Month: March 2016

 

 

First off I’d like to say that my classmates and I are ok and we are all safe following the terrorist attacks this morning in Brussels, Belgium.  Also, our thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and family members of those that lost their lives today in a senseless act of terror.

In a weekend marked with extreme highs and extreme lows we returned today to Salzburg on a rollercoaster of emotions…  Looking back on the weekend it’s tough to describe my feelings on the trip.  I can’t seem to decide whether or not it was a fun trip, an informative trip, or a sad trip.  Krakow and those that have called the city home have gone through so much in the past 100 years, yet the city exuded joy and beauty around every corner, and as Easter is coming up the city was full of color and festivities.  Yet, we left quietly and deep in thought.  We spent 2 full days in Krakow, making sure to explore the old city as much as possible, and 1 day touring the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau.

Discovering Main Market Square and the Easter Market

Waking up on Saturday morning we saw the rain had stopped and Krakow had a beautiful day in store for us.  We were all starving so we headed out in search of some traditional Polish foods, like some pierogi or kielbasa.  We wandered without much care letting our noses sniff out the incredible smells wafting through the city.  Our noses took us to Main Market Square in the middle of Krakow.  The market was beautiful, the architecture was amazing with St. Mary’s Basilica towering over us and a market that must have been the best smelling Easter market in the universe.  We were like kids in a candy shop and all ran off in different directions to get lunch.  Most of the group wanted pierogis but I found a great stand selling szaszlyk.  What is a szaszlyk you ask? The best shish kebab you will ever taste that’s what…

Szaszlyk among other meats cooking

I wanted to buy the entire thing but that would have cost me about 100 Polish zloty (25 euros) and I wasn’t in the mood to splash that amount of cash in my first hour in Krakow.  So instead I bough about a fifth of it and a beer and returned to our picnic table excited to show off my prize to the group.  Instead I ended up jealous of what they returned with, from pierogis to kielbasas on sweet onions, crepes, polish stew on sauerkraut and chocolate waffles I was left wishing I explored more before I settled on my szaszlyk.  One bite later I was again convinced I picked the right dish, then I tried a pierogi and loved it, then the kielbasa and then the stew… Where has this food been all my life… We could have stayed at that picnic table all day just running back and forth between all of the different stands.  We almost did but our stomaches wouldn’t allow us.  We shopped for some Easter souvenirs and tried tasty Easter candies.  Some food we found out was meant for decoration and wasn’t exactly supposed to be eaten… cough cough Haley.. Gingerbread Easter eggs sitting out in the cold apparently turn to rock.

Indoor Market

Beautiful St. Mary’s Basilica

From there we finally went to explore the rest of the square.  We wanted to get an up close look at St. Mary’s, so we paid the 5 zloty fee and went in.  I have my mom to thank for dragging Alicia and I through cathedrals from England to Italy for my appreciation of the beauty of these incredible buildings.  Il Duomo was amazing, St. Pauls was great but St. Mary’s in Krakow may have stolen my heart.

Inside of St. Mary’s (photo cred to Lucy Kirby)

After saying a prayer and lighting a candle we left to get a tour of the ancient Jewish quarter of Krakow which is known as Kazimierz.  Originally King Casimir III the Great welcomed the Jews to Krakow in the 1300’s and built a wall around their very own section of the city.  He was welcoming and as long as they paid their taxes they were welcome in Krakow regardless of what religion they followed.  Krakow’s jewish population grew exponentially and by the 20th century there was an estimated 70,000 jews calling Krakow their home.

Store fronts in Kazimierz written in Hebrew

Today Kazimierz is open for all sorts and isn’t just strictly for Jews but there still is a very strong Jewish culture to the quarter, hence the name “the jewish quarter.”  We were able to see the 2nd oldest synagogue in Europe and the old walls of Kazimierz.  We also saw many of the filming locations of Steven Spielberg’s 7 time Academy Award winning film Schindler’s List.  On one site there was a memorial to the city’s former Jewish residents.  A city that held 65,000-70,000 Jewish citizens prior to WWII was reduced to a little over 2,000.  In 5 years the Nazis were able to destroy over 600 years of Jewish culture in Krakow.  Again, I noticed the small stones placed on Jewish memorials, like the one the nice lady told me about in Budapest at the “Shoes on the Danube” memorial.  Our tour guide pointed out that because stones don’t wilt and die like flowers they have become popular forms of remembrance.  I didn’t have one on me but I made a mental note to pick one up before our trip the next day to Auschwitz.

Memorial to Krakow’s former 65,000 Jewish Residents

After Nazi occupation in the 40’s many of the city’s jewish areas were destroyed but a few survived.  One such place is an old Jewish cemetery.  During WWII it was used as a dump by the Nazis.  This may have saved the graveyard honestly, as most of the other Jewish cemeteries in Krakow were destroyed during this time.  Following the war, Christians cleaned it up, replaced the headstones and attempted to restore as much dignity to the cemetery as possible so the residents could once again rest in peace.

Jewish Cemetery in Kazimierz (photo cred to Lucy Kirby)

We woke up early Sunday morning ready for our tour of Auschwitz knowing deep down that today was going to be a very emotionally exhausting day for us all.  We walked outside to find that the sky seemed to be in the same mood as us, dreary and grey.  We met our tour guide and hopped in our small bus and attempted to mentally prepare for the day ahead.  We were shown a small documentary on Auschwitz filmed by a Soviet soldier upon their discovery and liberation of the camp.  It was graphic and woke us up pretty quickly to the horrors committed by the Nazis at Auschwitz.  Little did we know we had no idea what was ahead of us.

“Arbeit Macht Frei” (work sets you free)

We arrived and followed our tour guide through the gates of Auschwitz I, the labor camp. Here lived political prisoners and Poles.  The gate we walked under read in german, “arbeit macht frei” which translates to “work sets you free.”  This was the smaller and first of the 2 main Auschwitz concentration camps.  The prisoners here worked at plant about a 4.5 mile walk away.  6 days a week they had to wake up, walk 4.5 miles, work for 10 hours and walk back home.  Most prisoners didn’t live past 5 months.  Eventually, the Nazi’s realized they needed to move their camp closer to the plant so they made the prisoners build Auschwitz II Birkenau.  Upon completion Auschwitz II Birkenau became the largest and bloodiest concentration camp in Nazi Germany.

Yet, in Auschwitz I we were able to walk through the barracks, previously built for Polish soldiers and learn the awful stories of the camps.  The barracks are now a museum documenting the horror story that is the history of the camps.  I can barely remember what our tour guide told us, as the atrocities seem to all run together but I took photos of what we were allowed to take photos of.

Electrified barbed wire fence around Auschwitz I

Some prisoners would throw themselves onto the fence in order to commit suicide just to escape the horrors of the camp.

Map of where most prisoners came from

Luggage taken from the Jews upon arrival

Shoes taken from the dead

In another room, there was a pile about this size of nothing but human hair.  Upon arrival, their heads were shaved and the hair was intended to be woven into rugs to be sold.  We weren’t allowed to take photos of the hair out of respect to those it used to belong to.  That room was the worst thing I’ve ever had to witness in my life.  It’s tough to describe the emotions that run through your mind upon seeing 2 tons of human hair just sitting in a pile, still in braids and buns…  How can such evil have ever risen to power?  How could people hate each other like this?  We walked out to a hallway lined with photos of some of the dead.  We just stood there drowning in disbelief and sadness.  Tears on our faces as we stared at portraits of victims with shaved heads.. Did we see just see their hair in the other room?

Used containers that contained zyklon B pellets

“Death Wall” Execution by firing squad was carried out here on thousands.

Chimney of crematorium and gas chamber at Auschwitz I

Gas chamber of Auschwitz I

The ovens in Auschwitz I

I was shocked we were allowed to walk into the gas chamber and again we found ourselves overcome with emotion as we saw the chambers and the ovens.  Again, how can people have been this evil to each other?  In the gas chamber there were openings in the ceiling where the poisonous zyklon B pellets could be dropped in on the unsuspecting victims, who were under the impression that they were just there to take a shower.

Original sign and walls

After a short break, we got back on our bus for the quick trip to Auschwitz II Birkenau, the death camp of the complex.  We arrived with the infamous brick archway looming over us.

Entrance to Auschwitz II Birkenau

Here the train tracks split and the occupants of the cattle cars were gathered in between the trains so that they couldn’t see the rest of the camp.  Here they went through selection, the fit men were separated from the women and children.  Those deemed able to work were sent to the camp those deemed unable were sent to another area of the camp.  They were under the impression that after 24+ hours in a cattle car without a toilet amongst 70-80 others that they were going to be allowed to shower and clean up.  They entered an underground facility where they were allowed to strip out of their clothes.  From there, they entered another room complete with shower heads and hooks on the walls for their towels.  They were sealed in, gassed, and then cremated before ever setting foot in the rest of the camp.  This was the fate that met over 60% of Jews arriving at Auschwitz II Birkenau.

Cattle car for carrying 70-80 Jews, (24+ hour journey, no restroom, 1 grate for air)

(Remains of massive Auschwitz II Birkenau gas chamber)

Auschwitz II Birkenau had I believe 4 gas chambers/ crematoriums.  As the Soviets were closing in on the facilities, the Nazis attempted to destroy as much evidence of their crimes as possible.  The final gas chamber (above) was blown up as the Soviets were just 5 miles away from the camp.

Memorial behind crematorium

The memorial reads “To the memory of the men, women, and children who fell victim to the Nazi genocide.  Here lie their ashes.  May their souls rest in peace.”

Beds for the prisoners

The sleeping quarters were more than just awful they were dehumanizing.  Three levels, separated by stone and wood planks.  The prisoners fought to not sleep on the bottom level as rats as large as cats would feast on the dead and living that were too weak to fight them off.

“To forget a holocaust, is to kill twice” -Elie Wiesel (Auschwitz survivor/ Nobel Peace Prize Winner)

I laid my pebble here in the sleeping quarters amongst some flowers in other bunks.  We stayed in this hut for about 5 minutes comforting each other as a group as we listened to our tour guide listing the atrocities that took place in the sleeping quarters.  Again we couldn’t believe that some people were able to survive this horrible place.

This is where our tour ended, upon exiting the sleeping quarters we were led back to the front and out the gate.  We walked silently back to our bus and rode silently back to Krakow.  It wasn’t until we got off the bus with our stomaches growling that we opened up a bit.

We woke up Monday morning determined to make the day a great day.  We grabbed lunch in the Market again and took a walk around and fought off the cold as much as possible.  I tried this sandwich creation that consisted of a thick piece of bread covered in onions, sliced sausage and ground pork with corn, peas, and diced carrots.  It was so delicious that I had to show it off.

Pure joy

From there we went and wandered along the old castle walls.  We found some great statues and the Barbican.  The Barbican was the old entrance to the once fortified city center.  Today the city center is surrounded by a circular park that was once used as a moat to protect the city.

Krakow Barbican

We goofed around a bit imitating statues, until the weather got so cold that we had to retreat back to our airbnb condo, but not before we found a familiar flag!

THE US CONSULATE!

We returned this morning, our first train out of Krakow to Katowice must have been built in 1960 but it still seemed to work properly… kinda.  It was slow and rickety but it got us to Katowice on time for us to catch our connection to Vienna.  It was on my way to Vienna that news of the bombings in Belgium reached us.  From here I had about 6 hours to think back on the weekend and the events at hand.  It is incredible that humanity constantly puts itself through evil over and over.  From the Nazi’s in the 40’s to ISIS today.  What can possibly lead people to be so truly evil to the core.  But even amongst the evil there is beauty in the world, and thankfully for every truly evil individual willing to blow himself up there are millions willing to stand up and help others.  I was left looking through my photos and a few really stuck with me, we need to cherish these beautiful moments, hold friends and family close, try and be the best versions of ourselves possible every single day, and make sure to live every second of our lives to the fullest.  Auf Wiedersehen.

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” -Anne Frank

Buda Castle from across the Danube in Pest

After a long delay I’m back with a new entry to cover the past 2 weeks of my time here in Austria.  The past few weeks have been crazy busy with travel and then school work really kicking in so I apologize for the laziness here.  But anyway, on to the fun stuff.  Two weekends ago we did our first trip outside of Austria (not including Munich), we went to Budapest, Hungary.  A place I had no intention of going when I decided to study abroad but now I am so happy to have been able to have experienced it.  Budapest has a unique beauty to it that is really just so tough to describe.

First I want to apologize in advance, I am going to use the english translation of most of the places we went in Hungary because the Hungarian language really threw me for a loop… I was constantly speaking german or english and could never get it right…  Anyway, Friday morning we woke up bright and early to catch a train from Salzburg headed straight east to Budapest.  It was the smoothest ride I’ve ever been on, every stop was on time and we arrived just ahead of schedule around noon.  From there we headed to the nearest atm to withdraw some Hungarian Forints.  I had heard the exchange rate was wild but wasn’t sure what to expect.  I figured I would need about 140 euros for the weekend so I did the math and had to double and triple check my numbers.  Apparently 140 euros equals about 40,000 Hungarian Forints…. So, with my new found riches burning a hole in my pocket I was ready to tackle all that Budapest could throw at me.  We headed for our airbnb for the weekend not sure what to expect but was blown away with our little condo, a 3 minute walk from St. Stephen’s Basilica and Parliament.

We got settled and stopped by the grocery store to buy some beer and get ready for the night.  We had heard about these bars in Budapest called “ruin bars” and we were excited to hear what the fuss was all about.  Apparently ruin bars are bars and clubs built into some of the older buildings falling into disrepair in the old city.  Instead of tearing them down they’ve been converted and stuffed with old furniture and crazy decorations to make a really unique experience.  One ruin bar we went in actually had 2 real trees growing up right in the middle of the building… My favorite bar was called Szimpla kert, it had a garden, courtyard, multiple stories, live music, projection screen on a 2 story brick wall, and literally anything else they could stuff into the place.  We were lucky enough to snag a table and enough chairs for the group to sit at and just people watch for most of the night.

In the projection theater area of Szimpla

After leaving Szimpla at around 1 we headed home but made sure to stop and grab some kebabs and stumbled into a barcade… After some intense games of guitar hero and air hockey we realized how late it was and that if we wanted to wake up before noon the following day we needed to get back.  Although our friend Serge did try his best to drag us into a karaoke bar, we resisted and made it home without much incident.

Szechenyi Thermal Bath

We woke up not feeling so hot the next morning and the only solution to a Hungarian hangover is one of their thermal baths.  One of Europe’s biggest bath complexes was only a sketchy subway ride away.  Only 5,000 Forints got us a locker and entrance all of the rooms of the bath.  We didn’t take advantage of it though as just laying in the warm water was incredible.  Who would have thought I’d be swimming in March in Hungary… There were 3 large pools outside, one for swimming laps, one that was a stationary pool and another was a whirlpool that had angled jets to create a Hungarian lazy river that was anything but lazy.  You could really pick up some speed along the outside wall.

(right to left) Connor D, Serge, Connor F, Haley, Mitch and myself.

We left the baths feeling like new men (and woman) and were ready to see some of the city.  We wanted to stop by Parliament, St. Stephens Basilica, and Hero’s Square.  Since Hero’s Square was right around the corner we headed there first.  Hero’s Square is a statue complex with statues of the 7 chieftains of the Magyars among others and Hungary’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Problem was, we were on one side of a river/pond/reservoir and we weren’t sure how to get across except for a small wall… Oh well, we figured it out..

Made it safe and dry

Hero’s Square

We stayed here for a while relaxing on the edge of the monuments really doing our best to take in how massive everything was here.

From there we headed back towards our little condo to see Parliament and St. Peters before  it got too dark.  This is when our friend Connor’s most unlucky 24 hours of his life began.  We went to buy tickets for the subway to take us home and as the tickets were only about 300 Forints and most of us only had huge 20,000 Forint bills (the locals aren’t thrilled about making change for that) Connor Fahey decided to just hop on as there wasn’t anyone monitoring and no turnstiles to walk through.  At first it seemed smart but we grabbed tickets anyway, at our next stop a burly Hungarian woman steps on, flashes a badge and asks us for our tickets.  We all had them except Connor, and he was given an 8,000 Forint fine.. Not too bad, just 25 euros but still not fun.  More on his awful luck to come.  We got back to our stop and hopped off and headed straight to St. Steve’s to get a view of the city.  We payed and started the hike up to the top.

Spiral stairs to the top, the crew, Parliament from the top

We had heard of a memorial down by the river called “Shoes on the Danube” so we headed there next.  There are about 60 pairs of shoes cast in iron facing the water on the very spot that Jewish victims were executed and dumped in the Danube River in 1945.  An old lady told me it was a sign of solidarity to place a pebble on a shoe as if to say “we were here, we remember you.”  It was pretty solemn and shut us all up, as the realization of some of the atrocities committed here and throughout Europe 70 years ago aren’t just articles in a history book anymore.

Shoes on the Danube

We needed something to lighten the mood so we got Mexican food in Hungary and had a few margaritas.  We headed back out to the bars again that night and just made the most of our last night in this beautiful, crazy city.  The next day our friend Connor’s horrible 24 hours picked right back up.  As we’re all getting ready to go to Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion he’s getting nervous looking for his wallet.. fast forward 20 minutes of all 6 of us searching and we can’t find it.  Luckily he has some money on him still so it’s all good, not really though.  He thinks he must have lost it the night before at the bars.  Anyway we head across the river to explore the Castle and Bastion.

 

Connor on the far right seems in good spirits for now…

Parliament from Fisherman’s Bastion

Dancing to random European electric music

On the way back we had to cross the Danube on a huge bridge and I guess because it’s so long sometimes the dogs getting walked don’t always make it to the other side before having to do their “numbers” and our fun-loving friend Connor had the luck to step in dog poo not once but TWICE on the same bridge within about 50 yards from each other… Kid can’t catch a break.. Anyway, we’re about to leave Budapest and he figures how much worse can his day get.  Much worse Connor, much worse.  We’re finally on the train and headed back to Salzburg.  The people that work for the train are checking our tickets and Connor who has purchased a ticket has the ticket digitally on his phone thinking that would suffice.  It didn’t… He is fined 30 euros which again is lucky because they claimed that wasn’t his ticket and we thought they were going to just kick him off the train at the next stop (which would have been his luck at this point) but he somehow made it back to Salzburg…

Connor, a defeated man.

Fast forward a week and we are headed to Vienna now!  Our wonderful program planned us a trip to the capital of Austria to see the city and explore the history and culture that Vienna has to offer.  We took a walking tour of the city and finished beneath St. Stephen’s Cathedral (yes, another St. Stephens) and we’re set free to enjoy the city.

St. Stephens

Not much happened that first night except we found a fun bar for all 30 of us to crash and enjoy, but most of us were tired and didn’t stay out late.  The next day a few of us headed to the naschmarkt, which is a huge outdoor market in the heart of Vienna.  We got food, explored, people watched, found Mozart and just enjoyed our day.  We planned a nice dinner at an old restaurant called Zwölf Apostelkeller (12 Apostles) and enjoyed a traditional Viennese dinner in a cellar build in 1339.  It was fantastic and again, I took it easy that night and just looked forward to Sunday when we got to tour Schönbrunn Palace and Stift Melk Abbey.

Zwölf Apostellkeller

Mozart

The boys watching the ducks

Wakey, wakey bright and early Sunday morning for our bus to Schönbrunn Palace where we were going on a guided tour and get some free time on the grounds.  I was lucky enough to come here with my family 6 years ago, but my memory didn’t do the palace justice.  The size and beauty doesn’t translate to pictures.  Even though we were told numerous times that it’s ten times more amazing in the spring we were still amazed.

Schönbrunn Palace

The palace used to be the Hunting lodge and Summer home of Franz Josef and the Hapsburg family.  The tour was wonderful and even though the gardens weren’t in bloom our hike up to the Gloriette still provided us with a great view of the palace and city in the background.

The Gloriette in the gardens

Schönbrunn from the Gloriette

From there we headed out of Vienna to Stift Melk before Salzburg.  Again I was lucky enough to have been able to see the abbey 6 years ago but I remember being very fond of it and was excited to go back.  The abbey was originally a castle build in 1089.  Since, it has been remodeled numerous times and the Benedictine Monastery we see today was build in the early 1700’s.  The Abbey still houses monks today and holds the remains of many of Austria’s first ruling dynasty, the Babenburgs.  Also the library inside houses books from the medieval era…  But the chapel stole the show. It was unbelievably beautiful and was a great way to end a great weekend.

Stift Melk

Next weekend starts our spring break where we will be exploring much of Eastern Europe.  I can’t wait to get back and tell you all as much as I can.  I can’t guarantee an internet connection though so who knows when my next post will be.  If all goes to plan I hope to post next Tuesday but we shall see.  Happy early St. Patrick’s day and auf wiedersehen!

I started my classes this past week and so far they have all been great, I am taking courses on Austrian Culture, Folk Art, WWII in Central Europe and continuing my German language courses.  So far my favorite course is Austrian Culture, as our teacher seems to get the most out of us by really grilling us in the hour and a half he gets twice a week.  I thought WWII in Central Europe was going to be great but the teacher just kinda reads from his powerpoint for the entire class period.  My Folk Art teacher seems to like me but I’m kinda scared of her, oh well.

But enough about school, I went skiing again this weekend to my new favorite ski resort, Snow Space Ski Amade, in the Salzburg region.  Ski Amade is a huge and is really 4 resorts connected across 2 mountains about 45 minutes south of Salzburg.  The resorts are Flachau, Wagrain, Alpendorf and St. Johann.  So far we haven’t ventured to far away from Flachau where we get dropped off at but on Friday we took a tram to Wagrain and tested the waters for a bit in that resort.  It was great skiing but a little more crowded then Flachau so on Saturday we just stuck to the main resort we get dropped off at.  On Saturday we had a better idea of the resort so the day went much smoother, we even found time to hike up past the highest ski lift on the mountain.  We ended up on a ridge over-looking the Ennskraxn and the little city of Kleinarl.  We were on the highest point around for a few miles and it literally made us feel as though we were on top of the world.  Definitely worth it even though ski boots are the worst things in the world to walk in, let alone hike in.

If we had the choice, we never would have left but lift tickets cost money and we wanted to get our money’s worth.  After a full day of goofing off and typical behavior of 4 guys in college we had to call it a day.  Exhausted we headed home looking forward to Sunday where we were going to be treated to an FC Red Bull Salzburg game by our program AIFS.  

FC Red Bull Salzburg play in the Austrian Bundesliga and they are the reigning champions of the past 2 seasons and it seems as though they are going to make it 3 in a row.  They’re on top of their league at the moment and the team they are playing sit 3rd so it should be a great game.  The team they are playing is FK Austria Wien from Vienna so I expected a pretty good fight.  Turns out they aren’t very good, maybe it was an off night but Salzburg cruised to a 4-1 win and really just outplayed Vienna from the opening whistle.

For some reason though, Fc Salzburg has a 30,000 seat stadium but only seems to attract about 10,000 fans a game.  It kinda puts a damper on the atmosphere inside the stadium but the Stiegls were flowing and we made as much noise as possible regardless and had a great time.

Classes again on Monday and Tuesday, not much to talk about here…

But on the way to class Tuesday we saw a billboard for the Red Bull Salzburg HOCKEY team, yes there is hockey in Salzburg.  Apparently they’re in the playoffs and they played about an hour after class gets out Tuesday night.  Seems like a no brainer considering tickets are only 15 euros.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but buckled up for the ride ahead as I hear things could get pretty rowdy in Red Bull Arena.. (If you hadn’t figured it out yet, everything here is sponsored by Red Bull because Red Bull is headquartered just outside of Salzburg.)

Just arrived and it could not be any more different then an NHL game… It pretty much has the atmosphere of a soccer game, flags waiving, fans chanting and jumping in unison, the away section is divided from the rest of the stadium by plexiglass boards for their safety.  Standing room around the entire rink with seats behind that!  We bought tickets for 15 euros and got to stand on the glass the entire night!  We asked one of the locals what the biggest differences between Austrian hockey and the NHL and he said “bigger ice in Europe, no fighting in Europe, the refs suck and the players are a bunch of wusses…”  Sounds fun lets get this started…

The arena isn’t huge but it was one of the loudest sporting events I’ve ever been too.  We found out that it’s the quarterfinals of the playoffs and so far Red Bull Salzburg is leading the series 2 games to 0.  However they played terrible that night and got smashed 5-1.  There were a few names that didn’t seem Austrian so we looked them up and both teams had some Americans and Canadians on them which made it fun to know at lest a few players could understand our yelling.

Anyway as you can expect the game got pretty chippy by the 3rd period as the Salzburg players weren’t too thrilled with getting smashed at home.  But again, the “no fighting” rule kinda just makes it so players square off and can’t hit each other… Don Cherry would be very disappointed.. Regardless they still get penalties which is pretty dumb considering nobody threw any punches but anyway it still gave us a chance to mess with them in the penalty box.

The opposing team seemed to find our heckling pretty funny considering they were wining  by 4… Salzburg on the other hand did not find us funny…

By the way, this happy fellow is Brett Sterling, from California who unlike the other guys in the penalty box could understand me when I told them “to stop dancing with the other team and throw a punch”… Oh well, still had a great night.  Definitely going to return for another game later this week if the series last long enough.

But anyway, that’s it for now.  Last week was somewhat of a boring week with the focus being on school and getting my schedule figured out for the semester ahead.  Next weekend should be more interesting with our first big trip planned and ready to go, more on that next week so stay tuned.  Auf Wiedersehen!