I.
(If you just want to see pictures scroll down!)
I am quite possibly the least competitive person who has ever lived.......except for trivia and Mench Ärger Dich Nicht.
I lurv trivia and can usually hold my own pretty well in history, politics, and (embarrassingly enough) celebrities. Anything involving sports, science, or song lyrics is usually a flop. So when the chance to play trivia in German came up, I pounced. Alice, Alice, Tim, Rachel, Erika, Libby, and I headed out to trivia night as hosted by the International Students Association. In addition to aiming for the grand prize (movie passes and a giant thing of Mannerschnitten), us TAs split into two teams and decided that the losing team would cook the others dinner. It was on....
The first category, history, we aced. Unfortunately, so did the other TAs, known as Team Hallowien. Next up was geography, also one of my better areas. This time was a total fail, however. We were pretty embarrassed to even announce our score. I guess I should go crack open the atlas from time to time...
Next up was science and tech. We didn't exactly have high hopes for this round. Remember that this was all in German. Amazingly, we did quite well, enough to override our awful geography score and to pull up even with Team Hallowien. The Battle of the TAs was getting more and more intense...
The next rounds were sports and culture and literature and art, were we pulled in a respectable score. So did Team Hallowien.
In the end, Team Hallowien beat us by one question. Sigh. If only I had know that Hercule Poirot was Belgian, and not French...or that James Bond's parents were killed in ski accident, not a car crash.
Later in the week, my team and I lived up to our promise and cooked dinner for all the TAs plus a few visitors. Some 14 of us squeezed into Rachel and Libby's apartment for the evening. Dinner was a success and we feel more than ready to tackle Thanksgiving for all of us later this month!
II.
Weekdays are for work, weekends are for day trips. All of us TAs have been taking advantage of the still mostly pleasant weather to check out sights in and around Salzburg. One Sunday Rachel, Libby, Tim and I walked up to Hohensalzburg Fortress. I'd been twice before, so I made myself do the audio guide in German this time. The fortress presides over the whole city and is also one of its most-visited and well-known sites. For centuries the ruling archbishops of Salzburg ruled over the city and its salt mines, hence the name Salzburg. The Fortress has seen Salzburg through wars, rulers, an occupation, and other countless events.
Another weekend, a big group of us went to Werfen, Germany to visit the Eagle's Nest. The Eagle's Nest was a mountain top retreat that was gifted to Hitler by the Nazi party. It managed to escape destruction and attracts many visitors who come for one of the best panoramic views in Germany. The view is pretty incredible, the pictures do not do it justice! After a somewhat harrowing bus ride to the top (don't look down), we had lunch but unfortunately did not get down the mountain in time to visit the museum, which was too bad but now gives me an excuse to return.
Earlier today, we visited Chiemsee, Germany (Salzburg is just minutes from the border by train). The Chiemsee is a pretty lake at the bottom of the mountains about an hour from Salzburg. In the middle of the lake sits an island where crazy King Ludwig built one of his smaller but still magnificent palaces (The same King who built Neuschwanstein, the castle that inspired Disney World). Fancy having your own private island. After a boat ride to the island we walked around the palace gardens and had a coffee at the palace cafe. The weather has been freezing lately but today was sunny and warm (ish).
Next week we've talked about visiting the salt mines. Pictures to come!
(If you just want to see pictures scroll down!)
I am quite possibly the least competitive person who has ever lived.......except for trivia and Mench Ärger Dich Nicht.
I lurv trivia and can usually hold my own pretty well in history, politics, and (embarrassingly enough) celebrities. Anything involving sports, science, or song lyrics is usually a flop. So when the chance to play trivia in German came up, I pounced. Alice, Alice, Tim, Rachel, Erika, Libby, and I headed out to trivia night as hosted by the International Students Association. In addition to aiming for the grand prize (movie passes and a giant thing of Mannerschnitten), us TAs split into two teams and decided that the losing team would cook the others dinner. It was on....
The first category, history, we aced. Unfortunately, so did the other TAs, known as Team Hallowien. Next up was geography, also one of my better areas. This time was a total fail, however. We were pretty embarrassed to even announce our score. I guess I should go crack open the atlas from time to time...
Next up was science and tech. We didn't exactly have high hopes for this round. Remember that this was all in German. Amazingly, we did quite well, enough to override our awful geography score and to pull up even with Team Hallowien. The Battle of the TAs was getting more and more intense...
The next rounds were sports and culture and literature and art, were we pulled in a respectable score. So did Team Hallowien.
In the end, Team Hallowien beat us by one question. Sigh. If only I had know that Hercule Poirot was Belgian, and not French...or that James Bond's parents were killed in ski accident, not a car crash.
Later in the week, my team and I lived up to our promise and cooked dinner for all the TAs plus a few visitors. Some 14 of us squeezed into Rachel and Libby's apartment for the evening. Dinner was a success and we feel more than ready to tackle Thanksgiving for all of us later this month!
II.
Weekdays are for work, weekends are for day trips. All of us TAs have been taking advantage of the still mostly pleasant weather to check out sights in and around Salzburg. One Sunday Rachel, Libby, Tim and I walked up to Hohensalzburg Fortress. I'd been twice before, so I made myself do the audio guide in German this time. The fortress presides over the whole city and is also one of its most-visited and well-known sites. For centuries the ruling archbishops of Salzburg ruled over the city and its salt mines, hence the name Salzburg. The Fortress has seen Salzburg through wars, rulers, an occupation, and other countless events.
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| I just realized this crappy iphone pic is the only picture I have of the fortress. Oy! |
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| View of Salzburg on the walk up. |
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| View at the very top. |
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| One side of the fortress |
Another weekend, a big group of us went to Werfen, Germany to visit the Eagle's Nest. The Eagle's Nest was a mountain top retreat that was gifted to Hitler by the Nazi party. It managed to escape destruction and attracts many visitors who come for one of the best panoramic views in Germany. The view is pretty incredible, the pictures do not do it justice! After a somewhat harrowing bus ride to the top (don't look down), we had lunch but unfortunately did not get down the mountain in time to visit the museum, which was too bad but now gives me an excuse to return.
 |
| The Eagle's Nest |
Earlier today, we visited Chiemsee, Germany (Salzburg is just minutes from the border by train). The Chiemsee is a pretty lake at the bottom of the mountains about an hour from Salzburg. In the middle of the lake sits an island where crazy King Ludwig built one of his smaller but still magnificent palaces (The same King who built Neuschwanstein, the castle that inspired Disney World). Fancy having your own private island. After a boat ride to the island we walked around the palace gardens and had a coffee at the palace cafe. The weather has been freezing lately but today was sunny and warm (ish).
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| The beautiful and slightly haunting Chiemsee |
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| A very friendly deer friend |
Next week we've talked about visiting the salt mines. Pictures to come!
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