6 Cities, 2 Weeks

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was writing my week 1 blog post, yet so much has happened since then!  Meaghen and I were just talking about how quickly the last two weeks have flown by!  I am so thankful that she decided to study abroad because I most likely would not have come if she hadn't.  I love my adventure buddies!

I'll pick back up where I left off.  After our group excursion in Norderney, we all dispersed for our first free weekend to go wherever we wanted.  Meaghen, Maddi, Shelby, and I hopped on a train to Munich where we checked into our hostel.  The fact that there were community showers scared me a bit, but the place turned out to be very nice and clean.  We spent Saturday just wandering around Munich, "oohing and ahhing" at the gorgeous cathedrals, and relaxing in the English Gardens.  Sunday morning we travelled to Salzburg, Austria where we took a "Sound of Music" tour around the quaint city.  The tour was fantastic!!  We saw so many beautiful sites we never would have stumbled upon on our own including Mirabell Gardens and the Lake and Mountain District of Salzburg.  We all decided we must go back one day to hang-glide over the incredible Wolfgangsee and take a sailboat tour!

On Monday the entire group was reunited in Vienna where we spent the week touring several medical and musical museums.  Of all the places we visited, I think the Josephinum was the most interesting to me.  Franz Josef was royalty in Austria during the Enlightenment Period and he thought the public should be more aware of the anatomy of the human body.  To fulfill his wishes, he ordered multitudes of anatomical wax figures from Florence, Italy.  The wax pieces range from hands and limbs to organ systems and even full size bodies.  Each wax body portrays a different system within a living body, such as the lymphatic system or the pulmonary system.  It was a little morbid considering the molds for the wax were created using dead bodies, but I found it pretty amazing that the human anatomy was becoming common knowledge over 200 years ago. 

Another highlight of our (incredibly hot) week in Vienna was the string quartet concert we attended at St. Anna Kirche cathedral.  I have never sat in such an uncomfortable pew, but it was so great to listen to the beautiful violins surrounded by the artwork of the cathedral.  After the concert, all ten of us and our coordinator, Helen, found a really fancy bar.  We all had a great time together!  I can't say enough how perfect our group is!

Before going or separate ways for the long weekend, we toured the Sigmund Freud museum.  I guess I didn't pay enough attention in psychology class because I learned a lot more about Freud and his theories on Thursday than I ever cared to know.  When our tour was over, we all grabbed our bags and took off on our weekend adventures.  Meaghen and I sat in the main Vienna train station for hours before realizing we were at the wrong station 20 minutes before our train was scheduled to depart!  We caught the subway to another station and made it with plenty of time to spare.  Off to Florence we went on our overnight ride!  We decided that if we were going to ride on a train through the night, we might as well rent beds.  The beds were quite an experience and now we can say we did that!

Upon arrival in Florence on Friday morning, we caught a cab to our AirBnB.  Our hostess was very friendly and even fixed us breakfast yesterday!  Our weekend was filled with a lot of wandering, eating, and shopping.  We made the trek up to the Michelangelo lookout point and got an amazing view of the city!  Saturday we took a tour of a Chianti winery in the Tuscan hillside where we tasted three red wines, cheeses, bruschetta, and salami.  The wine was great and the views were even better!

Meaghen and I are currently on our second of three or four trains heading back "home".  I'm, surprisingly, ready to get back to the slower pace of Bonn.  We have a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks, but I sure am missing Texas!