Vienna!

9 January 2012, Day 14

Today began our final city of the trip. Hello Vienna! We visited St. Stephan’s Cathedral. One aspect of Europe I have loved, are all the beautiful churches the country houses. St. Stephan’s didn’t disappoint. The stain glass windows were draw dropping, and the art was marvelous. One of the most intricate pieces was the stair way. It was meticulously constructed with a large amount of beautiful aspects. After touring the inside of the church we were taken down under. This is where coffins were stored, as well as organs that had been placed in jars, and the catacombs. The most interesting part of this tour was seeing the walls of bones, and the stacks of bones. That blew my mind.

10 January, Day 15

This morning started off with a presentation by world renowned Pfizer. This had to be one of my favorite presentations. It was very informative, and organized. We learned both about Pfizer Austria and more information about the Austrian health care system. We dined for lunch at an Italian restaurant near the Freud house. We then had a lecture about Freud, and toured his house. It was amazing to see some of the original items still intact. I also thoroughly enjoyed the story of the missing /found hat.

11 January, Day 16

Today we met up with some medical students attending school in Vienna. We were lectured about the Austrian health care system and the application process of their schools. One thing I found strange, was the fact that they only apply to 1 medical school. After the lecture, we went to the Federal Pathological Museum. This is the largest one (in sample quantity) in the world. The museum is housed in a cylindrical tower that used to be a place for the insane. We saw tons of wet samples, moulages, and a lot of other interesting things. I enjoyed this museum so much I bought my mom a book about it. This was a great gift for her, because she is a healthcare professional and can understand the significance of all of it.

12 January, Day 17

We attended morning exercise at the Spanish riding school that houses several lippazaners. This act was so impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Quite relaxing if you ask me. The day ended at the Natural History Museum of Vienna. Here we saw a lot of impressive exhibits. Some exhibits included the wooly mammoth, the sabertooth, interactive meteorite prediction, dinosaurs, and the precious rocks. After the tour, we went to a show about common bugs. The tour guide showed us rolly polies, spiders, and bed bugs. He even let the bed bugs feed on him! We ended the trip with a miraculous farewell dinner.

13 January, Day 18- Departures.

My flight left at Vienna at 6:55 a.m. and connected in Amsterdam. I flew out of Amsterdam around noon. I landed in Detroit and connected to flight that arrived in San Antonio at 6:00 p.m.. By the end of the day I was absolutely exhausted. The trip was a great experience, that I was so lucky to have. Thanks to everyone who made it possible. Especially Dr. Wasser and Susanne for taking superb care of us!