Hello there!!

Viennese people have already told me “April April, wie immer machst du was du willst!“ and I did believe them… I was ready to face rain and storms but… NOT SNOW!

I don’t know how you’re reacting at this inescapable weather but I can say I am not reacting very well! I go to class, make some grocery if I really don’t have anything in the fridge and then I basically try to fight mentally and physically this cold! And I think it is more a mental issue… because I still cannot make up my mind that is almost May and there are 2 degrees!!! But anyways, let’s stop complaining and say the positive aspects of this winter weather… THE POSITIVE fact is that it’s OK if you stay inside and spend hole afternoons under the sheets or even more positive… it’s totally allowed to find new cozy bars and even to cuddle yourself with a Sacher torte at the Sacher Hotel!

I’ve been there for my first time today because I’ve never really had the occasion to go, but today with this nice cloudy and ice sky I thought I deserved a moment of pure happiness! So I spoil myself with an amazing slice of the best and most famous cake in Wien and it restored my day!! It is really a moment where you forget everything and you are just concentrated on that incredible mix of ingredients… and also the story behind it it’s pretty incredible, in fact it was invented in 1832 when Prince Wenzel von Metternich charged his personal chef with creating a special dessert for several important guests. The head chef, having taken ill, let the task fall to his sixteen-year-old apprentice, Franz Sacher, then in his second year of training in Metternich’s kitchen. The Prince is reported to have declared, „Let there be no shame on me tonight!“ And there was no shame on anyone in fact the torte created by Sacher on this occasion is said to have delighted Metternich’s guests. And from that time this sweet tradition makes happy lots of people! Including me in snowy days 🙂

Hello cool people!

Everybody knows Schloss Schönbrunn and everybody agrees on how amazing it is, but more then the Schloss itself I always fell in love with its huge park! It is just unbelievable how big it is and how many different and amazing things it hides: the Roman ruins, the Columbary, the Obelisk fountain… anytime I go there I love to get lost and find another surprise that the park want to show me! But last time I went… I literally got lost in it! In fact there’s a Labyrinth 🙂 and of course I did it!

The Maze at Schönbrunn was laid out around 1720 and originally had four quadrants with a central (probably elevated) pavilion. Consisting of paths between tall, narrow hedges without the dead-ends and false turns of a classic maze, it was intended to offer an inviting setting for a gentle stroll. But I got lost and my gentle stroll became a nightmare (I’m definitely exaggerating but really, is not that easy to get out the Labyrinth!). It was gradually abandoned and only reopened in 1999. It was reconstructed on the historical model with yew hedges. It offers plenty of games for visitors of all ages and at its center again is a viewing platform, next to which two harmony stones with ‘energizing properties’ have been set up… basically one stone is the symbol of woman energy and the other one is the symbol of man energy and together they are in harmony but most of all, if you are not in harmony with yourself, you can hug your stone and find peace… you might not believe it but I did it with a friend just to take a picture and she hugged the ‚male‘ stone while I hugged the ‚female‘ stone and… I felt suddenly at peace while she felt nothing!

 Hello everyone!!

Easter holidays have finish but I still feel the consequences… Some more fat and some more happiness! I already miss chocolate and sweet cakes! I hope I will find some hidden ones that haven’t been found by kids 🙂 I think this is an amazing tradition that in Italy we don’t really have… yes, of course the rabbit brings chocolate eggs but it’s not a tradition to hide them in the night and to seek them in the morning! Also a student of mine told me about another tradition that sadly is being forget: on Friday before Easter kids used to go around the city with something like a wooden bell. Luckily she said that in little villages kids keep on doing this “parade“ but in big cities like Vienna is not common to see it anymore. Another wonderful discovery about Easter (that not even all my Viennese friends knew) is that on Gründonnerstag (literally green Thursday) people use to eat spinach or something green, but just few knows that it comes from the old German term grînen Donnerstag, that is linked with the Christian tradition. Luckily at the DeutschAkademie they didn’t bring us any green food but… some CHOCOLATE!! And we were all very happy about it!!

Hello everyone!!

Today I finally started my new Deutsch curse at A2.1 level! It’s crazy if I think that only two months ago I couldn’t even say ‚hello‘ in German and now… I actually SPEAK!!! Really, today I could introduce myself and give feedback or asking questions during the class, all this only after a month of class at the DeutschAkademie in the A1.2 level! For me this is just amazing because I never studied German in my life and to be able to communicate in a new language is just something like a dream for me! Today we did a big refresh of the Nominativ, Dativ and Akkusative form and then we started with the possesive pronomen and the family members! We are a small group from all over the world: one Greek, one Russian, one Finnish, one Turkish, two Chinise, one Serbian, one Spanish and one Italian… me! Tina is the teacher and she’s super nice and also very demanding, in fact she gave us already homeworks!! I better go and finish them because it’s already 23.20 and tomorrow there’s class! I’m really happy that this new adventure is starting and I hope that at the end of this month my German skills would be few steps higher!!

Here it’s us super concentrated trying to connect relatives names to a picture! I don’t even know how to do that in Italian! I always confuse the father-in-law with the brother-in-law (it seems easy but in Italian is way more complicated than this!)

See you soon  guys!! Have fun and never forget: #ichsprechedeutsch

Hello everybody !!

I’m Benedetta and I’m 23 ! My country is the beautiful land of Italy, especially Milano, but I feel the world is my real country ! In fact I love to travel and to discover new cultures and new languages, so at the beginning of February I came to Wien to do an internship as an Italian teacher at Società Dante Alighieri ! So I teach Italian and at the same time I try to learn German ! I love both languages most of all because of the people I met at the school and the teachers and colleagues ! Especially at the DeutschAkademie I found a second home with very nice people and an international atmosphere  in a wonderful city as Vienna ! I’m discovering a lot of this amazing city, of it’s culture of Balls and Opera music, of it’s huge parks and museums. Every day is a new discover that always bring unexpected beautiful surprises ! I look forward to start the April course at the Deutschakademie and meet my new international friends!!

Here it’s me (on the right) with Franziska and Roxane, two of my amazing Italian students, on the top of a sight-seen bar near Volkstheater with the Rathaus on the back!