The 'Cats in Austria

Took some dramamine and woke up in Austria.

Erica, Emily, Jane, and I all made it to a different country without dying and we all had too much fun.

I don't know if you know how stressful it is to book trips and coordinating transportation and lodging for 4-6 people, (or worse if you have to go alone) but we quickly realized it's horrors the second we started planning. We haven't given up and I'm more than determined to to do it, but we decided our first trip (and then second, oops) we'd book through Bus2Alps.

In Vienna, we went on walking tours with our tour guide Chaz, ate street weiners, slept on weird hostel comforters, and toured the Schnapps museum. And in Salzburg I saw maybe the most beautiful town in the whole wide world ever ever believe me I'll prove it later.

But first, I would like to dedicate this section to the beautiful world of street weiners:

This was the first, but not the last, time I held a street wiener in my hand.

And this is the very next day when we did it again at the very same wiener stand we went across the city alone on the metro to find. Oops

AND THIS IS A PIECE OF ART DEDICATED TO THE CRAFT JUST BECAUSE WIENERS.

They're delicious, whatever.

Besides the street wieners, both Vienna and Salzburg were fun, comforting, and insanely beautiful. Salzburg is a lot smaller, but had a lot of great qualities. They both felt a lot more like America than Florence, which we loved. Everything was a lot more relaxed. For example, the buses and cars in Vienna probably wouldn't run you over, while those in Florence definitely would. Unfortunately though, they speak German. I know zero German. Who knows German?! So it was weirdly comforting to come "home" to Italy where we can kind of understand things now.

Side note: We tried absinthe at the Schnapps tour. That was not fun or comforting. A lot of the other liquers were good but absinthe was horrible. Proof of our feelings:

Don't worry the hallucinations thing is a myth.

We did do our mothers proud and see the fancy things we're obligated (and happy) to see. St. Stephens was where we started our tour with said tour guide Chaz and it of course is just your average run-of-the-mill insanely detailed and beautiful cathedral.

Fun fact: All the current tiles on the roof were tiled by women becuase the male roofers were scared pansies and wouldn't do it. Its an 86 degree slope so almost straight up and down for those of you who don't do math or angles or geometry.

We tried to take this adorable photo if front of it but BEWARE: when you kindly ask someone if they can shoot in manual, they'll look at you like you're stupid, say yes, take the picture, and then it will be BLURRY! And then you'll be mad you trusted them and feel really pompous later when you're going through your photos.

Also it kind of looks like I have one leg.

The next day we made it over to the Schonnbrunn Palace, just like a casual place where royals used to hang in the summer.

Go 'Cats from Austria. Love, Abigail.

feat. Euro hat

In Salzburg, we went Sound of Music crazy becuase it's amazing and that might be the only reason Salzburg still exits. Not really, but besides tourists coming for The Sound of Music and Mozart, I don't really know what happens in Salzburg. The Sound of Music, Mozart, and beer.

First, beer.

If you go to Salzburg, you must go to the Augustiner Brewery. It is the coolest thing ever and the beer was super delicious. The brewery is in the basement of a fully functioning monastery and the monks actually brew the beer because AUSTRIA IS AWESOME. Viva the pale ale of Austrian monks.

*moves to Austria*

Also, I only drank one of those. Do it for the pic, ya know?

Back to The Sound of Music.

This (currently frozen) lake is the very same lake by which The Sound of Music was filmed. AKA JULIE ANDREWS FELL INTO THIS LAKE TWICE.

This is the Mirabell Gardens where Maria and the children frolicked around joyfully giving no cares and singing the Do Re Mi song so we also did that.

^Me in Europe^

To finally prove my point, LOOK AT THIS VIEW.

THIS IS ST. GILGEN IN THE LAKES AND MOUNTAINS REGION AREN'T YOU DYING INSIDE?

If you're ever bored, just google St. Gilgen. Look here's a link. I would not be mad if I moved there.

Not a joke, the next town over looked like the set of a winter sports movie. Or like Kenny Ortega was going to choreograph a winter-themed Disney movie musical in and all around it's painfully beautiful buildings and snow-covered roofs. Plus it gets super warm there in the summer. WIN WIN.

I mean the flint hills are nice but....

I was so happy. Look at me I'm beaming.