Coffee Shop Corners

[July 30] Vienna, though it was not entirely deprived of the reach of the Nazis and subsequent cultural angst, seems a lot more composed than the German cities in my experience. It is classic, conservative, and beautiful, despite the amount of construction it had to undergo while we were there. We took two tours of it, saw all of the large buildings and unique architecture as well as the tucked-away alleys where the greatest medical minds once walked.

Possibly the most interesting lecture to date was the one on Sigmund Freud. I haven’t studied psychology at all, and I was looking forward to at least becoming acquainted with the classic terms used in essays and conversation alike. It definitely lived up to my expectations, and the tour of his life history in his old home and office was similarly enlightening. That evening we went to the opera; later review saw a lot of different opinions on it, but I thought it was alright. Certainly entertaining, but not my favorite to date. The atmosphere—the outdoors, the people, the novelty—was more worthwhile than the performance itself.

Maybe because we have all been taking it easy after so many weeks of fast-paced tourism, half of the week’s afternoons left us free to see Vienna as we pleased. I did a bit of wandering and souvenir shopping and I feel like I know the streets of Vienna’s downtown better than I ever knew Bonn. I especially loved the coffee shops, where a goblet of half-cream latte came with an overpriced and infinitely rich slice of cake. This city is the kind of main attraction where a person should spend more than four days, just seeing and eating!