Langos!!!!

SO in the last week I have been caught up with experiencing new cultures/countries/foods/people and my first exam, that I have completely forgotten to complete my riveting and much anticipated blog! Last week we traveled as a program to Vienna which was an amazing experience. The first day there, we took a medical city walk with Dr. Schnabel (who is Dr. Wasser's very good look a like friend), and went to St. Michael's church, and toured the catacombs which were incredible, and finally had an awesome dinner at Gosser Bierklinik. The next day was "My Vienna Day." We started the day with visiting the Spanish Horse Riding School, and watching the daily practice of the horses and their riders. After that some of us went to the Tiergarten Zoo which was one of the best zoos I have ever visited. The animals were very cool to see but one of the main highlights of the zoo was langos, which was a type of street food that is a fried tortilla covered in butter and garlic and was delicious. After the zoo, we walked around the gardens at and around Schonnbrun palace and ended the day with visiting the city hall of Vienna. The other highlights included visiting Sigmund Freud's house and the Josephinum, which housed numerous 18th century wax models designed to educate the medical students of the day. These models were so intricate and detailed, and made me wish that we still used them because they would be very beneficial to me. Finally we visited the Natural History museum and left Vienna. A few of us decided to go to Budapest as well over the weekend, because we were so close and this was another unforgettable experience. The first day in Budapest we woke up and went to a pretty sketchy flea market which was definitely interesting. After staying there for about an hour or two, we made our way to the Szechenyi Thermal Baths which was the highlight of Budapest for me. The thermal baths are supplied by two natural springs and each pool has a temperature between 28-37 Celsius which was very relaxing. After the baths I learned that langos is traditional Hungarian food and proceeded to buy some more of the delicious bread. Next we went to a free walking tour around Budapest and learned about the history and language (which is extremely hard by the way) and ended the tour at Mathias Church, who was one of the first rulers of the Budapest area. The last day in Budapest we visited an art museum which had many amazing Rembrandt paintings, visited St. Stephens cathedral (and saw the hand of St. Stephen in a box after some other tourist foolishly paid 2 euros to illuminate it) and saw the Hungarian Parliament building which was breathtaking. Last week was definitely one of the most fun times I have ever had and now I am looking forward to what else this trip has to offer (...Karneval!!!!)

PS school has been going well, but exams have begun so.....