A Week in Wien

Well our week in Vienna has officially come to an end. I feel like I blinked and it was over. The city was absolutely beautiful, and I think the architecture has easily been the most impressive I've seen thus far. We started off the week by arriving in Vienna

on Monday around noon

. I really like the subway system, and we had no problem at all finding our hotel. After dropping off the luggage, we wandered around and grabbed a quick lunch. Then it was time to check in, and after that we the city tour. I loved our tour guide, she was so sweet and very knowledgable. Then we had the tour of the catacombs, which was awesome, albeit a little creepy. Dinner that night was fantastic, and I had my first taste of Wiener Schnitzel. All I can say is "ser gut".

Tuesday, we started off with the medical history walk with "Dr. Schnabel". It was really interesting to go back through some of the sites we had seen the day before, but to hear how they relate specifically to the history of medicine. I definitely enjoyed "Dr. Schnabel"s costume, and the accompanying looks we got from confused passerbys. The funeral museum was like nothing I've experienced before, but it was very unique. It helped me understand the Viennese fascination with death a little bit better, yet it still seems slightly strange. I enjoyed our cafe experience, which made me feel like I was truly experiencing the culture of Vienna. Plus that Eis Kaffee was delicious. 

Wednesday, we started the day with the lecture by Professor Marz about the differences between medical school in Austria and the US. While I knew that med school was basically free in Austria, I had no idea that the application process was so different. I like the objectivity of the Austrian system, and it would definitely save on time and effort. However, I can't even imagine the amount of stress those students are under right before they take that test. I don't know if I could handle that. I loved walking around the university, although I do like that A&M is more isolated, as opposed to being interspersed throughout the city like the university of Vienna was. The tour of the Fools tower might have been my favorite tour to date. I could have stayed there all day. I'm just so impressed that people thought to save all of those specimens. The classical concert was a great experience, and my favorite was easily the "Ave Maria". 

Thursday started off with a lecture on Freud. I had taken a psychology class in high school, so I knew a little about him, but nowhere near all of he details we learned that day. He's obviously made quite an impact on the medical field, and it was pretty special just to be in the house he lived for so long. Then we were off to the Josephinum. Despite the heat, it was still really interesting. I can't believe those models are from so long ago.  Dinner at the Gulashmuseum, was really good, although to be honest, I think I enjoyed the Wiener Schnitzel a little more. 

Before I knew it, I woke up to our last day in Vienna. The natural history museum was incredible. Our tour guide was awesome, my only complaint is that I wish it would have been longer! And then Body World was just unlike anything I've ever seen before. The week in Vienna was truly spectacular, and I have learned about and seen so many wonderful things. I'm on a train to Innsbruck, Austria right now, and I am looking forward to experiencing even more of Europe these next few weeks!