Vienna was amazing; as many have already said the buildings were beautiful and so full of history. I took over 200 pictures and still felt that I had missed many things. I guess that just means I'll have to go back, and soon.
Getting up early Wednesday morning was not my favorite part of the day, but the advantage to having such an early flight was that we got to spend the rest of the day being introduced to the city. We had a walking medical tour, and then went to the Museum of Vienna and St. Stephan's cathedral. Even though we've seen a couple cathedrals/large churches by now, it never ceases to amaze me how beautiful and awe-inspiring they are, and how expensive it is to build them! Like the Cologne cathedral, this one had to be halted mid-production due to lack of sufficient funds, and in this case one of the towers was never finished.
We were pretty tired by this time, but our perseverance was rewarded with a trip under the cathedral to the catacombs. The temperatures plummeted as we ventured underground for a look at the dark, earthen halls and rooms piled high with bones. What with being underground and surrounded by hundred-year-old bones, I felt a little like I was in an Indiana Jones movie. We didn't find any priceless artifacts, but we did see royal Hapsburg organ containers which may or may not leak from time to time, causing a smell so bad that tours have to be stopped for a
week.
Harry Potter is everywhere!
That night after dinner, the girls all went shopping and had a girls' night which consisted of eating 2 liters of ice cream, watching a Disney movie, and talking. I really enjoyed getting closer to all the girls on the trip and having the opportunity for everyone to talk about what's on their mind. Also, that ice cream was possibly the best ice cream I've ever tasted.
On Thursday the focus was medicine and physiology, including a lecture about how medical school in Vienna works by Professor März, a tour of the Narrenturm, and a tour of the Josefinum. I really enjoyed the lecture about European medical schools because it made me consider the future and where I might want to go to medical school (since that is my goal), but not in a way that made me freak out and want to drop out of school entirely. I don't know if I would want to go to medical school in Europe for many reasons, such as: the courses would most likely be taught in the native language, medical school lasts six years before another six years of graduate medical education (compared to four years of medical school in the US followed by about three years of graduate medical education), and it would be difficult if I wanted to get certified in the US afterward. On the other hand, I think it would be a really good experience, and since I would already have four years of undergraduate study under my belt, whereas most European medical students come straight from secondary school, I would be very well prepared for the coursework. The Narrenturm was also very interesting, and probably one of my favorite places that we visited, although some of the wax models were quite disturbing. I was equally fascinated and repulsed by some of the specimens, like the siamese twins, the hydrocephalic skulls, the tuberculosis lungs, and the skeletons with rickets. Another model I found particularly interesting was the gangrenous foot. It was absolutely disgusting, and yet I couldn't take my eyes off it. I could hardly stand to think about the conditions the soldiers lived in that caused this to happen. How horrible would it be to dodge bombs and bullets for days and then take off your boot, only to find a greenish-black, oozing lump at the end of your leg? After these gruesome sights and more, I almost wasn't hungry for lunch, but luckily I was, because we had a wonderful, schnitzel-filled lunch. The Josefinum had several displays of medical history, but my favorites were the wax models. We were told they were like the Body World of the 18th century, but that did not prepare me for how amazingly detailed and realistic they were. We were even more amazed to learn that the details were sculpted, not molded. I also thought it was interesting that the makers chose to display the figures in classical poses from art. Even though the purpose was for medical students to learn about anatomy, it seemed like a bridge between science and art, or an exploration of the human body as both science and art.
outside the Narrenturm
That night was the concert by the Wiener Symphoniker, or Vienna Symphony Orchestra. It was a lot of fun to be able to dress up and see everyone else looking nice. As almost everyone has already said, the music was incredibly beautiful and the players were extremely talented. The great thing about music is that it's so universal; everyone likes some kind of music, and you don't have to be an expert to appreciate a well-played piece. As much as I enjoyed hearing the music, it was almost as much fun to see everyone else enjoying it so much as well. We could just look around at each others faces and understand, and most of the time found words inadequate to describe our feelings. The concert included a piece by Strawinsky, one by Tomasi, and one by Tschaikowsij, and while all three had their own merits, I think the piece by Tschaikowskij was my favorite. From the beginning I felt emotions welling up inside of me, and as it continued I found myself by turns grinning idiotically and holding back tears (yes, I am a huge dork). Also at one point, it seemed the composer purposely lulled the audience to sleep, and then startled them awake again, just to keep everyone on their toes, which was amusing.
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