Week 13

The beginning part of my week was pretty normal. I spent my time between classes hanging out with my friends. On Tuesday, after all of our classes, we went for gelato at Raki. I've been trying different flavors from what I usually get, so I got Coffee this time. After gelato we all went to Emily and Bella's room and hung out for a few hours. The next day after my Archaeology class, Sant'Anna was holding a pie making class for Thanksgiving. We got to help make Pumpkin pie and Apple pie from scratch! It was so fun to bake with all friends in the dorms. After pie making, my friends and I went to the grocery store to buy all the food we were going to cook for Thanksgiving! That evening Bella's sister was in town, so we went to wine Wednesday with her. We were there for quite a while, but as always, it was amazing!

The next day was Thanksgiving, but I still had class. So after my Archaeology class, Kathryn and I started on our Thanksgiving dinner. I was working on mashed potatoes and Kathryn was working on stuffing and sweet corn. We also both worked on making a tiramisu for the group. We started at 10:45AM and didn't end until about 3:00PM. Our other friends made, sweet potato casserole, mac-and-cheese, roasted vegetables, green beans, bread rolls, wine, and a charcuterie board. We were going to try and find chicken, turkey, or ham to bring as well, but it was impossible to find, and we were all too scared to go into a mean market, so we had a vegetarian Thanksgiving and it was delicious! We all went to my friend Caroline's apartment and set up there. It was so nice to enjoy a big meal together with friends. We talked and shared stories for a few hours and it was so fun. Coming to Italy I didn't know anyone, and within 3 short months, we have all became a close family. That night we went to bed early since we had an early flight to Austria the next day!

On Friday we left for Austria at 4:00AM. We flew from Naples airport to Munich airport, and then took a train to Salzburg, Austria. When we were trying to catch the train to Austria, we accidently got on the wrong one and we were headed the wrong direction. We eventually got to the right place and it was dark when we arrived in Austria. The first thing we did was check into our hostel and then go out to eat. We ended up finding a place called the Burrito Factory. I got a spicy chicken burrito and a strawberry margarita. After we to the Christkindlmarkt Christmas Market in Salzburg, Austria. This Christmas market was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! There were lights and decorations everywhere. It was an outdoor market with MANY vendors. They were selling all kinds of Christmas items such as handicrafts, glass decorations, ceramics, ornaments, and more! While we were there, we got to see our first snow of the season! I'm so used to the snow in Virginia which is usually sleet and ice, but this was a fluffy snow and the snowflakes were so big! We danced in the snow and everything just felt so magical. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and it was amazing to just enjoy the snow and markets in another country with my best friends. We spent a while at the market and then started to get cold, so we headed back to the hostel for an early night in.

The next morning we got up early because we had a Sound of Music tour. It was a 4 hour tour that took us too all the famous places in Sound of Music. We even got to go up the mountains and go to all the big lakes. We got to see the Mirabell Garden and Pegasus Fountain, where Maria and the children danced in the movie. We also got to see the Nonnberg Convent, where Maria was a novice and the Schloss Leopoldskron, which is the house, where the Trapp Family lived in the movie but it is now a luxury hotel. The tour also took use to the Gazebo where the Baron von Trapp kissed Maria for the first time. We then ended the tour at the Church Mondsee, where Maria and the Baron get married. It was so cool to stop and see all these places on the tour. While we were on the bus, they would also play the music from the scene of whatever location we were at!

One of my favorite parts about this tour was the view of the lakes and the town Mondsee. We stopped on many mountains that overlooked lakes, and the view was breathtaking. My favorite lake we stopped at was Fuschlsee Lake. I can't even describe how it felt to stand on top of the icy mountain and look in the distance.

I also really enjoyed the town Mondsee which was the wedding site in Sound of Music. This town was cute with all the colorful buildings and Christmas decorations. We enjoyed doing some shopping and eating some pastries here as well. I felt so at peace during this tour. There aren't many times I say "my soul is at peace." The last time I said that was during scuba diving and the boat tour, but I felt that same peace during this trip. After the 4 hour tour, we headed back the central Salzburg and then we all went to lunch.

We got Japanese, and I got a noodle dish. It was very good, but most importantly it was warm! After lunch we headed to the shops and looked around for a bit before going the next Christmas market called Salzkammergut. This market was smaller than the last one, but it was still so beautiful. It had a lot of the same things the last market did, except this one had a lot more food. While there I got a hot berry punch, that is a traditional drink in Austria around Christmas time. This punch is usually made with red wine, cranberry juice, mixed berries, cinnamon, and sugar. I wasn't expecting to like it, since I don't normally like wine, let alone warm wine. But it was actually so good, and make everyone feel warmer in the cold. Another interesting this that this market has was a area dedicated to Krampus. The Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure in the Central and Eastern Alpinefolklore of Europe who, during the Advent season, scares children who have misbehaved. Assisting Saint Nicholas, the pair visit children on the night of 6 December, with Saint Nicholas rewarding the well-behaved children with gifts such as oranges, dried fruit, walnuts and chocolate, while the badly behaved ones only receive punishment from Krampus with birch rods. I always find it so interesting to learn about the different cultures when we travel, especially around holiday traditions. We explored the markets for a few hours and then headed to dinner. It took us forever to find a place to sit down and eat, but eventually we did. We got Indian food, and Eesha, ordered everything for us. Everything we ate was delicious and I was so happy to sit down for a bit. We ended the night early again and then woke up the next morning to head to Munich, Germany.

We had a late flight from Munich back to Naples, so we had about 6 hours to spend in Munich. Caroline had a friend named Nelly, who lived in Munich so she gave us a tour. We started off with Breakfast. I got pancakes with turkey sausage and eggs. After we were all fueled, Nelly took us around and showed us various landmarks. My favorite thing we got to see was the Eisbach river. The waves on the Eisbach river at the entrance to the Englischer Garten (park) attract surfers and onlookers from around the world. The spot is famous throughout the world for being the largest, best and most consistent city center location for river surfing. People have been surfing here for 40 years. The surfers’ stunts are a popular snapshot for the large crowds that gather to watch. Thanks to their wetsuits, surfers can ride the waves any time they want and in all weather conditions, even in winter. We all enjoyed watching the surfers, and Nelly also surfs on this river, so we got to learn firsthand about this typical Munich activity.

After watching the surfing, we went to a local cafe and stayed they chatting for a few hours. Eventually, we went to the airport to fly back to Naples. The airport had a huge Christmas Market between the terminals, so we spent a few hours there as well. It was about time to head back into the airport and go through security. Soon we were back in Sorrento!