Vienna

The final stop on our trip was no longer in Germany but rather its culturally similar little brother Austria. Personally I found the Viennese to be much friendlier toward us than the Germans. Also when told that we had just visited Germany, I never once heard a positive review of the country. The tour of Vienna was, like Berlin, a very interesting one. Between Gutenberg and Mozart, it is safe to say that some real movers and shakers of Western Society lived in the country.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral was truly an impressive sight. However the really fascinating part was not the magnificent architecture nor the ornate exterior, but rather underneath in the catacombs where countless dead were stowed away for centuries. Here the high priests and kings of the day were laid to rest in a room of sarcophagi. Lining the walls were urns filled with the organs of the deceased. As we went deeper, dimly lit stone tunnels led to rooms filled with thousands of bones whose owners have been long forgotten through the annals of history. One room had its walls actually made of the bones with skulls embedded here and there as some sort of macabre décor.

As the trip comes to a close, there is a bittersweet feeling that accompanies the end of nearly any hiatus from home. Europe was really amazing, but this trip has also made me appreciate the United States. I must admit that I am excited to be immersed in my own culture again, to hear American accents and eat American food. The friends I have made on the trip were fantastic and I can only hope that we continue to see each other Stateside.