When The Lights Go Down In The City

This picture is such a gross misrepresentation of yesterday (especially last night ... )

I'm already starting to realize that it'll be nearly impossible to blog the shenanigans of this trip in their entirety (it's just happening so fast = perfect for me lol), but here's a rundown of yesterday:

- morning welcome session (got monthly streetcar pass = license to drive)
- break (ate some day old jalepeño and bacon [I hope] pizza; downloaded Skype [you should too so we can talk for free!])
- afternoon history of Europe and Austria session (starting to fade at this point, but it was informative)
- lunch break (see 'break' supra)
- course orientation (figured out we actually had readings and exams ... also learned how not to irk the locals [I want x vs. I'd like to have x])
- guided tour of downtown Linz (quaint city on the Danube with houses in the hills and skyscraping cathedral towers)
- break for looking around city (wandered around the city square and plotted for the evening ...)
- dinner at Josef's Stadbraeu (everyone [even the professors] kicked back a few ales along with potatoes, chicken wings, and some insanely dry pork ribs [yeesh])

Here's the point in our story where the evening went into overdrive:

After most of the group finished eating, we shifted to a bar nextdoor for with a deal for a pint of bier and Jagr shots for 5,-€. No one seemed down for Jagr just yet, but I met most of the non-GSU travelers and wasn't surprised to find out that many had traveled before (and, in many cases, had lived abroad for an extended period).

You only meet real travelers, you guessed it,
WHEN YOU TRAVEL!
loly

It's encouraging to meet people that understand how many cities look and feel the same once you've seen enough cities! (For that matter, Linz feels like Cordoba in the hills, Toledo between the hills and town square, and Pamplona in the square; two days ago, Munich felt like Paris once you left the main square, and the open palaces looked just like Palacio Nacional in Mexico, D.F.)

Afterwards, some of the Seattle and Charleston crew wanted to check out a casino 'somewhere in town,' which of course ended up being 2 blocks away from Josef's. After getting turned away from the main casino (dress code ... but they were very cordial :] ), we went to the slots room downstairs (I plan on returning with a suit to see what it's like up there, and the Seattle crew is organizing a Texas Hold 'Em tourney that I'll at least watch) ... I actually finished ahead by by like 5€ after about 8 plays.

BAR - BAR - Triple BAR!

Next, we returned to Josef's, and the few of us left at that point (enough for 5 taxis) needed a place to dance, so the one of us that actually had lived in Munich and spoke decent German flagged down some townies to find the local favorite. The hands-down favorite was a place called A1 ('ah - ein'), and we made it there in like 5 minutes by taxi. There was only a 6€ cover (Linz is tre affordable, no?) and they use a drink system where you have a card stamped while you're inside and pay as you leave (and if you misplace the card you pay 70€ = fun!)

The music here was incredible.

Two dance floors: one was trance (which I like since it's so easy to dance to) and the other was a hodgepodge of house, US club mixes, and bass (typical discoteque fodder) if memory serves (and I was rather out of it at that point although I'd only had 2 drinks at this place). The dancefloor got empty at some point, and it was at this point that I, in everyone else's wording, 'danced up a storm.' I had a hell of a time dancing to nearly every song, but talk about improv: I can't remember half of what I did, but the Austrian (?) chick that I danced with for most of the night seemed to think I knew what I was doing [ha! :) ] Well, that's how I dance anywhere, so at least something worked (see also: Barrister's Ball). The dancefloor got incredibly packed and our party gradually began to peel off. I was running out of ideas by then too, so we flagged down a taxi back to the Raabheim and had a loud party of our own (*so* against the rules) in someone's room from Charleston. At the end of the night (morning), it was an odd mix of Dave Chappelle DVD's, incriminating pictures (it didn't get *too* out of hand, but I may be guilty under complicity theory), NFL and NBA predictions (which was an interesting discussion between travelers from Georgia, South Carolina, and Washington state; and I ended up being a hockey guru at dinner!), and Grey Goose (swing low, sweet chariot lol).

We get today off, so it's time to grab a shower ... hopefully the water is hot, unlike at 5 this morning ^_^

Prost! (Cheers!)

Khamsin
[Overdrive mode: Daredevil]
[Charges when character fights with low HP.]