More Ice Chocolate Please!

During our second week, we had the pleasure of staying in the beautiful city of Vienna. We visited several well-known attractions, such as the St. Stephan’s Cathedral, Sigmund Freud Museum, Museum of Vienna and Natural history museum of Vienna, and the University of Vienna medical school. In between all of the scheduled events, there was still time provided for strudel-eating, coffee-drinking, and other typical Viennese activities.

On Tuesday, Dr. Wasser took us on a medical history walk around Vienna to provide us with information on the various doctors, surgeons, or other important medical persons. This was very helpful because most of the people discussed during the walk were also brought up during our other excursions, like tours of museums and the Josephinum. Next, we visited St. Stephan’s Cathedral. St. Stephan’s cathedral was not as amazing as the Koln Cathedral, but of course it was magnificent. It’s a shame we don’t have beautiful cathedrals like that in Texas. Unlike the cathedral in Koln, St. Stephan’s suffered damage during World War II. This is the reason for the ceramic tiles that compose the roof. Beneath the church are the catacombs. Thousands of bones lie in rooms of people from Vienna, even famous people. Walking through the rooms of what use to hold dead bodies and peeping into little windows of rooms full of bones was slightly creepy. It was interesting to hear that people believed the closer you were buried to the church the easier it would be to reach heaven. Things have definitely changed today.

Wednesday we had the morning for free time, so I was able to go to the Spanish Riding School. Katharine and I watched a performance done by Lipizzaner mares with their foals and young stallions. Being familiar with horses, it was an awesome experience! I could definitely see the difference in movement and temperament of the Lipizzaner compared to my own quarter horses. The Lipizanner have the appearance of a light, “springy” movement that is so smooth it is often referred to as dancing. I really enjoyed watching the young stallions run around because you could it brought out their personalities. I am very glad Katharine and I decided to go to the Spanish Riding School! 

The academic part of the day was spent at the Sigmund Freud Museum, which use to be his house before he left for England to escape from the Nazi rule.  Dr. Wasser gave a great tour through the house… so great other people started joining in. As the founder of psychoanalysis, Freud had some very interesting theories. He wrote three papers on cocaine and openly suggested his friends and family to use it. He had some interesting theories regarding sexuality, like the Oedipus complex and Elektra complex. After learning about his life and achievements, it was great opportunity to be able to walk through his house and see his living room, where patients waited to be seen, and his study area. Dr. Wasser told us we were even breathing in molecules from his cigar smoke. Though I am not sure if I agree with all of Freud’s concepts, I definitely respect him as a very intelligent man, who opened up many doors for our future studies of medicine and psychology.

Our busiest day was Thursday because it was spent mostly at the University of Vienna’s Medical School, and then in the evening we went to a concert. At the medical school, we discovered the differences between American and Austrian systems of medical school, including the application process and how the students spend their years in school. There are aspects of both systems that are attractive to me; so neither is the “perfect” system. Unlike the U.S. medical schools, Austrian medical schools accept students based on the highest scores on one test. There are no interviews or resumes or essays that are used to examine the applicant. The most attractive feature of the Austrian medical system was the fact that no undergraduate courses were required. Once you graduated from high school, you could enter medical school. If the veterinary schools did this in the U.S., I would have appreciated this opportunity because my career goal has always been to become a veterinarian. Though I see how undergraduate degrees provide you with time to experience other things as a young adult and allow you to decide if you truly want to go to medical school.  Our medical tour ended at the Josephinum. The Josephinum holds a very large collection of anatomical and obstetric wax models. Emperor Joseph II established the building as an academy for medical students to learn about anatomy and surgical techniques. It seems like a great way for students to learn because it was hands-on and visual. For instance, there were demonstrations of what to do when a baby is breeched. It was amazing to be able to see these hundreds of years old models.

Following our medical-filled day, we were able to spend the evening at a concert in a cathedral. It was a great performance! I had never been to a symphony, besides one field trip in elementary school. Plus, it was amazing to listen in a cathedral in Vienna. After the concert, we all ate at a café where I had the most delicious ice chocolate. It was the best drink/treat I had in Vienna and it was similar to chocolate milk, which was my favorite drink as a little girl. I wish I could go back to Vienna for more ice chocolate!

Before the weekend started, our last minutes in Vienna were spent at the natural history museum. Such a great museum! My favorite part was definitely the animals. The stuffed models were real animals! We were able to see a model of a Dodo bird, which was actually not the actually animal since it is extinct.  Of course, we also go to see the Venus sculptures we had heard about from Dr. Wasser’s “baby got back” presentation. After the museum, we caught a train to Prague!