Well, it surely isn't Sunday, but I am definitely excited to share all of the wonderful events and moments of the weekend in Passau and of the beginning of my second week of class.
Friday night the whole group went to an Italian restaurant in a part of town called Innstadt, which is across the Inn river from the rest of Passau. It is a cute little part of town where many students live in flats and where there are several bars and places to eat. The food we had at Veinte Tre (sorry if I misspelled that ) was delicious, authentic Italian food. I ordered some tagliatelle pasta with chicken and mushrooms. Though the service was slow, (we were there for three hours), I enjoyed the experience immensely.
I am beginning to notice a trend in the European restaurant industry: efficiency matters not. Only the quality of the food. It definitely bothers me sometimes since in the U.S. I feel like we judge the quality of a restaurant on its efficiency and service.
After waking up just in time for the last of breakfast on Saturday morning, us girls got ready to go around town for the day. We spent the day taking pictures, shoe shopping for the dinner cruise that night (it seemed as though half of us had inadequate footwear), eating quiche outside, and going to the mall. I took a shower in the morning and was amazed at how flat my hair fell naturally after just blow-drying it! Although the weather here is unpredictable like in Texas, it definitely lacks the same type of humidity! We all got ready for the dinner cruise and gathered outside of the hotel on the terrace before boarding the boat which was across the street.
The dinner cruise was amazing!!!! Though our waitress was a bit grumpy, the food was quite scrumptious, the view from the upper decks was phenomenal, and the dancing was super fun and hilarious (despite the terrible Italian live singing). As we cruised approximately 26 kilometers up and then back down the Danube, we saw Bavarian and Austrian countryside, rolling hills, and little villages. Everyone in the group seemed to have a great time. I enjoyed my coffee and shared tieramissu with Riley while everyone else drank cocktails and wine to their satisfaction and beyond.
After exiting the boat, we changed shoes at our hotel then went out as a group. We dispersed amongst the bars, pubs, clubs, and flats of Passau for the remainder of the night. I went to Roxy's flat in the City Center which is super cute! We played some Nintendo 64 and she shared some her peppermint from her window box herb garden. After hanging out for a while and a failed attempt to find everyone else, Riley and I returned to our hotel.
While everyone was sleeping on Sunday morning, Clara, Randy, and I went to mass at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Passau. Even though Randy nor I are Catholic, Clara was happy for us to join her and gladly explained the mass and Catholic routine as best she could despite the service being in Latin and German. It was quite a cultural, historical, and religious experience. I can see now why the Protestant Reformation occurred, but I also can see how the Catholic church did so much for the community here in Passau and to preserve the gospel throughout the Middle Ages. The cathedral is unique in that it is a Baroque structure with one Gothic wall. The original Gothic structure burned down once in a large fire, but only the roof was gone. To praise God for saving the majority of the church, the townspeople held mass in the remaining structure, unaware of its instability. While playing the organ (the largest one in Europe), the walls unfortunately collapsed. One remained and an Italian architect was hired to rebuild the structure.
After mass, I spent some time on the hotel terrace writing while I waited on the other girls to get ready for our bicycle ride to Austria. I enjoyed getting to sit outside and soak in the view of the Danube amidst the city buzz.
The bike ride to Austria proved to be quite the adventure. After much plotting and searching, we finally found enough extra bicycles to get us across the border and through the hills/mountains, along the river, to the Mausbauer (sorry about spelling, again) where we were having farm fresh lunch. Since I am rather short in stature, I got to be dropped off in another part of town to borrow Janika's bike (thank goodness she is shorter too) for the trip. But, between leaving campus and getting my bicycle, Riley fell of her bike, Andi went back to the hotel, and Rey switched out bikes. Once at Janika's, Arne (who helped organize this trip) just said you ride down the street and under an arch to the right to find the rest of the group to follow to Austria. I was a little nervous for this solo cycling segment since I am not exactly acquainted with inner city biking or German streets. But, it was super simple and worked out wonderfully. Just as I found the archway, Zach rode up behind me to make sure I was good. (He had been riding in Arne's car, but they sent him on another of Janika's bikes after me, haha). The bike ride was absolutely a wonderful view of God's creativity and master craftsman creation. The hills and trees and villages were a nice reprieve from the busy life of Passau. I enjoyed chatting with Arne's girlfriend, Judith, along the way. Once there, we dodged the honeybees (literally they produce fresh honey there) to enjoy farm fresh meats, cheeses, breads, cakes, and juices. The view was spectacular and the atmosphere of the Austrian countryside was so peaceful. On the ride back, I was just pedaling away right behind the guys so I didn't get lost, but apparently ended up riding in their race and basically winning. (I would have really won, but I stopped to wait for them to make sure i turned the correct way).
After the bike ride, we got ready for Wine and Dine International night while a cold front blew in. It was kind of miserable walking to the university in the cold rain, but was most definitely worth it! We got to enjoy a buffet dinner prepared by our German student friends with dishes from all over Europe. Some students dressed in traditional clothes from the country the prepared food from. After the delicious dinner, we broke up into two mixed (Europeans and Americans) teams to do a trivia contest. We had to identify EU member states based on geographic outline and the country's flag as well as US states. German students were quizzed on the US, and us Aggies on the EU. Then we had to identify the location of famous landmarks based on the photo we were given. Then lastly, we had to identify famous persons (politicians, athletes, authors, singers, actors, etc.). It was super fun and my team won the awesome foil trophy full of candy! While other people stayed to watch the Women's World Cup, I went on back to the hotel to get ready for the week ahead.
Monday closed last week's discussions on the EU and opened the new week of lectures and discussions on transatlantic relations. We had a guest speaker on minorities in the EU in the morning, whom I was not a big fan of. She was difficult to follow and didn't really answer any student's questions. During our lengthy lunch we spent some time working on journals while drinking coffee which was some time very well spent being productive. In the afternoon, we had a wonderful presentation by an economist on Transatlantic Economic Relations. Though the speaker is highly educated, he took the time to draw things on the chalk board and explain in detail to the students how groups such as Lehman Brothers failed in the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008. I really enjoyed his explanation on how the financial crisis began that showed us how we got into today's position. I also enjoyed the student presentation on Transatlantic Economic Relations very much as it added to my knowledge of our global economy and the symbiotic importance of EU and US.
Last night we had a very nice chill evening (literally as well) at a quaint bar where we could play games and order food. It was also at the Innstadt. A group of us girls began what we intended to be a casual game of Phase 10 as we ordered. It ended up being a three hours long game that never truly finished. After one person reached Phase 8, we decided to call it quits. It was super fun though! I enjoyed my baguette and strawberry-schorle (strawberry juice and sparkling water) in the cozy game room area. I was quite surprised at how into the games everyone (even the guys) got. We had games of Monopoly, Sorry, and Uno going all night. Though I think some guys wanted to rename Sorry "Boom, Big Money", haha, since that is what they were shouting the entire time.
This morning brought warmer weather as we headed to the university for two student presentations today on Transatlantic security and Homeland Security. Both of the presentations were thought provoking and insightful. Good discussion was stimulated by both, especially the Homeland Security lecture. I was a little frustrated when my comment got misconstrued and became a point of contention, but I think it was a very good topic to discuss. It is interesting how being in another country, looking at the globe from a different angle can lead you to appreciate your country so much more. I am definitely glad to be an American and to have our national security (even though we may be in a debt canundrum at the moment).
During our lunch break, us girls went to the book store since we weren't too hungry yet. After looking around for 45 minutes or so, our hunger quickly found us and we went to lunch at a cafe called Diwan in the city center tower building on the top floor, looking out over all of Passau. It was super cute and classy inside and served delicious food. It definitely made my day when they played Michael Buble music :)
This evening, after class, Riley and I hung out and went around town some. I bought another spiral notebook for class and lectures since I have almost filled up the one we were given on the program. I also got my awesome red jacket from H&M! Not only is it my favorite and most wonderful color, but it will keep me warm as it gets cold and rainy again tomorrow.
After our chill time together, I left to join everyone else at the Summer Bash Olympic Games of Passau on the grassy knoll at the university. Meeting up with Rey and Marshall was perfectly and coincidentally timed so we could find everyone else together and join teams in the ridiculous game playing. We played all sorts of funny team games and did silly team challenges like playing song charades while gargling for a few hours until we completed all 12 of the challenges. Team Ireland won, but my team Sweden was tied in a close second with The Netherlands.
We all then went out for traditional Bavarian food afterwards. I ate almost an entire Schnitzel by myself along with salad and potatoes and apfelschorle. I must have been incredibly hungry!!!
Now I am ready for the rest of the week's lectures and exciting evening programs. If the weather permits, we are going to see Passau's castle tomorrow evening. I hope it works out! I'll have to let you know how the rest of the week and concluding lectures go :)
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