The Erasmus Experience

 

For those that don’t know what Erasmus is, it refers to an exchange programme that takes place between European universities. It can take place in a semester or a full year.

Everyone’s Erasmus is different. This year, my boyfriend and my three best friends are on their own Erasmus’ too.  Two of my friends went to Kraków (Poland), my boyfriend to Warsaw (also Poland) and my other bf went to Toulouse (France).  Meanwhile, I went to Vienna (Austria).

 

Hallstatt

 

However, our Erasmus’ experiences have been completely different from each other. This is of course due to which people you meet during your exchange and how you “think” about the whole thing.

For example, I wanted to make the most out of my Erasmus by travelling as much as possible (which I have done and I will do a round-up post this week), while my friends in Kraków decided they wanted to party like the world was going to end tomorrow. This is fantastic too, and no matter what you choose, the important thing is that you feel happy with how you use your time when you are gone.

 

With my friends in Kraków!

 

Choosing Austria as my destination, and more specifically Vienna, was the best decision I could've made. I had never visited Austria before and I knew Vienna was amazingly beautiful so I decided to pick it, and I can't be happier with it! The location was a great advantage too, as it was really near to many other European countries that are quirky and beautiful too! 

 

There have been many disappointing things about my Erasmus though. I was actually happy to go home after being done with my adventures and I missed the stability and friends that I had at home, even if my boyfriend is staying in Warsaw until June *sad sad emoji*.

Some things like having to change subjects a month before leaving (messing up my Learning Agreement and making me take an extra subject this semester because of that) were definite downers.

My conclusion is that institutions (residences, universities, etc.) will try to make you pay and pay; they will always have an extra fee here and there that you DEFINITELY MUST pay.

I am sure that if I were Austrian, I would have more power to not be cheated but sadly, Erasmus students are pretty defenseless in this sense. This may of course only be my case, but from what I know, this is very common in most Erasmus destinations.

But I don’t want to end this post on a bad note. I have LOVED my Erasmus. I have seen so many places that I would never have gone to if I stayed in Spain, many amazing things and I have met incredible people. I will never forget this semester as I have learnt so many things about the world and about myself.

 

 

 

However, like people always say… there is no place like home.

Confessions in Copenhagen

I’m a terrible blogger. I am.

I have been on so many trips lately and have taken so many wonderful pictures, but when it comes to posting about them on the blog, I always forget. And then time goes by, and it feels stupid to post about a trip that happened months ago, doesn’t it?

As an avid blog reader, I find that most bloggers that I really like know exactly how to get their voice through to their readers. However, I never know HOW to do that exactly. Is it because English is my 2^nd language and maybe I should be writing in Spanish? English is the language in which I watch movies, TV series, and also the language I use to read most of my books and sometimes… I even dream in English!

Anyway, these are just my thoughts and I just wanted to thank you guys for sticking with me through all of these ups and downs.

Right now, I am back in Spain and a week has passed since I was in beautiful Copenhagen. I decided to visit it by myself, so I rented a room through AirBnB. The apartment was owned by Sara, a girl in her 20s that was really fun and amazing (too many drinks were had the first night!). I am so glad I decided to come alone, as I feel I was also more open to knowing people from Denmark instead of sticking to my travel buddies as you usually do when you travel with other people.

Also, if you take the plunge, you better have a GoPro + selfie-stick. Best combination for travelling alone and being able to actually appear in your pictures.

The thing about Copenhagen is that it’s too beautiful not to visit, but then you will never want to leave. Coming from Vienna, I definitely know what a beautiful city looks like and while they don’t look anything alike, I am in love with both cities and I feel at home in both of them.

I spent the whole weekend walking around, since there aren’t many metro stations and you can walk for 30 minutes to get to the next one. I visited Nyhavn (the famous colourful harbour that is the most pinterest-y thing of Copenhagen which you can see in the picture above), the Kongen Have, the Little Mermaid (very symbolic of the city which you can see in the picture below), the Botanic Gardens, etc. But in general, I think Copenhagen is a city you have to walk around to discover.

However, I was quite bummed out because I definitely wanted to see the Tivoli (an amazing park which inspired Disney to create Disneyland!), one of the most important attractions of the city. My friend Sara told me that I should come again during the summer. It’s the best time to visit Copenhagen because of the flowers, the warmth, plus more hours of light… No matter what, I don’t regret coming here in January at all… and I was so lucky because the 1^st morning... it snowed!

I definitely loved this city so if you ever think about coming, maybe do it in June and save a bit because it’s NOT cheap (and least of all for a student)… but definitely worth it!
After Copenhagen I was lucky to be able to visit Prague and Kraków, but... more about that in the next post! :)

xx Maria

Salzburg, Innsbruck + Hallstatt!

One of the biggest issues living in Austria is that you tend to visit EVERYTHING around it (Prague, Budapest, Krakow, Munich...) I mean... I can't be happier about it's location. But the thing is, Austria is so damn beautiful that not seeing it is the biggest sin of all! Thankfully, in the course of two weeks, I did two trips: Salzburg + Hallstatt (with my roommate on Halloween), and Salzburg + Innsbruck (with my bf). Double Salzburg is double the fun <3 ! 

Salzburg is a small city, where all of the attractions are really close to each other and you can see most of them in 6-7 hours if you really take your time.
When I went with Sofia (my roomie) we stayed at Yoho Hostel, but since we got a room for 2 instead of sharing a big room with 4-6 people we had to pay more (72€/person for 2 nights). I can definitely say the hostel was clean and comfortable, but when I visited with my boyfriend we decided to get an apartment through AirBnb, and that was even cheaper for two people (25€/person+night). So... if you're a big group going to a hostel may be a better option, but if you're not then definitely go for an apartment.

In terms of what to visit, I think that the best route to visit Salzburg is the following: 

1. Mirabell Palace + Gardens
2. Mozarts Wohnhaus
3. River Salzach (walk on the peatonal bridge -very close to Mozart's Wohnhaus-, it's great for picture-taking!)
4. Getreidegasse (take your time here, it's the cutest shopping street ever - Diagon Alley much?)
5. Mozarts Geburthaus (it's a bright yellow house on Getreidegasse)
6. Dom > Residenz > Domplatz > Kapitelplatz > Cemetery of St. Peter
7. Festung Hohensazlburg (the fortress, where you should definitely spend at least an hour looking at the views, taking pictures and eating Sacher Torte -Viennese chocolate cake-.) 

This is a route that I perfected on my second visit to Salzburg since I only had one day to show everything to my bf and I had had two days to walk around during my first visit. 

                      

Hallstatt was definitely breath-taking and all sorts of amazing. I would definitely recommend renting a car if you're visiting with more than 3 people, but if not, get the bus from Salzburg like we did (more cost-effective  in that case although not cheap!) It's really worth the money though, and we were able to spend the whole day there. 

We visited the whole town (it's really small so 30-50 minutes of wandering and taking lottttts of pictures in piers would be more than enough) and then we hiked up the mountain. I almost died twice during that hike, it was soooo long and we weren't equipped for hiking. 

But we finally got to the top, where a restaurant awaited us and we had the best spaghetti ever... although I'm sure they only tasted that great because we were famished! After that, we took some pictures on the skywalk and then went back down with the funicular (which felt like a really steep roller-coaster track). Last but not least, we walked a little bit around the river area before catching our bus back to Salzburg.

Innsbruck was another thing entirely. Cute is the only word to describe this beautiful city. The old part of the city is even smaller and more concentrated than in Salzburg, which ensures that an hour or 2 (tops) walking around will help you see the most beautiful things.




We saw the Goldenes Dachl, the Hofburg, Domplatz, and walked around the small and cobbled streets. After that, we walked around the Inn River and tried to get the funicular to go up the mountain (it was closed for repairs for the the whole month of November -bummer!-, but it should be open by now), we caught a bus and soon we started hiking around the beautiful woods in the mountain. We were lucky and had a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the walk and the views. We spent around 3-4 hours walking around and after reaching the highest point that our legs permitted us to, we started walking back down because the sun goes down faster than we do and we didn't want to be lost in the woods by night... plus, we were soooo hungry by then! After having lunch, we drank some hot mulled wine (Glühwein in German, in case you need it) and walked around some more... and finally caught the train back to Vienna!

Ever visited any of these cities? Would you?

<3

M.

Internet Blackout

So what has been going on with me, you may ask? 

Top to Bottom, L to R: Me + the bf, the woods of Innsbruck, Salzburg
& the most amazing chocolate shop (in Salzburg)

For starters, my computer broke. My Macbook Pro (that has been with me for 3 years) was getting updated one day and it suddenly wouldn't restart. I had to send it back to Spain for repair and it was quite a stressful pair of weeks since I really need a computer to do my uni work. 

After that, my boyfriend came to visit me to Vienna for a week* and we were able to go see Salzburg and Innsbruck. It was the most amazing trip although the rest of the time he was here I had to leave him quite alone because I had so many classes! Although it sucked not being able to spend as much time with him as I would've liked, soon enough we're going together to Berlin! 

So, at least, during these weeks of exams I will have something amazing to look forward to. 

*He's on his Erasmus too and he's living in Warsaw (Poland) this whole year! 

...Distance sucks. 

Now that my computer is up and running, count on me posting more often. Sorry, guys!

What have you been up to lately?

<3

M.

The redder, the better

My collection of red lipsticks is getting ridiculous. 50% of my lipsticks are red, and I always find a new addition to that growing list. This time, my newest buy is All Fired Up by MAC.

Although it's a beautiful darker shade than it's sister Relentlessly Red, I can't recommend you guys to buy both. Here they are in comparison to Ruby Woo. All Fired Up is a pinker red and more muted than Relentlessly Red, but if you guys are like me and don't usually have the money to spend on every single MAC lipstick shade (Oh, I wish!), you will barely be able to tell the difference.

Both are coral-y shades of red, but Relentlessly Red is the kind of shade you wear in summer (it is a tad brighter), whilst All Fired Up can also be worn in winter or used as a pink stain without a problem.

Which one would you pick? Do you have any of these lipstick shades?

<3

M.

A day trip to Bratislava!

I feel so blessed for being able to reach so many wonderful places at a stone's throw from Vienna. 

For the sake of honesty, I have to say that although I really liked Bratislava, it's not a huge capital in which you can never get bored. The old part (pictured up and below) is beautiful but it isn't that big. Meanwhile, the rest of the city in my opinion is not something you should go out of your way to visit. 

However, for a day trip it's the perfect destination!  

Our trip consisted of catching a bus from Vienna to Bratislava, and spending the whole day in the old part, just eating goulash* and the most delicious brownie <3!
I wish I had written down the names of the places we ate in because for me they were truly blog-worthy. Both of them where in the old part of the city and I assure you that if you take a walk, you will find many places such as these!

*A wonderful hungarian stew that can be made from various meats although it's typically supposed to be pork. You can find it almost everywhere in central Europe.

I think Bratislava is one of those cities in which you need to just walk around and bask in traditions, eat typical food 

and explore!

Have you been to Bratislava? Did you like it? If not, would you consider visiting?

<3 

M.

Falling in love with Vienna

Leaving everything you're used to behind is difficult. You forget stuff, you miss your friends, you miss the food you usually eat... But it's also full of new and exciting beginnings. You get to meet new people, learn different languages and get mixed up in confusing situations. Anyhow, going to live to a different country it's still one of the greatest experiences you can have.

And in Vienna, it's just too good to be true!

I've already been here for almost a month and I have to excuse myself for the lack of updates. You see, I've had to adapt but I've also been doing quite a lot of travelling during this month (Bratislava, Budapest, Warsaw, Linz...) but more on that later! 

Recently, I was speaking with some other Spanish exchange students that live here and we've all come to the conclusion that once you come to Vienna, you set a very high bar! Even if you visit other places and love them for different reasons, none will capture your heart like Vienna has.

It's just too wonderful for words, very safe, amazingly beautiful and there's always a hundred fun things to do. Plus, it's in the centre of Europe so you can get to many destinations without having to spend that much time travelling!

I mean... can you blame me for loving it here?

Have you been to Vienna or would you want to go? If you have, did you like it?
What other places have you fallen in love with?

<3

M.