Week 3- Vienna, We Meet Again

After six years, me and one of the greatest cities in Europe have been reunited. Im talking about Vienna. What can I say other than the fact that I had the time of my life here. After landing in the airport and checking into our hotel, we were taken on a city tour by "Dr. Schnaubel" which was a real treat. Although my toes were nearly frostbit by the end of the tour, I enjoyed seeing the city. Not much has changed since 2011! It is so clean there and beautiful (especially with all the snow). One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting "Fool's Tower" and learning about the history of the world's oldest mental asylum. I did however nearly pass out during the tour after looking at a jar containing tuberculosis infected lungs.. (I blame it on the poor air circulation though lol). Once the tour was finished, our entire group went outside and had a massive snowball fight- BMEN vs. BIMS- which was AWESOME. I felt like a kid again and enjoyed every minute of it. It was the perfect ice breaker to make everyone start talking to each other. Later that day, we were allowed free-time in which some friends and I went to Schönbrunn Palace to check out the zoo and the Palace itself! I was so excited because the last time I was in Vienna I didn't get to see the zoo which was the first zoo in the world created by the Palace's inhabitor, Maria Theresa. Here is a picture of my friends and I on the Palace grounds:

Before I continue, let me just say, the Schönbrunn Tiergarten (Zoo) is PROBABLY THE BEST ZOO IN THE WORLD. It was massive and had every animal you could possibly imagine- even newborn twin pandas! Also, they had a giant indoor rainforest that was probably 80 degrees on the inside while the outside was covered in a blanket of snow... totally cool. We then went to check out the Palace which I had already seen in the past but it was still breathtaking even 6 years later. I still can't believe that a single family lived in a house like that (NOT FAIR). 

The next day we visited the Sigmund Freud house which was very interesting and taught me a lot about his studies on psychoanalysis. Another highlight of the trip was the concert we went to. It was a classical string quartet which played arrangements by Bach and Mozart inside a beautiful church which was small enough to resonate the sound of the instruments but big enough to hold a hefty audience. It made me miss playing the violin back at home and performing concerts in high school. 

By the end of the week we also visited the Spanish Horse Riding School which was a real treat and then ended by going to the Natural History Museum in Vienna. That was probably one of the best museums I've ever been to. So much history and so much information (I love history). In the end I had a great week and loved every second in Vienna (literally every second i want to go back).