Vienna has my Heart

Vienna has my Heart

      Friday we got home from Vienna, and I have to say that Vienna is my favorite city I've been to. The city is absolutely beautiful and has so much history. The only downfall to the trip was me getting really sick. On Wednesday I started getting very dizzy and flushed and my heart started to race. I felt horrible and honestly kind of scared. My symptoms have continued since I got home and it is not fun... Hopefully things get better soon. (Kyle freaked me out by saying I may have diabetes) Anyway, We got to see a lot of really amazing medical stuff while we were in Vienna, so I'll go through those one by one

The Catacombs: This isn't technically medical but it was still really super cool. We got to go to the catacombs under Michaelerkirche and learn about the history of the crypt. People used to be able to pay to have their remains and the remains of their family buried under the church. Over two thousand people were buried in the crypt and about 400 sarcophagi remain in the crypt. Three mummies were preserved and displayed in the crypt. It was very interesting to see the well preserved bodies and learn about their history. 

The Josephinum: The Josephinum is a medical museum on the grounds of the old military hospital. The museum has a large collection of antique medical instrumentation and an even larger collection of wax models that were used to teach medical students many years ago. These wax models were amazing and completely anatomically accurate. The detail and time that had to go into each model is unbelievable. Even the lymphatic system was displayed with awe inspiring accuracy. My favorite model was a heart in a glass case (the case kind of looked like the case that held the rose in Beauty and the Beast lol). The heart was beautiful. You could see every artery and valve and I was totally nerding out when I saw it. 

The Narrenturm: The Narrenturm was the first hospital for the mental ill in all of Europe. It now holds a large collection of wax models of dermatological deformities and pathologies, skeletons and preserved organs. Walking through this museum was a very interesting experience. You are walking through a building that used to hold mentally ill patients (It looks similar to a jail) surrounded by deformed bodies and organs. For medical people, it was very interesting and fascinating to look at. God Bless the soul of anyone not interested in medicine who goes to see the museum though.

      Lastly, My favorite part of the trip was the Natural History Museum. It didn't even have anything to do with medicine, but the museum was amazing. First off, it was huge. The building was beautiful and the architecture was astonishing. Aside from the building, the exhibits were awesome and extensive as well. I don't think I have ever seen so many jewels and stones in my entire life. It was awesome. 

      Overall, the trip was pretty great, and I most definitely plan to travel back to Vienna later on in life. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be traveling the world studying what I love. I thank God every day for allowing me to be here.