans are nicht sportlich, she
says, which is the general opinion of Americans here: fat and lazy. We have only
experienced warm welcomes so far, however. If the Austrians don’t like us, they
hide it well.
Another four hours left on our train ride… perfect time to knock
out some homework and a nap.
No comments:
Post a Comment