Program Week 4 (Vienna)

Well we made it from Munich to Vienna without incident. We all met up at the hotel to check in before meeting Dr. Wasser and Nils to go on a historical city walk of Vienna before going out to dinner as a group. I had my first experience with schnitzel and it was really good.
On Tuesday, we got up and went on a medical history walk through Vienna which was even more walking so I was concentrating a bit more on trying to block out the pain from my feet than the actual content of what Dr. Wasser was telling us. I was only about half there so there’s no telling what I missed. If anyone from future History of Medicine trips happens to read this, I have a bit of advice - Don’t get hurt! It may seem like common sense but, trust me, it’s a good kernel of wisdom to keep in mind.
In the afternoon, we went to the Sigmund Freud museum that was originally the house that he lived and worked out of for most of his life until he had to flee to London to escape the Nazis. Then we had some free time to get ready for the operetta that night. The operetta was a lot of fun. It was all in German so I didn’t understand a word of it but it was still a really cool experience. I wore a dress and makeup. My mom and friends from home are sure to make a big deal out of that because they know how rare it is for me to wear something other than jeans, t-shirts or tank tops, and tennis shoes or boots. It was really nice to be able to be outside at night and not bake. It was kind of cold actually.
Wednesday was a pretty short day program-wise. We just went to the Museum of Vienna in the morning and then had the afternoon off. I went shopping at the Spanish Riding School gift shop and then at H&M with Michelle and Carrie. Then I went back to the Spanish Riding School with Elyzabeth and we went on a tour. We didn’t get to see any sort of performance but they took us through a the stables, tack room, and they showed us the arena. In the tack room they showed us how every horse has it’s own saddle and bridle and how the saddles are custom made for each horse. Then they walked us through the barn, showed us a few horses and explained how they are all named and things like that. Then they took us to the arena and we got to sit down while they explained why the riders still take off their hats when entering the arena and things like that. They even have special sand in the arena that’s part sand and part fibers to give it more cushion. Then they took us outside and we got to watch some mares and their foals play around for a bit. That was a lot of fun and definitely worth the 8 euros I paid for it but I’m also a complete horse nut that’s to be expected.
Thursday was really long. It seemed like they tried to fit almost all of our program activities into one day. We started off the day by rushing to the university and listening to a lecture about how medical school works in Austria. Then we went to this house that was the first real insane asylum (they had just put all those people in jail before that). Now it’s basically a museum that shows all kinds of different medical conditions. They had things like cyclops babies in jars, prolapsed uteruses, different skin conditions, black/coal lungs and things like that. It was far from pretty but it was so cool. Then they took us to this library that had a bunch of old medical books. That was kind of interesting. They actually let us look through the books ourselves and see what all they had in them. Heather and I looked at a veterinary one and only about 1 in every 5 pictures actually resembled a real animal. Then we got to see a hospital that was built to give medical care to the peasants before we went to the museum of pharmakognecie. Then we went back to the hotel for a bit before going out for our farewell dinner at a brew house in Vienna. I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as I normally would have because my stomach and the ibuprofen weren’t exactly getting along with each other. It was a really nice dinner though.
Friday morning, we got up, checked out of the hotel, and went to the natural history museum. It was pretty nice. They had a special parasite section that was pretty interesting. We had a pretty good guide too. He found out we were pre-medical and pre-veterinary students so he tried to make his tour more specific to us. We had some time after the tour to walk around on our own and I managed to find the horse evolution part which I liked. My hose lunatic side has really managed to come out this trip. Then we were free for the weekend. We went and wandered around for a bit before going back to the hotel to pick up our bags and then head to the train station. I had a nice little nap sitting on the platform while we were waiting on our train and then we were off to Prague for the weekend.