Happy Easter!

Hello everyone and happy Easter!

The last two weeks have been super busy and I've done so much, so here's a run down of what I've been up to.

My friend Beth from university, who is on her year abroad in Spain, came to visit me in Linz. We did lots of exciting things, including a visit to Linz zoo, where you can pay €2 to get a bag of food to feed some of the animals - it was very exciting!

We also took a trip on an old-fashioned tram to Pöstlingberg, a small town set up on a hill by Linz.

There is a grotto train (I think it's meant for children but we had fun anyway) that you ride on and see little scenes of gnomes and forest animals. Afterwards you enter a museum where scenes from fairy tales are shown - in Austria, the traditional fairy tales are a little darker in comparison to the UK!

The church at Pöstlingberg which can be seen up on the hill from anywhere in Linz.

The view out over Linz from Pöstlingberg.

And a trip to Vienna...

We started off our day at Schönbrunn palace.

This was the view of the palace ground from the palace steps. We had beautiful spring weather and the grounds were free to explore.

The Gloriette which stands up on the hill was intended to be a focal point and a vantage point for the palace garden. It now, however, houses a cafe.

The view of Schönnbrunn palace and out over Vienna from the Gloriette.

Karlskirche (Karls church) was where we began our tour of the Ring Road, one of the biggest and most famous streets in Vienna where many of the popular sites can be found.  

This is an art museum in the Museums Quarter of Vienna, and shows the sort of architecture which is so popular throughout the city.

The Rathaus seen through the tree blossom.

I introduced Beth to Schnitzel, as this is very important when in Austria, and she liked it.

I then flew home for the Easter holidays. The first few days were spent in London with my friend Jen, as we went to see Adele in concert at the O2 arena.

We also did a fair bit of sightseeing.

We started our day with Big Ben and Westminster

We went to visit the Queen...

...had afternoon tea at the Library Lounge right on the Thames...

...and we went up the Shard. 

This was the view of Tower Bridge from the Shard at night. 

And then I headed back to Devon for the Easter weekend. Mum and Jen planned a lovely half-surprise early birthday party for me, and it was so lovely to see so many friends and family all at once :) I was thoroughly spoilt!

My sister Rachel got me these rather fantastic balloons!

(yes, I did wear my Christmas slippers for the whole party)

I also spent time visiting family and friends and generally catching up with people I hadn't seen since Christmas.

It was a very short trip home and seemed to fly by, but it was lovely to be back.

I am now back in Linz, and I start back to work tomorrow - I only have two more months left here! I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone, but I am determined to make the most of the remaining time in Austria.

Thanks for reading!

Laura :)

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 Stephan's Cathedral (Stefansdom)

St Stephan's Cathedral (Stefansdom)

St Stephan's Cathedral (Stefansdom)

St Stephan's Cathedral (Stefansdom) 

St Stephan's Cathedral (Stefansdom) 

St Peter's Church

St Peter's Church

Exploring the Hofburg Palace area

Exploring the Hofburg Palace area

Exploring the Hofburg Palace area

Exploring the Hofburg Palace area

Thanks for reading!

Laura :)

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

Winter in Austria: Snow and Skiing

Hi everyone!

In the last two weeks, winter has really arrived in Austria. One morning when I was at the bus stop at 7am, the temperature was -16 degrees Celcius!! I'm not built for temperatures like this!

A few exciting things have happened in the last two weeks:

1. The snow came back! I went to stay at Emma Cate's house in Steyr and we woke up to heavy snow outside. And the snow is still here as well - it's so cold it's not melting, and we had more yesterday!

2. I went to see 'Joy' at the cinema and it was great! A film that makes you feel every emotion at the same time, I'd really recommend it.

3. I've got back into reading again, and I'm on my second book of the year. My first was 'Me Before You' by Jojo Moyes and the second is 'The Little Paris Bookshop' by Nina George. 

4. I taught at the primary school again and we learnt parts of the body, colours and numbers up to ten. Next time, we're going to draw and describe monsters, which I'm very excited about! I'm always amazed at how quickly they pick things up. Some of them can't really read or write yet, yet they are able to memorise vocabulary in a foreign language and even sing songs like 'Silent Night' without ever reading the words!

5. The Student Language Bureau (an organisation which provides jobs for students abroad) are starting up a blog site and are going to feature a blog from me every two weeks!

6. I bought a ball gown for a Viennese ball I'm going to next week - pictures to come in the next blog post!

7. Yesterday, I went skiing for the first time with Carissa. It was great! Not as terrifying as I thought it might be, apart from the final slope we attempted in order to get down the mountain...we ended up being rescued by one of the piste machines because the slope was difficult and they were about to close the slopes! But apart from that, I'm very proud of myself for trying, and I had a great day! Here are some pictures...

Stopping for refreshments in the restaurant

Me in the all-in-one ski suit I borrowed from me housemate!

Thanks for reading!

Laura :)