Vienna

                   I am writing this blog after spending almost a week in the lovely Vienna.  This city is definitely more westernized than everywhere else we have been on this trip thus far, so it definitely feels much more homey.  On the other hand this city is much larger and harder for me to navigate than the others and throw in public transportation and my already nonexistent directional senses are completely gone.  I quickly learned my lesson when Catherine, Kimberly and I the first night in Vienna went out to go walking around without a map or anything.  We walked around for quite a while until we realized that we had no clue where we were or how to get back.  After about an hour of wandering aimlessly while trying to convince ourselves we knew where we were going we finally found our street!  Unfortunately the story does not end here.  We go up to a locked door with a similar arch way to the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and I put my key card up to the door at the same time that the door man form the inside buzzes us in.  At the time we did not know that my card was not what let us in.  Thinking we had just entered the academy from a different direction than we had originally we began to notice many younger teenagers roaming the hall.  After a good 15 min of wandering we realize we were not in the academy but that we were also locked in the building.  So embarrassingly enough we had to go up to the doorman and explain to him our situation, in which he was actually quite rude especially for being the one who buzzed us into the high school.  Eventually we got him to let us leave and turns out the DA was directly next door, rookie mistake. 

                The next day was an entire free day for us to spend in Vienna.  So we got up early and a huge group of us went to go out exploring downtown in Stephensplatz.   The architecture and churches of Vienna are breathtaking!  Once we got to the main square we were immediately able to see one of the most famous landmarks of Vienna, St. Stephens Church.   This is a massive Catholic Church that is one of the most intricately decorated buildings I have ever seen.  Later on in the week we were able to actually climb the staircase to the top of the church.  During this first visit to the church it was on a Sunday so we were able to watch a mass, although we could not understand the language, but we were able to enjoy the burning incense.  After this we got lunch and realized how spoiled we had been all throughout the Balkans with the prices of food.  So naturally as poor college kids we all pretty much got soup for our meals.  Then the wandering continued and we ended up on the backside of the national library with all the parks surrounding us.  At this point after walking around all day a few members of our group were tired so they headed back leaving Adam, Emerson, Farrell and I to continue on.  The first thing we wanted to do was try to see if we could go inside the library so we walked around to the front and our jaws literally dropped.  We had literally stumbled upon the Hoffburg grounds (not sure if this is the correct name for this area, but we’ll go with it).  The buildings were all massive and imperial looking it was incredible.  I can honestly say I have never seen a library that beautiful in my life before.  SO we decided to try to go in.  That’s when we discovered for pretty much everything in Vienna museums and libraries included you have to pay some serious euros to enter.  Not wanting to dish out that much money to see a library we went to the attached museums gift shop to ask to use the restroom.  They sent us up in an elevator to the bathroom and when we got out we were in the middle of the museum.  We at first couldn’t find the bathroom so we had to wander around for a bit to find it, and then we realized we couldn’t find the elevator again.  So we had to go through the museum to be able to find the exit.  Not a bad bathroom trip!  This museum was pretty awesome too it had an armory, a musical section and old archeology things.  Finally finding the exit we began the long walk back to the Diplomatic Academy to call it a day.  The next day class began again which lasted all morning but at least we had the afternoons free.  This week was pretty much consumed with trying to write our long paper that’s due next week, but we managed to still go out and tour a little bit.  The main things we did after class this week was a trip to the Schonbrunn grounds Tiergaten (also known as a zoo) and then to the Hundertwasser haus.  The Tiergaten is the oldest zoo in the world so that was pretty neat to get to do that, and I have to say I’m a sucker for cute animals and this zoo did not disappoint.  I mean they had orangutans playing with Legos, can’t beat that!  The Hundertwasser Haus was an apartment building that was designed by a Hundertwasser a famous abstract painter.  The apartment and the surrounding sidewalks were complete with bright colors and uneven grounds.  It was quite a spectacle to see.  And now currently a group of us are on route to Budapest for our long weekend!  So check back next week sometime for an update on my paper (hopefully) being done, how Budapest goes and the rest of our time in Vienna.  Wow I can’t believe this study abroad is almost over.

Also sorry there are no pictures for this blog, I’m currently in Budapest and don’t have my camera cord