Can This Be Topped?

I'm noticing, as my experience abroad continues, that each new experience seems to top the last. Which begs the question, how good can life really get? Last week was by far one of, if not the greatest of my life. Let me tell you all about it. Monday and Tuesday were typical. I went to Mutual on Monday and had a great time. Tuesday I hung out with Willow for the evening. We ate Frankfurters, she convinced me to register for a City-Bike, and then we ended up in a rather large grocery store near my house. I went home that night with some junk food for our trip the next morning. I got home, wrote some emails, packed and went to sleep. The next morning was the start of an awesome 5 day trip that would take me to the most beautiful places I had ever seen. Our first destination was the concentration camp Mauthausen. It was a humbling experience. I couldn't grasp the level of evil involved in such a place. How could hatred become so easy, so enjoyable? Why are humans so despicable? My mind has spent a lot of time trying to figure out the process of justification. Do I have control over that process, or does it have control over me? I hope for my sake the former is true.
From Mauthausen we traveled to St. Florian, a monastary made famous by Anton Bruckner. I must say that it was just what I needed after seeing Mauthausen. The monastary was beautiful, and is still functioning today. We took a short tour, which ended in the Catacombs. The favorable acoustics prompted Cindy, our program director, to ask the group to sing a few hymns. A perfect compliment to the day's earlier activity. We renewed our spirits, and were ready to travel to our next destination. An hour and a
half later we arrived in Hallstatt, a picturesque town nestled between towering alps. It was dinner time, so the group ventured into the town for food. I tagged along with a smaller group. We ended up in a local place a few minutes away from the main road. We walked through the door and were greeted by several bar-regulars who were smoking and drinking. I ordered the Schnitzel... which I rather enjoyed. Most fried things or pretty good. I also got a dessert, something I never do. After dinner we walked around Hallstatt. There isn't much of a nightlife in a town like that... in fact I don't recall seeing a single person on the streets. We did see, however, a few stray cats, and a couple of horses. Horses that were contained by an electrified fence... one that I had to test out... haha. It didn't look electrified! It was a very enjoyable evening. I got to know some of the coolest people in our group. The next morning we woke up bright and early. We had to beat the crowds that would eventually show up at Hallstatt's Salt mine. We took a tram up into the mountains, and then hiked for about 10 minutes to the Mine's enterance. They gave us jump suits to wear... mine was blue:) The mine wasn't particularly impressive. However, contained within the mine were two slides used by the miners to get places quicker. Both were very fun! After the mine we hiked, as a group, up to a Waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful! I've never been in a forest so green... so lush... so completely perfect! On our way back it began to rain. We were all soaked by the time we got to town, so we rushed to a place where we could get warm. We ended up in a cafe right on Hallstatt lake. The view was beautiful! I ordered a hot chocolate, and a shredded pancake dish. Both were very good. I did notice something as I enjoyed my meal. When you come to Europe you'll notice things are not as sweet as they are in the states, however things are far more salty. Or maybe I just have a nack for finding salty things to eat:) After lunch we walked up to a church that contained a catacomb with painted skulls. Painted on each skull was the person's name, date they died, and a little design of the painter's choice. Very interesting... the graveyard isn't big enough for everyone who dies, so apparetly they have to dig people up for their space.
We left Halstatt that evening. We took a short detour on our way to Salzburg to see a famous altar in St. Wolfgang. Its insured for 1.5 million Euros! We arrived in Salzburg late that night. We were all very tired, and after some short, random conversations, we all went to bed. The next morning we took a tour of the city. It was definitely not what I expected. I pictured Salzburg a lot larger, and a lot... dare I say, prettier:) It was a very nice place to spend a day. We got to see some of the places where the sound of music was filmed. I guess if you love that movie, then that would be exciting. I also got to see the birthplace of Mozart... which has been turned into an expensive, crappy museum. We were told not to bother going in. After the tour a group of us went to the oldest resturaunt in the world for lunch. It was founded in 809! Everything was rediculously expensive, so we ended up getting hot chocolate and soup... for 10 Euros! If i had wanted a meal I would have paid over 20 Euros. After lunch a group of us walked up to the castle and sat on its wall to enjoy the view. I'm a sucker for a good view. I can't get enough:) We left Salzburg that afternoon and headed to Hellbrunn. It was a day palace for the Archbishop Markus Sittikus. The guy certainly had a sense of humor. The grounds have several "watergames" that were used to play pranks on his guests. We had a really fun tour guide, and despite having many opportunites to get wet, I managed to stay dry. After our tour of Hellbrunn, we traveled to our final destination of the trip, Dorfgastein. Another gorgeous country town surrounded by the alps. I stayed in a beautiful and comfortable vacation apartment. That night I hung out with the girls on the floor above us. We watched half of "The Mask of Zorro." The next morning proved to be one of my favorite days of the trip. We met, again, bright and early for yet another hike. My second hike in the alps! We ascended into the mountains by tram, up and over the clouds. It was breathtaking! There was snow on the ground, but not so much that it bothered me. We took the scenic route which gave us panoramic views of the mountains. We stopped halfway at a resturaunt and were served drinks and sandwiches... if you ever go, I recommend staying away from the cheese. It smelled and tasted very much like feet. I took the tram down the mountain, rather than hiking the entire way down. I spent the rest of the day relaxing. That night a group of us made
dinner, pasta and salad. It turned out pretty good for the ingredients we had to work with. The next morning was Sunday, and we all attended Dorgastein's annual Thanksgiving Mass. I've always wanted to go to Mass, and now I can say I attended Mass... in the Alps:) It was a lovely service, although I understood very little. The choir was quite enjoyable. After the service the locals, dressed in traditional clothing, had a Thanksgiving procession. It was very cool to see a local tradition. That evening, the owner of our vacation apartments taught us a local game. Similar to horse shoes, one throws a hunk of metal at a white peg 30 meters away. The object is to get the closest to the white peg. It was very interesting. That night we made dinner again. This time we made beef soup. It was very delicious considering, once again, we had very little to work with. I stayed up late that night talking... not such a good idea. The next morning was our big hike... the hardest of the trip. The entire thing was incredibly steep. Michelle and I declared ourselves hiking buddies. We chanted each other on as we panted up the mountain. I thought I wasn't going to make it... I started feeling sick. We stopped at a bench to rest, and I clasped my hands together and prayed for help to reach our destination. After a rather large incline I threw up, and after that I felt great:) Prayers are answered no matter where you are. Our destination was Amoseralm, a small resturaunt-like house. We were served, what we were told would be, an all you can eat brunch filled with local specialties. Unfortunately after a hike like that, the breakfast failed to meet expectations. We were served eggs, some cake/biscuit stuff, hot chocolate, and of course the traditional bread, meat, and cheese(remember to stay away from the cheese). The hike down proved to be far more enjoyable. We stopped to feed a group of young cows. They were shy at first, but we won them over with... I suppose our patience:) We also came across some horses as well. We fed them apples from trees growing in their pen. Horses are so cool! I wish to someday own one. I got back to my apartment and showered. I considered hiking, or biking, or doing something involving movement. But after some thought I realized I had had enough excersize for the day. We left Dorfgastein by train Monday evening. It was bittersweet. The town was so beautiful, but I have to say I am happy to be back in Vienna... even if its raining. And I won't be in Vienna for long because we leave for Italy next week! I'm so excited! So... that was my week. I can't believe we packed so much in only 5 days. I've seen more in the past three weeks than I've seen my entire life.