My Year Abroad - Linz, Austria: hofburg

Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Bex came to stay!

Hi everyone!

Unfortunately I haven't been well the last couple of weeks (apparently laryngitis is very common among teachers, especially new teachers) and I have now been to the doctor, who signed me off work for the week. I'm not really allowed to talk, which I'm sure you can imagine is a huge challenge for me! However I am feeling much better now :) But last week, my friend Bex from home came to visit me in Austria, and we had a fantastic, relaxed weekend.

I picked her up from the airport on Wednesday and we headed back to Linz on the train. I took her for a little tour of Linz, but unfortunately it seemed Bex had brought the rain with her from England so the tour was cut a little short!

On Thursday I showed Bex a little more of Linz, including the cathedral and the main square.

We also went to my favourite cafe in Linz called the Jindrak. We had some English tea and Austrian strudel, and it was a great mix!

On Friday we travelled to Bad Gastein, a town in Salzburgerland about 3 hours from Linz. It is a very popular ski resort, and is home to some thermal baths. We were to stay over night in a hostel in Bad Gastein and spend Saturday at the thermal baths. This was the view from our hostel room balcony:

After checking in to our hostel, we went to a local restaurant where I introduced Bex to traditional Wiener Schnitzel.

Saturday at the thermal baths was brilliant. It was a very relaxing day, and the outdoor pool was amazing! It was a very strange feeling though to be sat in 40 degree water looking at snowy mountains and knowing that the air temperature was around -2 degrees!

There were lots of different pools at the resort, for children, relaxation or fitness, as well as saunas. Bex and I booked in for massages in the afternoon, and I left feeling very relaxed!

Sunday was my last day with Bex, and since she was flying from Vienna we thought we'd make the most of the day and have a little look around Vienna. It was a beautiful spring day, and we enjoyed wandering around and looking at the sights. There were so many people out relaxing in the sunshine; it was wonderful. Here are a few pictures from our afternoon in Vienna:

St Stephan's Cathedral (Stefansdom)

St Peter's Church

Exploring the Hofburg Palace area

Thanks for reading!

Laura :)

Tuesday, 2 February 2016

Becoming a princess for the day...

Hi everyone!

Despite having no voice and feeling under the weather, it's been a very exciting week.

On Thursday Carissa and I went to a ball at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna! It was amazing! The ball was for the Technische Universität in Vienna but the public could also buy tickets. We were lucky enough to get discount, and so Carissa and I played at being princesses for the evening.

The outside of the Hofburg lit up at night time.

The main ball room with the live orchestra. At the start, the debutants and their partners opened the dancing, and then couples filed on to the floor to dance many different styles: waltz, samba, foxtrot...

Me on the marble staircase!

Another ball room with a live band. There were many rooms playing different styles of music, for example traditional Austrian folk, salsa and jazz.

We had an amazing time, and Carissa got the chance to learn to waltz as well. The Austrian ball season is such a huge part of the culture here, so for us to have the chance to go to a ball, and in the Hofburg palace, I feel really lucky!

I'm now looking forward to my friend Bex from home coming to visit this week. We have some exciting stuff planned which I'll tell you all about next week.

Thanks for reading!

Laura