The Journey...

I'm finally settled and feeling like I am getting familiar with the city... ready to live in this new city, Innsbruck, a new country, on a new continent for 4 months.

How did I get here?! 
It started getting more real and exciting when British Airways sent me an email with a 24 hr countdown for online check in.
Wednesday, Feb. 22 was finally here- off to Tampa International Airport for my first flight to Miami. 

One checked bag (49.5 lbs to be exact), just under the max. of 50 lbs,one carry on and one backpack. It was time to say goodbye, trying not to get too emotional, hugged mom for a really long time. She told me to have the time of my life! My dad was able to escort me to the gate with his security pass. When they called my group to board, he told me his famous 4 words, "Have fun, be Safe."

It was not easy stepping on that plane. Although this flight was the shortest, it sure felt like the longest. 

 I had a middle seat, my carry-ons were super heavy, it was close to 80 degrees.  I was also carrying a super heavy winter jacket stuffed with my blanket and jacket in the sleeves,  so I would have less weight in my checked bag, haha). Not to mention my mixed emotions thinking about what I was about to embark on. 

Landed in Miami, trekked across the airport to my gate, found Cathy. We boarded our flight to London at 8:00 p.m. I was awake for most of the flight... watched movies and listened to music while I enjoyed my veggie meal of lasagna and banana pie with frosting. It was great having a window seat... the stars were really bright so I was fixated on them.

On the London to Munich flight, Cathy and I smiled when the safety announcement was said in German. We knew we were on our way!!!

My mom told me she tracked my flights online, said that British Airways never said I arrived in London (or Munich). But we did, obviously...hallelujah modern technology!

Found our luggage and Valerie :)

We were lucky to have Cathy’s friend Valerie and Boris, meet us to drive us to Innsbruck. We passed several castles and as we got closer to Austria the mountains started growing!! Our first glimpse of Innsbruck was at night, it was a beautiful glowing city in the mountains.

We arrived, parked far away because there's no driving into the old city. It must have been a funny sight to watch us lugging tons of luggage across town. Saw the Golden Roof, but were too exhausted to search for our cameras. We arrived at Nepomuks Hostel, got the keys in the bakery below, and had to climb this very windy staircase with our bags...
 ...and after 24 hrs of traveling- we finally made it :)

We had a double room and shared a bathroom with 4 others for 28 euros per person for one night. Had dinner at Mamma Mia’s Pizza and then slept for 12 hours…

In the a.m. we had complimentary breakfast in the café under our hostel-cereal, o.j., bread/apricot jam, pastries. Our MCI buddy Caro, (assigned to us to help us get settled in) met us at the café. We got on the bus with all  our luggage to drop it off at our dorm. Caro then took us to register with the city. Then to the bank, but because there was only 1 person working, I had to go back on Monday to open my account. Next stop-Ikea.

 I picked up my dorm necessities. We ended the day at Running Wok-I had tofu and vegetables with teriyaki noodles :)

Cathy and I live in Karl Kunst. It’s a short walk to everything... the center of town, MCI (my university), my bank, and the train station. We share a common room and kitchen with other students on our floor. We moved in a week early (housing charged 12 euro each, per night...cheaper than hostels for a week).

Karl Kunst-Heim (my dorm)

Great artwork outside the building

View from our window

 There’s a picture perfect snowy mountain at the end of every street. When I was packing for this trip, I read that it was a high of 18 degrees and a low of 4 …Luckily for us, it warmed up into the 30s and 40s. I actually found myself removing layers of clothing and we’ve slept with the window open almost every night. Our Florida blood can’t get enough of this fresh mountain air. It did cool down again a few nights ago and we experienced our first snowfall in Innsbruck... Brrrr!
Going to the grocery store has been one of the highlights- It's more exciting in a foreign country. I've noticed that food is a little more expensive, and the portions are smaller. Everything tastes fresh, especially the bread. We've already gone grocery shopping a few times at Spar (Scchpaw). People buy what they need and what will fit in one shopping bag. There's no one to bag your groceries either. We also visited Sillpark Mall, about 7 minutes from the dorm. This mall has a "super" Spar (like Super Walmart!), so that was a great find and they accept my capital one card. Most stores and supermarkets close around 7 PM on weekdays and 5 PM on Saturday. On Sundays most stores are closed except restaurants and cafes (those usually close one day during the week).

We bought a SIM card from Yesss in the Hofer supermarket. I bought the starter plan, went back a day later to get the 10 Euro Yesss credit to add minutes to my plan. In case you were wondering, the country code for Austria is 0043 (+43) and the area code for Innsbruck is (0)512.

Trinken cappuccinos

We did not have internet for a week. We made trips to the MCI computers. I continued to drink cappuccinos at Caruso’s Theater Café. The owner knows me by now…Danke to him for letting me use their wifi to skype back home. As I was leaving the other day, he apologized for not knowing English, so I apologized for not knowing German. He smiled and said “Okay danke, come again bitte”.

One thing I’ve noticed walking at night is that although the streets and sidewalks are empty, the cafes and restaurants are packed with people. The laws for drinking here are a lot more lenient than in the U.S. At 16 in Austria you can buy beer and wine. Age 18,  you can have all liquor. I don't drink much, but I can appreciate a glass of wine or a refreshing hoppy beer. Two of my favorite courses at UCF were my beer and wine courses… definitely glad I took them before this trip. Thanks Prof. Ashley and Prof. Measom for all the knowledge.  

We ate at the Golden Roof in the Old City.

Zipfer Marzen and Schlutzkrapfen w/ Spinatfullle

 I am having some fun with the German language! 

We laugh a little when we see signs like this, but since I’ll be seeing them daily, I’ll get to used to them. I google translated the street I live on (DreiheiligenstraBe), it's hard to say and it means “three sacred roads.” One night, Cathy said “Good night” in German and Valerie who is German told her that she said “naked” (nackt) rather than “night”(nacht)… so now we know that we have to emphasize the -chhh’ sound in “nacht,” or else it will sound like good “naked” (‘kno-cked’).

One thing I highly recommend to future study abroad students is to spend the extra week here before classes begin to get over jet lag, acclimate to the time change and become familiar with bus travel, shopping, etc. Also, bring a lot of Euros for your first week … the bank account will take a bit to open and wire money into. You’re going to be spending $100-200, initially to move in. Thank you Dad for getting me a good amount of Euros before I left <3
Thanks to Valerie and Boris for helping us get settled! Also to my MCI buddy Caro. I really appreciate the time you've spent with us :)