Today was our last day in Vienna and we had free time basically all day. We visited a modern architecture bank called BAWAG PSK. It's been the largest retail banking system since 1883. I learned that the floating interest rate to have a mortgage is 1.7% a shocking lower interest rate than USA. In Vienna an account holder has to pay a yearly fee of 100 euros to have a current account. BAWAG is a very successful bank and has strategies put in place to insure their stability. They are going to focus on small branches, self-service, online and mobile banking, and a customer care center. All cornerstones are pretty basic for any successful bank. I noticed that the bank was not crowded. Maybe we saw 3 people the whole time and this is due to the online banking. It's crazy how things have changed in the last 10 years. I also learned that apparently in Europe employers want new mothers to spend a lot of time with their new-born babies. In Vienna maternity leave is 1-2 years and then the mother can work part-time and decide if she wants to return to work or not.
We toured the bank and it has beautiful modern architecture. After the bank, we headed back to the hotel. There were many things to do for our free time. We could go to the museum Quarter and see the museum of modern art and modern science. We could have visited Mozart or Beethoven's home or a variety of other museums. There was also a beach we could go to and many other shops. \
We did a lot of shopping since we had to spend our Euro's. Then we searched for this "beach" area for 3 hours and finally found it around 7 pm, right when the sun was going down. The beach consisted of bars along the river line and about 3 feet of sand. It definitely does not compare to the beaches we are used to, even in Missouri or at Mozingo. We were so exhausted after finding this beach we stayed until 9:30 to recover and give our feet a rest. I was a little disappointed we couldn't see Mozart's home, but we were so exhausted from walking everywhere I'm not sure it would have been a good idea.
From now on, we're planning our trips out at the hotel and taking notes on how to get there so we're not exhausted all the time. I can't wait to see what Prague has to offer.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Day 7
Well hello, it's Kenzi here for the day!
Today was pretty relaxing here in Vienna. We went on a group tour of the Schonbrunn Palace in the morning with our tour guide Manuela and had the majority of the rest of the day free to do what we pleased.
The Palace was absolutely amazing and I think everybody learned a lot about the importance of the Schonbrunn family to Austria through our audio guides. The palace was just the family's summer house and there are over 1400 rooms inside. We got to see 40 of the rooms during the tour, which many had chandeliers and large had paintings. Many of the walls were even hand painted or made out of the finest wood during that time and some gold! I'm definitely glad we got the chance to see this place with our own eyes and were able to picture how royal families lived in the 17, 18, and 19th centuries.
When the tour was over, the group split in different directions. Many people visited the zoo near the palace to see the panda bears and others went to see the St. Stephen's Church. As for me, a few of us went back to the hotel for a few hours to rest up and then took off for the Danube river. There are many different boating docks here in Vienna and places to swim along the shore. We rented a paddle boat for an hour to relax and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside. We really enjoyed the views it had to offer and are even thinking about going back tomorrow!
For dinner we made reservations at a restaurant near the hotel for all of us to eat together. It had many common local options as well as pizza, burgers, and salads. The service was even fast for having such a large group, and that's something we haven't experienced yet! It was nice to all sit down together and enjoy the meal without being in a rush, too. Of course after dinner we all had to stop on the corner for some gelato for dessert!
Schonbrunn Palace
Danube River
Today was pretty relaxing here in Vienna. We went on a group tour of the Schonbrunn Palace in the morning with our tour guide Manuela and had the majority of the rest of the day free to do what we pleased.
The Palace was absolutely amazing and I think everybody learned a lot about the importance of the Schonbrunn family to Austria through our audio guides. The palace was just the family's summer house and there are over 1400 rooms inside. We got to see 40 of the rooms during the tour, which many had chandeliers and large had paintings. Many of the walls were even hand painted or made out of the finest wood during that time and some gold! I'm definitely glad we got the chance to see this place with our own eyes and were able to picture how royal families lived in the 17, 18, and 19th centuries.
When the tour was over, the group split in different directions. Many people visited the zoo near the palace to see the panda bears and others went to see the St. Stephen's Church. As for me, a few of us went back to the hotel for a few hours to rest up and then took off for the Danube river. There are many different boating docks here in Vienna and places to swim along the shore. We rented a paddle boat for an hour to relax and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside. We really enjoyed the views it had to offer and are even thinking about going back tomorrow!
For dinner we made reservations at a restaurant near the hotel for all of us to eat together. It had many common local options as well as pizza, burgers, and salads. The service was even fast for having such a large group, and that's something we haven't experienced yet! It was nice to all sit down together and enjoy the meal without being in a rush, too. Of course after dinner we all had to stop on the corner for some gelato for dessert!
XOXO,
Wanderlust
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Day six!
Hello from Vienna, Austria! Abby here for day six blog!
Today was a pretty relaxed day. We started with a walking tour through Vienna with our guide Manuela (spell check). Just in a few hours we saw so much! The city is similar to New York City. The outskirts are less wealthy, and as you continue to walked towards the city center it gets more expensive.
Our tour began at the Monument of Mother Teresa and the Square where her monument is. On each side of the monument was a museum: one for natural history and one for fine arts. Some things I picked up about Mother Teresa were that she had sixteen kids! One of them being Marie Antionette. There was a really cute guitar player sitting at the bottom of the monument and he played "O Suzanna" for us.
Our guide also explained a lot about Austria's history while were were at the Mother Teresa Monument. Back in the 16th century, Vienna was the capital of three empires (Rome, Austrian, and Austrain-Hungary). It was called the empire where the sun never goes down because it was such a large area of space.
As we continued to walk, we came upon a very large castle (pictured blow) where Mother Teresa lived, and also where the Hapsburg dynasty used to rule and live which was called Complex Palace of Hapsburg. The Hapsburg name has played a very crucial role in history, for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand is what sparked World War I. Complex Palace was beautiful. Horse drawn carriages, live music, people dressed up. It was such a great cultural experience!
It was so crazy - as we were walking from the Complex Palace we ran into a tour group of older people that are from Maryville! Of course we stopped for a picture and chanted B-E-A-R, C-A-T-S! Small world!
But after Complex Palace and our run in with the "townies", we headed to the most expensive street in Vienna called Ring Street (pictured below). And it was GORGEOUS! We learned that Vienna is the second most expensive city behind Luxembourg! But everything was very much out of my price range personally! Stores such as Gucci, Versace, Tiffany and Co, Louis Vitton, etc.
We all then were turned loose into a marketplace to grab some lunch and do some shopping. Which was so fun - there was an Indian section of the marketplace so a lot of bright colors and fun little gifts! And a LOT of fresh fruits, veggies, and a lot of other fun stuff!
I could go on and on and on about today! We saw so much in such a short amount of time, but Vienna is beautiful! So far, I think we have all fallen in love with Vienna pretty quick and can't wait to see what the rest of our time here brings!
XOXO
Team Wanderlust
Today was a pretty relaxed day. We started with a walking tour through Vienna with our guide Manuela (spell check). Just in a few hours we saw so much! The city is similar to New York City. The outskirts are less wealthy, and as you continue to walked towards the city center it gets more expensive.
Our tour began at the Monument of Mother Teresa and the Square where her monument is. On each side of the monument was a museum: one for natural history and one for fine arts. Some things I picked up about Mother Teresa were that she had sixteen kids! One of them being Marie Antionette. There was a really cute guitar player sitting at the bottom of the monument and he played "O Suzanna" for us.
Our guide also explained a lot about Austria's history while were were at the Mother Teresa Monument. Back in the 16th century, Vienna was the capital of three empires (Rome, Austrian, and Austrain-Hungary). It was called the empire where the sun never goes down because it was such a large area of space.
As we continued to walk, we came upon a very large castle (pictured blow) where Mother Teresa lived, and also where the Hapsburg dynasty used to rule and live which was called Complex Palace of Hapsburg. The Hapsburg name has played a very crucial role in history, for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand is what sparked World War I. Complex Palace was beautiful. Horse drawn carriages, live music, people dressed up. It was such a great cultural experience!
It was so crazy - as we were walking from the Complex Palace we ran into a tour group of older people that are from Maryville! Of course we stopped for a picture and chanted B-E-A-R, C-A-T-S! Small world!
But after Complex Palace and our run in with the "townies", we headed to the most expensive street in Vienna called Ring Street (pictured below). And it was GORGEOUS! We learned that Vienna is the second most expensive city behind Luxembourg! But everything was very much out of my price range personally! Stores such as Gucci, Versace, Tiffany and Co, Louis Vitton, etc.
We all then were turned loose into a marketplace to grab some lunch and do some shopping. Which was so fun - there was an Indian section of the marketplace so a lot of bright colors and fun little gifts! And a LOT of fresh fruits, veggies, and a lot of other fun stuff!
I could go on and on and on about today! We saw so much in such a short amount of time, but Vienna is beautiful! So far, I think we have all fallen in love with Vienna pretty quick and can't wait to see what the rest of our time here brings!
XOXO
Team Wanderlust
Friday, June 20, 2014
Day 5
Greetings from Vienna!!
Shelby here with today's blog. We have made it to the beautiful capital of Austria: Vienna! A little bit different from Budapest as Vienna is not as crowded or busy. It might be a nice change!
Early morning for us, we left Budapest around 7:30 this morning and traveled to Bratislava, Slovakia. There, we received a tour of Volkswagen Slovakia. This was an amazing experience. This plant is the third largest in the world, and the first largest in Europe. The size of the plant was about 160 football fields long and produced not only the Volkswagen, but also the porsche and the audi vehicles. It was impressive to see all of the hard work that goes into producing vehicles. The plant also uses robots in the creating process. Over one thousand robots to be exact! It was a great experience to see how all the process worked and our guide did a great job of explaining everything. When the plant first opened, about fifteen vehicles were made per day. Now, about 1500 are produced daily, if not more! The company has come a long way, and they are still growing very rapidly. It was one of our most interactive visits yet!
Shelby here with today's blog. We have made it to the beautiful capital of Austria: Vienna! A little bit different from Budapest as Vienna is not as crowded or busy. It might be a nice change!
Early morning for us, we left Budapest around 7:30 this morning and traveled to Bratislava, Slovakia. There, we received a tour of Volkswagen Slovakia. This was an amazing experience. This plant is the third largest in the world, and the first largest in Europe. The size of the plant was about 160 football fields long and produced not only the Volkswagen, but also the porsche and the audi vehicles. It was impressive to see all of the hard work that goes into producing vehicles. The plant also uses robots in the creating process. Over one thousand robots to be exact! It was a great experience to see how all the process worked and our guide did a great job of explaining everything. When the plant first opened, about fifteen vehicles were made per day. Now, about 1500 are produced daily, if not more! The company has come a long way, and they are still growing very rapidly. It was one of our most interactive visits yet!
Another thing that we have to account for is the new currency. Here in Vienna, we will be using the euro. Vienna will be our most pricy city, so we will have to use our money sparingly! Tonight, we are going to a welcome dinner at Wiener Wirtschaft. It should be a good night! We already learned what "thank you" is "danke". That should help at dinner!
Tomorrow we will be taking a walking tour around Vienna, and we cannot wait to see what the city has in store for us!
XOXO,
Wanderlust
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Day 4
Today we went to SAP labs and learned about the software they offer. They do business with American Fortune 500 companies and companies all around the world. Markus, the speaker, said if SAP shut down, then the world would come to a halt. The company prides itself on entrepreneurship and innovation to improve efficiency in business. We were in an industrial park type place and saw many similar businesses including Microsoft and Cannon.
We had free time so we went to H&M and figured out the style in Budapest is basically the same in America and H&M is even a little more pricey. Budapest is a slightly easier city to figure out. Our hotel is in the center of most things and we can easily find a tram or bus back to our hotel. Everything is along the main boulevard so that makes it easier. However, I noticed Hungarians are very inverted and the customer service in the food industry is definitely not the same as America. Sit-in restaurants take a lot of time and the waiters often do not care what happens to you.
After lunch, we went to cathedral type thing. It overlooked the entire city and had an amazing view. After viewing the city, we toured the castle museum It was interesting to see old statues that were once considered worthless and were thrown out, and now are highly valued. After all the touring Szilvia graciously gave us extra forints to experience a cafe with delicious desert options. That was the best chocolate moose I ever had.
The nightlife culture is very lively here, people always hang out around the Ferris wheel. The city is constantly busy and there are always people out walking around or enjoying late night ice cream. There seems to be a gelotto shop on every corner. Tomorrow we go to Slovakia to visit Volkswagen. I'm excited to see how globalization is displayed across different countries.
-Christina Smith
We had free time so we went to H&M and figured out the style in Budapest is basically the same in America and H&M is even a little more pricey. Budapest is a slightly easier city to figure out. Our hotel is in the center of most things and we can easily find a tram or bus back to our hotel. Everything is along the main boulevard so that makes it easier. However, I noticed Hungarians are very inverted and the customer service in the food industry is definitely not the same as America. Sit-in restaurants take a lot of time and the waiters often do not care what happens to you.
After lunch, we went to cathedral type thing. It overlooked the entire city and had an amazing view. After viewing the city, we toured the castle museum It was interesting to see old statues that were once considered worthless and were thrown out, and now are highly valued. After all the touring Szilvia graciously gave us extra forints to experience a cafe with delicious desert options. That was the best chocolate moose I ever had.
The nightlife culture is very lively here, people always hang out around the Ferris wheel. The city is constantly busy and there are always people out walking around or enjoying late night ice cream. There seems to be a gelotto shop on every corner. Tomorrow we go to Slovakia to visit Volkswagen. I'm excited to see how globalization is displayed across different countries.
-Christina Smith
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Day 3
Kenzi here for our third day in Budapest!
We had two business visits today including Kopint-Tarki Economic Institute and the European Union Commission. As you might have guessed, both of these visits informed us of Europe economic situation and a lot about their history. You can tell people that were raised in Hungary are proud of where they come from and what the country has done to overcome things of the past, especially when it comes to the communism era. We had a guest speaker today from Bosnia, too. It was kind of sad to here her talk about the current economic situation in her home country. Their unemployment rate is 45% and nobody from there knows where they are headed in the future or what will happen to their country.
After our first visit we ate lunch and got to shop at a large mall. A group of about ten of us decided to enjoy a cafe nearby and it took close to two hours to get our food and pay. We got done just in time to catch our next business visit, but unfortunately left no time for shopping!
One thing I specifically remember from our second visit that day is that women in Hungary get nearly 100% of their salary for 6 months after having a child. Most mothers don't return to work until the child reaches the age of 3 and daycare isn't very common at all for children in Hungary. During this visit the EU representative also explained to us their 20 year plan for the European Union.
By the time our scheduled events were over many of us seemed to be ready for a quick, or not so quick, nap. While others took the time to sight see or shop. It was a very interesting day and I'm excited to see what the rest of the trip has to offer!
XOXO,
Wanderlust
We had two business visits today including Kopint-Tarki Economic Institute and the European Union Commission. As you might have guessed, both of these visits informed us of Europe economic situation and a lot about their history. You can tell people that were raised in Hungary are proud of where they come from and what the country has done to overcome things of the past, especially when it comes to the communism era. We had a guest speaker today from Bosnia, too. It was kind of sad to here her talk about the current economic situation in her home country. Their unemployment rate is 45% and nobody from there knows where they are headed in the future or what will happen to their country.
After our first visit we ate lunch and got to shop at a large mall. A group of about ten of us decided to enjoy a cafe nearby and it took close to two hours to get our food and pay. We got done just in time to catch our next business visit, but unfortunately left no time for shopping!
One thing I specifically remember from our second visit that day is that women in Hungary get nearly 100% of their salary for 6 months after having a child. Most mothers don't return to work until the child reaches the age of 3 and daycare isn't very common at all for children in Hungary. During this visit the EU representative also explained to us their 20 year plan for the European Union.
By the time our scheduled events were over many of us seemed to be ready for a quick, or not so quick, nap. While others took the time to sight see or shop. It was a very interesting day and I'm excited to see what the rest of the trip has to offer!
XOXO,
Wanderlust
Monday, June 16, 2014
Day One!
Szia from Budapest!
Shelby here for our first blog! We made it to Budapest!!! Finally. We began our journey at the Kansas City Airport. From there we went to Minneapolis, then an eight hour flight Amsterdam, and finally to Budapest. It was a long day of travel, but with a big group we really didn't experience any problems. Except that Abby's luggage did not make it to Budapest, but to Amsterdam. Also, Grant had some issues fitting on one of our planes! But, the important thing is that we all made it in one piece and we were all safe. After a quick bus trip to Budapest we were all ready to explore!
One of the highlights of our day was our welcome dinner to Budapest. It was held at Karpatia and was a very beautiful place. It was a three-course meal that consisted of a goulash soup as an appetizer. Next we had the main course which was grilled chicken with vegetables. For dessert, we had a cherry pastry that was delicious! Budapest is known for their tasty pastries. All during our meal, we also had traditional Hungarian musicians playing beautiful music for us all night. It was a wonderful first meal in Budapest! Posted below is a picture of our cherry dessert.
Shelby here for our first blog! We made it to Budapest!!! Finally. We began our journey at the Kansas City Airport. From there we went to Minneapolis, then an eight hour flight Amsterdam, and finally to Budapest. It was a long day of travel, but with a big group we really didn't experience any problems. Except that Abby's luggage did not make it to Budapest, but to Amsterdam. Also, Grant had some issues fitting on one of our planes! But, the important thing is that we all made it in one piece and we were all safe. After a quick bus trip to Budapest we were all ready to explore!
One of the highlights of our day was our welcome dinner to Budapest. It was held at Karpatia and was a very beautiful place. It was a three-course meal that consisted of a goulash soup as an appetizer. Next we had the main course which was grilled chicken with vegetables. For dessert, we had a cherry pastry that was delicious! Budapest is known for their tasty pastries. All during our meal, we also had traditional Hungarian musicians playing beautiful music for us all night. It was a wonderful first meal in Budapest! Posted below is a picture of our cherry dessert.
After dinner, we got the chance to look around the city a little bit! We headed down to the Danube River and the bridge we were standing on had a fantastic view. The city is beautiful during the day, but seeing all the ornate architectural buildings light up at night was majestic. The lights twinkled all night and you could not beat the view! Here is a picture of one of the ornate buildings!
We also learned some phrases that we were in need of! "Bo chi" means "I'm sorry" and "cussey" means "thank you". These proved very useful during the evening!
Overall, day one was a complete success! We are so excited to keep exploring this beautiful city. It has already been a beautiful sight and I am sure there is so much more to see!
XOXO,
Team Wanderlust
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