Mariazell to Vienna

Guten Tag!

I hope everyone is doing well... I decided to start a blog so that you can all see what I'm up to while I'm abroad!  We just spend 3 days in Mariazell, a town in the alps (the provence of Styria), for our orientation.  We were able to meet all of the other students in the IES program while learning about Vienna and the logistics of the program.  

During the first day, a group of us went for a long and windy hike up into the mountains.  It took us about an hour and a half to make the trek, but there was a restaurant at the top where we were able to get some cold refreshments and enjoy the view!

{Top of the mountain overlooking Mariazell}

The second day we took a bus to a small lake in Mariazell where we did a short hike and dipped our feet in the cold water.  They had boats available for rental, but most people just enjoyed the sun on the beach.  We watched authentic Austrian dancers perform later that night at our hostel and had wiener schnitzel for dinner!

{Lake in Mariazell}

After the 3 hour bus ride into Vienna from Mariazell, we arrived at our new apartment! We met with our landlady, Frau Sadar, who showed us around our new home.  We have a pretty large apartment with an outside balcony!  There are five of us in total, and we all get along really well!

{Roommates + Meg out on the balcony}

I'll keep you updated on what comes next!

Auf Wiedersehen!