Photos: Utah houses Austrians for a week

Delicate Arch with a delicate kiss

I have yet to get a kiss under the arch. After viewing this event, I have decided to make this a new goal in my life.

Arches, one of the highlights of the trip.

Shadows cast at Balanced Rock

The beginning of a long drive home

Back Home and Austria Comes to Visit

What can I say. Had a great time showing friends from across the world the wonders of Utah. Highlights, the fake lizard attack, and the late drive home from Arches. Oh, and the extra inches I achieved by walking on the Salt Flats. Love you guys back in Austria, hope you all come to visit sometime soon. And with Delta's new direct flight to Paris, who knows you might be seeing me soon too. Have fun with the new school semester.

Lot's of UK Photo's

Second star to the right and straight on tell morning... I made it to J.M. Barrie's birthplace.

Part of the Peter Pan statue in London. Found it was snuck in on Barrie's orders for the 1st of May celebration. Can't imagine sneaking in a huge metal statue through Hyde Park.

Voldermort may have had issues, but you know, what would Harry be without him.

Some cried when they held the last book in their hands. I just wanted to read it.

Photo's UK

Hagrid's Hut?

Dad had just finished climbing Ben Nevis when we had a nice meal at it's restaurant.

View from the boat. The Orkney's are amazing!!!

Who doesn't take a photo like this when in the UK.

Parts of the UK remembered now that I'm home.

Brendan you are a hoot!!

Family photo--minus a sister--in Bath, England.

Wales.... I said it was beautiful!

The money is beautiful, but it sure costs a lot of dollars to get the pound in your hand.

O.k so the went on a little journey around the UK that took me everywhere from Edinburgh to London to a town outside Cardiff to the Orkney islands. It was great and long and hard to find the time for internet.

Thanks to all those I saw on the trip. Yes, Brendan that means you! For a great place to stay a few nights before seeing the parents, to a place to stay a few nights to escape the parents. And thanks for listening to my Harry Potter presentation. All went well at SECTUS 2007 and I had fun playing with other Harry Potter freaks.

It would take forever to tell you guys everything that went on in the UK, so I'm going to attempt to give just a few highlights:

Mom, I will never forget your finger directing Dad through traffic and the round-a-bouts. He might not have seen it pushing the car forward but I did from the back seat.
To me getting a head cold, and being snuck into a hotel to be able to sleep on the floor.
Fish and Chips.
Ben Nevis whiskey, Ben Nevis restaurant, Harry Potter tour of Fort Williams (and Mom knowing Hagrid's Hut was up the hill and through the woods to a nice old pub)
Beware of old people signs (Never knew there were so many senior citizen gangs in the UK).
J.M. Barrie's birthplace, grave, and oh yeah Peter Pan
Mom and her Guinness!!!!
The coast line of Wales (can you say beautiful).
Mead, then wine, then a few shots of vodka, then beer, and the Edinburgh sun rising on a friends balcony.
Oh and that pepper (reminder to self: Do not touch a hot pepper with your hands and then place your hand to your eye. It makes for a bad reaction, though a very funny story).
My new hat.
Dad touching all the flora.
Dad finishing my beer!
Edinburgh Harry Potter tour with friend.
HP conference and Slash fiction being somewhat of a shock to me.
And who could ever forget the boat rides to and from the Orkney's.
The fact that what we saw usually revolved around where we were going to eat.
Reading the final HP book in London.
Dad teaching me to skip stones on the Loch Ness.

O.k. I said a few; it was a bit more. Hope I can put a few photos to this.

Remember That Time When....?

...We Had a Girl's Night Out in Innsbruck?

...I Ate a Kebap for the First Time?

Hello all--I haven't written on my blog page for awhile and I thought, "Well, I could tell everyone about all the things I've been doing...or we could play a game!" If you know me, you know I'm a kid at heart, so I decided to go with the game. Hope everyone will play.

Well, here is how it goes. I write something like: "Remember that time when I jumped off what I thought had to be a 100 foot cliff into the water." And Shannon, would right something back like: "oh yeah, why did you listen to me, but do you remember that time when (fill in statement)???", and it continues like this.

To play the game all you have to do is right a comment to my blog, or a comment to a comment on the blog. When I get back home I'll put them all together as a little story for everyone.

So let us begin. I write:

Remember that time I traveled Europe for five months?

And you write:

? (comment page)

In the Mountains, Traveling the Woods, and Wondering the Land

Hottinger Alm



O.k a bit of a long title, but hey it was a long hike. I couldn't come to Innsbruck (for that matter Austria) and not have a visit to the majestic towering rock and earth that surrounds this city. So on Thursday (yet another religious holiday) I took my feet, a back pack with fruit, and some water up to the hills. After a winding bus ride I made it to the area where most trails begin, and yes I decided to take the steep one. Half way up I thought I could go no further (my legs screaming at me stop this madness). But I met a nice gentleman, Josef, and he was able to provide the verbal support--and the reward of beer--all the way to Hottinger Alm.
The scene was stunning. With Limestone cliffs towering above, cows (in need of a haircut) grazing, and flowers in bloom. Thanks Josef for buying me my beer and a coffee complete with Apfel Strudel. The way off the mountain was even more memorable, though I did almost biff it about 20 times. But all in all I felt I was in the woods for a day. Hopefully, I'll be able to get there once more before I leave here on the 30th.

A 24 hour whirlwind. Graz in a Day!

These are images from the beginning of my travels. And the last image is near the end of my journey. I stayed almost exactly 24 hours in Graz and some how saw all (except one though I did pass it) 34 tourist sights listed in the tourist travel brochure. Best part of Graz good food and Austrian Schnaps (pear flavored and only drank at the end of a large meal).

Graz in a Day!

Graz, a mix of old style culture and modern art. Had coffee in an open sea shell on the river Mur, ate schnitzel prepared with pumpkin crust and nuts, and drank beer, schnaps, peppermint tea, and a few Colas. Because it was a whirlwind I'll let the photos say everything. Though I do need to thank Sonja for being such a great travel partner and tourist guide (even if it was the first time you had been to the city too).

Bavaria and it's Marvels

The statue of dragons being killed is a common motif in the Bavaria region. This is below the famous Glockenspiel (a clock with twirling figures at the Rathaus--city hall.

Sometimes you see statues and wonder why would anyone make that. With this one, I thought how could anyone make that. It's huge and towers over Theresienwiese (a park where Oktoberfest is held).

Oh how long the run must have been for poor Cinderella when she left her shoe at the castle! I told myself I wanted to see this castle and I am so happy that I did. It is exactly what you envision a castle to be like when you're a kid.

The Bavarian Alps are the majestic view given from Neuschwanstein.

A Princess?...Me? oh lets face it, I have always thought myself to be a princess. I try not to act like the stereotypical ones of today, but I still believe I deserve to be treated like a princess. And I am waiting to meet a boy that abliges. This wonderful castle is filled with rooms that attempt to make Wagner's music compositions come to life.

It's been a while since I have written on my blog. And I have to say it has been a while since I have been in Bavaria, but I am still enjoying the memory of the fairy tale land I traveled. Munich was a big city and seemed mixed with the land of Hansel and Gretel and that of modern commercialism. But my journeys there led me to a nice little VISA that makes me legal to study in Austria. Go figure.
Neuschwanstein castle was the highlight of my trip to Bavaria, along with the train ride there: seeing the Austrian Alps up close and personal, and also randomly coming across a beautiful deer in the gardens of Nymphenburg Palace.
Decided on this trip that the only reason nude beaches continue is due to men attempting to keep the tradition going. Walking in the English Garden was a bit of a shock. And I think those living in California and anywhere where surfing is a common practice may find it strange to see a bunch of tourists staring at a group of surfers riding one wave on a river. Watched another clock go round, and little figures turn for 10 minutes, and decided that it is so strange to think that clocks are a tourist attraction. You wait to see time pass you by. I thought that was why you traveled, because you are sick of seeing time pass you by. But I was one of the on lookers and some how managed to take about twenty photos of a clock.
The beer (favorite the Augustiener Dunkel) was amazing along with WeiB Wurst with mustard and a heavy pretzel.
Felt I traveled Bavaria right. Though I came back to Austria a bit tired of traveling.

Future Endeavors

This is an old photo, but I feel it represents the mood I am in today. I call it HorrorD. But really I like how my head seems to be floating in the air. This is how it has been today, trying to figure out my future plans and such.


So here I am, on a different continent, and I have to register for classes. This trip has been wonderful, but it is definitely making me think of what I want to do when I get back to Salt Lake City. I know I will be finishing my studies (and that will take me a year), but then what? Do I go back to my job when I get back to Salt Lake? Of course I do, but do I try to take on a second job within my field of study? Or should I just sell all my belongings and keep traveling around the world? It makes a person think what they want their life to be, when they are living a dream. So here are some of my goals, desires, or lets just call them dreams.

When I get back home I want to.......
Focus on the studies of Children's literature, children's folklore, and anything to do in between.
Work with children, teaching them about literature and the enjoyment of reading.
Finish the book Dawnette and I have been working on.
Finish the book I have for five years been working on.
Look into how to work for the Humanities Council.
Do so many things!

How is it that a person is supposed to choose one. I mean, our society has always used the system that one goes to school and then gets a job in a field they are supposed to stay in for the rest of their life. But what if you want to do many things? I want to do many things! I want to travel, write, teach, volunteer, relax, read, and do so much more. So if anyone knows the winning numbers to the lottery, please let me know. O.k so that is my rant and rave for the day. Hope everyone is doing well back home. I will be back before I know it which is good and bad all at the same time.

Pictures Vienna, Wien, ViVi!

Here is most of the Innsbruck to Vienna group. A few are missing, but then again it was hard to keep all of us together in one location.

So I know this looks a bit strange. But after very late nights of Texas Hold'm Poker sometimes random men just end up in a girls bed. I at least knew this guy, and he was a gentlemen. So George, thanks! I haven't had a good cuddle fest for awhile.

Hayley, Me, and Jo (Helen behind the camera)

All these photos were taken by Helen, and I took them off her facebook page. Well, have fun all. Hope you like the photos.

Vienna, Wien, or ViVi: Whatever you call it, it's still the capital of Austria

Riesenrad in Prater

Me on a Ferris Wheel. Can you tell I'm a bit scared of heights?

The crip of Maria Theresa and her husband Franz Stephan: This is one of my favorite photos so far taken on this trip.

How many pictures of a clock can a person take. But with this one I would like you to notice the implication of time by the little cherub on one side of the clock and then a skeleton holding an hour glass on the opposite side. My folklore classes are coming in handy on this voyage across the seas.

Now this is my favorite photo. I got it by chance. But I love the faces of horses. Beautiful creatures.

So everywhere I have gone in Austria, I have loved. I would recommend this country to anyone traveling around. This trip was an experience for me. Traveling around with 11 people is never an easy experience, and having traveled so much by myself recently it was an endeavor in itself to attempt to go with the flow. And for those of you who know me back home, this is not one of my top qualities.
Though I wish I could have seen more, we actually went to many of the biggest tourist attractions. Nina's apartment was right behind Stephansdom and smack dab in the center of the city. The first night was a visit to the fun park Prater, where I won an American teddy bear and named him Prater in memory of the trip. The next day was 11 people attempting to be compatible traveling companions and failing miserably. The next day brought a division in the group where we all met together at the wonderful Schloss Schonnbrunn (mind you the o is supposed to have an umlat). I wish I would have had longer in this beautiful location, but as it was I only had time to get lost in a maze then finally find the center, and then go through a labyrinth.
The train ride home was long, and I have to say this trip seemed to take the most out of me. I have been tired ever since. But today I had a bit more pep in my step when I wandered into a small bookstore in Innsbruck. I loved it. Books broke-up by their author's nationality not type. I wandered the books, seeing which author's where Austrian, American, English, or Russian. And then of course I was taken away from this wondering by the children's book section. And I found the best purchase I have made since I have been in Innsbruck. It is a beautiful book, hard back, and awarded the 2005 most beautiful book in Austria (apparently the only children's book award they give--this is according to the bookseller at the shop), and it is a book of local Tirol fairy tales.
It is funny that my face and whole being becomes so excited about these stories. I felt as if I had found a treasure. Mind you the text is in German, but I am determined to learn this language. Even if that means I need to continue classes back home (which I think I will be doing at Westminster when I get back). SO, I walked the streets of Innsbruck today, enjoying listening to Harry Potter by audio and getting a nice meal, with a cute waiter who was nice enough to hit on me the whole way through the meal. I would recommend to anyone traveling to Austria to try the TopfenKnodel, it's like a compact cheese cake, but better because you're in Austria when you're eating it. Well, this has become a novel, and one of my listed "Things to do" today was to work on my own novel. So this is bye for now. It seems that Sunday takes me to Liechtenstein.