It has been a very long week. I do not mean an unpleasant week (although parts of it were quite stressful) I just mean that I am exhausted and relieved to be home. Or rather to be nearly home. I have had a relatively unpleasant travel experience today and it's not over yet. I am currently on a train that should take me back to Bonn. It is currently twenty past seven in the evening and this is the third train I've been on since one forty three this afternoon. I was supposed to take a train from Prague to Regensburg but the train was delayed half an hour and then stopped completely before reaching my station. I and every other person from my train crammed into a regional train that took us three stops to Regensburg. We arrived there at six thirty three; my connecting train to Bonn left at six thirty five. Fortunately it was a small station and I was able to run for it. Once on the train I sat down and let out a sigh of relief. A few minutes later the conductor came by and scanned my ticket; he also informed me that the train is going to split in Frankfurt and so I need to move to the back in order eventually end up in Bonn. I am fairly certain that I am now in the right place but have not had the chance to confirm it yet. I should arrive in Bonn at around eleven forty five which is in theory enough time for me to make the last bus back to the house. If I miss it I can take a taxi / uber, or maybe Ariane will offer to pick me up. All in all it has been a trying afternoon.
I will skip over Monday because nothing of particular interest happened then except for the Signals and Systems exam and the announcement that Professor Wasser and Ricke both have Covid and so can't come to Vienna. On Tuesday I was out the door at four forty in the morning. There were a couple of minutes of anxiety when the bus didn't show but I made it to the station in plenty of time. We had one change then a short wait on a very cold platform before boarding the final train. I managed to sleep for a while and started reading the Night Circus again. I also booked flights to Athens and an Air bnb in Crete for spring break. The airport hotel in Athens is really expensive but I booked it for one night because I arrive at midnight and don't want to be wandering around the city at that time of night. I might be staying there another night but if necessary I can get a cheap air bnb. I also booked a trip to Amsterdam this weekend since we have Monday off. I'm going alone and got the cheapest travel / housing available so it should be a good trip. Once we arrived at Vienna we dropped our bags off at the hotel and had a quick lunch break.
Then we went to see some dead bodies. We toured catacombs beneath the St Micheal's church. They were actually quite cool. There were dozens of handcrafted coffins and several skeletons on display. There were also a few mummies. Not Egyptian style mummies but naturally formed mummies created by the body drying out. There were also piles of bones from coffins that have fallen apart over the centuries. Then we all went out to dinner; because looking at decaying corpses really works up an appetite. Dinner was really nice and as it was part of the program so I didn't pay for it.
Wednesday we more or less had the day off because Professor Wasser wasn't there. I went to Schonnbrunner palace in the morning and wandered around the gardens. A group of the others also wound up there and so we stuck together for most of the morning. The gardens were huge but kind of barren. I suspect February is not the best month to visit. All the ponds were frozen solid and none of the fountains were on. That afternoon we visited the drug / pharmacology museum which to be perfectly honest was mind numbingly boring. The rest of the afternoon was better as we visited the famous Cafe Demel for hot chocolate and went to the national library. The library was beautiful. That evening Matt, Elizabeth, Errin, Katherine and I went ice skating. I had never been ice skating before but I got the hang of it fairly quickly. It was an amazing evening.
Thursday was a packed day; we started by visiting the old asylum which is now a pathology museum. It was fascinating if quite gruesome. That afternoon we had a virtual walking tour of the city hosted (via zoom) by Professor Shnabel. He was a strange fellow who insisted on wearing full plague doctor gear for the entire tour. Although, when he took off his mask he bore a striking resemblance to Professor Wasser and he also had a dog called Lacha in his office. The tour was freezing; Vienna was cold anyway but the wind did not let up for a second and it was really strong. That evening we went to a concert featuring a string quartet.
On Friday we went to the Natural History Museum. This was possibly the best stop of the trip. I loved the museum; the building was spectacular and the exhibits were really cool. A few of us went to get Mexican food after and then went to the train station to head to Prague. We got there around eight and everyone was on a bit of a short fuse by that point. A few of us met the boys for chicken wings and then went to their flat for a bit where we played an online cards against humanity. The next day we met some of the boys again next to the famous astronomical clock. From there we went to the castle and saw the changing of the guard. We then had a really good lunch where Colby was somehow persuaded to drink four beers. After lunch we went to the Dancing Towers which was thoroughly unimpressive. Then we walked down the river to an old fort Matt wanted to see. After that we went back to our air bnb for a bit to regroup. We went to an excellent Mexican place for dinner then to a short cruise down the river. After that we went to find Prague's signature dessert: a hollow churro filled with vanilla ice cream, Nutella and strawberries. It was extremely good.
Sunday, or today, I went to the jewish quarters this morning and then to the train station. The rest of the day is already discussed.
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