Spring

Bike by the sea (it has been nice enough to swim twice already) and crabapple trees in blossom. 

 In Middelburg we have had an unseasonable stretch of warm and sunny weather. Think of San Francisco: 50s and 60s, alternating between sun and fog, and not much rain. It has been the sunniest and driest March ever in The Netherlands. My arrival last year coincided with the wettest and cloudiest 12 months this country has seen since records began. Suffice to say spring is here earlier this year than it was last. 

On this cloudy (though warm!) day I went down to the harbor at Vlissingen. I find that the marine life is better there than up the coast at the more touristed beaches. 

Dusty, dry soil, and waiting for the train to cross. "It's been so sunny!" he says, and proceeds to show four pictures of the lone cloudy day this month. 

In other news, I have my job as a model back! You may recall that I pose for an artists' collective in Vlissingen, detailed in this post. Now they have me sitting on a high stool, looking wistfully upwards and to my left. These sessions are at night, which makes sitting still for five consecutive twenty-minute sessions even more difficult. I start to fall asleep! These Dutch artists have no such troubles: I saw them all drink two cups of coffee at 9:30 in the evening. How on earth do they sleep at night...

They worked exclusively in charcoal for this session. 

Thankfully we still have snacks in the koffiepause. Everyone brings something, either to share or for themselves, and I'm something of a freeloader here. Last session, it was a giant bar of chocolate. I managed to talk about the Dutch Masters in Dutch which I was quite proud of. (the likes of Vermeer and Rembrandt are still adored, and in their eyes unquestionably the best artists of the Renaissance, if not of all time) 

I can't help but see the makings of a police sketch in these. 

The next round of exams is this week, and after that is a weeklong trip to Eastern Germany to visit the Elbe River and its associated troubles. With a focus on floods and droughts. Beyond that, I'm also booked on another weeklong trip, this time to Finland in early May. The task there is to work on a project with Finnish and Estonian students, while enjoying 21 hours of sunlight and a nice sauna!

Thinking on the whiteboard... how complicated! 

We aren't allowed SPAM here, only SMAC and luncheon meat. Have a nice week!

Austria

 

Walking towards Antwerpen Centraal Station. 

Graciously, my educational institution gives us a week off sometime in early March, the spring break which all us students look forward to in the slog after Christmas. It was a busy week for me: involving travel through four countries with my mom and brother, to visit various universities. So perhaps Sam will follow in my footsteps!

We started in Belgium, visiting schools in Antwerp, Kortrijk and Brussels. There's not much to be said about this leg, Belgium has a certain gritty charm which isn't so interesting. Most of our time was spent sitting on the train and enjoying spectacular waffles and ice cream. Regardless, I find student life to be much more interesting in The Netherland's southern neighbor; but perhaps I'm just tired of living here.

Playing cards on the train to Kortrijk. 

Left: renting a bike to explore the city. Right: inside the train station.

Along the canal in Kortrijk. There was unseasonable warmth for the entire trip; in the 60s Fahrenheit and sunny with little wind. 

To get to the second half of the trip, we took an overnight train from Brussels to Vienna. 14 hours is a very long time! But we had a private compartment and the fare included breakfast, so not all was lost. I spent the whole time reading, and it went pretty fast. On arrival to Vienna there was a persistent rocking feeling, the same as when you've spent a long time in a boat. It took a few hours to get my land-legs back!

Austrian trains are much more interesting than our Dutch trains; which are more of a glorified subway system than anything. In this alpine nation they are longer, stop less often, and have dining cars. From Vienna we had another two hours of travel to Leoben, a city of 24,000 in the Styrian Alps. Here our stop was Montanuniversität Leoben, a college which specializes in natural resources, sustainability, and material applications. 

Leoben sits cozily in a broad valley with a mild climate. 

Highlight of our stay: alpine pastures and all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. 

The good people at this institute gave us a 90 minute lecture on the programs they offer and a subsequent tour of the city. This was the most attention we received from any of the universities on the trip, and I found it very professional of them. (but ask Sam what he thinks about the school, it's my blog after all) 

While in the Alps over spring break there's really just one thing that comes to mind (especially for the average European) and that is skiing. On a very warm Saturday Sam and I took the bus up to Präbichl Bergbahnen, the local ski hill 40 minutes outside of town. Despite record warmth, they were still open, and we got in a long day of shredding on the slopes. 

It was well into the 60s and sunny that day. Spring is really here!

Sam took this cinematic-looking shot of the chairlift. 

The slopeside food is unparalleled; affordable and delicious and with a crazy view. 

Average conditions mid-mountain were not ideal. 

At the summit, we navigated an array of mud, gravel, and slush to get down the mountain to better snow. This was at around 4500 feet above sea level. 

Our last day in Austria was of course spent in Vienna, one of my favorite cities of the world. Clean, modern, historic, and bustling all in one strudel. In our half-day here we saw some fine works by Gustav Klimt at the Belvedere Palace, and had some excellent food. This marks my third visit to the city, with many more certainly to come. 

People taking pictures of Klimt's work The Kiss. I never saw the point in taking pictures of famous art in museums; when will I ever look through my camera roll at them? 

OK, except for really good ones. 

Outside the palace. 

An excellent lunch in a cafe and admiring the vast halls of the Belvedere. 

On Monday my visitors flew back to the US and I caught a plane back to Amsterdam. Vacation is supposed to be about relaxing, but for most (myself included!) it is more movement and exploration-oriented. And thus, exhausting. An interesting paradox! Now it is back to the study for a few weeks, and I can nearly see the midpoint of the degree... 

A classic Viennese breakfast, found at a quiet cafe by the hauptbahnhof. This is what €6 will get you; in The Netherlands food is pricier and not as tasty.