Guten tag! I understand the title of this blog
post sounds nerdy but let me explain why that is. I wanted to find an
appropriate title for my final trip post and yes, I know we all still have our
post-arrival post to write still, but I looked up some words that started with
a “V” to use with Vienna. I then found a word called “vicissitude” which is
defined as “a change of
circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant” which
perfectly described how I was feeling on the plane ride back. So I actually began this post on the way back
to Houston from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam but eventually finished it and
finally posted this today! I will write this post as I was writing it on the
airplane. This is for the dates January 9th through January 13th.
We arrived in Vienna on January 8th 2013 and it is now January 13th
2013 and I am now alone on my way back to the USA.
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| Posing for a photo outside one of the many places Leo and I went around in Vienna. |
So on day
fourteen, January 9th, we started out with breakfast at the Hotel
Deutschmeister, which consisted of the typical German cold cuts, eggs, bread,
and fresh fruit, which was really nice to have. We then set out with Dr. Wasser
who took us out on a medical history tour through Vienna where he explained the
historical significance of different buildings and statues. The thing that
stuck out the most to me on this tour was the Austrian Academy of Sciences’
Lecture Hall. The lecture hall was simply jaw-droppingly amazing and had so
much intricate work inside of it. The walls, ceilings, and décor in general all
had Greek or Roman motifs and just had so much detail. It is hard to believe
that students used to have class in there several hundred years ago. That
aside, Vienna is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been
to and would definitely beat Berlin in a city beauty pageant. We then had lunch
on our own and by now, I have spent so much money on food here. Europe in
general is expensive compared to the USA and feeling frugal, I bought a wurst
in a bun that had cheese in the wurst. It was really good but I felt as if I
was gaining weight as I was eating it. German food tastes great but is in
general, not very healthy. After lunch, we all met in front of the St.
Stephen’s Cathedral for a tour of the church. We had a very knowledgeable guide
who explained many things such as how most of the windows in the church are not
originals but rather “fill-ins” since they were destroyed. The first part of
the tour consisted of a tour around the interior of the church seeing all the
structures inside and then the second part of the tour we went into the
catacombs of the church and saw dead bodies. Well, we saw the skeletons to be
accurate, but we saw the bones of plague victims and even a room made of bones
because they ran out of room to properly lay them out! It was eerie and I
definitely would not want to spend a night there. We then had free time after
the tour and that is when Leo and I set off on our grand Vienna adventure. After
visiting the St. Stephen’s Cathedral again, we went to Schonbrunn to see the
Schonbrunn Palace, and then we went to Volkstheater to see the name place, and
then went just all over the city and saw the museum district and a large
castle-like building we could not go into. It was just relaxing and great but
then, when dinner time came around to meet up at Pfudl, we got super lost on the way to the Restaurand Pfudl and had to ask four or
five different people for directions to which we arrived roughly 45 minutes
later. An old couple we asked for directions knew of the place and suggested
that we get the weinerschnitzel,
which I did eventually get. Surprisingly, when Leo and I got there, most people
had not even gotten their appetizers yet so we were still good! After eating,
the Munich group decided to go to visit some clubs. I went separately with the
other half of the group to check on some things at the hotel before I went out.
I then went to go find the Australian Pub, but by the time I got there, they
had gone. And without minutes on my mobile, I could not contact them and they
could not contact me either. I then went back to chill in my hotel room and
went to sleep.
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| Pfizer Austria is located in that tower. It was nice outside too. |
On day fifteen,
January 10th, we woke up and went to the Pfizer Austria branch
headquarters to visit with Pfizer employees about the drug industry and the
Austrian healthcare system. They provided candy and drinks as well as goodie
bags with slyly inserted pamphlets about corporate responsibility and such. It
was interesting hearing about the similarities and differences between the
German and Austrian systems, especially since the two countries share a similar
culture, language, and people. After the Pfizer visit, we were all free to roam
and have lunch so Kitty, Ariana, Cassie, Austin, Connor, and I went to a kind
of upscale restaurant of sorts where I ordered the cheapest thing they had to
offer which was an excellent lunch special consisting of a soup and an
alfredo-like pasta with pomegranate seeds. After our meal, we went to Sigmund
Freud’s house. Dr. Wasser gave a lecture about Freud and his life, which was
appropriate considering that we were in his former house. It is a strange
feeling to be in a place where you know someone influential lived in at one
point. Then, we toured around the house, which is now a Freud museum. We then
had dinner on our own and then met up to go to the State Opera House, which was
an incredible building, probably with much history. So we saw the opera called
“L’Italiana in Algeri”, which was about an Algerian ruler who dumps his wife in
favor of an Italian girl who is and has been in love with the ruler’s former
slave and the action ensues from there. The opera was about two hours and
during the intermission, Dr. Wasser hit us all up with champagne, which was
pretty good. When the opera ended, the group went to the Australian Pub where
we picked up dinner where I ordered eggs, sausages, and buttered vegetables as
well as some drinks but most of the group went back to the hotel after the pub
and a few of us wandered the city before heading back ourselves.
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| Enjoying hot chocolate with Monica and Leo at Cafe Demel. |
On the
sixteenth day, January 11th, we again had breakfast at the hotel and
went out using the public transportation system to go the Vienna Medical School.
We then met up with two medical students who went to school in the area. And
just like magic, it started snowing for the first time we were in Europe so we
basked in the glory for a bit before we headed into the hospital to hear a
lecture given by Professor Marz. The lecture touched on the fundamentals of the
Austrian healthcare system and medical school and it is easy to see that even
though Germany and Austria have their differences in those areas, they had
rather similar systems. Aside from that, I am glad that I get to have the
undergraduate experience that does not really exist in those countries. We then
went to the Narrenturm, the Federal Pathologic Anatomical Museum, which is in
the same building as a former medical training facility and hospital. We saw so
many human samples and wax depictions and it was pretty graphic like the
skeleton of conjoined twins and stuff like that. After the slightly gruesome
museum, we ate lunch at the Universitatsbrauhaus
where I ordered a fish dish. Fish dishes in Germany are expensive and come
with small portion sizes, so don’t order fish dishes inside Germany. After
lunch, we made our way over to the Josephinum to see the collection of
anatomical and obstetric wax models. Those models were simply gorgeous,
stunning, extremely intricate and for the most part, pretty accurate. One
mistake noted by Dr. Wasser was that the lymphatic system was too widespread on
the models and that we did not have that many in our own bodies. But I just
cannot see how they made such pieces of work back then without the help of
photography and machinery. After we finished looking at the wax models, we then
headed over to Café Demel where Dr. Wasser got us drinks and cake. I had a hot
chocolate and a French coffee cake, which was divine. After snacking at the
café, we then headed off for our free afternoon and evening. We headed back to
the hotel to chill out and relax a little before we went out for the night. For
the evening, our group visited a few clubs for several hours such as Bermuda,
Funky Monkey, and Flux. Kaitlyn, Monica, and I left a little earlier than the
other guys, and I went to sleep pretty quickly when I got back.
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| The land before time! |
On the
seventeenth day, January 12th, we all woke up, fully aware that this
was our last full day in Europe. It really did not kick in that we would be
leaving Europe so soon and would soon be sitting in class for the Spring
Semester back in College Station. After a final breakfast at the hotel, we left
to go see the Spanish Riding School’s Lippizan horses doing their morning
exercises. Funny thing, the program was called Morning Exercise, but I thought
it was going to be a show, and then after asking many times after the horses
and riders were going in circles and stuff when the show would start, I then
realized to my disappointment what I was watching was the show; literally,
morning exercises. But the horses were definitely graceful and a strong-looking
breed. I actually work in the VIBS department back at TAMU and the lab I work
in deals mainly with equine genetics so I could imagine how expensive a sperm
sample from one of those horses probably costs. After the Morning Exercise, Leo
and I went around to look for souvenirs and then we then went to have lunch
with the others at Café Europa. I ordered a beef stock soup and spinach
ravioli, which was divine. After paying, Leo, Cassie, and I went to go meet up
with everyone in front of the Natural History Museum. We then proceeded to go
through the museum with a tour guide who was also a doctorate in zoology or
biology and he showed us the stocks of the museum from its dinosaur bones to
its outstanding collection of meteorites. It is awe-inspiring to see a room
full of rocks that came from outside of the planet and even touch one of them!
However, the most amazing thing I saw at the museum was the Venus of
Willendorf, a several, several thousand-year old figurine of a woman. It is one
of the oldest of its kind and dates from roughly 22,000 – 24,000 BC. It is
incredible to think that something like that was carved from people like us
that long ago. Society has definitely come a long time from then when you think
about it. After the museum, we left to go wander around a bit and went back to
the hotel. Now, it was time to get ready for our farewell dinner at a typical
Austrian restaurant, which was quite delightful. Dr. Wasser had the meal and
tab open and I ordered a delicious Austrian soup and goulash with various meats
and shared a bottle of white wine with a few others. At the end of the meal, we
all got schnapps which tasted terrible. Once dinner was over, Suzanne went out
with us to hit one club before we would have to leave the next day. We all went
to the Funky Monkey to hang out for a bit and since I would have to wake up
early the next day, when the clock hit midnight, I decided to head back for my
last night in Europe.
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| It was really early but it was time to go back. |
On day eighteen
or today, which is January 13th, Leo, Austin, Samantha, Patrick,
Kaitlyn, Tyler, and I had to get up very early to make our 7 AM flights.
Drudgingly, we all made our way down to the hotel lobby to checkout and wait
for the impending cab ride that would take us to the airport. In moments, the
cab arrived and Dr. Wasser bid us farewell and we left the rest of the group,
all of whom would soon be leaving as well. But on the bright side, at least we
would be home sooner and ready for school the very next day sooner. But anyway,
upon arrival to the airport in Vienna, our part of the group wished each other
bye and safe travels and we went off to our respective terminals. Luckily,
Kaitlyn and I had the same connecting flight to Schiphol Airport and shared a
plane from Vienna to Amsterdam. After that, we each had different flights back
to the USA and I bid Kaitlyn a bye before we went to our own terminals. Now I
am on the airplane and thinking about this entire trip and all the amazing
memories I had. This whole trip to Germany has showed me how amazing an
educational experience abroad can be as well as the wonders and things that a
whole other country can offer. Words cannot really describe everything and I
wish this trip lasted longer. I made great friends and gained new experiences
that I hope will last for a long time.
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| Vienna was gorgeous. I will miss it lots. |
I cannot thank
Dr. Wasser and Ms. Jansen for their time and effort in making this trip a
memorable experience. And both of you guys motivated me to come back for the
Spring Semester in 2014 so I will visit with some advisers when I get back and
see how that will work if I can come back. All in all, this entire trip was
incredible but too painfully short. It is still hard to believe I will be back
in the USA in just a few hours, going from amazing experiences and memories in
Vienna to the hum and drum of College Station but I suppose it is time to return
to reality. An autobahn will soon again become a highway, a wurst will soon
again become a hotdog, a water closet will soon again become a restroom, and a
mobile will soon again become a cell phone for me. I feel that it is going to
feel weird coming back but at the same time, I know it will not be because I
will just be going home to familiarity where it will seem like this trip was
just a dream in due time. But just to note, I am only going back “across the pond”
so Germany is only a “pond-hop” away but maybe, perhaps home can be anywhere
you want it to be. It does not matter because Germany was certainly an
eye-opening, welcoming, comfortable, and amazing place to be in and I know I
will be back someday so instead of an auf
wiedersehen, I will close with something to leave a better taste for
myself.
“Never say
goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” ~Peter Pan
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