Off to Vienna!

[January 29- February 2]

This week started off well! We only had one day of classes and then off to Vienna early Tuesday morning. Once we arrived in Austria, we gathered our bags and headed to our hotel. I stayed in a room with Shannon and Brynn; two girls I haven’t talked to that much since being in Germany, so I was looking forward to getting to know them. After we got settled in our room, we took a short-lived nap and headed down to meet with the rest of the group. Dr. Schnabel, aka Professor Wasser, then lead us around Vienna informing us of its medical based history as well as pointing out some of the other significant sights and buildings around the city. Afterwards, Emily, Madeline, Lauren and I went to eat lunch at an Italian restaurant. Later that day, we all went to a famous crypt located underneath St. Michael’s church. The guide showed us around the catacombs informing us about the history, which families and people were buried there, and the techniques that were used back then to bury the dead. It was fascinating to hear how the bodies were naturally preserved and became mummified just due to the climate inside the catacombs. Afterwards we all went to the Goulashmuseum to eat dinner and try the well-known Viennese/Austrian, although originally Hungarian, dish for the first time.

The next day we woke up relatively early as usual and went to eat breakfast. We then walked to the Narrenturm, a madhouse that was used to provide for mental patients in the 19th century. This building currently is a museum and showcases a lot of different specimens regarding pathology, disorders etc.. some things included wax modals, preserved items, skeletons, medical equipment. We had rest of the afternoon off and Vijay, Alwin, and I got lunch, explored the city, went into some posh stores, ate Viennese chocolate and then found a fun park to run around and act like kids (it had a zip line and a really fun climbing area.. haha). Later that night, I went to eat dinner with Kate and Nicky at this restaurant that had really cool underground performance room where local bands could play various types of music. A group of us then met up and walked around the city enjoying the beautiful buildings and streets of Vienna.

The next day we went to a medical history museum in a building called the Josephinum; I thought this was probably the most interesting and one of my favorite places we went to in Vienna. The pieces in this building consist of many wax models that were used to educate doctors and surgeons about human anatomy. In the afternoon Dr. Wasser gave a lecture on Sigmund Freud, the famous psychoanalyst, and then led us on a tour of the Freud house. After, we went back to the hotel, took a nap, finished getting ready, and then headed out for the classical concert at St. Anna’s church. A group of us then went to grab dinner, walk around town, and we finished the night off at a Viennese bar that a local recommended. The next day started early as usual, and we were on our way to the Spanish riding school to view the classically trained equine prance around and showcase their natural elegance and beauty. (As a side note, I know nothing about horses and to me it just looked like they were walking around...but I definitely appreciated the experience.) After walking around for two hours searching for a restaurant, Nicky, Kate, and I ate lunch at this really nice cafe next to a butterfly garden and then headed back to meet up with the group. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring Vienna’s natural history museum. We started off with a guided tour, but Emily, Alwin, Lawrence and I somehow lost the rest of our group when we stopped to take a picture of the Venus of Willendorf. We ended up having a lot of fun just walking around and looking at the exhibits. I had never been to a natural history museum before so I thought the items shown here were really interesting. That evening we went back to the hotel to grab our luggage, and we were on our way to Budapest!