"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

Mother Nature has bedecked Salzburg's cityscape with a beautiful blanket of snow just in time for the holidays!
To get into the spirit, many of us gathered at Dr. Guenther's house this past Sunday (13. December) to sip Glühwein (don't worry--non alcoholic! :) ), nibble yummy cookies, cakes, and other finery, and sing a few carols in German and English. Here's a quick clip of our singing (Rebecca Arjev on guitar):



Our evening included reditions of "Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen" (Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming), "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer", and "Kling, Glöckchen."

As everyone looks forward to celebrating the holidays either here in Europe or in the U.S., we wish everyone reading this a very Happy Christmas, Fröhliche Weihnachten, and a Happy New Year!

(p.s. A few other photos from our evening of caroling can be seen by clicking the album cover in the lower right-hand corner of this page.)

Krampusläufe!

Source: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

Wenn man einen Krampuslauf in Salzburg anschauen möchte, kann man gerne! Die Krampusse laufen vom Ende November bis 8. Dezember--hier ist ein kleiner Kalender mit den Terminen. (Mit freundlicher Benehmigung von Frau Dr. Stuppnik-Bazzanella)

Weitere Information zum Krampuslauf
(auf Englisch auf die BGSU Webseite/in English)

Termin-Kalender 2009

Sa 28.11.2009: Gnigler Krampuslauf mit 600 Krampusse, Hexen, Nikolos, Engerl usw. (Route: Turnerstraße, Linzerbundesstraße, Schillingshofstraße), 19.00-22.00 Uhr

So 29.11.2009: Krampuslauf der Oberndorfer Schöffleut Pass in der Altstadt (vom Toscaninihof, Alter Markt, Mozartplatz, Getreidegasse), 17.00 Uhr.

Do 03.12.2009: Krampuslauf der Grödiger Krampusse in der Altstadt (vom Siegmundstor durch die Getreidegasse), 17.30 Uhr

Sa 05.12.2009: Krampuslauf der Barmstoana Perchten und Krampusse (Linzer Gasse), 17.00 Uhr

Sa 05.12.2009: Krampuslauf der Salzburger Falkenpass (vom Bürgerspitalplatz, Getreidegasse, Alter Markt, Sigmund-Haffner Gasse, bis Festspielhaus), 17.30 -18.30 Uhr

Sa 05.12.2009: Krampuslauf auf dem Salzburger Christkindlmarkt, 17.30 Uhr

Di 08.12.2009: Maxglaner Krampuslauf, (Ab Rochushof/Rochusgasse, Franz Huemer Straße, Bräuhausstraße, bis Stiegl-Brauwelt), 18.00-21.00 Uhr

Mo 21.12.2009: Perchtenlauf auf dem Christkindlmarkt, 17.30-19.30 Uhr

WICHTIGE Grundregeln:
1) Es gibt bei diesen Läufen keine Probleme, weil Polizei normalerweise dabei sind. Aber bei privaten Läufe, kann es sein, dass die Leute hinter den Masken alkoholisiert sind--also diese Gruppen einfach total meiden. Sonst einfach sollte man ruhig aus dem Weg gehen.
2) Mädchen sollten an den Krampusstagen prinzipiell nicht spät in der Nacht allein unterwegs sein.

Verfilmung in Salzburg!/Filming in Salzburg!

Above, part of the Linzer Gasse is closed for filming

This week Salzburg saw a bit of extra excitement--and not just because of the approaching Christmas/Advent season!

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz arrived early last week to begin filming part of their upcoming movie, Knight & Day. For the majority, filming simply means a trailer-filled Kaiserplatz, a few closed streets, and the mysterious appearance of lighting apparatuses all over the city. Some lucky residents could stumble upon Tom Cruise as he sauntered the Getreidegasse for a generous publicity tour. More tenacious fans haven't hesitated to pack slim alleyways or mill around cordoned off plazas to catch a glimpse of Cruise or Diaz.

Read more about the movie here.
For more about Cruise and Diaz's visit, click here:

(The blogger must admit she waited a few hours outside of the Festspielhaus for the chance to sight one of them, unfortunately starstruck. Success was small and a little anticlimactic--Diaz could be seen from a large distance through a window. More interesting: the amazingly coordinated efforts of the set crew, although they moved around the cars so many times, it seemed like they were doing it just to keep busy.)

Hellbrun excursion

Hellbrunn Excursion

On Friday October 30, several Bowling Green students went on an excursion for the undergraduate Art History course to the Palace of Hellbrunn on the south side of the city. Built between 1613 and 1619 by Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus, the palace is a mix between late Renaissance and early Baroque architecture, as evidenced by the unimpressive, straight staircase leading to the second floor. In the Baroque period, staircases were centrally located and grand, often having two symmetrical winding sets of steps leading to a large balcony on the second floor. The function of such staircases was to greet incoming guests with ceremony while showing the owner’s wealth.

Hellbrunn is considered a “Lustschloss” (pleasure palace) and was used as a summer getaway for the archbishop of Salzburg to get out of the hot city. Used solely as a day palace, there are no bedrooms for the guests who came to use the grounds for hunting, the favorite pastime of the archbishop. His love of animals can be seen in the many paintings, statues and fountains within the complex, as well as in the zoo he built to keep his exotic pets, which is still in use today.

Hellbrunn, which means “bright spring” in German, is most famous for the "Wasserspiele" (water games) or trick fountains that can be found throughout the grounds. The waterworks at Hellbrunn are unique in that they are the only examples of their kind to be in continuous use since their creation over 400 years ago. Though it was a cold and cloudy day, we were thrilled to see the fountains in action. Next time, though, I am taking an umbrella.

By: Rebecca Arjev

Herbstparty, 30. Oktober 2009

Friday the 30th of October was the Herbstparty for all students at Dr. Guenther's house! We celebrated with a fine assortment of yummy foods, including:

• homemade Käsekuchen

• many different sorts of breads and cheeses

• pumpkin soup complete with Kürbiskernöl (Pumpkinseed oil) and a dash of dill

Some students dressed up for the party, but fun was had by all--after sampling the smorgasbord, a group of students played a few party games, like charades and the "Name that celebrity" game, where a paper bearing a famous person's me is tacked to the back of a handful of players and they must ask yes or no questions to figure out whose name is written on the paper. "Celebrities" included Maria Theresia, die Marquise von O., and Ben Metz (another student in the program).

And there was also some lovely music provided by Rebecca, Dylan, and anyone else who wanted to sing along.
A wonderful autumnal evening--and Dr. Guenther insisted we take all that was leftover, so most folks even came away with a few extra snacks for the next few days!

Video Flashback, 10. Oktober 2009: Climbing Gaisberg/Gaisberg besteigen

For more images from Gaisberg, click here

Die Zeit verfliegt! Time flies!

Already two weeks have passed since most students arrived here in Salzburg, but we’ve all been so busy getting organized/settling in that the time has flown by!

In these two weeks, we’ve already:

• Started—and mostly completed!--process of registering everywhere (University, dorm, Magistrate, Insurance, etc.)

• Gotten our first taste of classes at an Austrian University, the Universität Salzburg.

• Gone on a few adventurous geography excursions in the area. We climbed a mountain (Gaisberg) (Oct. 10), went to the top of Mönchsberg (Oct. 4) and learned what conglomerate is, and visited the many beautifully kept antique houses at the Freilicht Museum (Oct. 9) (see pictures below in right-hand column!)

• Celebrated a Herbstparty (Autumn party) at Dr. Christina Guenther’s house.
  

• Had crazy adventures of our own in magical Salzburg!

We are now gearing up to journey to Wien (Vienna) this weekend. Look for a blog update about our travels there, as well as plenty of pictures!

PS: Did we mention in snowed in Salzburg--which very rarely happens--just a few days ago (Oct. 14)? Many students commented on Facebook. What a phenomenon!