2015.03.14 - Paris

My birthday, perfect for a 10 day trip to Paris. Alejandra came there too, so we had a couple of days more or less just for ourselves, and it was good! Eiffel Tower, chantilly (family was there too..), lots of narrow streets .. Check out the pictures: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/14rb4ign9nylhex/AACfTPEkeLn1C5VtGKe75tNHa?dl=0

2015.01.10 - Bratislava

It is surprising that not many people from Vienna take the half hour by train to explore Bratislava, it is so close and easy to get there. Alejandra and I decided to spend half a day there. After all, she's not often here in Europe these days so better explore as much as possible.

2015.01.05 - Coffee in Italy

Alejandra and I visited a good friend of mine in Carinthia for a few days. We were enjoying ourselves by being cosy most of the time, but we also did a couple of things there.

2014.12.19 - Cesky Krumlov

Wow, many things happened lately. I got a job, I got my first apartment, and my wonderful girlfriend has come to visit me. The both of us decided to check out Cesky Krumlov, a wonderful old town in the south of the Czech Republic. We stayed at the Villa Krumlov, in an apartment, and it's nice to be in an apartment, you can cook your own food and can more or less live there. But we didn't just live there, we also took a guided tour around the city, took lots of walks, explored the streets in the peninsula and ate yummy food, for example the crêpes place (nom!). The city is truly cosy and calm, specially in the winter time. The Christmas stands and christmasy music make it even more cosy. Grog also helps. The castle is amazing, check out the photos!
.. we will come back in summer so see the castle from the inside. And also, we want to sit at the river and just enjoy the view of the castle. It's a really nice place to be, it's surprising that I've never really heard of that place before!

2014.10.11 - Prague

A band called "machine supremacy" was the reason that we, a group of friends, drove to Prague for a week-end. We got there, checked into our hotel, explored the city, went to the concert, and on the next day we had some nice time to walk around the city center, eat yummy street food and explore the city. Always a nice city to explore and visit. Maybe, one day, I will have the possibility to learn some words in czech. Until next time, Prague.

2014.08.31 - Budapest

My mum and I went to a tour to Budapest. We stayed at the Danubius Hotel on the Margaret Island.
What did we see?
The hotel was really relaxing with its thermal waters, like a spa.
Margaret Island has sculptures, many sporting people, fountains, it feels like Central Park in NYC.
Public transport is to begin with a little bit difficult to understand, but works well.
City castle is nice and pretty and good view of the city and lots of old houses of different eras of the history
City centre, nice, views like in Vienna. After all, history supports that.
Városliget, a mesh up of different styles in a park
Gallert hotel with beautiful view on the indoor pool (should stay here next time), and the Gallert hill with Statue of Liberty.
Café Central was nothing new for people from Vienna.
Parliament is big and pretty.

2014.08.22 - Carinthia and Slovenia

Home in Austria. Not even going home, staying in Vienna, visiting a friend in Klagenfurt, visiting Slovenia for the first time in my life, although it's just 300 m just over the boarder to go shopping. Going to a concert of my mum in Feldkirchen, then going home. Home sweet home.

2014.08.18 - Chilling in Chile - Thinking about Argentina

tl;dr -- Go to Mendoza or Argentina, it's nice there! (But not in summer)

Not relevant information (aka introduction)

Yes, I agree. There are better word plays than 'Chilling in Chile', but I needed to get your attention somehow. 'Thinking about different things without writing something special' would have been even worse as a title. But that is what I want to do, I want to reflect about my last five weeks in Argentina. Why I came here. How I got here. Who I met here and what I did here. I am currently on my way back to Austria, and start writing this unusually personal blogpost in Chile, in the Santiago de Chile Airport. A flight from Mendoza to Chile lies behind me. I am awaiting seven hours of overlay, a long flight to Madrid, refuelling there, then to Frankfurt, and then with Austrian Airlines to Vienna. Home sweet home, as they say. 

This trip is a wonderful chance to write down some of the thoughts I have about Argentina. 

2014.08.04 - Buenos Aires

I apologise for this really fact based and unpersonal post, the next one makes up for it.

08-04: arrival by bus in Buenos Aires, picked up by family of a friend. Lunch with them.
08-05: walking in the city: from our hosts place (Palermo, Bustamante), parque de chile and other adjoining parks, av. 9 de julio, lunch at vegan place in Florida, placa de mayo and pink (~white) house, home via av. de mayo, calleo(?)
08-06: cemetery (Evita's grave) and MALBA Museum (Contemporary, but good installations.
08-07: Puerto Madero (river area, food at 'i', of course with dulce de leche). Seeing a guy from buenos aires who was in Norway with us, but who I actually never met in Norway.
08-08: lazy Day, shopping
08-09: Palermo Soho, cabildo museum, San Telmo
Home again to Mendoza by night bus

2014.07.29 - Andes

Today, another day trip with a guided tour in a small bus and another 10 people. Guiding in Spanish, I try to understand what I can (it's getting better)..

Driving over the first chain of the Andes, after that and before the second and main mountain chain, it's relatively flat. Stop in Upsallata.
Beautiful mountains. Beautiful views. View on the highest mountain in America and second highest chain/peak after Mt. Everest: Aconcagua.
Penitentes. A skiing resort. How nice to walk in snow, enjoy the sun, breathe good cold air, watch people slide down the hill with sledges!
Puenta del Inca. The Incas spent some time here and already discovered this natural phenomenon; a bridge over a well of thermal water. Area later discovered (exploited) for a hotel, now it's just looking.

2014.07.18 - Cacheuta

Our first organised trip: Cacheuta. A touristy place in the Andes: first a hike through the rocks and the valley, with three times abseiling (12, 7 and 40 m- that's new and fun!), then two hours in the thermal baths Termas Cacheuta. Nice mountains, those Andes! .. Pictures will follow!

2014.02.12 - to Mendoza

Nope, the flight did not have entertainment. But it was calm, the food was quite ok, and it felt shorter than 13 hours. I think the times where I think long distance flights are cool or thrilling are over.
Welcome to Santiago de Chile! From 9 am to 2 pm, it should have been, but the flight to Mendoza was delayed, so I left at 4 pm.
Boarding begins, soon I will see my sweetie. And then there is the FIFA final tomorrow ...

2014.07.11 - Layover in Madrid

Hola! Just home from from 10 months abroad, and away again? Yes. I haven't seen my sweetie for 2.5 weeks, so it's time to visit her in Argentina. (long distance relationship after that...)

Anyway! 15 hours layover between my flights Vienna-Madrid and Madrid-Santiago de Chile-Mendoza. 15 hours to explore Madrid. Spain. I should learn the language anyway.

Subway to Nuevos Ministerios, Plaza de la Republica Argentina (because there's Argie in the name), walking further down the Paseo de la Castellana, deciding not to stand in line several hours to get into Prado museum, Parque del buen retiro, streets around La Latina (pretty!), lunch, Plaza Mayor, Catedral de la Almudena & Palacio Real (big), the whole Gran Via, (then I found an Apple
Shop - Wifi! Finally!), then I spent approximately 1 hour to find a supermarket. Then I finally found a really small carrefour express- I wanted to buy bread and such things, proper food for the evening and the next day. But the shop just had chips and stuff like that. So, my diet for the next 30 hours: the fruits I had bought before and unhealthy stomach fillers.
One quick stop at the cool park two stations away from the airport.

Madrid seems to be a really nice city! Really cosy. I am probably hard to be impressed with big churches and buildings (standards from Vienna). Would be worth to come here for a more detailed tour. That time I'll book the Prado beforehand to skip the queue.

At the airport, I was 2.5 hours too early, but as it turns out: I need the time, it's alone 30ish minutes to get from terminal T4 to "T4 satellite" - by an own internal train. Now time to charge my devices .. Nope, not even enough time for that.
23.20: I was the third in line for boarding but I wasn't allowed because I'm in the wrong group. Whatever. I am tired and just had nose bleeding for almost 40 minutes. I hope I can sleep in the plane... Or watch some good movies, something chill.

2014.06.20 - Stavanger

This was the last trip in Norway, who knows for how long.

Coming home from Longyear, I had one day of break for unpacking, washing clothes, getting Uni things in order. The next day (06-20), we flew to Stavanger and actually walked from the airport to the city, which took us 3 or 4 hours, also because we made breaks and took pictures of the nice landscape. In the afternoon, our couch surfing host picked us up from the city centre and took us to his amazing flat, a 30 min walk away from from the city centre.
On 06-21, we explored the city, visited the oil museum.
On 06-22, we went to Preikestolen, maybe one of the most famous touristy sites in Norway. And as it was a Sunday, there was an awful amount of tourists everywhere. Nevertheless it was great view up there - the last time I was here, we saw the fjord for 5 min, after 1h25min of waiting for the clouds to go away.
On 06-23, we intended to go to Kjerag, but ended up not going for different reasons. There has to be something new for the next visit.
On 06-24, we took the train home.
Home to Oslo.
Oslo, home for one more night.

Then it's going to Austria....
My two semesters in Oslo are over now.

2014.06.17 - a glacial walk

At 9.30, we were picked up by our guide - it was just the two of us and the guide, a girl from Canada. We walked up the hill, another cosy Sunday walk up, next to the glacier right next to the city. On the way, we almost stepped onto a female Ptarmigan, we just saw her head sticking out of the snow. On the top we shared snacks and made ice cream (fresh snow with cranberry syrup). We built a snowman, snow angels, and found fossils, and had beautiful weather (snow fall and no wind at all).
At 15.30, we arrived home and had a two course meal before we celebrated our last evening in Longyearcity with a cider.

2014.06.16 - Easy day

Today, we did not have booked a tour. But after yesterday's walks, that's just right. So we got more time to look for the arctic fox (we didn't see it a second time) and visit the museum, look around in the rest of the city and write post cards. After checking out the menu at at Mary-Ann's Polarrygg where they serve all kinds of meat that is locally available for mainland prices we went to the "Russian" restaurant and had some delicious burgers. In the "evening" we met a phd student from unis for a chat and a drink. So we are connecting to the locals and we start being recognised by people on the street ;) so after 4 days you are almost a local here.


Situations of the day:

Religion wars are like adults fighting about who has the cooler imaginary friend

Jesus was the first reported zombie

You should only eat zombie steak well done, otherwise it could jump up and try to eat your face

We know why it is forbidden to burry people in Svalbard.... Point a: you can't burry then deep enough so the can return to easily out of they graves if they become a zombie. Point b: if they would be a vampire they would have two whole months where they can walk around without being stopped by sunlight.

In reality people here do not carry their rifles around all the time because of polar bears. It is because of the zombies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2014.06.15 - an arctic challenge

That was the name of the plan for today- an arctic challenge: taking the kayaks to the other side of the Adventfjord and walk up to the Hiort-mountain (950m). But due to strong wind, we could not do anymore the kayaking and thus had to walk up another mountain named Nordenskiöld (1050). So, we, a group of 12 walked up there. Easy Sunday walk for an Austrian. The occasional snow storms and the strong wind did not bother us that much. Our guide was a friendly Russian called Vladimir, and as the Russian guide yesterday (in Pyramiden), a good guide in Svalbard is a Russian guy with a gun. Always trust the Russian guy with the gun. (Keyword: polar bears. No, we have not seen one so far.). Landscape: no words.
We came home around 16.00.

There were plans to re-do the kayaking part of the hike, so we agreed that our guides would call us if it's possible. But no, the wind came back, no kayaking. On the way outside, we ran across a South African guy who turned out to be tour organiser and needed big fancy camera equipment. He said he's not really good in landscape photography and showed us his 7D with a 10-22 lens. He said: go and play with it. Just wow. At least 5000 Eur lent for the afternoon. That's why we spent the time from 18.30 til 23.00 outside, made adequate pictures, and also saw an arctic fox.

At 2.00, after Argentina won the World Cup game, and all together 13.5 hours outside and walking - good night.


Zitate des Tages:

- Unser Sommerurlaub. Schneeweißer Strand, Blick aufs Meer, keine Gelsen.

- Schade, die Arbeit am Nordkapp wär schon nett gewesen, so weit im Süden...
- Quasi tropisch!

- Uh, ein Mensch!
- Ohne Gewehr. Quasi ein Selbstmörder.

2014.06.14 - Pyramiden

After no night but good sleep (at least for me) and breakfast, we entered the Polargirl (a boat) to a trip into the Billefjorden at 9 in the morning. First we got to Skansbukta, where a trapper station is located. Pyramiden is a Russian settlement that was abandoned in 1998, it was used for coal mining. The settlement had 1200 inhabitants at some point and was used for showing the west how awesome communism is. But apparently communism didn't work out that well and so there is the northernmost cinema, gym, etc, there. Next up was a bird cliff and the Nordenskiöld glacier - landscape and wildlife wise: look at the pictures! No words fitting. At 20.00, we were back in the guest house and while we had our delicious dinner, the floor was still moving...

2014.06.13 - Winter is coming - Longyearbyen/Svalbard

Finally, another trip to another part of the world.

At the airport, we had to show our passport, we were leaving the Schengen area. So, yeah, three hours straight to the north. Far away. The flight over the southern part of Svalbard was beautiful, mountains, snow, glaciers.
Already months before, I tried to find a couch surfing host for us, but nobody wanted to have us. So we booked the 'cheapest' hostel/guesthouse, so at least we knew for sure we didn't have to sleep under a bridge. Shortly after we arrived, however, after we had paid for everything, one of many many requests was answered, we could stay. Whatever.

The city - the 'northernmost city of the world' - has about 2000 residents, the whole island about 2500. There are more skidoos than people, and more polar bears than skidoos. Maybe we will see one in the next 5 days.

One (or several?) of those residents seem to be professional photographers who just sat down in a restaurant, where we allowed ourselves to eat a reindeer burger, after long consideration. And he just put a camera there which costs maybe 30.000 USD. He probably saw all the wildlife of the island..

We walked around in Longyear 'downtown', and within 2 hours we saw already most of the city, went to the beach, and are slowly starting to adapt to the occasional snow showers and the cool breeze from the glacier. We just came home from a walk to an abandoned mine - we would have guessed its around 19.00, but no, it was 22.30. The next night will be in Oslo again.

The weather around 10 in the afternoon (!) was a bit cloudy. At midnight we went outside for a walk, and - wow. Clear blue sky and warming sun at midnight.

2014.04.26 - Brussels/Ghent/Bruges

Yay, I am finally officially done with my Master degree! I could finally fetch it from the deans office as i was home for the first time in 4 months. I spent home 2 weeks, saw friends, had my graduation ceremony, went skiing.
On the 23rd, I came back to Oslo, to leave for the next trip to Belgium on the 24th of April.
We arrived late night and just found our way to our couch surfing host.
On the 25th, we had a look on Brussels, did the EU walking tour and mainly just walked around and enjoyed waffles.
On the 26th, we took the train to Bruges, then to Ghent, where we met our host who showed us the city for a bit.
On the 27th, we had another 2 or 3 hours in Brussels before we had to head back to Oslo.

Belgium seems to make a lot of things right. All of the three cities, specially Brussels, seem to be à l'aise (chilled/comfortable with themselves) and not making their lives comfortable. Thus, its a comfy place to be in. Also, the weather was really nice during the whole time. In Bruges, there were more tourists than inhabitants, but therefore the city is really picturesque. Ghent has a vegetarian Thursday, all official places just have vegetarian food. It's all so international and multicultural in Brussels, so many languages!
Recommendation to go and spend some time in Belgium: yes.

Sorry for the short post, it is going to be busy weeks again, lots of assignments and the first exam beginning next week....