I didn't post as much as I would have wanted to while in Salzburg... And now it's over. But I'm hardly upset about that. So much is happening. I'll tell you more about Laos in my next post.
Exchange in Salzburg was a great experience, beautiful country and the courses in the GeoInformatics Master program were pretty cool. Unfortunately the organization and university information was quite confusing. I would suggest signing up to the buddy program through the university, my buddy Marco was very kind and helpful. He helped me out with finding courses, technical things, borrowing a bike and took me climbing, sledding and up to some of the mountains around.
Traveling was more expensive than I thought it would be, or at least more expensive than I wanted it to be. If you want to travel by train a lot within Austria get the OBB card, it will save you half on all the journeys within the country. Otherwise look into Blabla Car for carpooling options, and you can always couch surf or visit people you get to know. I went to a couple of places though:
Exchange in Salzburg was a great experience, beautiful country and the courses in the GeoInformatics Master program were pretty cool. Unfortunately the organization and university information was quite confusing. I would suggest signing up to the buddy program through the university, my buddy Marco was very kind and helpful. He helped me out with finding courses, technical things, borrowing a bike and took me climbing, sledding and up to some of the mountains around.
Traveling was more expensive than I thought it would be, or at least more expensive than I wanted it to be. If you want to travel by train a lot within Austria get the OBB card, it will save you half on all the journeys within the country. Otherwise look into Blabla Car for carpooling options, and you can always couch surf or visit people you get to know. I went to a couple of places though:
Places That I visited
| Hallstatt, Austria A little town in Upper Austria with under 1000 inhabitants. Its been around since the early 1300s and is known for having one of the earliest salt mines and a brine pipeline made from hollowed out trees. You can site see the whole town in less than 10 minutes, but it was still worth the 3 hour train ride. |
Innsbruck, Austria Couch surfed with Francisca for a weekend with a guy named Lutz, who was very friendly and fun. Visited Katarina who was studying there. It was a great city with lots of things happening and in the winter they had such great ski pass deals, Seemed more exciting to study there than Salzburg! Below is a little map I threw together of the places that I really liked in the city of the Inns. In January I also went to Hopfgarten a bit outside of Innsbruck with a hole bunch of friends from Sweden for a skiing week. It was amazeballs. | |
Vienna, Austria
My dad came down from Sweden and we took the train up to Vienna. This was a great trip because we did all the things we wanted to and really enjoyed ourselves! Checked off a life goal here, the Spanish Riding School.
My dad came down from Sweden and we took the train up to Vienna. This was a great trip because we did all the things we wanted to and really enjoyed ourselves! Checked off a life goal here, the Spanish Riding School.
Budapest, Hungary
So many Brazilians. No, seriously, apparently its the most popular exchange city in Europe for Brazilians. And I get it. What an amazing city! We did not spend nearly enough time there and I want to go back some time for at least a week. I didn't get to go in the famous thermal baths, but we did get to see the beautiful fountain display on Margaret island in the middle of Danube, and the castle of Buda etc.
So many Brazilians. No, seriously, apparently its the most popular exchange city in Europe for Brazilians. And I get it. What an amazing city! We did not spend nearly enough time there and I want to go back some time for at least a week. I didn't get to go in the famous thermal baths, but we did get to see the beautiful fountain display on Margaret island in the middle of Danube, and the castle of Buda etc.
Anyways, go on an exchange semester! Make sure you select universities you want to go to, it's possible to get your third choice. But either way, it's not something you're going to regret. I did everything I wanted to, I visited the Spanish Riding School, went skiing, took GIS courses, and met a friend for LIFE. Francisca, she's the coolest.