Once in a Lifetime Adventure

 Monday, September 6, 2012 at 1:30pm we all gathered in front of Belk to load up in the van and depart for the airport; Dr. Glass and Brian were our two selected drivers.
 From left to right:
Amber, Megan, Ramsey, Mike, Danny and Sebastian.  

Our first stop was Dunkin Donuts, where  Dr.  Glass bought everyone anything they wanted. Thank you Dr. Glass! :)

~Amber & Ramsey

 Our trip was not the easiest of them all, we had multiple complications. Starting with our flight getting delayed from RDU to London, passports and ticket mishaps, to possibly a plane strike in London. We originally were supposed to depart from RDU at 6:15 but unfortunately we did not depart till 9:30 allowing us to arrive in London at  10:15am (5 hours ahead of NC) we left London at 3pm then arriving in Munich 6pm (6 hours ahead of NC). Going through a great excursion of trying to get to our luggage and find our driver which took about two hours. We had to go through security to get to our luggage and then through customs and just my luck I was the one who got chose to be searched. They tore my bags apart, I can now look back and laugh about this moment.

The group leaving RDU!

I don't wanna fly!

Danny and Ramsey sleeping waiting to get on the plane for Munich.

Riding the bus to the other side of the airport in London.

Once we found our driver, now 8pm we loaded up and headed to the castle. We all were very exhausted and wanted to sleep in a real bed and not a chair. The drive was pretty scary going through the extremely small roads to the castle.

About to land in London.

Since being at the castle for a week we have taken a day trip to see Dorf Tirol and Merano which was a 10 mile hike there and back. Went to the Friday market in Merano which is were people sell clothes, shoes, bread, etc. As well as visiting the Dolomite's and the glaciers.

Our first allowance!

Our hike through Dorf Tirol.

Listening to what Michi is saying.

In the city of Merano.

Heading to Merano.

Megan, Mike and Ramsey eating gelato ( ice cream).

Yesterday, September 8, we all took a group trip to the Dolomite's. That was one amazing trip I think we all will never forget, between the two hour car trip up the mountains whipping through the turns like they were nothing, hiking on top of the Dolomite's and taking a class with Michi while sitting near the edge of the Dolomite's listening to geological stories. After we had class at the Dolomite's we all decided to go to the glaciers. That definitely is something we will always remember. We took a trolley to the top of the glaciers which was about a 5 minute ride of standing up on a scary cart. Once there we hiked to the top to see the glorious glaciers it was chilly but also hot with the sun shining down. After we experienced the glaciers we had the option to take the trolley back down or hike down the side of the mountain which would have been an hour and forty-five minute tremendous walk. Megan, Ramsey, myself, as well as Michi and Johnny (our farm helper) chose to hike down. It was a life time experience that I'm glad I chose to do. We completed the hike in 45 minutes!! Once at the bottom our legs were shaky and our feet in much pain. But it was well worth it. We stopped at the local grocery store grabbed some food because most things are closed on Sundays, and all crashed once back in the loft.

The group having class on top of the Dolomite's

Funny pose!

Ramsey and I hiking up to the Glaciers

Finally at the glaciers! Hope you enjoyed our week journey!

Our first week here has been amazing and it will only get better from here.

Submitted by: Amber Hicks

Ready, Set,....... Brunnenburg 2012 here we come!

Pictured above:  (Left to right) Professor Tony Cates, Gloria Cates, Danny Iovino-Ortiz, Sebastian Ray, Amber Hicks, Megan Jolly, Ramsey Vogt, and Michael Iannuzzi.

We had our last organizational meeting tonight.  Everyone is excited and ready to go.  We talked about last minute details (passports, health forms, transportation, travel tips, etc).  Everyone will meet at SAU on Monday, September 3, 2012 with all their luggage in hand.  We will be leaving Raleigh-Durham International Airport about 6:20 pm and arrive in London around 6:55 am.  From there we will fly to Munich, Germany and then take a bus to Brunnenburg, Italy.  We hope everyone will follow our adventures as we travel abroad this semester.  We will be keeping you posted about where we go and what we will be doing.  Stay tuned!!  Arrivederci !

Farewell and Goodbye

We knew the wonderful time had to end, but at least we packed as much fun as possible into the final days. We had a combined Thanksgiving and Farewell dinner with more wonderful food by Brigitte with assistance from Kelsey and Tomer. 

We enjoyed having everyone together for fellowship, toasts, and the presentation of the 2011 St. Andrews at Brunnenburg wine. A great souvenir but not a wine we really want to drink since Nik described it as “feety.”

Over the final weekend, some of us took a break from papers, projects, and grading to go to the Christmas market in Bolzano.

When the time finally came to leave, we headed out on the bus to go to Munich for our last day before leaving Europe. There were Christmas markets in Munich for some last-minute shopping as well as a chance to ice skate. Fortunately we didn’t end up with any pre-flight broken bones from skating falls.

That evening we had our last group meal at the Augustiner Braustuben with a friendly waiter who enjoyed trying to get us to order in German.

The next day all that was left of our Brunnenburg adventure was a long journey home and all our souvenirs and wonderful memories. Thanks to everyone at Brunnenburg for our fantastic semester!

When in Rome...

No trip to Italy would be complete without a train strike. Although some of our group members had already been through this, we got to experience the unpredictability of public transportation together as we started our trip to Rome. We had a broken down bus, a local train strike, and a late bus—all while trying to get to Bolzano. But, miracle of miracles, we arrived in Bolzano six minutes before our next train which was actually running, and, with only a short panic over the group getting separated in the station, we all made it onto the train and got to Rome with no further problems.

The next morning our first stop was the Colosseum. It's quite a moment to come out of the metro station at Colosseo and look up to see the Colosseum right in front of you. We had a beautiful day for wandering around and taking pictures as we read information about the history of the Colosseum.

Some of the group wandered on to the Palatine and the Forum to continue the historic tour.

On a personal note, after a failed attempt four years ago, I finally made it into the Protestant Cemetery to see the graves of Keats and Shelley...

...and a variety of cats who live in the adjacent cat sanctuary and wander freely in the cemetery.

The group outing for the following day was a walking tour (although mostly all of Rome is a big walking tour). We checked out the Spanish Steps from the top and the bottom. 

We found our way to the Trevi Fountain and threw in our coins. 

Then we walked on to the Pantheon. 

After lunch we headed to Vatican City, where we got to see St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica. 

Dylan—our group's official art person—had quite the day with seeing The Pieta and the Sistene Chapel.

Our last night in Rome, most of us decided to see the Colosseum lit up. We had the place almost to ourselves, except for the few people trying to sell us glow-in-the dark souvenirs, but the sight of the Colosseum was souvenir enough.  

Ireland for Dummies

Ellen and I (Kathryn) spent our Fall Break touring the Southern half of Ireland. However to get out of the country was a long and arduous process that involved spending 12 hours in the Bozen train station. Also begging for change.

Our first destination was Dublin (via the Venice airport) and the goal was to visit the Guinness Storehouse to learn all about beer.

We continued on to Galway for the night, then headed off towards the Cliffs of Moher…

…by way of Dunguaire Castle...

...both of which are incredibly beautiful. The Cliffs, although being rained on at first, were so amazing and sported a double rainbow.

Some of the Irish luck for us!

In addition to luck we got a dose of “blarney” at the famous castle.

Yep, we each kissed the stone, and it apparently worked because when we stayed in Cork that night…

… at a cute Bed and Breakfast, we haggled down to a nice price. It was obviously our incredible charm. Also they were desperate.

In addition to honing our bargaining skills, we learned what the inside of an Irish Police Station looks like when we went to retrieve lost personal items. Long story short, it takes forever to do anything at the Guarda Station.

On our way to Kildare (for a most exciting stop), we went off road to visit the Mitchelstown Cave. We were the only ones on the tour and got all kinds of interesting tidbits not commonly given.

The real highlight was the Irish National Stud Farm.

Only a few of the studs were there (others were abroad doing their thing in Australia), but we did see their main stud Invincible Spirit who is insured for 600,000 euro. It costs 60,000 euro to breed your mare to him.

Most expensive horse I’ve ever stood next to.

We eventually made it back to Dublin for our return flight, but we will not forget the amazing times we had in an amazing country. I would go back in a heartbeat.

--Kathryn Farley

Neustift--Brixen--Bozen

Our second class day-trip with Sizzo took us through a number of churches and cloisters, a museum, and two wine tastings. We started the day with a brisk walk to the Dorf Tirol bus station and a ride to Neustift to see parts of the monastery. We saw the frescos in the cloister and also the octagonal fountain in the courtyard with depictions of the wonders of the world. 

Then we had our first wine tasting—the Sylvaner made at the monastery. 

The next stop was Brixen to see the frescos of the Brixen Cathedral cloisters and the cathedral itself. We had our picnic lunch while enjoying the sunshine in the Bishop's Garden before driving to Bozen.

In Bozen we visited the Bozen Cathedral . . .

and the Church of the Dominicans with its adjoining chapel. 

 

Our last major stop was the Archeological Museum of South Tirol where we saw the exhibit of Otzi the Iceman. No pictures allowed there, so you'll just have to imagine for yourself what a body mummified in ice from over 5000 years ago looks like—or you can google it. We took a quick step into the Hotel Greif which Pound mentions in the Cantos. Then our last stop for the day was one more wine tasting at the Muri-Gries Monastery Wine Cellar. All of this, and we made it back to Dorf Tirol before suppertime with our notebooks and our heads full.

Venice

At the end of fall break, we all converged in Venice for several days. The first amazing part of this trip was that everyone found the way to the hostel. Although the hostel was only a few minutes walk from the train station, it was down several twisty alleys which didn't look like you were really going anywhere. Even the sign was only a small plaque on a unassuming door. Thankfully, though, before midnight on Sunday, all the travelers from Ireland, Paris, England, and various parts of Italy had made it. For the next two days, we walked a lot and saw a lot of Venice. Our first group outing was taking the vaporetto to the Accademia stop to go to the Gallerie dell'Accademia.

After a morning of looking at art, we met up with Michi and Petra for lunch at a pizza place along the Giudecca, ice cream at Nico's, and then on to the Hidden Nest. We had some class time with Mary—hearing parts of the Cantos related to Venice—and then started our walking tour of Pound's Venice. 

We focused particularly on Dorsoduro, seeing places including Santa Maria della Salute and the Punta della Dogana.

Eventually, Michi and Petra led us across the Accademia Bridge and through the winding streets to see San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale. By the time we made several more stops, it was dark and we were back near the hostel. 

The next day was more walking—to Fondamente Nuove so that we could take the vaporetto to San Michele to see the graves of Pound and Olga Rudge.

After our time together, we had time for sightseeing on our own. The students all went to Murano, but after that, people split off for various adventures. By the time we were all together again the next day to catch our train for the first part of our journey back to Brunnenburg, I think we all agreed that Venice is a city of mazes, a city of water, and a city of magic.