Too Gut to Pass Up

So....the plan was to keep this blog chronological even after I was behind two weeks.

But something too good came up...I think you'll find the time lapse worth it too.

Leather pants don't exactly resonate well with much of American culture. Functional for the cowboy and the biker (perhaps), but anyone else and people's eyes are rolling or expanding in that definitive 'what where they thinking' sort of way. I'm also reminded of the likes of, say, Dennis Rodman, which doesn't help anyone.

And, of course, I can't fail to mention a certain episode of Friends in which Ross decides to buy leather pants....it didn't go well for him either.

But in the Alps, it's quite a different story. Lederhosen (literally, 'leather pants') were invented to be functional workwear for these Alpine mountain men--they don't get dirty easily and they last forever. And in more recent times they have been adopted in Austria and Bavaria as a sort of regional or national costume, or "tracht."

And because of that, it's not too uncommon to see them around town, and those of us who want to fully adopt the culture, well, we found it necessary to join in.

So last Friday ten of us went Lederhosen (and Dirndl for the girls) shopping. We are so cool.

That night, we had to show them off, so we went to a traditional local hang out, and, surprisingly, a few Austrians spoke to us and were pretty impressed....

Here's the photo evidence. It was worth every last Euro cent.

(also, to the left of me is some random Austrian who decided to join our picture....)

One Time in London...

Whew...after years and years--ok, weeks and weeks.......ok, two weeks--without regular internet

It has finally come!!

That means I have a lot of catching up to do.

I'll start with Old London! I was there for two days, which wasn't nearly enough time to fulfill my lifelong dream of seeing this beautiful British--aye, world--city. It really is spectacular. There is so much to do and see. Nearly all of the museums in the city are free, which is a darned good thing considering how much everything else costs. The pound, mates, is worth far too much...its a bit depressing when they only trade you twenty-two of them for $40...but, alas, it was worth every last penny...

I was in the first group of students to arrive in this fair city, at 5:00am local time, which gave me nearly two whole days to explore! I rode the Tube

I went to the British Museum. My guidebook, 1000 Places to See Before You Die, said to make sure you see three things. The Elgin Marbles (with Nicole and Angie admiring their ancient Greek beauty)

Check. The Rosetta Stone

Check. And the Egyptian Mummies (the largest collection outside of Egypt no less)

Check. The British Museum is ginormous, but I'm glad we hit the highlights.

We also went to the Tower of London (where the Crown Jewels are kept), but I think the cost of admission is the value of the jewels themselves. So we walked down tower bridge (one of my favorite pictures I took)

That night after drinks...as in, the program gave us--a bunch of 18-20 somethings--a free drink in our hotel that night: Welcome to Europe kids! (just wait, it gets better in Austria) We went to see a play, 39 Steps, in the West End. It was good, and pretty cool to check off "show in London's West End" from my bucket list.

The next day was a whirl-wind tour of London by bus. I'm sure you are quite capable of googling pictures of Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral (also amazing!), the Royal Albert Hall, the Houses of Parliament, etc. Although, here's a picture I like of St. Paul's--just for kicks

That afternoon a few of us went back to Westminster Abbey for the full tour. That was also a bucket list-er. It was amazing! Lots of famous dead guys there--Handel, TS Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, Queen Elizabeth I...it goes on...

Aaaaaaand....it will be where William and Kate get married in April. And where every coronation occurs. And where NT Wright was Canon Theologian....

Okay, sorry if I lost you there for a bit...Sometimes the nerd in me takes over--ok, like 95% of the time..

But that night, we wandered around a bit and found China Town--that was pretty cool as it was around the time of the Chinese New Year

Well, those two days were wonderful, but not nearly enough to satisfy. London, fear not, I shall return!

I've been in Austria since February 6, but those posts will follow!

Tschüss!

Grüß Gott, Österreich!!

So...internet in Austria is harder to come by than I expected. So, for now just know that I'm here

And that it's absolutely beautiful!

After two days of site-seeing and hanging out in London (many pictures to follow, and, no, I didn't see the queen....or Will and Kate...bugger...), we made it to Salzburg yesterday. It's literally surrounded by mountains, there's snow on the ground, I've already see Sound of Music sites and Mozart's birthplace...

Stay tuned! The pictures and info will hopefully come soon!

Auf Wiedersehen!