So Prague was great, except we almost didnt get there! Tess and I were on the train platform at 7:50 am ( our train left at 8), and it was perfect timing and all the other trains were on time, but of course when it was time for our train it wasnt there. Needless to say, we werent happy. So we went down to the ticket station and because we had bought our online, they said they couldnt do anyg for us and would have to buy another ticket and to fill out a refund form so we MIGHT get our money back... we asked for the manager. He gave us new tickets for free an hour and half later than we were supposed to leave. No problem. So finally we got to Prague, and spent the evening walking the city and seeing all of the famous sites! We stayed at a really nice hostel about 10 minutes from the center of the city. On Sunday, we got up early and went back to all of the main places ( Charles Bridge, Astronomical Clock, Old Town Hall Square) and also took a tour of Prague Castle and the Jewish District (saw the older synagogue in Europe). Then made our way back to Vienna!

While I was there I actually really missed Vienna.. it was weird but I'm glad to be back! Work is going well. I am working with PACT these next two weeks (cancer.iaea.org) and helping them out with fundraising. Other than that I am enjoying my free time! It finally just got warm out and I'm working all day so i can't go enjoy it! =( but i love it here.

I'm off to Budapest with Tess on Saturday! Can't wait to tell all about it!

p.s. my pictures from Prague are on my facebook. I will try and put them on flickr when i can.

Well this week has been quite the rollercoaster ride for me. I got into Pitt on Friday and had my heart broken on Monday and slow days at work. But, I am doing ok and am ready for a good weekend=) I'm really happy I have such good friends here. The Laurens both have people coming in this weekend so the apartment will be a full house! Should be fun. I'm staying in Vienna tihs weekend and then next weekend is Prague!!!! I am super excited about that. I can't wait =D

off to work I go...have a good weekend..ill give you an update on Sunday!

hey everyone!

So I didn't end up going to Budapest this weekend, but I still had a good time. I was really tired from the week beforehand and just needed to relax. So I did!! Last night, I went ice skating in front of the Rathaus, which was incredible. It had been in the high 50s/low 60s in the beginning of the week so we didn't plan on going before the rink closed (last night was its last night) but it got cold again over the weekend and it was perfect! After that I went to the Marine house with Tess and watched 2012... bad movie.

I am really enjoying myself at work and learning so much! I can't wait until I can apply all this new knowledge in grad school =) Oh by the way, if you haven't heard, I got into the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs specializing in Security and Intelligence!!!!!! I am so going which makes me even more excited!!! I am really happy about it, obviously =).

Well, all of the girls (all of us interns..no guys left) are getting together to watch the Oscars tonight. They air a day later here so we are having a pot luck! I'm making baked brie.... off I go!

miss everyon!

Well, I have not written in a while and there has been a LOT going on. I have been incredibly busy with work these past two weeks and it should all die down after Monday. I can't wait. You all should go to iaea.org and look at the most recent news clips and cancer.iaea.org to look at PACT, a program I will be working with in a few weeks. I'm doing really well! Still absolutely LOVING this city and everyone here ( mostly the Americans, most Austrians are downers). ah i miss everyone so much!

I think we are going to Budapest on Saturday morning unitl Sunday evening, I'll let you know if we are for sure! Miss you!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69636653@N00/

There is the link to more pictures! For some reason it goes in backwards order, so you will look at the lake district, where Maria ran in the hills and got married, before the Salzburg shots. These are also not my only pics, I have many more.

Enjoy!

2/19 weekend

Wow, so this weekend has been non-stop jam packed full of things that we did this weekend. Lauren 2 and I finished our conference on Friday around 1 pm and decided to go to a cafe near Stephansdom for lunch, Cafe Hevelkah (that's not you spell it, but close enough). This cafe is known for being an intellectual cafe and for its owners. The Hevelkah's are in their late 90s and still kicking, so much so that we got to meet Mr. Hevelkah when we went! Usually, Austrians are pretty negative/ignorant/annoyed with Americans, but this cafe was a nice surprise. We walked in and there was no where to sit and we were eyeing this one table that was reserved, so the waiter came up and told us to sit there. That surprised us. He said whoever wanted the table can sit somewhere else =) so we sat there. Then when our food arrived, there were no utensils.We asked for forks and instead we get a lesson on how to eat a sausage Viennese style, wrap the napkin around it anduse your fingers. Overall, it was a great experience. I am definitely going back there. Later that night, the Laurens, Valerie, Tess (the new intern who is wokring with me), Mike and one of his friends from Berlin all went out to some bars and we had a great time.


Saturday was pretty laid back. We woke up around 12 (we went to sleep around 445) and had lunch at home. At 3, we went and saw Up In The Air at a great little movie theater down the street from where we live. We were in bed by 11 last night.

Today was a HUGE day. We all woke up around 515 and left the apartment at 630 to catch a 730 train to Salzburg. We bought a card that gets us half price tickets on all of our train travel too. Anyway, we arrived in Salzburg at 1030 and walked around the old city until 2. We went to Cafe Demmur and got sachretorte and saw the statue of Mozart and something very important going on at the church. I think there was a cardinal there, but I dont know what that means. I had my first weinerschnitzel ever today, it's not too bad. I needed to use ketchup.... but I didn't. Then at 2, we took the Sound of Music tour. We got to see most of the scenery used in the movie, including the lake where the kids and Maria fell into the water, both castles (we didnt go in though), all the mountains, and the church they were married in. I have tons of pictures, I just need to figure out where I am gong to upload them to. We got back to Salzburg at 545 and booked it to the train station and caught the 602 train back to Vienna. It has been a really long day, and I have an even bigger 3 weeks ahead of me at work.

I am going to be pretty busy coming up, so email me if you think I am not updating this often enough!

good night!

hi there! so today i have a conference at the Diplomatic Academy. So far it has been very interesting, and a little over my head but I'm learning a lot. Lauren 2 and I met some interns from Canada there, and they told us about how all the interns at the UN get together every Thursday night. So last night, the 5 of us went out and met all these people. It was a lot of fun, we will most likely do it every Thursday.

Anyway, while I have been here, I have seen sooooooo many people that look like friends from home. I have seen a Katelyn Furlong, Phil Rhinehart, Cara Miller, Brittany Kaback look a likes, and a few other that I can't think of right now. It's crazy.

ok, i have to get ready for this conference. I hope everyone is doing well!

sushi+ friends+dice game (like farkle) + Ligaretto (card game) = so much fun in Vienna =)

So what did I do the rest of the weekend? Yesturday, I slept until 11 and then the 3 of us (laurens) went to Volksoper and saw Barber of Seville. It was great! I can't wait to go to the Stadt Oper and see an Italian opera. I really can't get enough of this city =).

Today, we went to a tea house and I had some wonderful vanilla tea! Most places in Vienna usually allow smoking inside, but we have realized that tea houses don't! That was really nice because then we didn't smell like smoke all day. From there we went to the Kundthaus wein and saw the Annie Leibovitz exhibit there. I think she is a genius, her photographs and story are incredible. After the exhibit, we went to Mariahelferstrasse to go look for high heeled boots to wear to work so our heels don't get ruined from the cobblestones... that didn't work out, but oh well what I have is already good enough for me! We just took it easy tonight and stayed in. I am looking forward to Wednesday night. The Lauren's and I are having dinner with Sven, Axel and possibly Sven's brother at an experimental sushi restaurant =), I love sushi. They combine the sushi with different spices and foods, should be interesting! Other than that, I work all day this week!

We are off to Salzburg next Saturday =)

Hello Hello,

Well, I have done a lot of sightseeing/having fun these past couple of days! I went over to Sven's house for a dinner party he threw on Wednesday night. He and his roommate Stephy made really good zucchini soup, ham and cheese strudel, spinach and feta strudel, and a really good dessert that was more or less cold cream of wheat with a raspberry sauce. We all were talking, there were 5 of us, and then started to play this Austrian card game that is similar to ( i can't remember the game right now, it will come to me though). Any way, it was a great time.

Last night, there was a happy hour for work at the Lion's Rampant, an English pub about 5 minutes away walking. So we went there and had fish and chips and then met up with Eric at Charlie P's, and Irish bar, for the rest of the night. I am really liking everyone I am working with, they are very easy to get along with and are enjoyable to be around =)

Today, the three of us went all over the city again. We tried to go to a Teahouse for breakfast, but the one we wanted to go to was closed. So we started to walk towards Stephansdom again. We went into a couple of authentic Austrian clothing stores and then we came upon the Albertina. The Albertina is a museum that has an Impressionist exhibit, and today was the exhibits last day, so of course we saw it. I love love love Degas. There was Monet, Renior, Van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, everyone. It was a great exhibit. Actually before we went there, we went to Tirolerhof Cafe, which is well known for it's apple strudel. Of course that is what I got, here is a pic, and a hot chocolate. So after we were done at the museum, it was around 230, we went to the Stadtoper, State Opera house, to see when we should buy tickets for the Opera. I think we are going to see Barbar of Seville at the Volkoper tomorrow (folk opera, so its in German) and Tosca (at the state opera) on March 29. I might go see La Boheme on April 5, we'll see. Anyway, we then went to lunch at a restaurant on the University of Vienna's campus. The place used to be an apothecary so the set up was pretty cool. All I know is that I have never had a gulach that good ever before. So Good. here is a pic

Now we are home, and at 8 we have a get together at the Marine house for Valentines Day! Around 10, we are meeting Sven and some of his friends at a bar not too far from here!


We have a full day tomorrow and Monday (no work) too! Can't wait to tell about it =)

Hi all! So i know it has been a few days, but I have not done very much other than go to work! I am absolutely loving it here! I am working with several people doing so many different things and attending different types of meetinsg, all of which are extremely interesting!I have been talking to my supervisor about what I should do about grad school, the public health or more security and intel, so that is still up in the air until I hear from Pitt.

To all of my CISVers who are reading, I met up with my friend Sven today. I was in Brazil with him 5 years ago and it's just like I never left. We went to a small "pub"/cafe tonight andtalked for about 3.5 hours after work. It was really nice. I think i am going to go over to his apartment tomorrow for dinner also and meet more CISV people.

have i mentioned how much i love this city? it's so easy to get around and clean! .... this is after 6 days...ill come back and read that sentence in 2 months and see what i think. hopefully it will be the same!

Hey everyone,

So lots to tell! I went to the ball last night and it was a blast! We got there a little bit after 7 pm and immediately went to have dinner. We had a 5 star buffet in the Hofburg Palace, it was pretty incredible. From there we watched the opening ceremony, which included a Korean Drum/Dance performance, an opera performance by three IAEA employees (sounded amazing), a special guest speech by IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, and finally debutantes from the best dancing school in Vienna. We then found our friends from work and went all over with them. There were 4000 people at the ball, so it was rather crowded. There were also 8 different types of music being performed in different rooms: Salsa, disco, ballroom dancing, rock and roll, reggae, swing, celtic, and one more I can't remember because we didn't go there. We couldn't find the celtic room either =(. It was so exciting to actually attend a ball and especially one in a palace. We finally headed home around 145, even though the ball went until 4, our feet hurt!

Today, we woke up a bit later and then headed out. We went to Belvedere Palalce, which is a museum that is displaying Gustav Klimpt, a famous Austrian artist. In his paintings he used gold and silver along with oil, he has some pretty wonderful pieces of work. We only went to the Upper Belvedere today though, we are saving Lower Belvedere for another time. After we were done there, we wondered over to Stephansdome and looked around there. Stephansdome is a beautiful gothic church in the middle of the city. I took a lot of pictures there, but it was a darker place so they didn't turn out too well... Anyway, after that we came home and have been relaxing. I am about to go to bed because I have a long day at work tomorrow!

You can see all my pictures at this website : http://www.flickr.com/photos/69636653@N00/

Oh yea, and everyone wears fur here...everyone...

Hello hello,

So I have done a lot since the last time I posted. I went out with Alex and some of his friends to a bar ( they call it a club, but it's a bar) not too far from our apartment. That was a lot of fun, the drinks were free from 8-9 and onlu 2 Euros from 9-10. I went with Lauren#2 and we were home by 11 and feeling pretty good =p. I didn't have to go into work yesterday, I only had a meeting at 1. So I slept in until about 10:30 and went to my meeting and then met Alex again so he could take me around the city. We went to a lot of places. We went to the Parliment Building and after that we went around to the RotHouse ( it's abbreviated for something I can't say or spell) which is where the President works. There is a market there and a skating rink. The rink is gonig to be there until March, but I think we are going to go tomorrow! Towards the end of our 2 hour tour of part of the city, we went to Karlsplat. It is a beautiful church with incredible pillars on the outside of it. Now I saw all of these places, but I did not go in them, not yet. Tomorrow is also a day when all of the museums are free, we are going to the Belvedere =)


After Lauren#1 and #2 (I'm #3) came home, Lauren #1 and I went out to dinner with 2 other interns, Mike and Valerie. Mike is from Kansas and went to University of Kansas, and Valerie is from Rochester and went to Miami of Ohio. They are both great and lots of fun to hang out with. Anyway, we went to this Persian restaurant for dinner and it was delicious. The owner/cook was talking to us in English and telling us about this one time he went to California and was on a ranch for one week. Mike, who speaks German more or less fluently was helping out a lot. The owner then continued to play Persian music for us on his guitar ( we were the only ones in the restaurant) and it was beautiful! After we left the restaurant, we went to a pub like place and had a beer there. It was a micro brewery and I had the light beer that they brew. It was actually very good, and it wasn't filtered either. The pub seemed like a good place for a younger crowd, but there was a ton of smoking, so now all of my clothes stink.

So far I am loving this city. I am really excited to actually start work on Monday, but I am even more excited about the ball that I am going to tonight! Don't worry, I will put pictures up, especially because it's at Hofburg Palace!!!!!!

Today was my first day of work, and it was great. I am going to be learning so much about my section and the people I am working with are very easy going! I really start on Monday ( tomorrow I have like a half day) and then I'll be really busy. The Laurens and I get along really well! The apartment is a good size for the three of us. We are actually going out tonight with Alex, one of Sarah's friends from Svarvas(Sp?). He just finished his last final ( Universities in Austria have break for the month of Feb.) and wants to go celebrate, so we are going with him. He also lives less than 5 minutes away which is nice. =)
I haven't really been able to go see the city yet, but I may be able to do that tomrrow morning or afternoon ( I have a meeting at 1). And then I am going to a ball on Saturday!! I was talking to the Ambassador today, and he was telling me about the debutantes that come out to dance for the opening of it. I am pretty excited for that!

We went to the market last night and that was pretty interesting. You have to weigh all of your produce and print out a ticket for it before you can buy it, or they will give you dirty looks. You have to bring your own grocery bags too. I should have brought that bag, mom. Oh well. I was asleep last night by 9 and woke up at 625 for work. All in all today has been a good day.

I'm here!

Ok now to tell you about my flights and first day here! The flight from Dulles to Vienna was awesome. When I was checking in for the flight, the woman behind the counter told me that there were rows completely open and I could sit by myself. So of course I did! They also told me that I could only take one carry-on, not two, so I had to check one of them.
The best part about getting to the gate early is talking to the people on the flight with you. There was an older man, probably late 60s early 70s, who came up to me and told me that the only reason he comes out to Vienna was so he can go see his dentist. Different, right? So he continued to tell me his story of how he doesn't want to get dentures, and that crowns and implants were so much cheaper here that he is saving money by flying to Europe to have these procedures done. He was a character.

Anyway, we boarded early, left on time, and arrived an hour early. I have all o fmy bags and was picked up by Kristen, someone I will be working with. She took me to my apartment ( i have uploaded pics of my room). I don't have a closet in my room, it is in the room with the iron. I think that might actually be better since I will have to iron all my clothes anyway. I tried to move the bureau into my room, but it was too tall =(. So after I dropped off my luggage, I went over to the embassy to fill out some paper work. I then continued to go to UNVIE and then back to the embassy at 1 for a meeting. I finally got home around 2:45 pm. That's about 24hours of non stop hecticness. I finally just unpacked and am waiting for the Lauren's to get home! So far so good!

miss you!
Lauren

Hi everyone!!! I am in Vienna and it's great! I already have so many stories to tell, however I need to charge my laptop. So you will be hearing them soon! Miss you all!!

Lauren