Going to Vienna was especially exciting for me. It’s a place
known as a home (at least temporarily) for many of the great composers whose
music I play. As I learned this past week, it’s also where some of the most
dramatic trials and successes in modern medicine took place. Growing up in
modern times, I’ve taken for granted the knowledge we have about microbes as
well as human anatomy. Looking back, I’m certainly grateful that I don’t have
to worry about bloodletting or the plague. The tour we took during that really
hot Monday was certainly eye-opening (for reasons beyond recognizing the lack
of air conditioning here in Europe)! Dr. “Schnabel” was great, but if I were a
patient suffering from bubonic plague back in the 17th century, I
probably would have been terrified by his clothing. Surprisingly, this costume was not invented until then, which was late in terms of plague history.
Immediately after our stay in Vienna, I went to visit
Budapest, Hungary. Even though the cities are closer than Austin and Houston
are, they were incredibly different. Vienna was filled with a lot of
Roman influences, but Budapest certainly had much more of an Eastern
feel. The languages were different as well, with German being spoken in Vienna and
Hungarian in Budapest. While both cities were beautiful, parts of Budapest
still showed the effects of the Soviet occupation. Many of the older buildings
needed repair work, food and clothing seemed unusually inexpensive to me, and the subway system felt less modern than that of Vienna and Germany.
But one unique sensation I got in Hungary was that of an isolated nationalism. The
language spoken in Hungary has no relatives in Europe. The ethnic group
similarly stands alone. The people have a rich history, as seen in the majestic
Buda Castle, but also experienced incredibly harsh suffering at the hands of the
USSR. Even so, the country still stands tall, as can be seen by a recent
addition to the Danubius Fountain (pictured right). While I learned about these events during school, my time in Budapest has given me a much deeper respect
for the Hungarian people and what they have experienced.