Holidays in Austria: Thanksgiving, Christmas & Other Travels

A compilation of photos illustrating my most recent experiences in Austria and beyond...

The main plaza in České Budějovice or Budweis, (auf Deutsch) the home city of Budweiser Beer. As I am fortunate enough to be hosted by the Rotary Club of Freistadt, near the border with the Czech Republic, I enjoy the exchange student benefits of traveling with them on trips to visit the sister club. 

An hour and a half north of where I live is the larger Czech city. A reminder of the short distance is the delightful food we ate during the meeting, with dumplings, meat & gravy cooked and presented much similarly to what I might find on my plate in Austria.

This shot is from the concert hall Brucknerhaus in Linz, where the Mayrs, the Rotarian couple and friends of mine from Gutau took me for a concert. 

We heard 2 pieces from Mozart including his work: "Jupiter", with a overture from Beethoven to separate them.

These are model buildings from medieval times, on display at a Christkindlmarkt or Christmas Market in Linz.

Another type of stall with cheese wheels and meat products.

The McDonald's on the Landstraße in Linz, an internationally frequented spot in a much more fancier, older building than one might find at home in the USA.

The long main road running through Linz, with it's shops on the way, the Landstraße, and a Freistädter Bier themed tram making it's circuit. 

Frisch

Frei

Freistädter

The main plaza in Linz taken over by it's own Christkindlmarkt.

Next are a handful of perfectly wintry pictures from Gutau, on Thanksgiving. It made a perfect Christmas Eve atmosphere, and that was awfully nice considering we had no snow and it was warm Christmas Eve and Day for us in Gutau! 

This was at night in the Marktplatz in Gutau earlier in December as it snowed.

Lights and decorations around Freistadt's old town, including a bell hanging in the street matching up with the church's own bell tower.

Foggy, frosty morning in Freistadt's main square.

From the southern bridge looking off to the east and the hills.

The frost with it's cold hand over the town.

The appetizer to a meal with the Mayrs alongside a baked Krampus.

Venison, potato noodles, a pear, dumpling and red kraut.

Schweinsbraten: A prepared meal of pork, Austrian style with dumplings and kraut.

Typical Austrian Rotarian Fare: Stuffed Dumplings & Sauerkraut!

Nikolaus & Krampus: The ultimate Advent pair of the Turkish Saint Nick and the Alpine devil, this time in chocolate form.

(Cookies) Kekse und Krampus

The carriage for the two Advent characters.

Krampus is the demon that comes on the 5th of December to harass people, traditionally a threat to kids. His counterpart Nikolaus comes the day after on the 6th to gift the good children a bag of sweets or something special.

His holiness brought all the essentials in our bags for the Kapelle, the town band I played in, to their Christmas party. Amongst the goodies were chocolates, nuts, oranges and Jägermeister.

The elaborate Christmas party meal prepared for the Kapelle including: Venison, Red Kraut, Potato Noodles, Dumplings, a Pear, a Lemon Slice, small Tomato & a beer.

From the Rotary Freistadt's Christmas party: Vorspeise (Appetizer): Proscuitto + Melon

Chocolate & Ice Cream Crepe Dessert

My order of Fish for the Christmas Day meal with the whole host family at a local restaurant. We celebrated the birthdays of my host dad Christian and my host sister Julia: 60 yrs + 30 yrs = 90 yrs 

A model of a cross between my host city of Freistadt and it's notable towers and that of Bethlehem, found in the city's main church.

A sunny morning during the Salzburg Weekend with the Rotary students. We got to head up into the castle Hohensalzburg, one of Europe's largest fortresses.

Rooftop view of the city as we hiked up the mountain to the castle itself.

The high-rising, imposing walls of Festung Hohensalzburg impress their might upon the visitor.

Looking down on the city from a barred castle window.

A nighttime shot of Salzburg.

The Salzburg Train Station, clean, modern, and with the Alps in the back end view.

From my host club's Christmas party. We walked to one of the small churches on a hill (Kapelle) and drank warm Austrian alcoholic Punsch, ate the Kekse Christmas cookies and chatted, then entered the building to listen to 4 talented singers. They filled the entire hall with clear Christmas voices, singing beautifully in German.

The Dead to Remember

A Reminder to the Living: This is unfortunately not a direct translations as the first is, because while it makes sense to write that in German, we would rather come up with something else to put down in English.

A Merry Christmas from Philipp, Tobi and I with our Christmas Tree and it's multiple fiery Sparklers and Candles!

Our family meal for Christmas Eve was "Raclett" A Swiss creations with a sort of mini-grill to cook bits of meat, cheeses and veggies and then prepare as you like with a choice of sauces.

Julia and Tobi together :)

As Christmas has been here and gone already so fast, here are 3 pictures with some of my new close friends :) The time flies admittedly fast but we are certainly enjoying it as we can. Here our my classmates and fellow exchangers: Genevieve van den Bosch, my Tasmanian Oldie and Oriannyd Duran "Ori" from Venezuela here with AFS. We team up to add a bit of entertainment to the lives of our Austrian classmates on a daily basis! 

My dear Paloma Ros from Madrid, Spain and I at Tauplitz in the Alps during one of our Rotary exchange student weekends.

An Autumn photo taken of Gen & I at Pöstlingberg, the twin-tower cathedral perched on a mountain topping a view of Linz. Our time together has been fantastic, a learning experience for us both and undoubtedly an opportunity for me to gain highly valuable guidance whilst here. She flies home to Australia in January as she's a Southern Hemisphere kind of girl. From her ever-so-eloquent words "It's Good" that is how I choose to describe the dream life here in Austria! Bis nächstes mal! Liebe Grüße aus Mühlviertel-

Ben Hoffman Ellis

Waltzing Through A Fulfilling Life In Austria!

A small introduction of what will be my second  home this year beginning in January.

Weitersfelden:

A small church overlooking the hilly, forested bit of Mühlviertler Paradise near Weitersfelden.

Second host family: Honeder. Left-right: Reinhard, Helga, Johannes & Franz.

Photos from a Hockey game in Linz: They waved an American flag to celebrate goals made due to the high number of American players on the team.

The players lined up on the ice: It was a home game Linz Blackwings vs. Red Bull Salzburg! Also a clean victory for Linz :) 

Front view of the castle in Gutau: Schloss Tannbach.

Gate view of the castle.

A hamlet just outside of/and belonging to Gutau on a foggy walk with my host mom Gabi.

The park path along Freistadt's old city walls. A park and lawn circle the 'Altstadt' which was more the moat and gate fortifications from older times.

Looking up the path towards the 'Linzer Tor' or 'Linz Gate'; this being the tower facing south to Linz. The opposite end has the 'Böhmer Tor' or 'Bohemian Gate' facing north towards the Czech Republic.

A very classic Lemon+Schnitzel meal from a local Gasthaus; chased down by a lime, somewhat Sprite-like Schartner Bombe, a sincerely Austrian drink.

The Linzer Dom as touched up by my Instagram account :) 

Linz city skyline seen from the Castle Museum. My Instagram: @benhoffmanellis

Facing Northwest, a glance upriver & around the bend of the Donau/Danube. 

A central plaza in part of Prague's expansive old town.

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic.

The high-arched inner halls.

Changing of the guard outside one of Prague's gates.

And we're marching...

Absolutely vaaast view of this ancient European capital, in the heart of everything.

Uphill shot of a vineyard and castle within Prague.

My dear friend Mercedes Cortinas from Argentina and I on the famous Charles Bridge spanning the Vltava River, also known by the german name: Moldau.

A slight bit of humor for me, the "Wifi-Free" Cafe in Prague. I automatically read that as meaning there is "no wifi", not "free wifi." Hahaha good times in the multilingual world of translations!

Again an Instagram creation of mine, this time one of the many gates to the Czech Capital. 

Presenting Berlin! Featuring first the "Brandenburger Tor", known famously in English as the "Brandenburg Gate."

The Quadriga statue with Victoria, Goddess of Victory.

Time to say Berlin is my New York. A leading city, amongst the Capitals of the German speaking world, this city combined all that is old with the modern & more. Even thought to include me here as I stand before the Berlin Wall. I must soon venture to Vienna and then on to Bern, Switzerland to hit up the other governmental heads of the Germanic world! 

Berlin>New York 

My enthusiastic Brazilian friends Joao Pedro Lasmar and Beatriz Marques in the pedestrian zone near the Brandenburg Gate.

A Protest by some Iranians calling for international action in their country. A man with a microphone was leading chants, one prominently voiced cry particularly requesting "Obama Take Action!" 

In front of the Reichstag with a crowd of exchange friends from Brazil, Argentina, Italy & Spain<3 

Symbol of Berlin in the light glow of dusk.

A shot of the concrete block memorial just off the Brandenburg Gate dedicated to the Jewish Victims of the Holocaust.

An empty lane lost in this maze intended to stir remembrance of the lives lost and hope for the future.

Train station in Berlin! Transportation in a bustling world city!

The magical, mysterious, and seemingly alone Berliner Dom at night. A curious corner to discover in the calm under a bright German moon.

An above shot of the procession of the Maturanten or the "Matura class students". The final graduating year of Austrian secondary school is called the Matura. Two main components are the Maturaball and then the final grand-scale testing done in May for the Matura itself. 

The line of dancers waiting to disperse into the formal dance. Note: This is the Matura class from my gymnasium where I go to school.

Opposite side overhead view of the Salzhof, the hall where the Maturaball was held and then last weekend the concert with the Gutau Kapelle. 

An artistic shot of outer city Prague from our hotel room window during our stay with Rotary.

The fantastic spires of St. Vitus' Cathedral in Prague.

Some of my most lovely, wonderful class friends from the 7b Klasse in Gymnasium. L-R: Teresa Csanády, Sabrina Helmanseder, myself and then Kerstin Kammerer.

The HLW Schule Maturaball, in which I danced with Larissa Knauder, and on right is her brother Julian and his dance partner Nadine.

The floor complete with stage and some older couples, likely teachers from the school. 

A speedy shot of the Rotary Counselors Ingrid & Franz Kiesenhofer in their Austrian element :D

The floor head on.

This picture provides one with a proper view telling the scale of the dance I participated in. Our bit of formal ballroom dancing with the class covered that floor first to start the night off, but then several thousand, I heard the number 4,000 said joined the party to make the night a real, scale event. The Maturaball took place in the Messehalle, more of an arena than a smaller scale old city building.

Frying Schnitzel up Austrian style.

Another Prague shot with one tower gate to Charles Bridge and two lovely Argentinians at center :)

The oldie and I at the start of the city tour in Dresden :)

An example of the impressively sized buildings in towering above the visitor. A kingly city, seat of historical and current Saxony.

Statue of Martin Luther

My Halloween costume from our exchange party in Berlin with my official designer and loyal friend Liz Hradil, my New Yorker abroad in Vienna for the year.

In the main train station, the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, with Hansel & Gretel aka Oldies Bridget Gunn, a Salzburger and the silly Tasmanian Genevieve van den Bosch that follows me wherever I go!

The famous Berliner Bär!

Mein Gott. Hilf Mir. Diese Tödliche Liebe Zu Überleben.

My God. Help Me. To survive this deadly Love.

The Berlin Wall still stands as a relic to teach this world, illustrating humanity's cry for help, and that we need answer the call.

A singer filling bustling modern Berlin with his fair mix of English and German music. These street performers are passed by so often, yet sometimes you stumble across something that brings to earth a sense of living in the hearts of those going about their business. 

Festung Castle, Kustein, Tyrol. Hometown of my dear friend Barbara Alliger, who I had the chance to be reunited with two weeks ago. 

From the performer's eye: the Salzhof hall again, this time with my host village of Gutau and our Kapelle band. We competed against the other areas Kapelles this past Saturday in Freistadt. This year's performance raised the score roughly two points and went rather well. A wonderful group of people and a perfectly fitting opportunity for me here in Austria!

Observe an Iowa boy wearing Tracht. The traditional Austrian clothes, This being the Kapelle of Gutau's uniform with blue vest and darker, black Lederhosen. My friend Bastian Proxauf and I pose for trombone pride :)

Some more of my wonderful Gutauer friends including on the immediate left Silvia Hinterdorfer and right Anna Trahner.  

The organizers of this experience for me: Daniela Haugeneder and our exceptional Kapellemeisterin, Martina.

My Tenor Horn friend Friedrich Renhart.

Now a refreshing take of Freistadt looking to the Northeast corner of the oldtown.

And lastly another family photo, not too serious by any means :) We met with my host mom Gabi, host brother Philipp and his girlfriend Eva, my host brother Tobi, and host father Christian Dumfarth together at the local Gasthaus Scharti in Erdmannsdorf for a succulent Goose Sunday lunch. Gasthauses are the first stop here for pleasant doses of Austrian culture and a sense of familiarity with your local friends. 

From City Tour to Maturaball to Kapelle Concert to good times spent at a Gasthaus life is flying by me here in Österreich. Ever the most fitting place to be for my year abroad, Mühlviertel has welcomed me whole-heartedly! Content and ready for more adventures, German learning and friendship making here in and around Freistadt, the life is good!

Das schwieriges Austauschschülers Leben ist immer auch gut!