From Austin to Austria

Personal

Fortunately (or unfortunately for those who enjoy my stories), I do not have a tale of transportation trouble this week. I credit this largely to the wonderful transportation system in Wien where I spent most of my week. The tram came every 10 minutes, so we could always walk up and take a quick trip to anywhere in the city. Furthermore, the map was very easy to figure out, so we never had problems getting lost.

On our free time in Vienna, I went to the Schoenbrunn Palace, the residence of the Habsburgs. While beautiful and luxurious, the palace was not as gaudy as some palaces I've seen before. There was a huge garden in the back that, while sparse (because of the time of year), was rather impressive. We then visited the Museum of Technology but we only had an hour before it closed so we rushed through it and didn't have an opportunity to do anything other than glance at everything on display.

For dinner on the second night in Vienna, we decided to "yolo" it and go one tram stop past the hotel. We then walked in a straight line and found a doener place (what a surprise). We each ordered an inexpensive chicken doener sandwich and while I've had many before, this topped them all. We ended up going back two more times over the course of the trip and brought several others with us to spread the knowledge of our discovery. The third day, we tried to go to the Criminal Museum, but we again had very little time, so we ended up going to a somewhat deserted carnival and did some go-kart racing.

The trip was very relaxing after a relatively hectic week before. I really enjoyed staying in the quaint hotel and having most of the daily activities planned for me (thank you, AIB). I look forward to the next big trip to Berlin.

Program

Austria was absolutely glorious. After a disappointing visit to Amsterdam, Vienna really outdid itself. The transportation system got me everywhere I wanted to go and created little confusion. The food was not only delicious, but actually left some money in my wallet. Best of all, my hotel room had a bathroom (who what have thought that could be such an exciting prospect?). Of course, I barely had to do any planning which is good because I'm apparently not too skilled at that. I would never have found or been able to make it to all the medicine-related sites on my own.

The tours the first day were a little exhausting because of the early plane ride, but Dr. Schnabel was a real treat (it's too bad Dr. Wasser wasn't there to see him). The catacombs also stood out to me especially when we got to talking about the bones themselves (unfortunately I'm not as oriented toward history as I am toward science). After the long day, it was so relaxing to have a pleasant dinner with everyone. The food was magnificent and I really enjoyed having Dr. Wasser with us this time. The following day at the Josephinum continued the fun. It was fascinating to see the wax anatomical models, especially those of the cardiovascular system since that subject is so fresh in my mind. Though a little drier, the lecture at the medical school was interesting since I got to discover the differences between the American and Austrian medical school system. While I do not intend to go to medical school myself, I have heard a lot about it from the experiences of my parents. The Narrenturm seemed to be a continuation of the Josephinum as it showed anatomical wax models of various pathologies. While the images were a bit shocking, it really gave a good representation of the plethora of diseases that are out there.

The final night at the string quartet concert was a great experience. I wish I hadn't been so tired because I really enjoyed the music. I recognized the "Rabbit of Seville" at the end which definitely pumped me up. The following day at the Freud house and museum was rather surreal. Learning about Freud while "breathing in his particles," as Dr. Wasser suggested, was an odd experience, especially since the man himself was rather odd in my opinion. The natural history museum was the last site of the excursion and it seemed to excite everyone. There was so much to see, between rocks and animals, that we were all satisfied. I was sad to leave Wien, but happy to get back to Bonn to continue this adventure.