The last few months in a nutshell…

April 14, 2010

Ok …. gonna update everything quick in one blog so i can get back to talking about what I like to do best LADY GAGA & things that bring me joy…from April until end of JULY I am a full time tourist!! So I will be 100% dedicated to gallavanting on cheap excursions (since I am also unemployed) & taking pictures & videos of things for both my enjoyment….so get ready for some extreme CARAVISION.

In a nutshell.

January – New Years Downtown, Italy, repetiveness, beige interns, some cool people

February - complete greyness. All of Vienna goes AWOL. This is why there is ball season, to keep peope from being completely depressed during the death that is Winter in Vienna. This year I went to the IAEA ball again but with a few friends, most exciting part was getting ready cause my friend Hannes came and did mine & Luana’s hair & make up. The actual IAEA ball wasn’t THAT amazing since I went last year..the novelty has worn off.

same dress...bigger eyelashes!!

on the dancefloor

gotta hit up that hotdog bar!

March - end of internship & my 25 birthday. It was really nice the whole office threw me a little surprise going away breakfast in the meeting room…I said my little goodbyes and got to share lady Gaga videos with all my co-workers. I think it all makes sense to them now!!

My BDAY – well what can I say I don’t remember much. So it was a good night! A few friends from Italy and from last summer UN internship came to visit and we tried to relive the magic moments we had last summer in TITANIC (our favourite trashy nightclub)! but all failed miserably because none of us made it further than 3 am!! pfffffff WE MUST BE GETTING OLD!

<3!

TEQUILLA!

great friends!

oh p.s.! and on the ACTUAL day of my bday I went for a quick drink to this pub called Four Bells which is where LADY GAGA got drunk when she was here….here is what she left behind..

<3 her!

<3 her!

April - so far has included transitioning to being a FULL TIME TOURIST OF DREAMS! Lets see… my couchsurfing friend Emma Bell - london based fashion designer & consultant moved back to Vienna to put on an exhibit called Fish and Chips Twice Please?! which I will be lucky enough to help make some props for! She also will be teaching me how to sew! We went on an excursion to a fabric store which is a story in itself.

Easter in Salzberg & Munich. Saw some pretty castles & where Mozart was born!

Me & Mozart

Munich City Centre

Munich Residenz - the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs

Munich Residenz - a pretty roof in one of the rooms

Modern Art Museum = a waste of a few hours!

Royal Palace of Herrenchiemsee (no pictures allowed inside) = definite beauty

the Irish Ball was on the weekend which has had its dramas all in itself. First there was the constant stress of organizing people to go, then I got the date wrong, then we had a dropout, and I couldn’t find a replacement in time cause the replacement backed out! and THEN there was a drama finding an outfit & shoes last minute & I  HATE shopping for things under pressure…all & all the ball was alright.

IRISH Ball lessons learned: all you can drink whiskey & beer = trouble.

at the table

typical bathroom shot!

Theres a quick update!! Next i’m planing a trip to Paris & London when my friend Chrissy comes to visit me! I’m planning on some other trips too, Budapest & HOPEFULLY Berlin! Other than that will just be bumming around Vienna for the summer helping Emma, applying for jobs back home, and being a fulltime tourist of dreams <3

xxox love


Lessons Learned.

April 13, 2010

So my facebook engagement is off! LOLz I am no longer engaged to my long time bestie Monroe anymore….she had this to say:

dear facebook. while you may have noticed Cara W and i have parted ways this doesn’t doesn’t mean we don’t still remain the closest of friends. she will always hold a special place in my heart. she is a truly wonderful human being and i am greatful to know her and can’t wait for her return to canada.. unfortunately… it… just wasn’t working out long distance wise. lol.. yours truly.

how sweet!

***

In other news….my three month long hibernation is over!! Vienna gets pretty drewry in the Winter….especially when your counting down the days to FREEDOM! Having only three months of my internship left after being there since last March 2009 things at the office were getting a little dull.

The internship: Overall, the internship at the UN was an amazing experience and I’m grateful for my memories!! HOWEVER I don’t believe diplomacy and nuclear issues are my cup of tea. I realized that in life I must follow a more creative, exciting career, or at least work in a smaller office… I am too much of a frustrated & impatient person to work in such a BUREAUCRATUC atmosphere where things must go through multiple filters and projects move at the rate of a snail.

***

Moving out of my comfort zone to Vienna, working at the United Nations, spending five days a week at the Vienna International Centre, meeting all types of “profesionals,” and countless nights partying i’ve learned a few things about life & myself….here are some..

LESSONS LEARNED (so far)

.Testing/trying different FOODS & local alcoholic favourites is my FAVOURITE part of travelling.

.You can fall into friendships as fast as you can fall out of them and vice versa

.I need to find a way to unleash the artist within.This includes learning how to video edit & photo edit. and learning how to SEW! ahhhh can’t wait!

.Doesn’t matter how many professionals you surround yourself with…there is ALWAYS highschool worthy DRAMA

.Lady Gaga in ALL forms is an EXCELLENT way of escapism.I will always know the updates concerning her. I am so glad she exists.

.Even though i’ve seen many beautiful historic sites and will see some more before I move back I prefer novelty, over history. In short – I would much rather go to the prater fun fair, nasch flea market, or sit on the MQ outside couches then see a painting or museum any day. HOWEVER i love to say i’ve seen some of the most famous paintings in the world. Novelty brings joy, history challenges the mind, and both develop character.

.You can successfully avoid someone on the metro by looking at your telephone with great interest

.I am more independent than I think & cannot deal with clingy people

. If you tell people your bored to their face during a night they think is exciting, they will probably not want to talk to you

.You can succesfully live in Vienna for a year and a bit by only knowing five phrases of german. Ich bin Auslander, Ich komme aus Kanada, Spreke si Englisch? and Toileten? are golden.  so are Grusgot, Servus! Tchus, bitte, and Enshouligon (please excuse my spelling)

.Google has all the answers..Being spoiled has its limitations.Pokerfacing has it rewards.

.Weird people with quirky characteristics are the most pleasing to be around…from those who have small quirks to those who are totally out there. The bigger the character they are, the more I grow to love them!!!  I will always love being around Crazy people over people who are routine & cliche.

.Canada will always be home!

These lessons are always a work in progress.

To be continued…..


January Updates….better late than never!

April 13, 2010

Sooooo its been a while since I’ve been blogging. In a nutshell – Winter seemed to last forever! I am really missing home, Vienna is awesome and I’m glad I came but the novelty is wearing off!!

What have I been up to?!

Lets see in January I went to Italy with the family. We visited Rome, Pompei, and Sorrento. I took so many pictures in Rome that its taking more than an hour just to go through them and put them right side up! So i will only put a few up, because quite honestly going through them is not very exiting!

My take on Italy – Love the food, love the people, HATED the crowds, the public transport, and lack of toilets (including lack of toilet seats). This was the WORST time to go. There was lineups everywhere…..three hours to see most things unless you booked tours which we did and it paid off!

I saw all the big famous things though including:  the Vatican, Colesseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Sistine Chapel, Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and a bunch of other stuff. While most of the things were amazing to see – it was definitely a test of patience. The crowds in these museums mirrored the type of crowds you’d see at a rock concert – it was RIDICULOUS!

some of my favourite flix of the trip (there are PLENTY other sites, however my attention span only was only attracted to the most obvious):

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain - crowd

Trevi Fountain

Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the foutain it means you will return again. I thought throwing in coins meant wishes so I threw in three….Guess i’ll be back!!

Colesseum

Colesseum - crowd

VIP! skip that lineup!

Colesseum

Colesseum

Colesseum

Colesseum

Then there was the Roman Forum which is like their old downtown for market, politics & business. First here are some shots of a nearby theatre where naked men would compete against each other in games for the entertainment of the elite – sounds like my kinda entertaining :)

theatre near forum

Roman Forum

Roman Forum

in the Roman Forum

Roman Forum

Roman Forum - again!

NOT the Roman Forum

Another one of my favourite highlights from the Rome trip was visiting the Vatican Museums which included a whollle rackload of art & statues…& the famous Sistine Chapel ( you know that one that Michelangelo did the roof of?!). I was however more interested in focussing on wall & ceiling paintings than any of the other things…including the Sistine Chapel of course! Beautiful paintings…heyyyyy i like-a-the Renaissance!! ehhhhhhhh!!!

entering the Vatican

the Vatican

the Vatican

the Vatican

the Vatican

The last part of the Vatican was the Sistine Chapel which was SO BUSY I lost my mom…..I had to get the tour guide to announce it over our audio guides …it was funny…she didnt find it amusing though. Also you’re not supposed to take pictures so we almost got kicked out a few times …. heheheh i snuck in some shots anyways…shhhhhhhh!!! oops~

Sistine Chapel - the crowd

Sistine Chapel - famous!!!

Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel

There are plenty more pics of Rome! But these are my favourite! After Rome we visited Sorrento & Pompei. One day we took a bus around the Amalfi Coast. It was a nice view of the ocean from the steep mountains…but a little scary at times cause it felt like the bus was going to fall….the roads were super spirally  so much so that you get almost get motion sickness!!! and some guy did and puked like 4x on the way back….grosss!!! poor guy! I didn’t notice of course until my mom pointed him out – we had to provide him with some bags – the guy filled up 3!!! LOLLLL

anyways here are some day views of the coat – very beautiful :P

the view Amalfi Coast

the view Amalfi Coast

the view Amalfi Coast

We also went to Pompei for a day to see some ruins of a city more than 5000 years old…the stories from the tour guide was impressive & interesting….but not so much picture worthy I don’t think. PLUS that day it decided to DOWNPOUR! So we were stuck outside in these ruins in the middle of a huge storm. It was intense, because most of the buildings were ruins they didn’t have a roof so we had to huddle in the corner of two walls and make a fortress of umbrellas…we did this for an hour. After this my Mom and I got fed up and left, but my Dad (the extreme tourist he is) stuck it out! He LOVES history…..

I’ve learned that I prefer Novelty over history which I’ll explain in another post.

Nevertheless the trip had its memorable moments….I’m going to post more pictures in detail on facebook. There are soooooooo many, however I forgot the meanings of all the statues and buildings. Hope you enjoyed my highlights via CARAVISIONS preference!

More updates to follow! xxx

Love in the universe.


Grafenegg Castle

December 23, 2009

Just an hour outside Vienna there is a castle called Grafenegg, for four days the first week of December they host a Christmas Market.  

My parents wanted to go so we also brought Luana & Brian for the family outing. How cute! 

Christmas Road Trip! Grafenegg Castle

<3

Grafenegg Castle

me, brian&luana

Like all Christmas markets there were punsch stands and food stands, but this one was different cause it was in the courtyard of the castle… 

snacks!

 ..inside there was many high class expensive crafts to buy. I only bought one thing (a disco angel). Which now sits in my office to bring me joy:     

DISCO ANGEL!

While there was not that much decor, mostly just craft booths and things on sale, some rooms were left untouched and beautiful. Here are some flicks from inside the castle..    

The chaple area was quite pretty, very picture worthy.

Brian & my dad had fun posing in the library room…     

brian

dad

Outside the castle and surrounding area the festivities continued. There was open fires, snack huts, and lots of lights. We stopped to warm up by the fire…Also there was some random decor that featured apples dangling, and some of them already had bites in them! weird but funny.
 

luana&I by the fire

of course posing had to be done...

of course posing had to be done...

After strolling around we went to a Christmas Concert in the concerthalle (also on the castle grounds). I expected the concert to be super boring classical music, but it turned out to be this rock n roll live big band american type concert. It was awesome!! RocknRoll Christmas with bass, electric guitar, drums, saxophone, and piano…very entertaining, and very american. When we left it was dark…
oh and how could I forget!! the random LAMAS which you could pet & walk!!! hahahahaha I have no idea what the significance of those were but Luana & I couldn’t get enough :)

lamas!

we <3 lamas

i <3 lamas

we <3 lamas

 bye Grafenegg….I will really miss Christmas Markets when I move back to Canada.

beautiful!

beautiful


Sample of Downtown Lights During the Winter

December 23, 2009

This is what it looks like in the centre in Vienna during Winter, all winter (up to february). This is the main strip (a.k.a. the Graben)

and…

conclusion: Winter in Vienna is beautiful <3

p.s. can’t wait for Ball Season! Have my tickets for IAEA ball ready, just need a date :)


United Nations – Rotunda Tree

December 21, 2009

The tree that sits in the middle of the rotunda, a little meager, but better than nothing. THANKS CITY OF VIENNA for sending the UN the best charlie brown christmas tree I ever did see…

…here is my enthousiasm

christmas is approaching!

and as the Christmas tree appeared at the UN, it was a sad day to see one of my best friends here, Mandy leave…but a department is not complete without an intern picture…

classic photo take 1

classic pic take 2

and soon this group of interns will go….this is group 3 or 4 i’ve seen come and go now. ohhhhhhhh I have been here a while! It’s almost been a year now!


Winter Wonderland in MQ

December 20, 2009

before the plastic winter wonderland BURNED DOWN in Museums Quartiers…it was funtimes!! I went sometime in November with Luana. Winter in Vienna is quite fun. It is customary to have outdoor venues where they serve gluwein and punsch! You have to pay extra for the mug which you can get your money back when you return it, OR you can keep it :)

Museums Quartier is a trendy hangout for artsy types and is really fun to hang for a nice low key night out! All winter season they have a program called Winter im MQ. I don’t know whats coming up, all i know is when we went it was beautiful, they really know how to create a winter atmosphere in vienna!

snowflakes projected on leapold museum

outside winter wonderland

As you can see the little hut is made out of plastic…a few weeks later it burned down! My friend Mandy saw the aftermath, it turned into a huge mound of plastic with things sticking out! Winter im MQ still goes on…without the wonderland hut! <3

Some visuals of the projection of snowflakes – i love it!

It is not winter until you officially have PUNSCH! they have many flavours berry, apple/orange, gluwein.

What is punsch? It’s like hot apple cider, but its alcoholic and comes in many flavours. Theres nothing like getting warm with it….Punsch is served almost in every corner now…it’s awesome!

we're ready for PUNSCH!

in front of a punsch stand in mq

It’s always a surprise what cup you get :)

yay! punsch

and the winter begins…


Running Sushi? Mechanical Fortune Tellers…

October 21, 2009

The many wonders of the Prater….

Running Sushi = the best invention EVER! One price, ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI. You don’t even have to get up….it comes to you on a conveyer belt, hence the term “running”

Running Sushi Feast

Running Sushi Feast

Other things at Prater….well the sinister fairgrounds..where you might just run into a Mechanical Fortune Teller :)

foreseeable future?

foreseeable future?

makes you wanna go like this!!!

makes you wanna go like this!!!


I REFUSE TO UPGRADE!

October 21, 2009

To reintroduce myself as the “LBI Queen,”  I hosted a 1990s party – WE REFUSE TO UPGRADE!!! some flicks from our very 90s outfits….

Flashback Spice Girls!

Flashback Spice Girls!

Why do we refuse to upgrade?! ummmmm Gameboys, hightops, wutang clan, spice girls, aqua, venga boys, walkmans, neon colours, floral prints, overalls, fresh prince,  and ZACH MORRIS PHONES! Need I say more?!

8323_148605422543_501982543_2723223_4538291_n

a new orange phone?

a new orange phone?

The next generation of INTERN MADNESS will be headed by the ZACH MORRIS phone (as pictured above) because I REFUSE TO UPGRADE! R.I.P. ORANGE PHONE your legacy has been born at the 1990s party. As I said at the party, in my famous speech to the crowd (which turned out to be around 50 people in the end) and I will say it again.

It isn’t about going to the bar, it isn’t about going to the Pub, ITS ABOUT REPRESENTING! So TONIGHT we REPRESENT the new generation. all said of course by raising the phone in victory….

this time i put it on a necklace so i wouldn't lose it!

this time i put it on a necklace so i wouldn't lose it!

<3 these girls!

<3 these girls!

1990s!

1990s!

1990s!

1990s!

But where do I find such retro things like random Zach Morris phones? Which was actually called “Portaphone (r) 2000″ cause you know that’s what 2000 looked like in the 1990s. Nasch Market of course!!! What is Nasch? I wonderfully beautiful and atmospheric place that is a flea market, and food market, as well as other various items.

some examples from a few years back

nasch summer 2007

nasch summer 2007

nasch summer 2007

nasch summer 2007

In addition to buying antipasto, veggies, fresh breads, etc. You can also sit at a bistro in Nasch and get an XXXL Schnitzel, which is what I did two weeks ago before searching for second hand retro treasures for the 1990s party!

XXXL Schitzel

XXXL Schitzel

XXXL Schnitzel

XXXL Schnitzel

yummmmers….what a lovely place to eat. We were ALL happy with our meals, and especially happy that a donut sample lady was nice enough to bring over a little something something for us to taste at our table…..and THROUGH THE BUSHES! It was funny I kept peeking at her….I’m talking deep fried doughnuts

I am happy with my XXXL Schnitzel

I am happy with my XXXL Schnitzel

the nice sample lady...even climbed OVER the bushes!

the nice sample lady...even climbed OVER the bushes!

After our lunch we went searching for treasures….It was a GOLDEN day for me….I found a sequin hat (for 1 euro), two purses (4 euro each), AND a random leather vest, PERFECT for the 1990s….and of course the new ZACH MORRIS phone to REPRESENT the legacy of the old orange phone.

Here is how satisfied my trip to Nasch that day made me:

8323_148605412543_501982543_2723222_1261380_nAnd the aftermath of the 1990s party?! A string of funny quotes and one LONG hungover sunday spent lounging and eating pizza…….ah yess hangover sunday with my telephone and a beanbag chair @ Emma’s

8323_148605517543_501982543_2723233_5496965_nThanks again Emma Bell for helping me host a kick ass part at your wonderful Museums Quartier Studio!

xox


CaraVision reports: LBI updates

October 7, 2009

Before Vannessa <3 left. I did an impromptu explanation of how the LBI (a.k.a. lunch break initiative) breaks by the fountain work.

What is the LBI? A social network of interns coordinated by popular demand decisions and summarized by me in a daily email. I am also known at the United Nations as the LBI girl, the one who puts allllllll our fun ideas in a fun packed newsletter type email. I am also responsible for keeping a housing list, and providing the interns at the United Nations with updates on social events, after work activities, and of course weekend fun

click here for the EXCLUSIVE LBI Report…(short video clip)

On the Agenda this weekend?!

RETRO – WE REFUSE TO UPGRADE – 1990s Theme Party

BOYAKASHA! My spirit is back, which means the LBI is back in full effect.

xoxo