Daily Updates

This will just be one long blog of what is going on in my life, keep scrolling to find new updates!

Predeparture Vibes

People always asked me why I chose this program, and unlike many other students, I did not have the most straightforward answer. I always received a variety of the same three questions: "Do you know anyone on the trip? "Does this count towards your major?" "Do you speak German?" No. To all three. I don't know anyone on this trip yet, I have already graduated with my degree, and I have downloaded Duolingo, but I do not speak German. I was a history minor, and I have taken Professor Stuart before and she is my favorite professor I have taken at Davis. I would usually leave out that some of her assignments were my favorite simply because of their unusual and fascinating topics such as prostitution, sodomy, and executioners.

PACKINGGG

Knowing what to pack, knowing what not to pack, this game is really hard. I mean oh well whatever I don't have, I guess I can buy (except for those medications that you need a prescription for). I a severe over-packer I laid out most of my clothes and toiletries several days before I left, however, it is the day before I leave and that rough outline has remained untouched.

I finished packing and to my mother's disapproval, I managed to bring my black sparkly cowboy boots that I NEED when I see Taylor Swift in concert on August 9. I sacrificed many clothes to bring these boots but I feel as if this sacrifice was worth it.

In the end, my big suitcase was 44 pounds, my little one 27, and my backpack somehow 23. But it is ok I won't have toiletries and a towel on the way back:)

August 1

August first was a blend of the day before and the day after. Time change and jet lag blurred the lines of reality so I failed to recall who I was, when I was, or where I was. I managed to stay awake until 8:30 pm and made a group of friends (who made me pasta for dinner)! Other than this, despite only writing this a day later, I do not recall much of what happened that day. It was hot (THERES NO AC), I was tired, but I was there.

Here is me with my cute luggage leaving SFO

August 1

August 2

Walking and Weiners

My day had a fantastic start, I woke up very early unintentionally and walked to get myself a cute little coffee, made myself some eggs in the apartment, and attended our orientation and walk-about tour.

Still plagued with jet lag, I still feel as if these pictures are off the internet, not images I saw with my own eyes. As a class we walked through the museum quarter, The Hofburg, and finally into the inner Stadt. We discussed how these buildings were built later than one may think and used to demonstrate the grandeur and power of the Habsburg dynasty. I will go to these again when I am more coherent and can fully recognize and appreciate what I am looking at.

I found friends! And we call our selves Wiener Fahrt. All those living in the city of Wien are native Wieners and the german word Fahrt means to ride or journey. So we like to say we are Fahrting around, because we are children. After we got dropped off in the inner Stadt we found a cute Italian place where we all split Pizzas, then walked around and shopped. Sadly, we are the stereotypical group of loud Americans, but maybe that will change. I do not think it will. For dinner, we took the train to 7Stern Bräu at the recommendation of our Professor who popped her head out the window of her room to say hi while we were hanging out in the courtyard.

As a 22-year-old who made friends with 19 and 20-year-olds I feel as if, for the first time in my life, I am the mother of the group. Taking all my children to get their first drinks at an establishment. We got a traditional Viennese dinner of beer and sausage. But have you ever seen a Viennese sausage? I thought I had. But look at it! It is the longest skinniest sausage I have ever seen! Can't complain it was very

August 3

Bus Tour and Heuriger!

Belvedere!

We took a very quick jaunt around the Upper Belvedere, doing the "Kathy walk" (our professor). We have a tour on the 15th so more about this later:) However there was a wedding going on that was the most extravagant and beautiful thing ever

Hundertwasserhaus

Vienna has insane public housing, funded by taxes on luxury goods. One of these complexes is the Hundertwasserhaus. No lines are straight because Mr. Hundertwasser believed nothing in nature is straight, and lines are the devil's doing. Even the floors inside are rolling! It was so green so sustainable and so pretty!

Heuriger

Our Heuriger was called Weinhof Zimmerman :) A Heuriger is a wine garden where they serve the new wine from their own vineyards. Our favorite wine we tried was the Gemischter, which is the blend of all the grapes in their vineyard. The one right there <--. Like the obnoxious Americans we were we could not pronounce Gemischter so we decided to start saying, "Can you pass Gerard please?"

We drank, we ate, we frolicked it a perfect Austrian end to a day exploring Austria.

August 4

Old Cool War Things

Today we visited Heeresgeschichtliches, the Military War History Museum.

I had pizza Next to a WW2 tank! And found a super cute coffee shop called the Cyclist.

Check out the war section to see what I saw in there!

War Museum

After the museum, the six of us walked around with Professor Stuart:) She took us to the Belvedere gardens and Shwarzenbergplatz. Our group changed our video project from social scene to stumbling stones

August 5th

Churches, Beer, Wandering

Today was our first day of class and after we went to our first Giant Church Stephansdom. I shall be starting a Giant Churches section as well as a section on the buildings that suffered damage from bombs in WWII.

Stephansdom

A few days ago I saw a small child holding a hot dog inside of a baggette. Since that moment I have had a dream to find one. And today was the day. Amelia and I got one, fulfilling all my hopes and dreams. Yes, we got it at a train station stand, but wehre is irrelevant, its quality is what matters. This hotdog carried me through the very long, but interesting, tour of St. Stephans.

Exhausted from a day of historical significance in a big church we decided we NEEDED a beer garden. So naturally, we texted Professor Stuart, asking for a recommendation. What we didn't know is that she would come join us half way through our dinner!

This is the prettiest biergarten we have been to so far. I have to admit the four of us formulated a little bit of a superiority complex when Professor Stuart joined us for dinner and a beer.

We got the traditional veal Schnitzel and it was so ridiculously good. Dr. Stuart literally had a speech tomorrow on her movie, but was choosing to procrastinate with us. and we were honored.

Following beers and dinner we wanted to go Fahrting around the town. This is what I had envisioned living in Vienna would be like, wondering the beautiful streets whenever and wherever we liked.

Amelia wanted to go to the Ringstrasse. So on our walk there we accidentally stumbled upon a film festival at Vienna city hall, the Rathaus. There is food, drinks, and people watching a German opera.

The Ringstrasse refers to a massive street creating a ring around the innerStadt that was constructed in 1858 by Emporer Franz Joseph, replacing the medieval wall. The Ringstrasse era refers to the period in which several massive buildings are constructed such as the museum district, the Opera House, the Rathaus, and the Parliament. So as you can see the Ringstrasse is not one location, but a large loop of many buildings. This is not what Amelia was thinking, she was thinking of HeldenPlatz which we went to on our first walking tour. To be fair the Hofburg palace at Heldenplatz does create a sort of semi-circle that looks like a Ring. Saying "Guys, where is the Ring" is now a sort of running joke in our group. In the end we never made it to the Hofburg Palace and Heldenplatz. We found these gorgeous gardens that we wandered for about 10 minutes until a secuirty guard came and kicked us out. Later we realized the Hofburg Palace is closed at 10pm because the President of Austria currently resides there. So we decided to hang out in front of the Parliament building until we wanted to go home.

Walking around the Ringstrasse-era buildings at 10pm, after dinner and beers at a beer garden has truly been the highlight of my trip so far. Specifically, accidentally found an entire film festival. I couldn't stop smiling, soaking in every second of wandering around, getting lost, and finding amazing things in Vienna.

August 6th

So Much Art and Scary Scary Movie

Today we visited the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Very interesting, however, the longest four hours of my life. I love our tour guide Gretel, but four hours in that museum is so long. When we finally escaped the beautiful but deadly grasp of the art museum we were hangry and grumpy. Desperately we found the fastest food we could get. The hot dogs, pizza, and döners at the train station. There we sat on the grass in silence in a circle for a long time eating.

The inside of the museum is absolutely gorgeous. It was built during the Ringstrasse period to house and show off the Habsburgs impressive art collection. Luckily we have a museum pass for the month here! So we can go in and out to admire art as much as we want, in smaller doses.

At 8 pm we went to see 'The Devil's Bath' at a Kino where special guest Kathy Stuart (my professor) and the filmmakers spoke following the film. She is a celebrity! Last fall I took Dr. Stuart's Crime and Punishment class where I read her work on suicide by proxy, which the film was based on. I learned that reading is one thing but films are another. I think the filmmakers may have just done too good of a job in creating a horror film, I watched the majority of the movie through my fingers and my knees to my chest. Ready to close my eyes at a moment's notice.

Me and my Twin:)

August 7th

Monastery and WINE with a Priest

Today we went outside of Vienna a little to Klosterneuberg. Even though this is technically a monastery with a chapel I think I will categorize it in my "Really Big Churches" Section. I go more in-depth to the historical significance and interesting aspects of this place there.

Klosterneuberg Monastery

Following our tour with Father Ambrose, an Augustinian canon who lives at the Klosterneuberg Abbey, we all hiked up a hill to a wine garden overlooking the town. This class dinner and wine garden turned into some of the silliest moments of the trip so far. There it was that I saw an intoxicated priest for the first time. This guy was pretty cool, he kept the tour entertaining and light and answered all of our questions, as well as a priest could. And the best part? Father Ambrose sat at our table and ended up paying for the four bottles of wine that we had all drank. Shhhh I think that is against some school rule.

The vineyards were gorgeous, we frolicked and took pictures. Look at film major Brody taking pictures of the two Annas. I still can't believe they put the two Anna's as roommates together, but I am so happy that they did. This was a late night, we stayed until dark at the wine garden with Dr. Stuart and figured out our way home on the public transport.

August 8th

Swim, Swim, Swim, Storm

Class was cancelled! Today we finally went to go swim the Danube. We went to a section called the Alt Daneu to a nice public area where you can stay, swim, and eat for as long as you like. After three days in a row of sweaty churches and museums, we were dying to go in the water. I had an amazing time jumping and climbing on the floaty things that were out in the water you could lay on. I think this was the first time the people I was traveling with saw the real spazzy Anna. I was in and out of the water chaotically. I even tried to jump and dive (off one foot because I can't jump) but my foot slipped and I ended up belly-flopping, but that is okay it was funny. It was all great until there was an abrupt change in the winds. It started storming the hardest I have seen here yet.

In a dramatic, cinematic-like moment, we had to desperately swim against the wind, rain, and waves, fighting for our lives to make it back to shore. It really wasn't that far or bad, but that is how it felt in my mind. 10/10 day, I had an amazing time.

If you look closely you can see the change in the winds and the water between the two pictures.

This is when we got there verses when we left.

August 9th

Under, Up, Around, and Out

Under: We started our day with a 10:00 AM tour of the Catacombs, which houses the bodies of priests today, and disassembled and sorted bones of plague victims. In 1783, for hygienic reasons burials were not allowed in the city, however, no one said anything about underneath. So criminals were made to disassemble and organize the bones from the abrupt rise in dead people from the 1735 plague, to make room for more bodies. The highlight of the catacombs- the second picture on the image carousel- is the original clapper from the bell that fell from the south tower in 1945, constructed out of the Turkish cannons of 1683. Somehow it survived the fall and lies down in the catacombs today, I cannot stress how large this thing really is and I have no idea how they got it up the south tower in the first place. Remember this is the weekend that the Taylor Swift concert was supposed to be, I have never seen so many sparkles, bracelets, and boots inside a catacomb.

Up: We spontaneously decided there was no better time to climb the south tower than right now. It wasn't too hot, there was a nice breeze, and we were already here. 343 steps up a spiral staircase later, we were there. We got to see where the bell originally hung pre-1945- the third and fourth images on the carousel. It was an absolutely gorgeous view overlooking the city and 100% worth the climb. I was so proud of myself that my Achilles and I could make it up and down the stairs. I was quite nervous, but I am doing soo good.

Once we got down we realized that the north tower has an elevator, so might as well do that one now. No more stairs. This tower is also only half the height of the previous one, since they ran out of money building it they decided to just leave it. The first image is me at the top of the North Tower. The new bell, reconstructed in 1960 out of Turkish cannons from 1683, now hangs in the south tower- picture 3 on the carousel. In just two hours we had knocked out the three things we had to do at Stephansdom.

Around: Brody had a dream to go to the Prater and ride the historic Ferris Wheel, so other Anna and I decided to go with him. Once you buy your ticket to the Ferris wheel they dump you off in a room with a bunch of miniature reenactments of important historical events in Vienna, such as the siege of 1683, the building of Stephansdom, and different time periods at the Prater.

Out: Here I must remind you that tonight, August 9th, is the night that I was supposed to go see the Taylor Swift concert. However, it was cancelled due to a planned ISIS terrorist attack. I recognize that we are so lucky that this was caught and that everyone is safe. It still sucks though. If you read before you know I brought my sparkly boots, so here is proof that I wore them. This is probably the only time where I can wear sparkly cowboy boots in a European city and fit in. I have never felt so connected to so many strangers in a city, everywhere you look you see bracelets, t-shirts, sparkles, and everyone wearing the outfits they would have worn to the concert. It was amazing to spark conversation with everyone on the street, share our sadness, and try to make the best of where we are. Tonight we went out to dinner and a Karaoke bar where we of course sang many Taylor Swift songs.

Here I tried a traditional Austrian dish Tafelspitz. Before coming here I was very skeptical of the boiling beef method, but it was delicious, tender, and flavorful.

August 10th

These pictures are just a taste of the Fancy Billa

Strolling and Shopping

A four-story taste of heaven, the Fancy Billa indulges all our fantasies equipped with a wine bar, options for snacks, and exquisite produce.

Every Saturday a flea market pops up where the Nachmarkt is. I bought two pairs of cute little earrings and strolled around the tents and the food.

Fancy Billa was what we needed when we needed it. We accidentally stumbled upon it the day before and today we decided to take two trains to do our weekly grocery shopping. The Billa near our apartment has 0 options and is sad. Fancy Billa is the most American, Capitalist thing I have experienced so far and it made me feel at home.

We finished today by watching Pitch Perfect in the Anna room.

August 11th

Cafe and Cocktails

Today was a chill day, and the day that I wrote a good amount of the above blog. I went to Cafe Dommayer with some friends, hung out, and did some work. I got my first apple strudel, which was delicious but for some reason cold, and my usual Melange. Later that night Brody and I got cocktails at a place that also served tacos! I also got to walk through the Schönbrunn Gardens for the first time, which is like a knock-off of Versailles, but I will go back and dedicate some time to this.

Die Tackerei. By the time we were there the kitchen was closed, however, I would love to know what a Wienerschnitzel taco or an apfelstrudel taco looks like.

This menu is hilarious, I love German Mexican food.

Bergkirche

August 12th

Eisenstadt

Today starts the road trip to the Alps! We had a long day of Churches and cemeteries before we finally started heading to the long-awaited mountains. The most interesting part was the Bergkirche, which will be included in the giant churches section, and the button is below. The bus ride from Eisenstadt to the Alps was dead silent, filled with sleepy students. We were quickly revived for the rest of the night as soon as we arrived at our destination, Raxalpe. The weekend in the Alps did impact the fact that I selected this program, I mean as well as the history content, the professor, and the timing.

View from Anna and I's room

View from the gondola

Alps Trip

The evening of August 12th-Morning of August 14th

Evening: To get up to our lodge where we were staying, we got to take a gondola up a steep steep mountain. The alpine air and the cozy cabin were exactly the refreshing reset everyone needed following 12 days of non stop sweating and museums in Vienna. The first night we had dinner, which was some of the best Austrian I have had so far, of roast pork, bread dumplings, and Kaiser pancakes for dessert. Guess what. There is also a reasonably priced bar downstairs that everyone found very quickly, and to top it off Dr. Stuart suggested we have a show. I truly believed this show would not happen, no way some college students would willingly get up there and perform. I was wrong. Brody did a stand-up set, Anna read off some bad Reddit jokes, and many many people sang. However, the highlight was Dr. Stuart lying on the picnic tables outside showing us how to warm up and strengthen our lower bodies properly. She instructed us to sit with our legs straight out, and simply lift one leg up. I knew I was going to be imparted historical knowledge on this trip, but I did not know that physical therapy techniques would be included as well. So please imagine, 20 college students (some of which are many beers deep) all lying on picnic tables outside in the dark, waiting for instructions from their history professor on how to warm up their hips.

Roast pork and dumplings

Kaiser pancakes

My sexy breakfast

The picnic tables where we would spend our nights and eat our breakfast in the morning.

I hiked an Alp and everyone got drunk after

My day started perfect with the most amazing breakfast and view every. The hike was simultaneously the most amazing and terrifying experience of my life, from the fault of no one else but my own. Was I on the top of a mountain, five miles away, with some thunder and lightning? Maybe. But it all worked out and now it is a fun story I have about my experience hiking in the Alps. I was just too determined to make it to the stupid Habsburghaus. Newsflash, it doesn't actually have anything to do with the Habsburgs, it is just a pathetic, metal tin excuse of a ski lodge. Anyways, the views were worth it and I even saw some real alpine cows!

Along the hike, there were two little places where you could stop have a drink and buy a meal. I truly think more hikes should have rest stops to refuel and relax.

Dinner was again absolutely amazing, I forgot to take pictures since I was recovering from my 10mile hike. I took a quick nap after dinner and came down to all of my fellow students having discovered the very reasonably priced bar at the lodge. There was once again a show, just a little more raunchy, loud, and chaotic tonight. I played card games and got to know my fellow students more, all in the beauty of the Alps. This is definitely a weekend trip to remember and I am so grateful I got to experience this.

Here is the stupid Habsburghaus

I had lunch at a place called "Asia to go"

August 14th

I <3 Wiener Neustadt

The above statement is sadly not the truth. Our day was so long and sweaty here that we joked about buying I <3 WN shirts ironically. In WWII Wiener Neustadt was almost completely reduced to rubble, only leaving 11 buildings untouched. Which I do understand is not its fault. I think we are all just haters because we had been surrounded by the beauty of the Alps for the past two days, we were tired, we just wanted to go home, and now we were in a town that you could tell was built in the 50s for like 8 hours. Let us take a look at the leftmost picture. That is incredible that they still have Turkish cannon balls from the siege of 1683, but you're telling me they re-embedded them into some stucco? I don't know it just doesn't add up in my mind.

The picture on the right is the courtyard of the oldest military academy in the world. Does it look like it though? No. It was built as a castle in the late 12th century and turned into a military academy in 1752. You would never be able to tell the rich history of this place by looking at it. It also houses the body of Maximilian I, who died in 1519.

What is interesting is that the city walls and the first castle in the late 11th century were funded by the ransom of King Richard the Lionhearted. King Richard was returning from a crusade when he insulted Duke Leopold of Austria and was subsequently captured. England had to pay a very hefty ransom to get him back. However, these structures no longer exist today.

Perhaps if I hadn't just gone on the most exhausting hike of my life the day before, and spent only a few hours there I would have a different perception of Wiener Neustadt, however, that is not the case.

Me with the real famous Klimt

A couple days ago we walked past the Lower Belvedere

August 15th

Wait, this isn't the famous Klimt?

Today, we went inside the Belvedere and had another 3-hour Gretl tour. I genuinely enjoyed this one, the inside of the palace is gorgeous and I loved the time period and stories that went along with the art.

This is the first time that I have found a group that is fascinated with history as much if not more than I am. I love it, it is so silly. About a week ago during the Gretl tour of the Kunsthistorisches (the big art museum), one student who shall remain unnamed posed a question, "Is this where the famous Klimt is?". Gretl responded, "No 'The Kiss' is in the Belvedere". The student responded, "No not that one, the famous one with the woman." Prior to this class we were required to watch a film called 'The Woman in Gold' featuring Ryan Reynolds, which is also the name of the painting in which the student was trying to refer to. The entire purpose of this movie is that the painting is relocated to New York. So first of all, 'The Woman in Gold' is not even the most famous Klimt, and second of all, if you had just watched the movie you would know it is not even in the country we are in. To top it off this student later today claimed they had seen the Woman in Gold in New York. Basically, I am so happy that I have a group of friends that we all find this story amusing.

ART

Please click above to read about some art pieces I found interesting. Following the three-hour Gretl tour, we just wanted any food we could get, and Italian seemed like a safe bet. I chose the Carbonara, which had been my favorite throughout my entire Italian vacation. This was not carbonara it was like a sad Alfredo, why was there cream in it? Im still upset. Then we walked to get gelato and that was absolutely amazing.

August 16th

Rocks, dinosaurs, and bad taxidermy

Today we went to the Naturhistorisches or the Natural History Museum. Every single day to go anywhere we have to take street car 49 to the ring. This stop drops us off at these two giant, parallel, identical buildings built during the Ringstrasse period around 1889. One is the Kuntshistorisches, the art museum, and the other is the Naturhistorisches. So we finally went into the gigantic building that we pass every single day. I would say that this is your typical Natural history museum, with rooms on rooms of rocks, many dinosaur fossils, and an entire floor of taxidermy animals. If you look closer, once in a while one of the taxidermy animals would look a little off. We hypothesize that there is just one taxidermist that is a little unqualified but has somehow snuck their work into the displays.

These are some highlights of the funky taxidermy. The seal is my absolute favorite. I cannot explain why but I just stared at it for about five minutes and could not stop laughing. Why does it look like that? Who made it look like that? Have they ever seen a seal before? The expressions on both their faces are so funny. We all laughed way too hard and spent too much time looking at these animals, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Throughout the museum, there were interactive exhibits intended for children, but I think we had more fun with them than they did.

August 17th-19th

Salzburg!

So much happened this weekend I will put pictures in a separate section.

Sparknotes version:

August 17th: 6 am train, walk around like zombies, really cool fortress, where is the magical theater?, check into hostel, have a beer with the best view ever.

August 18th: Salt mines tour, I went to Germany?, Where is the bus, Julie Andrews was in these gardens, best quality beer garden food yet, omg it's raining really hard, FLIP happy hour, it's still really raining.

August 19th: Morning beer tour, gross beer, sexy pretzel, wait do you think we have enough stuff? let's buy more, train to Vienna.

Salzburg Trip!

August 20th

Leopold, Tipsy Tuesday

Today we had our final Gretl museum tour at the Leopold museum. Professor Stuart even ended class an hour early so we could mentally, physically, and spiritually prepare to be in a museum for over three hours. The Leopold Museum is home to a large collection of more modern art, focusing on the second half of the 19th century. I enjoyed the Kunsthistorisches and the Belvedere collections and architecture more, but that is just a personal preference for what I find interesting. The Leopold Museum hosts many works of Klimt as well as the largest collection of Egon Schiele in the world. I also had a Döner sandwich for the first time and it was exquisite, I even paid for it in coins so it was basically free. I will be going back many more times.

I will talk about some of the works in the ART section

ART

Jägermeister shots at the train station hotdog stand were only 2 Euros!

My first and only clubbing experience in Vienna was on a Tuesday. Cause why not? Today was one of our friend's 21st birthdays so a group of 12 of us went out to this club that specializes in Tuesdays. The entrance was like you were going down into an Ubahn but then you were just met with a giant dance floor. Through another mysterious door, there was a lounge with florescent lit famous paintings such as The Creation by Michaelangelo. I would really appreciate it if more clubs and bars had neon versions of historically significant paintings. Also important thing to note, I got to wear my cowboy boots again. I had an amazing time dancing the night away with my friends and getting their very reasonably priced drinks.

August 21st

Scrubbing and Listening

One of our assignments for this class is to make a video project on a topic of our choice, and our group of six is doing a research project about the stones of remembrance. These are plaques embedded in the ground throughout the streets of Vienna to pay remembrance to the murdered Jewish citizens who lived in Vienna before the Holocaust, placed underneath their prior addresses. Today we met Matthias, who helps run the organization for the Stones of Remembrance. He was here to show us how to clean the stones, educate us on their history, and enlighten us on the work they're doing today. We split off into two groups and I was in the second group with Anna and Mckenna. It was amazing how many people (and police officers) approached us to question what we were doing on the ground. At least three times within about 30 seconds of sitting on the ground police officers were there ensuring we weren't defacing the stones. This goes to show how safe Vienna is. Everyone who passed by was genuinely appreciative that these three American girls were helping to take care of their city and commemorate its history. A couple of people even asked to take photos of us. One guy even pointed out that there was a reversal of roles. After the Anschluss, as a form of public humiliation, the Nazis forced Jewish people to scrub the streets of political slogans that disapproved of political slogans that disapproved of Germany's annexation of Austria. And now we, three American blonde girls, were on the ground scrubbing these stones to pay our respects. Matthias was very very helpful and honestly helped make our video project possible, without him we were just hoping for the best. I have not been able to explore the Innerstadt as much as I would like, and finding the addresses of the stones and cleaning them was the best way to see around and to meet other Austrians. Prior to our concert tonight Brody, Anna, and I wanted to go out to food, but everywhere around Karlsplatz is quite expensive, so we ended up at an Australian pub. Australia not Austria. Honestly, the best burger I have had in a long time. We were sprinting through dinner to make sure we were on time, but it did not take away from how delicious the burger was.

Here are what the stones look like and a little before and after of the cleaning process.

Tonight as a class we got to see Vivaldi's Four Seasons inside of the Karlskirche. It was truly an amazing experience to hear such talented musicians inside this magnificent church. They even had a harpsichord playing! Everything was gorgeous, wonderful, and beautiful, except for this stupid modern art light fixture covering the historic baroque art and architecture. What is that? I hate it. Who let it hang there? I am upset.

Today was also technically the first day of classes for my masters program. I am very obviously not in attendance. Thats ok!

August 22nd

Wien and Bricks

No class today! So I decided to go to a cute cafe and do work. I went to a cafe built by Otto Wagner in Karlsplatz. Otto Wagner was a founding member of the Vienna Secession. This has been my favorite café experience so far, it was so cute, the waiter was so nice, and I had the place to myself. I stayed and worked there for about an hour before I met up with friends to go to the newly opened Wien Museum. The Wien Museum has been open for about a year and is essentially a chronological history of all of Vienna. I wish this was something I had gone to earlier, to orient the order of historical events in my mind, but it was very reassuring that in the past 22 days, I now know a lot about Viennese history. I really did enjoy this museum since it is very insightful, easy to understand, and easy to follow. We did, however, accidentally do it out of order. We walked in and the information was talking about the Ringstrasse period in the late 19th c. and I was like huh, that's weird, but who am I to question the order? No, we missed about 500 years of Vienna history on the first floor. So I would recommend going chronologically as the museum curators intended.

What I found the most interesting about the Wien Museum was that they had several miniature models of the city of Vienna throughout history. I spent so much time analyzing the difference between the medieval city and following the Ringstrasse period. I also loved the museum's interactive components such as little games, quizzes, and props. The Wien Museum also has a terrace that overlooks Karlskirche and Karlsplatz.

That night we went to a dive bar called Bricks which we found only because it has the cheapest happy hour. Very silly place, loved the cheap drinks, and we all had a great time dancing.

Cafe Otto Wagner

View from Wien museum

Vienna after the Ring

Group of us at Bricks

Imperial Crown

Cafe Sperl

Otto biergarten

August 23rd

Shiny Things, Cafe, and Biergarten

We began the day by spending a couple hours inside the Imperial Treasury, which has so many interesting items that I will discuss in their relevant subsections of this blog, most notably in the Habsburg section. After the treasuring there we went to the shopping district, got some pasta, and I bought a shirt from Zara. Later that evening I went to Cafe Sperl established in 1880, got a glass of wine, and worked on my blog a little. I then realized I was quite hungry and went to Otto Biergarten which was absolutely delicious.

August 24th

Coffee Quest and Castle Charcuterie

Today was a day I had designated for work, and Brody and I decided to go on a quest for a historical coffee shop to do work in. Well, at the time, we did not know it would be a quest. We started at Hotel Imperial. Hotel Imperial was a favorite of Hitler's during his time occupying Vienna; he loved it so much that he maintained a permanent residence there. Upon our arrival, we were turned away because it was apparently still breakfast time for the hotel guests and we would have to pay for the buffet breakfast. Shocking how he could get coffee there but we couldn't. I'm kidding. At least we got to see in the hotel.

Next, we went to the Kunsthistoriche since we had tickets with unlimited entrances, where we worked for a little over an hour before the waiter told us the table was reserved. Doing homework inside a massive, gorgeous art museum is such an amazing experience. I am just casually writing a paper while I am surrounded by this amazing culture and history, pretending to be so casual, so local about it. Next, we tried to go back to the Otto Wagner cafe, but they were completely full. I mean, there was a spot on the floor in the sun they offered, but we passed. So we ended up doing work on the top floor of the museum, overlooking Karlzplatz, where we finally did work uninterrupted for a few hours.

Some of our group had decided that for dinner we were going to have a picnic at Schonbrunn at sunset. So we decided to grab some meat, cheese, and olives for the picnic. Having a picnic at a palace at sunset was honestly one of the best experiences I have had, it was peaceful, and gorgeous, and really made me appreciate the entire experience of being in Vienna. Charcuterie at a castle is all I could ever have dreamed of. 10/10 experience, I don't know when but I will do it again. I even jogged for the first time since I tore my Achilles! An absolutely magical evening.

August 25th

Central Cemetary

Today we went on the optional tour of the Central Cemetary. We spent the first part of it learning about the Jewish section before moving on to the Catholic portion where Beethoven, Schubert, and Strauss are all buried.

We finished the day at a beer garden where we had the 'best Schnitzel in Austria'. Honestly, I kind of believe them. This was the best veal Schnitzel and potatoes that I have had in my time here. It was massive and I am so glad I didn't share it, I ate the entire thing.

If you look closely, you can see a deer in the cemetery!

Best Schnitzel in Austria!

August 26th

Mauthausen

Today was our big, long day at the Mauthausen concentration camp. It is difficult to put into words the experience of being present in a place like this, but I am grateful I got this experience. I feel as if the Holocaust is just something we learn in history class, but it is just so big that no one can truly wrap their head around it, but being at a concentration camp, on the site where people were exploited and murdered, I believe helped me gain just a glimpse into the true events that occurred during WWII.

I appreciated how the tour guide conducted our tour, giving us insight that people typically ignore. He challenged us to picture ourselves as the SS soldiers who were running the camp, imagine how humanity can be stripped so quickly from a person, and understand how they were able to do the things they did. It is an uncomfortable exercise to engage in, but I believe it offers insight that people typically ignore. I learned many new things that I never knew or thought about, such as how the SS soldiers and the camp itself became integrated into the community of Mauthausen. The average SS officer was only 21 years old. That means college-age men were the ones running these concentration camps. They had an SS soccer team, which was wildly successful (mostly because all able-bodied men were either at war or in a camp), and they even built a soccer pitch on the site of the camp. Members of the community would come up to watch these games. Marriages and children sprouted from the SS soldiers and the women of the town; the camp became seamlessly a part of the town of Mauthausen. I found it very interesting to learn about this unspoken portion of how concentration camps became a normal part of daily life for the people who had already lived in these towns. I spent a long time comparing and contrasting the two photos below; Mauthausen today vs 1945 before the American troops liberated the camp. The Nazis destroyed much of the incriminating evidence, such as the gas chamber equipment, and the years following the war people looted and raided what was left of the camps. It blows my mind that the human mind can dehumanize a person to rationalize this insane treatment. I also learned that contrary to what we have been taught, gas chambers were not the primary murder weapon, it was the concentration camp themselves. Way more people were murdered through malnourishment and overexertion from forced labor in the camps than traditional murder weapons such as gas chambers and shootings. Although this day was a harsh reality check and a gut-wrenching day I am appreciative I had the opportunity for this experience.

The prior SS soccer field

Overhead view of Mauthausen today

Overhead view of Mauthausen 1945

Beer Yoga!!

August 27th

Greenhouses, Ferdinand the Fast, Beer Yoga

Today, we had a free day, so a couple of us decided to go to the carriage museum and walk around the Schonbrunn Gardens. The carriage museum was one of the most entertaining museums I have ever been in, please tell me why this was just an offshoot of the Sisi museum. Sisi is the Austrian equivalent to Princess Diana, they are absolutely obsessed with her. She was married to Franz Joseph I, the man who spearheaded the infamous Ringstrasse. Any normal person would expect the carriage museum, at the palace of Maria Theresia's residence, to you know... be about carriages. No. Everything was about Sisi. I learned about how Sisi tripped out of a carriage and was embarrassed, and even the names of her twenty horses. Also, her wedding dress is in the carriage museum?? No notes. It was entertaining and I had a great time, also, carriages are really cool to look at.

As we moved into the last room, three different vehicles were placed there: a carriage, a 1940s car, and an F1 race car. This room is dedicated to the top speed a Habsburg has gone between the years 1814 and 2014. Yes, Ferdinand Habsburg, or as we call him, Ferdinand the Fast, has his race car hanging in the carriage museum. Ferdinand the Fast, born in 1997, has reached a top speed of 230 km/hr. It is needless to say we are Ferdinand the Fast's biggest fans now.

After our fantastic experience at the carriage museum, we went into the greenhouses in the gardens. Absolutely gorgeous, and if I lived at Schonnbrunn, I would spend a lot of time there. Next, we headed to the Ottakringer brewery for beer yoga! Unfortunately, we got there too late to join, but it was the most entertaining thing to watch. First of all, I forgot the entire session would be in German, so I had no idea what she was saying the entire time. She was so good at incorporating drinking the beer into the yoga routine. I love Austria, this is fantastic. We ended the day by taking the 49 to the Ring, realizing that in just a few days, there would be no more Ring.

This was my favorite carriage.

The car of Ferdinand the Fast. He reached a top speed of 143 mph!

I LOVED the greenhouse, I want one when I grow up and become a monarch.

August 28th

United Nations

The United Nations was truly an eye-opening experience. Realizing that, wow, this is where all of the countries come together to maintain peace and work towards social progress. I did not realize that each United Nations had different focuses, and for Vienna, it is atomic energy. Vienna's United Nations is home to the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which helps countries start up Nuclear plants as an alternative to fossil fuel use and make sure they are doing it safely and properly. I thought it was very interesting that German was not included in one of the five languages spoken in the UN. On a global level, it makes sense; it is just amazing that the United Nations functions as its own bubble within the city of Vienna with different regulations, laws, and norms governing it. These norms extend to the cafeteria. The United Nations cafeteria was the best one I have ever seen; there were so many choices, and it was reasonably priced. I got a whole pizza that rivaled the ones I had in Italy for only 10 Euros. The food, the desserts, the drinks were amazing.

After we got back from the UN, I decided to take a walk around the city by myself and go to the Palmenhaus cafe, which I have been wanting to go to. I felt very appreciative of what Vienna was. I stumbled across a massive park behind the Hofburg Palace where people were hanging out in the park; dance groups were dancing, and acrobatics clubs were flipping. It felt like a scene in a movie when the main character realizes the beauty and community of the new place they are in. This moment was the most at peace and appreciative I have felt during the entire trip. I'm so sad I didn't find this park earlier, but I am so happy that I found it at all.

August 29th

A True Viennese Day

Only two more days left. I started the day by going to the Kunthistoriche to do work at the Cafe again. I just had to go back one more time and get a melange in that cafe. This time I was working on something for my masters program since it technically started on the 26th and I am missing the first week. It felt unfitting to include it in the entry for the 26th, but that night after Mauthausen I had my first masters class at 2:30 AM! YaY! Anyways, so I walked around the innerstadt and the ring just taking it all in. Got some Schnitzel for dinner and ended the day at the film festival at the Rathaus.

Fantastic Viennese day; Melange, Schnitzel, Strudel, and music, I feel like I am doing it correctly.

Music at the Rathaus

Overlooking the Cafe in the Kunshistoriche where I did work

I am the Ring's biggest fan.

August 30th

Vienna's Greatest Hits

Today four of us decided to do a tour which we called 'Vienna's Greatest Hits'. We started at that super cute park I found and had breakfast at the historic Palmenhause. Then we walked through the Innerstadt to the Votivkirche, since for some reason we hadn't made it over there yet. Next, we walked around the Belvedere for a while, until we finally took the long way home by streetcar to look at the whole Ring including the Operahaus, Parliament, Rathaus, and Museum Quarter. I think this was the best way to spend our last day in Vienna, we saw it all and got to appreciate everything one last time.

We all went home to pack our things before the goodbye dinner tonight. The goodbye dinner was very bittersweet, realizing that this may be the last time I will see some of these people, especially since I have graduated. There will not be any accidentally running into people on campus.

I am eternally grateful for this amazing experience, and I would not trade it for the world. Being immersed in a different culture in another country truly opened my eyes. I am so sad to be leaving, but it will be good to be home.

My delicious breakfast!

Inside of the Palmenhaus

Votivkirche

Lower Belvedere

Operahaus

Goodbye dinner!

August 31st

Flying Home!

I had probably the smoothest airport experience I could have, and I am so grateful. I had plenty of time to spare at the gate and met up with some people from the program whose flights were later than mine. You know how when you fly to Hawaii they play Hawaiian music? They do the same thing at Austrian Airlines. As you board the plane they play you Austria's greatest hits. What are Austria's greatest hits you may ask? The absolute bops of Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, etc. play as you stow your luggage, get seated, and leave the plane upon arrival. I love it, I was not expecting it and it does not disappoint.

My layover is in Stupid Frankfurt. I have been to Frankfurt FOUR times this summer. I probably have more stamps in my passport that say Frankfurt than I do for places I have actually been to. They didn't even give me one for Vienna! I am upset. Anyway, I am very well-versed in the Frankfurt airport, specifically terminal Z, the United terminal. It is never a good sign I step out into the terminal and I am at A7and I know my connecting flight gate is Z22. Oh man, I have to walk through the entire terminal alphabet. Turns out did not end up being the whole alphabet, it was a journey, but I had plenty of time.

I remember a couple of months ago when I was here with my parents on our connecting flight from Italy the security checkpoint was decently long, and took us about 20 minutes to get through. I saw the line as I approached the checkpoint and figured, well I have two hours to kill I might as well get a pretzel first. I mean I am in Germany they have good pretzels. I looked for a while at all the pretzels, because I didn't want to get in line before I actually knew what I wanted. When I had decided, I went to get in line to order and saw that it wrapped around the corner. The line I had believed was for the security checkpoint was actually for the pretzel place. I was through the security checkpoint 60 seconds after that and I got a pretzel with no line on the other side.

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