it's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

11.21
Christmas season has begun here in Salzburg. In a way, it seems early, simply because in the States 'Black Friday' (the day after Thanksgiving) signifies the Christmas season for many people. As Austria doesn't celebrate our Thanksgiving (they have their own in September), they get an earlier start. So, the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Markets) opened on Thursday! There are actually four different locations throughout Salzburg: Domplatz, Mirabell, Hellbrunn and the Festung. So far I have only walked through the markets by the Dom, but I hope to check out a few of the others within the next few weeks.

Anyway, on Friday night a few of us headed into town to enjoy the FIRST SNOWFALL and some gluehwein. It was a great end to the week!

Teresa and I @ the Christmas Markets

11.22
Saturday was another early morning, as we had a day excursion to Mauthausen (a concentration camp) and Linz. After a two-hour bus-ride, we were at Mauthausen. We started off by taking a walk down the Totenstiege ('stairs of death'). Mauthausen was selected as the location for a concentration camp largely based on the presence of the "Wiener Graben" quarry. Prisoners would have to carry 50 lb. blocks of granite up the narrow, steep, 186 step flight of stairs about 6 times per day. If one person stumbled, he would take down whoever was behind him. It was a little nerve-racking and dizzying going down (and almost worse going up), especially since the steps were not even as wide as my foot is long (although, I do have big feet). Point in case, I could not imagine having to carry my backpack along with me, let alone a 50 lb. block of granite.

Entrance

Memorial

Totenstiege

After viewing the quarry, we had some time to walk through the camp, visit the barracks, gas chambers, crematoriums, etc. It was the first weekend we had snow, and it was absolutely freezing, which was perfectly appropriate: as we walked through the roll call grounds, the audio guide commentary noted that the prisoners had to stand outside, without moving for at least an hour, two times per day. Now imagine being undernourished, sleep-deprived, weak and frail, with only a thin layer of clothing to fight the penetrating chill of the wind, snow or rain. Our three emotionally-draining hours at the camp passed by very quickly.

The Wailing Wall

Roll Call Grounds

Gas Chamber

Gate

At 1, we met back a the bus to head towards Linz (the capitol city of Oberoesterreich). Their Christmas Markets had just opened that day, so we walked through before finding a cafe. No one had planned anything they needed to see, so we took advantage and enjoyed the warmth of the cafe. We also visited the Dom (cathedral) which may be one of the prettiest churches I have ever seen. It is a Gothic church, but it had a simple elegance, and wan't so over-decorated like many churches of that period are. We had a group dinner in Linz before heading back home to Salzburg.

Linzerdom

Christmas Markets

Carolyn, Chris and I

Our program director has a tradition of smoking a cigar in the name of anti-fascism anytime he does something along the lines of visiting a concentration camp or exhibit on the Third Reich. This time, we were invited to join him. We headed towards Suedtirol Platz, home of the anti-fascism monument in Salzburg, and we lit up. Having no desire to actually smoke a cigar, I had one puff of a friend's, which was more than enough to satisfy my curiosity and prove that I will never get hooked on smoking (no need to worry mom, dad, and roomies!).

All in all, it was a great day: long, cold and emotionally-draining, but completely worth-while.

On a separate note, I will be coming home one month from today, which is hard to fathom. My time here has gone by SO fast! I am excited to see everyone from back home, but I'm not ready so say goodbye to Salzburg and the rest of Europe. I have a lot on my plate in terms of academics before the semester is through (6 papers due within 3 weeks!), but hopefully I will be able to squeeze in a few more day trips before the end. I only have three weeks left in Salzburg, and then I will be traveling with two friends to Berlin, Dublin and London. So, while I have lots to look forward to, I'm not quite ready to get there just yet.