Literally walking on clouds...quite possibly cloud 9?!

This past weekend I travelled to Salzburg and Hallstatt, Austria.  Friday 10 of us left Luxembourg at 1pm and arrived in Salzburg a bit before 10pm.  After getting our bags settled in our hostel, we grabbed some dinner at a kebap stand and headed for the bars.  After a few Irish pubs, we were danced out and called it a night!  The next morning we hiked up a giant hill, may as well have been a mountain, to a castle that was on the top.  The view of Salzburg was beautiful, and the snow covered Alps out in the distance were even more stunning.  After a few hours up top, we hiked down and got on a bus to go to Eagles Nest, one of Hitler's houses that sits atop a mountain.  After 3 bus rides and some stressful travel, we made it up to the top.  From the parking lot, we walked into a tunnel that ran directly into the center of the mountain.  At the end of the tunnel we got on an elevator that took us up another 466 ft, to the house that was at the top of the mountain.  From this elevation (over 6500 ft above sea level) we could see for what seemed to be forever.  As you can see from this picture, it was easily the most picturesque place I have ever been...or so I thought.  After spending an hour up top, we headed back down and four of us got on a train to a little town in the Austrian Alps called Hallstatt. The four of us arrived in Hallstatt about 8pm, and immediately found our apartment...yes apartment.  For 22 euros (cheaper than any dirty and cramped hostel I've stayed in so far), the four of us got a two room apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, and two balconies that faced the mountains.  We caught a taxi into Hallstatt, which was on the other side of the lake from our apartment.  We had the entire town to ourselves...literally not another person in the entire town!  We walked around, checked out the local church, and ended up laying down and staring at the stars before we headed back.  The stars were unbelievable...shooting stars every now and then, you could even see the milky way!  We woke up the next morning at 6:45, watched the sun rise over the mountain from our balcony, and then walked to the ferry station.  The ferry picked us up and took us into town.  We got to see what we saw the night before, only this time in day light, and it was just as beautiful.  After about an hour of walking around, we took the ferry back over to the train station and started our 13 hour trip home.  By far the most fun weekend to date!  I'm heading to Amsterdam tomorrow (Wednesday) for my sociology class in which we have tons of cool things lined up!  I'll be there until Sunday, but will be sure to update everyone on my experiences there!

Please check out all of my pics from this weekend at : PICTURES

Oktoberfest...need I say any more??

This weekend I went to Munich, Germany to participate in Oktoberfest.  This weekend was the opening weekend, and I don't think we could have asked for a better time.  Me and 67 of my schoolmates boarded a bus at midnight on Friday and drove through the night to Munich, Germany where our bus driver dropped us at the gates of Oktoberfest at 7am.  It looked much like an American fair or carnival, with outdoor rides and tons of food and t-shirt stands.  We immediately got in line at one of the tents, in which there were tons of tables, but there are far more people, so getting a seat was of the essence.  Plus, they only serve people who are sitting down, so that was also crucial!  After standing in line from 7 until 9:15, they finally opened the doors and the mad rush began.  We were about 25 feet from the door, and had to fight the crowd to get in the doors.  We made it in, ran to the back of the huge tent, and found a small table that was not reserved until 3pm that afternoon, which gave us more than enough time to experience Oktoberfest to the fullest.  This tent was an A-frame about 4 or 5 stories tall, decorated with plants on the pillars and there was a giant 20 ft. tall 'angel' who was sitting on a cloud and playing a harp that hung from the ceiling (middle of the picture on the left).  We waited until noon, when the band entered and the keg was tapped.  We ordered our beer well before this, so that when it was time to get them, we wouldn't have to waste time paying for it...  at least in theory.  After the keg was tapped at noon, it was so incredibly hectic that we didn't get out first stein until 12:45!  We of course caught up with everyone else, and then took the environment in the rest of the afternoon.  We walked around the fair, did a ride, and then found a few local cafes and hung out until our bus picked us up at midnight.  We drove back through the night yet again and then slept all day Sunday at home.  For sure a great experience...literally felt as if I was on the set of 'Beerfest' all weekend!  Absolutely a great time, and definitely would be something I'd do again!  Busy week of classes and meetings, but off to Salzburg and Hallstatt, Austria this weekend!  Hope everything is going well for everyone else!  Keep the emails coming...it is great to hear from everyone!!

Crusin' for a "Bruges"in'

This past weekend I went to Bruges, Brussels...the 'Venice of the north'!  I went with 5 friends, but ended up meeting with countless other Miami students, as about 75% of the campus went to Bruges this weekend!  We left Friday around 3pm and made our way via train through Brussels and eventually to Bruges that evening.  We walked to the hostel, dropped our bags, and went out for our first night on the town.  On the way to the market square, we passed an old church that was all lit up, and in front of it was a stage and bleachers...they had an opera going on!  Not a fan of opera, but it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience!  After going to a bar that is known for its over 300 different beers, we went to the local disco bar...  They played almost all American music, or straight techno.  It was an awesome time, and after that we called it a night.

Saturday consisted of us renting bikes and riding in the direction of the beach...turns out 

we were about 15 km short of the beach, even after riding for about an hour and a half.  We decided to wave off the beach idea, so we turned around and grabbed lunch in the local little town, Damme, Belgium.  We then returned to Bruges, returned our bikes, and made our way up the city central tower, a whopping 366 steps.  The views were 360 degrees, and were absolutely incredible, as you can see in this picture below!  From the tower, we then headed to the famous chocolate shops that can be found everywhere in Bruges.  We then took a boat tour of the city, which was very interesting.  It started to rain right as we got done, so we headed back to the 

hostel for a power nap, and then went out for the second round that night!  It was very eventful and we of course had a ton of fun...how can you not when you're in Europe?!  Sunday morning we got our traditional Belgium waffles for breakfast, then caught the train back to Luxembourg by late afternoon.

We have a long week of classes this week, then going to Oktoberfest this coming weekend in Germany.  Looking forward to yet another great weekend, so I'll get back on next week and let you know how Germany was.  How is everything in the states?  Everyone doing well?  Send me an email and let me know how everything is going!!

The adventure begins...

I'm in Europe this semester studying in Luxembourg and thought I'd create a little something to keep my friends and family up-to-date with how things are going over here, so check it out!

My friend and I left Indy last Tuesday (Sept. 2nd) around noon, and made our way through Philly and finally to Brussels.  After a dreadful plane ride with a screaming baby in front of me, and an angry french man who wouldn't let me put my seat do

wn sitting behind me, I was more than ready to finally get to Luxembourg.  We arrived in Brussels, took a train to the main station, and then took a 3 hour train to Luxembourg City.  From there a fellow Miami student who also is my roommate for the semester and the host father picked up me up (while staying in Luxembourg this semester I'

m staying with a family - a father, mother, and 17 year old son...more on him and his ridiculous hair in a bit...).  We drove to their house and I put my things in my new room.  They offered us dinner and after that I spent my night unpacking and promptly went to sleep, as I was exhausted from such a long day of travel.

The house that I live in is in a little town called Bettembourg which is a 10 minute ride south of Luxembourg City (the captial) and a 3

0 minute train ride to Differdange, where Miami's chateau is located.  The chateau consists of classrooms, a giant dining hall, student kitchen and hang out areas, faculty and staff offices and a few of their residences (upstairs apartments).  The first record of the chateau

 is in 1253, so it is quite old, yet still quite stunning.

Thursday through Saturday consisted of orientation.  Thursday we had meetings in the morning, and only one after lunch.  They let us out by 2:45 and I went back to Bettembourg and went for a run.  We went to a local cafe for dinner and made our way to the local fair which has been around almost as long as the chateau...this was its 668th year!  It was a typical fair...with the exception of a few things, it was exactly as I remember the Indiana State Fair.  We hung out there for the night and caught the train back home.

Friday we had more meetings in the morning, then hopped on a bus for the afternoon and visited a few places.  Our first stop was a hike through the woods in a place they referred to as 'Little Switzerland', then we went to Castle de Beaufort, an ancient castle.  We then had a drink (compliments of Miami) that was made at the castle, then made our way to a small town were we sat at a cafe and hung out for the rest of the afternoon.  We went back to Diff and went out at a local bar for the night.

Saturday was along the same lines, only we visited different places.  We went to the HAMM American Military Cemetary, the Germany Military Cemetary, and then the American War 

 Museum.  It was an interesting afternoon, and gave us a different perspective of the war and gave a first hand view of the history we've learned so much about.  We were dropped off back at the fair, where we did a ride called Air Maxx which was probably the scariest ride I've ever done...it was an 8 person car on a 75ft pole that rotated...it was pushing 5G's!  After recovering from that, we made our way back to Diff for the night.

Sunday we spent the day with our host family.  We went out to a local pizzeria for lunch, came back home for coffee, and ended up watching The Matrix Reloaded with the host dad.  We then played XBox with the son...  The son has a buzzed head with the exception of a circle of hair on the top of his head that is about 8 inches tall and bleached blonde.  Its very...Euro?  We got dinner and went for a walk in Lux City.

Classes started yesterday and continued today.  I'm taking an international business class, introductory french, english cinema, sociology, and political science.  So far I think I will enjoy all of my classes, but they're a lot more work than I was expecting.  As for now, I'm just trying to get through the rest of the week of classes, and looking forward to traveling to Bruges this weekend with some friends!

Please feel free to email me with questions or comments!  I'd love to hear how everything is going back at home (or wherever you might be) so email me (hoffmatj@muohio.edu) or skype me...my skype name is THoff06.  I'll post again sometime soon!  Take care!

PS - Pictures can be found here...  PICTURES