IOU

I have 2 days, and about a bajillion and a half things to do. I've had some cool adventures I need to write about, but I just won't be able to before I leave :( I'm posting this so that I am obligated to come back and write about my last few adventures, including my trip to Budapest. See. Now I have to actually do it and fulfill my promise the my public cause they have it in writing :)

P-day(s)

One of my favorite PeoPle on the whole entirety of this Planet, Miss Kelly Stout, just got back from her full-time LDS mission and I am beyond excited to see her when I get home! The reason I mention this is because I feel like our exPeriences might have some very imPortant things in common. For one: we both shiPPed off to foreign lands where we didn’t sPeak the language (okay, so Kelly went to Pennsylvania, but I’m sure she at least had some missionary lingo to learn) and hoPed to return better PeoPle than we were when we left. And two: we both get/got to enjoy P-day!!! I’m not entirely sure what Sister Stout did for her P-day, I will have to ask her when I see her, but I can tell you what I do for mine.
This last weekend was all about taking a break and having 2 days filled with all things joyous that begin with the letter “P.” I think the biggest difference here is that I got to take 2 P-days in a row (which I think Kelly’s mission President might have frowned uPon) and I think I might get a little bit more leniency of what I can Participate in. But for the PurPose of being able to comPare/contrast Sister Stout’s exPerience with my own, let me share with you the adventures of my Practically Perfect Plethora of P’s.

(I ProPose you Pensively Ponder the PurPose of P, because I’m Pretty Positive that there is a Practical Purpose that all my Playful Pastimes Present themselves with such a Powerful letter, although this PurPose is Probably not be Plain to Perceive)

Pink CameraAfter mourning the loss of my last camera and weeks of being dePrived (and with an excellent excuse not keep up on my Photograpy assignments ;)) I finally have a new camera (Pictured above) I had a very limited budget, but thus far I am Pleased with it's Perfomance. Unfortunaltely, the only one they had left was Pink, but it's growing on me. Now that I have a camera again, I've been obsessively taking Pictures of all of our activities.

Playing in the Pool

So this looks odd, but trust me, it's funny. The house where I'm living has a little swimming Pool (about 12 ft wide and 4 1/2 ft deeP) and it's too small to swim laPs in. To solve this Problem, my host Frau's son came up with a solution. I only wish the Picture was better, but this is me swimming with the bungy cord belt he created. Basically, you attach one end of the bungy cord to a belt around your waste, and the other end to the lip of the Pool. Then you can swim all day long and not go anywhere. It's like those dreams where you keeP running and running but never get anywhere. It's basically a treadmill. Ale and Amelia would take turns dangling lolliPoPs in front of me and I endless swam to try to earn one.

Eventually I earned a LoliPoP with my efforts.

Painting Playthings

We sPend a lot of time at the LDS YSA Outreach here in Wien. The had cheaP food and internet, meaning we get there as often as Possible :) On Friday we went to help Paint toys there that would be sent to Africa. My skills are limited, but it was fun!

My meager contribution. The balls anyway, I am only caPable of glazing the little Pictures tiles, as I am incaPable of drawing.

POLKA DOTS!!!!

Praterstern Park

Praterstern is a lovely little amusment Park. It's free to get in, but then you have to Pay a chunk of change for every ride you go on, so it ends uP being very exPensive. This is the famous ferris wheel, I have yet to ride, but it's on the list.

Remember when they killed the Dunes and the Stardust? I do and I remember being esPecially sad about the loss of the Dunes as it had my favorite sign as a kid. Well, no fear, they yet live on in Prater.

I enjoy getting my Picture taken with giant, weird theme Park mascotts, (I wonder why I have a soft sPot for them) even when they are nailed to a chair.

Painting Pictures in the Park

Stadt Park where we went to take Painting lessons from Amelia: future art teacher

The chosen subject for my watercolor. Unfortunately, we were rained out and must go back to comPlete our Pictures. If its not horrendous (which is likely) I will Post the result.

Place for Pianists and Presidents

Later on, we met uP with our good friend Lloyd and he took us the famous cemetary where all of the famous Viennese comPosers and Presidents are buried. The one above is

Johann Strauss.

Franz Schubert

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Pretty sure that his actual remains aren't really under that giant headstone, but it's lovely just the same.

Many former Presidents

PARTY!!!!

Every year here in Vienna they have the Life Ball which is a huge benefit Ball/concert/ fundraiser/ costume Parade to benefit AIDS research. SPecial guests such as Bill Clinton, WhooPi Goldberg, John Lennon and many other costumed character come to show their suPPort. The whole city basically shuts down for it and it's broadcast live on T.V.

An examPle of one VERY subtle costumes we witnessed. Most we must more extravengent and much less PG. But I wanted to Post something to rePresent without shocking the innocent.

Very craPPy Picture of the stage and the crowd. We left very early cause we were tired, and overwhelmed by the madness of the day. Unfortunately, the entire thing ended early because of a major storm. But suPPosedly it was quite the Party.

PEACE

Can't wait to hear about the P-day adventures of Sister Stout! And all her other adventures too.

I Died and Went to Hallstatt

I didn’t actually die, of course, cause I’m writing this post, but I might as well have. Every once and a while in life you come across places that you didn’t think actually existed, but after you pinch yourself and check your pulse, you find yourself having a Belinda Carlisle epiphany type moment and realize that “Ooh, Heaven is a Place on Earth.” And sometimes, if you are as lucky as I am, you get to spend the weekend there and go on adventures. This was my experience in Hallstatt. I think my heaven might be a cute little village with cute little houses with red geraniums in every window sill and a lake in the mountains to go boating and an endless supply of salt. Yep, I’m pretty sure it would basically be Hallstatt. I’m so glad I get to go back in another 66 years or so (I was born in 88 so I decided that 88 would be a good age to die, but I digress.) Here is was what I sampled this past weekend:

We're a bunch of nerds cause we all worked on our journals the entire train ride.

For the last while I have had a picture of this square on the desktop of my computer. I didn't take that one, but I did take this one. It was a picture perfect place.


View from the middle of the lake. Gorgeous

On the paddleboat, perhaps my new favorite pasttime

The castle we paddled to

Our life sustenance for the past months. We never go anywhere without pretezels and Nutella, or at least the clever brand.

Amelia and me in out room at the Gasthaus

Of course, I had to buy gelatto

Waterfall :) Happiness

Jessica and I in our awesome outfits they gave us to wear in the Salt Mine (the oldest in the world FYI). I was wearing a skirt that I had to tuck into my pants, hence the buldge around my middle. We got a good laugh out of it. The tour was awesome, complete with laser shows, time travel, train rides, and thrilling slides.

Waiting for the boat race to start Cute kid in cute hat. He's American, but he looked local.

Skulls in the Bone House. The paint them all fancy and line then up

Some dated back to the 1700s. They are already back in Hallstatt, Lucky them.

Me after I won my Second (2/2 Thank you!) chess battle. I felt like Harry Potter :) Our peices weren't quite as violent as his, but we did out best to animate them.

Awesome, yes? See you on the other side!

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

So, I know what you are thinking. You're thinking, "Ambree spends all day everyday doing all sorts of cool cultural things all over Vienna, except of course when she is working and studying hard for her classes." Well, that was pretty true for a while, but the fact of the matter is, that's just not reality anymore. In fact, somedays I don't think I would get out of bed if I didn't have to go to my morning classes and then come back to sit through 2 torturous hours of German class. I'm just tired. And sometimes after class, I'm just done, so I go home. And those of you that know me best know that if there is one thing I'm good at, it's wasting time. I know. I know. I only have so much time to spend in this lovely place and I should make sure I don't miss out on anything and live up every moment. Well the truth is, this is the way I've been enjoying my time lately:

READING

I bought this book to read on the flight here, but that never happened. I've been meaning to read it for years, and I finally found time. I guess the good thing about getting your iPod stolen is that you no longer have anything to occupy you on the 40 min commute to school. I've filled this void by reading and my commutes have become the most productive hours of my day. I just finished this last night and it was fantastic, so read it if you haven't.

JOURNALING

I have NEVER been a journaler. At all. I have hundreds of them with 2 or three entries each and then they are left abandoned. But here in Vienna, not only is there much to write about, but I HAVE to write. The journal is homework for my advanced writing class. This is a convient justification for when I would rather draw, cut and paste or ramble instead of doing my German assignements, cause it's still homework, right? I spent lots of time making it pretty so I stay motivated to keep it up. I think I'm converted to the art.

DISNEY
I have a pretty cool brother. Example A: he put every animated Disney movie ever made (with only an exception or two) on my hard drive before I left, including a few really rare one's I've been trying to get my hands on for years. Okay, so I'm a geek, and I realize this, but I average a few of these movies a week. They make me happy, especially when the internet it not working. Thanks Brother!

Dr. HOUSE

When the internet IS working, I watch HOUSE. Oh my dear, I forgot how much I absolutely LOVE Dr. House. I LOL several times an episode. I'm a bit behind (okay maybe more than a bit, I'm only on season 4, but I haven't lived anywhere with TV in a long time, so I'm justified.) It's been a good replacement since I don't have my DVDs to get my Gilmore Girls fix. There is nothing better than a quick wit.

DAYDREAMING

So most of this daydreaming happens during German class. Ich lerne Deutsch nicht gern. Lately my fantasies have been about owning one of these beautiful Vespas. The one above is not the exact one I want, but the color scheme is right: Mint green with brown leather seats. I saw the EXACT one I want the other day parked on the street and got a little too excited to see it in person. I think the guy who owned it thought I was stalking him. . . *sigh* Someday.

So one way or another, I find ways to enjoy my time, which I have decided is more important than homework. 20 years from now, I'm not gonna look back and say, "If only I had done one more german worksheet. . . " But I know I will regret being cranky here, so this is how I deal. (Don't worry parents, my grades are still fine)

Happy Birthday America! I miss you!

The Fourth of July is one of my very most favorite holidays! I was very sad that I didn't get to celebrate it with my fellow Americans in those United States of America, but we did have our own little gathering here in honor of our awesome country. There were no fireworks or sparklers, but there was watermelon and burgers and we all wore red, white, and blue, so I was content. Plus, we had some All-American music which included some old school big-band and American Icon: Miley Cyrus, so I felt at home. I love Austria, but I'm an American Patriot!