I haven't written for a very long time...oops.
Anyway, a few things worth mentioning include Christmas in Germany and my recent trip.
German Christmas markets are so cute! Most open at the end of November and last until Christmas Eve. You walk by rows of booths crammed with ornaments of every type, candles, or food. There are little creche figures and jewelry stands, and in Nürnberg, little people made out of prunes and walnuts and wearing felt clothes. Even if it's cold outside, the markets have a cosy atmosphere with lots of lights, perhaps a band playing carols, and warming Glühwein. They also smell amazing, mostly of cinnamon from candied almonds, but there are also the Lebkuchen (round gingerbread) and the Früchtebrot (fruit bread), which are both delicious as well.
I visited a few different markets, and Nürnberg's is actually the largest. Luckily it manages to still keep up the appearance of tradition despite the commercialism of the whole thing. Erlangen's was small, but cute. We also had a "historical" market, which was supposed to have a middle ages feel, but seemed almost like a bazaar (leather strands, furs, Buddha figures).
For Christmas I stayed with my host and her family and experienced a real German Christmas. Interesting to note is that the 24th is really the main day for them. Also, instead of Santa, there's a female angel-like figure who brings the gifts, which magically appear anytime during the day. I ate a ton of food, ranging from Bratwürste to goose to dumplings to brussel sprouts. Overall a nice time, though I was also the most homesick I've been so far.
New Year's was actually not that exciting and I stayed in since I was leaving early for my trip the next day. However, at midnight I was still awake and would've had trouble sleeping anyway because of the massive amounts of fire works being set off. Here fireworks are legal, so it seems like every other person had their own backyard fire works display. Out of my window you could see them from all directions, and of course hear their little pops, which had actually started as soon as it got dark but now had crescendoed to a mass popping.
I planned my first big solo trip to Austria and Slovenia which I took between the 1-7(technically the 8th). It was definitely fun and not everything went to plan, but regardless it was very enjoyable and I saw most everything of what I had wanted to see.
The first city was Salzburg, which is very beautiful, especially in the snow, though it was rather dreary on my full day. I heard a free New Year's concert in the main square area which was very fun and full of waltzes, and yes, people were waltzing around me. Salzburg is very baroque in style, and I loved all of the pastel colors and orderliness of it. I took a few big treks up hills which also involved freezing toes and fingers, but it was worth it. I stumbled upon an interesting graveyard where some tombstones were set into arcades which bordered the grassy area and it had a more intimate feeling and also some interesting little carvings.
A highlight was climbing up to the fortress high up on the hill and touring through some of the chambers of the arch bishops. I also visited Mozart's home, which wasn't the greatest museum. And of course I had to submit to some Sound of Music nerdity and found a few places from the film, including the gardens from Do Re Mi and the abbey.
Overall, I really liked the feeling of Salzburg, from the buildings to the hillsides to the culture. However, it was extremely touristy, to the extent that I think I heard more Italian than German there, and the city didn't seem to have a real life that I could see.
Next stop - Graz, Austria's 2nd biggest city. The hostel was in a sort of sketchy location which might have tainted my perception of the city somewhat because I never got into a more residential area that I liked. However, the central area was neat with lots of great architecture. I didn't have a lot of time in Graz, so I didn't spend enough time to get a good feel for the city, but it definitely is the opposite of Salzburg in that it's not touristy and full of real life. I went to the Kunsthaus (art house), the highlight of which is probably the building itself, which is sort of blob like and full of curves and a "skin" which lights up at night. The exhibits were also good.
From Graz I went to Slovenia, which was sort of a schock at first when a conductor came onto the train past the border and said something to me in Slovenian. So it was definitely challenging being in a place where I didn't speak the language, and I always felt hesitant to speak English, though luckily just walking around, you don't really miss anything my not speaking the language. Actually, German still came in handy because sometimes brochures were only in German. I stayed a while in Ljubljana, the capital city, and I really love it! It has so many cool little shops and restaurants, and a very creative feel. I was so impressed when I saw their Christmas lights, which were really bundles of lights shaped like planets and atoms. A lot of the buildings aren't in the best shape when you look above the ground level; however, the architecture is great! There's a lot of art nouveau around which I enjoy. One thing that fascinates me is the history of the city, because it has passed through so many different phases of European history and only just gained independence in 1991. I ended up taking a lot of walks around the city, partially just because I was there at the night or early morning. I took a day trip with a Canadian I had met to these amazing caves in the south, but unfortunately we got there like 5 minutes too late which was so frustrating. We took a walk around and looked at the gorge where the cave mouth is and a few of the old buildings around, which was better than nothing, but still not the same. Oh well, at least it was a sunny day and actually a little warmer than usual.
From Ljubljana I went to Bled, a tiny little town with amazing scenery. I got there too late to really see much, but I tried the specialty cream cake which was good but not amazing. The next morning I hiked all around the lake though, and it was gorgeous with the huge mountains in the background. There's also a cute little church on a tiny island in the middle of the lake which is very scenic.
Then the unfortunate train mix up home. I got on the wrong train by accident and that meant that I had to spend about €30 more than I had planned to get home and also got home about 1:00 in the morning, which I sort of didn't want to do. Oh well, luckily I didn't have anywhere to be. The train rides in general were still enjoyable because you passed by so much of the countryside, and the urban sprawl of America just doesn't seem to exist here. In many places, you would see giant mountains and the bluest rivers running beside you, or little villages with the Alpine style houses. Also, hostels were also really great for just meeting people and that made it a lot more fun and not lonely traveling solo, though I really do prefer independent travel I think. And now I'm back and actually, don't really need to recover from the trip since I was always pretty rested.
That's all for now!
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