Week 5!!!

 What a week! I will take you through each day.

Monday: I had my first exam while abroad. It was not too hard, so I hope my grade is okay. I had some classes after followed by a COVID test because Dr. Wasser and some others tested positive. Luckily, I was negative. We had a pre-departure meeting for Vienna and then after Peyton and I ran some errands. We went home and packed and slept.

Tuesday: I woke up at 3:30 AM! This was an early morning... Peyton and I took the 4:38 AM tram to Bonn Hbf, where we met everyone else. At 5:27 AM, we got on our first train. And then at 6:30, we got on our second train, for 8 hours. The ride went by fairly fast, I watched Netflix, ate some snacks, and played some games, so it was fun. And looking out the window was entertaining. We arrived at the hotel where Peyton and I unpacked a bit before our group went on the Michaelerkirche Catacombs tour, which was interesting and a little creepy. After, we all went to dinner to have some traditional Viennese wine and food. The wine was so good (maybe too good) as well as the food. After, some of us went to a bar and went home not long after. 

Wednesday: Peyton and I finally slept in (9 am...) and we had breakfast in the hotel lobby. We then went to Starbucks to get our Vienna mug and went to a bookstore close by. After, we met our group in the hotel lobby so we could walk to the Drogistenmuseum (drug museum). It was very interesting to hear about the history of pharmacies and the drugs sold in them. Did you know cocaine used to be an OTC drug? Me neither. After the museum, a few of us went to an amazing Italian place where I got a giant pizza. We walked around the city, went into a cathedral, and ended up at Cafe Demel where we got the hot chocolate Vienna is known for. Honestly, it was okay. It was not bad but with all the hype it had, I did think it would be better. We did some more shopping and eventually ate dinner. We wanted to go to a place that had gluten-free schnitzel but for some reason, they were closed...only this week. So, we got some drinks at Hard Rock Cafe and then went to McDonald's for dinner (embarrassing). After I was so tired I went to sleep.

Thursday: Thursday was a long day. First, we met downstairs at 8:30 AM and went to Narrenturm, which was Europe's first clinic for psychiatric patients. It was so interesting, this has been my favorite museum so far. Every patient who stayed there had to be autopsied when they died, so there were a lot of things to see that were directly from humans or wax figures. After, we headed to the Freud museum, where Dr.Wasser gave us a lecture via Zoom on Freud and Psychoanalysis. After the lecture, we were free to walk around the museum as we pleased. Next, we went o lunch at a Persian buffet, and let me just say, my stomach has hurt since...and I'm not the only one. After lunch, a friend of mine (I’ll leave him anonymous for his dignity) went on a search for a bathroom out of desperation and used probably the grossest bathroom I’ve ever been in. It was a bonding experience. We then had an interesting tour...we did a city tour of Vienna however we did it on zoom with Dr. Wasser and 3 phones. I appreciated the effort to still have the walking tour despite Dr. Wasser's absence, but it was SO cold I think some of us were kind of miserable. We all headed back to the hotel where we grabbed a quick dinner and then got dressed nicely for the classical concert at St. Anne's Church. The church was beautiful as well as the concert. After the concert, we headed back to the hotel and some of us went to watch Ted 2 in a hotel room. Easily the dumbest movie I've ever seen. Finally, Peyton and I went to bed, only for Kassy to be knocking on the door saying she was locked out of her room. So, she joined us, it was funny.

Friday: We woke up and did our last group event for Vienna. We went to The Museum of Natural History and it was very entertaining. After, we went shopping some more and found an amazing, small cafe, where I tried traditional Vieneese coffee. It was not my favorite, but I am glad I tried it. We headed back to the hotel to get our bags and then went to the main station to catch our train to Prague. The train was 4.5 hours long but went by very fast. Looking out the window was absolutely beautiful. All of the girls checked into the Airbnb and then went to dinner. Some of us went to a restaurant called Food Lab and it was one of my favorite meals in Europe so far. We went around the city to check out some bars and clubs and ended up at Duplex, which was fun and we stayed probably later than we should have. 

Saturday: We had a slow morning but ended up at the best breakfast I have had so far in Europe. I got the American Classic, and it made me so happy. We then walked around the city to see some of the monuments like The Standing Man Statue, the clock, the book tower, and the bridge. We were so tired after that we headed back to the Airbnb and took a nap. For dinner, some of us went to an amazing Mexican restaurant. It made my half-Mexican heart very happy to see the culture inside the restaurant and to hear Spanish. But, especially the food. I had quesa-birria tacos and they were perfect. After, we met up with some more friends and went to Karlovy Lanze, the biggest club in Central Europe. It was huge, and it looked fun, but it was pretty empty because we were there early. Peyton, Pat, and I left to go back to our Airbnb because we were tired. 

Sunday: Peyton and I woke up at 9 AM and uber-ed to the airport. We figured out the Czechia airport (feeling accomplished) and made it to Frankfurt. We got on a train that took us to Siegburg/Bonn in less than an hour. The rest of the day I called my mom and JC to catch up :)

VERY fun week, but glad to be back in Bonn.