Ok, Disneyland.
First off, I refer to lines as Queues, or Qs because I've been hanging out with Nick too much and actually started saying that, and because Q is easier to write.
Well, our trip to Disneyland started out kinda rough, with Nick losing his wallet and not being able to find tickets for the RER (the train/subway we had to take there). But we finally got there, and it was amazing right from the start. Nick is such a wonderful person to go with. We both agreed that had anyone else gone with us they would have gotten very annoyed with us. We have a lot of the same annoying habits. For instance, if we see something interesting, which happened all the time, we would grab the other person by the arm and run there. Also we got distracted a lot and would often forget where we were going because of that. And we both would yell and laugh if we got excited. And we would both stop in the middle of whatever we were saying to sing along with the music they were playing. So really we were a perfect match go with each other.
Disneyland is a theatre person's haven. Really it is. Just take the park itself. All the workers have to dress in costume and a lot of them act in character. Every single part of the park is themed, which means sets, props, lighting. There's always music playing in the background.
And then there's the shows. Ok, so they are obviously theme park shows. But they are theme park shows with MONEY!!! I've never seen such gratuitous use of flying. And the sets, lighting, FOG!! There's fog everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Do you know how much dry ice costs? It was insane. But walking around really is like walking around a giant show all day. A show where you get to go onstage.
So, we get to Disneyland and basically run around Main street USA and Adventureland for awhile. Then we calm down and decided on a ride. We choose Pirates of the Caribiean. The Qs are surprisingly not bad. I don't think we Qed for more than 45 mins, 60 tops the entire day. Which is really great. Anyway, the ride is so much fun. It's got ride elements- hills and drops and such, but it's also just this boat floating around and you get to see there robots acting out a pirate story. There's tons of lighting and special effects, and if you've seen the movie there's some familar scenes. It's fun.
After that we decide to go inside the castle. Apparently this castle is different in that its 2 stories tall and you can go outside. I don't know. But we do have fun playing around in there and taking pictures.
After that we decide to see a show. For the Lion King show, you have to go pick up a ticket an hour in advance. It's free, but they only have so many seats. So we try to find the ticket place, we even ask two people for help, but it's no good. In one last attempt we go into a building, only to find out- its the show!! We apparently walked into the side door and the show is going on right now. So we just stand on the side and watch. It's in French, but only when they're not singing. Besides, we know the plot. Anyway, the show is so weird. It's the most condensed story of the Lion King ever, with typical theme-park show highlights, such as changing some of the melodies to more add more belting. But, this is where the money comes in. The set/stage is amazing, and has robotic animals build into it (like pumba). The costumes are great, and include mechanics (timone's mouth actually moves when he talks, the hyenas' eyes glow). There is fog practically the entire show. All the moving lights make me jealous. They wanted to use projections in a couple of parts, and instead of projecting on a curtain they just make a curtain of water rain down every time they project something. And again- gratiutous flying. We missed the begining and end, so we were they for like 20 mins, and we counted 16 people flying. And not just up and down, up down, around, flipping- all sorts of things. Plus, the in the best casting decsion ever, Raffiki was played by a large black woman. Awesome.
So, having seen one show, me and Nick next head over to Space Mountain. Space Mountain is....amazing. I don't know if I can even describe it at all, much less in writing, so I'm not going to try. I was a little hesitant to go because I don't like roller coasters, but I'm so glad I did. It is not a roller coaster, it's an experience. Apparently this one is also different from the ones in the states, so I have no clue what they're like. Maybe they are roller coasters. But this one is just...wow.
So we head across the park after that to Frontierland. There we ride The Haunted Mansion. It was ok, it was fun and cute, the tricks they play on you in the Q were more scary than the ride, but it was really great because this ride is the one Nick remembers from his childhood, because he went to Disneyworld when he was little. So it was really fun to see what he remembered and didn't.
Next we go to another show. This one is the character show. As a general rule, I don't like character shows after 6 Flags, but again, this one is Disney so they had tons of money, so I at least wanted to see what they would do. And they show was semi-bi-lingual, which was weird. 99% of the songs they sung were in English, either being english Christmas songs, or for some reason...country music. I think the country section came in because they wanted to incorporate something American, and that's really the easiest American stereotype to sing about. I mean, try singing a song about a New Yorker, or California. (New York, Texas, and California are the only 3 places in America the average European knows about.) But when they were just talking they would jsut go back and forth between French and english. If they were talking to someone else, one would talk in French and the other would respond in English. And if they had something important to say they would just say it twice in both languages.
Disney did not disapoint on the money aspect. First off, the set was huge. And there were so many lights!! Plus all the characters entered from a slide, which was weird. Also, the characters have costume changes, which was a little unexpected. And then, halfway through the show, they started ice skating. Onstage. At first, we didn't think it was real. But it was. In their costumes. Very impressive. And then, of course, it snowed on the audience. And they they brought 2 real, live horses onstage. It was definately worth going to see.
All day up till then it had been cloudy and drizzling on and off. So of course none of the characters were out. But now it had cleared up a little, and they had literally sent every single one out at once. You could hardley walk there were so many out. Plus, the parade was going on. me and Nick realized this would be the perfect time to go to the ride with the longest Q- It's a Small World. We RAN to Small World, and I have to say, it was the one time that entire day that we went straight to anything without getting sidetracked. And we were totally correct about the Q. We got onto the ride in a flash. The ride was awesome!! It was exactly like the old book I used to have- the one with the record that went along with it, that you played on that blue record player?- it was exactly the same!! I took SOO many pictures because I wouldn't even bother aiming, I just held the camera in one hand and kept pressing the button. Nick laughed at me.
After that our day wound down quite a bit. We walked around and took some more pictures, and waited for the lighting ceremony, which had a catchy name that now I don't remember. The ceremony was sparkling and cute, although lacking a little in special effects if you ask me. After that we went and bought some souvieniers for Nick's family. His family has some hardcore Disney fans, who had given him money and specific things to get. But it was fun looking in the gift shops. Then we realized we hadn't eaten and we both REALLY hungry. So we got sandwitches (which Nick was nice enough to let me count as his dinner I owed him. I owed him a dinner in Paris for giving me his old i-pod), and found a spot on the sidewalk to watch the Fanitillsion parade. The parade was great!! TONS of lights, LEDS in clothing, blacklights, wonderful. And then, after the parade, we reluctantly made our way out of the park and back to the hostel. All in all, it was a fabulous day!

So I realize this post was more detailed than most people probably care about, but the thing is that this is how I remember too.

Whee.
I did some catching up on this blog today. Including adding captions to my pics.
But it posted things in a weird order.
Anyway, once I get my blog on Disney world up, I'll have everything caught up just in time for my trip to London.
Yay!

Where would I be without facebook?

More pictures from facebook, this time from Heather/Nick.

Me and Jo recreating when we couldn't find the catacombs. They were right behind us.
Eating a crossaint in our hostel.

The steps up the tower
At an observation deck.
We're really climbing the tower! Or doing a crazy Gene Kelly dance.
Eating a yummy crepe.

Where's Notre Dame? Semi-recreating the time when we thought a different church was Norte Dame.

Standing in line to buy crepes.

This is the one where I ramble alot

So going to Scotland was great, because it got rid of any homesickness I was feeling. I mean, I got to see an old friend, eat home-like food, people spoke my language, it was great. I really think that the UK is more like America than it is like the rest of Europe. I mean, it has this distinct British feel to it, but not really a European feel. That being said, it's like they're going out of their way to prove they're not like the rest of Europe. Their own currency, the way they drive on the other side of the road...it's weird.
On the EU. I like the EU. I like how they're promoting areas instead of countries. Just look at Austria. You have the Triol region, you have the Bavarian region, you have Vienna, which is definatly a region to itself. It's like my German teacher said, that Barvaria is more like Austria than Germany. Just because you have a border doesn't define what the area is like. So it's great that the EU is supporting areas.
Yes it's sucky to have to try and change the currency. People here still convert things into their old currency (I want to say Shillings) even though it changed like 10 years ago. But with it so easy to change borders, it's so much nicer to only have one. There are so many people who go to school in Vienna but still live in Bratislava, or go home to Prague on the weekends. I can only imagine what a headache it must be to always being converting money, or not have the right type of currency.
As for the language, I just want to say I'm a little confused on why French comes so easily to me. I mean, my accent may well be attrocious, but I remembered French phrases I learned 4 years ago. I can't even remember German phrases I learned a few weeks ago. I thought that French just came easier to me because I used to take Spanish, but Nick is way better at Spanish than me and he couldn't even remember how to say "please" in French. It was really weird how much I could understand when people talked at me in French. I'm honestly just really confused why this language seems to come so much easier to me than other languages. And it made it kind of sad to come back to Vienna again. I mean, the language barrier was still there in France, but somehow it didn't seem as big. Even though in Vienna English seems to be the second language they go to, while in Paris it was Spanish, then Italian, then English, then German. I think that's because with so many Eastern European countries so close to Vienna, it's easier just to talk in English than try to pick which one to speak in- Hungarian or Czech or Slovainian or Slokakian or Romanian or Turkish or Croatian or what?
So those are my thoughts for the day.

See, I finally went there!!

I've been meaning to post this for awhile, but I've gotten a little behind. So, I haven't gone inside yet, but it's a start, right?
The Hunderwasser and Kunst Haus Wien. 2 very unusual buildings by an architect of the same name. I don't really know what else to say about them, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

The Hunderwasser Haus











The Kunst Haus Wien

Kunsthistories

So I went to the Art History Museum for a field trip. I actually went awhile ago, but I'm just now getting to post these images. As a group, we got in a very reduced rate and got a guided tour of the special exhibit, which was the reason we went. It was pretty awesome actually. It was a exhibit of Venician paintings. They were amazing. Bellini, Titian, Giogione...they were really great. And a lot of the paintings were commisioned to be in the same room, but this was the first time you could see them together since the 1600s. Also, the Venician paintins kinda ruined a lot of the rest of the museum for me, since they're really known for their use of bright color. Everything else just looked so dull. But, it was a great museum, all in all.

Obviously the interior is gorgeous.

They wouldn't let you take pictures inside the room, but if you look inside the pictures are really bright.



They have some of these pictures here.




Tower of Babel.
This room was pretty cool.

Paintings on the stairwell by Klimt. But of course, you can't take a picture of them because there's no lights on them.

Carravagio, I couldn't leave the building without seeing the Carravaggio. It wasn't the best of his works, but still.






I was so shocked to see this picture! I had no clue that it was here! It was so amazing to just walk around the corner and bam!- A Raphael painting. (I am probably spelling every single name wrong)
Look how bright those paintings are!




Doesn't this look like it's 3-D?





Snowflakes "falling" down the side of the MQ.