Next stop: Praha

July 16, 2015

Sorry for so many blogs all at once! I haven't had my computer for 10 days so I have to catch up.

Somehow the last four days in Vienna are gone and I'm on a train to Prague for the second free weekend. The days keep flying by faster and faster and I wish that I could slow them down. Regardless, my time in Vienna since my last post consisted of a history museum, an insane asylum, and a visit to Freud's residence in Vienna.

I could have spent all day at the Natural Historical Museum exploring the numerous exhibits. The U.S. sold the most complete fossil of an Archelon ischyros (a giant turtle) to Vienna as a slab because we didn't know the impressive condition of it. Vienna has a vast collection of meteorites second only to the U.S. in size. I guess we can make a few mistakes, but at least we have more rocks than everyone else right?

In the afternoon we had a tour of the Fool's Tower. Lining the narrow hallways on both sides were cases filled with accurate models of diseases. Organs of some abnormal cases were preserved and on display. The scaly skin of a girl afflicted with Harlequins ichthyosis was dried and on display. With this condition, the skin grows much faster than normal and becomes much thicker. Scaly, white plates of skin for and there are cracks in between. Infants with Harlequins face many challenges such as regulating body temperature and water loss. Infections are very common for these infants and it is rare for them to survive into their toddler years.

This morning (sadly the last day in Vienna) Dr. Wasser took us on a tour of Freud's apartment where he lived for roughly 50 years with his family before fleeing to London. Then we got a very fast paced lecture about psychoanalysis that was fascinating. When I think of psychiatrists, I think of shrinks that just listen to peoples problems all day, appointment after appointment. Freud had very few hours where he actually saw clients everyday. His work was far more complex and diverse than I would have imagined. His story is amazing and there's not a better place to learn about Freud than in the house where he lived and worked. Freud smoked so much everyday that there are still particles of the smoke from his cigars in the air that we breathed as we walked through the rooms. So thank you Freud for the second hand smoke.