What a weekend. We left for Vienna an hour after class on Thursday, got there, dropped our stuff off at our hostel and then went to eat dinner at this turkish restraunt. The food was actually pretty good (don't remember what what I ate was called though). Then we ventured over to St Stephans Dom (Dom=cathedral in English) and peaked inside there and then walked around that part of town for a bit. When we finally got back to our hostel we were all exhausted, but since all 6 of us girls were in the same room for once we decided to bring back our childhood a bit and played truth or dare... very interesting.
The next morn we got up early (ok so it was like 715, but that is still early...) and ate breakfast and then we were off. We were given a tour by a St John's grad who had been living and teaching in Vienna for a year. It was very interesting - pic to the left is of a Jewish memorial from WWII. We went around and saw all of the main buildings around the Ringstrasse (what used to be the whole main city way back in the day) and then ventured a little outwards. We ate lunch at this cute little cafe (fun fact: Vienna is know for it's cafe atmosphere where you can sit there and talk all day if you wanted to and you wont be hassled or run out) I had this noodle soup - i think the noodles were like cut up crepes, kind of tasted like it, definetly wasn't noodles I am used to - and fried fish. After lunch we headed to Karl's Kirche ( Charles Church). We went inside and admired the European style of the church - I cannot express how much I LOVE European churches, all the ones I have seen so far have been amazing, can't wait for St Peter's Basilica in Rome. After that we had the rest of the day free
Sat was another early morn... A bit more exciting though. Today we were off to Schloß Schönbrunn (the Schönbrunn palace). This was the Summer residence of the Habsburg monarchy that ruled until the end of WWI (1918). Inside was gorgeous...after the inside we were free to explore the grounds and then do whatever. I spent about 1-2 hours exploring the grounds with a few other people... WOW, the leaves on the trees were amazing. We ate a snack, really it was more like dessert, at the cafe at the top of the hill - I had Apfelstrudel (applestrudel), it was delicious. After that we headed back into town for some real lunch, Kabap, a favorite amongst the group (its kind of like the Turkish version of a Guerro). Then we went to the Art History Museum as a requirement for our Art History class, spent a while there then went back and napped. That evening we went to this fance Strauß- Mozart concert that was actually quite entertaining. They had dancer and singers as well as the orchestra.
Sunday was a free day. Chris, Nickie and I went ot Mass at the Hofburg Kapella (chapel) (a REALLY old church that once belonged to the Bobenburg monarchy - they ruled before the Habsburgs). We went there because every Sunday the Vienna Boys Choir sings at Mass. This weekend they were there along with a few members of the Vienna Phil Harmonic and the Mens Opera. We had to sit way up high in this little room to the side of the church, and watch the mass on a TV screen but it was so worth it. After Mass we went to a little cafe and chatted for a while and read an Austrian newspaper. Then we headed off to St Stephan's Dom to get some better pictures. Then it was lunch time and time to go back to Salzburg...
Overall it was a good trip. Got to experience Vienna. It's a pretty nice city, but wouldn't want to live there (1.7 million people is too many for me).
No comments:
Post a Comment