A Gelato a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

This week was somewhat of a whirlwind week. After getting back from Munich quite late on Sunday, then waking up at 7 for class, having class all day, and going home to pack to leave bright and early the next morning, I was definitely sleep-deprived. In fact, I definitely think I cried a little bit inside when they told us on Monday at our pre-departure meeting that we would need to meet at Hbf no later than 7:15. That is incredibly early. Tuesday morning, when I woke up to head to Hbf to meet everyone, I’ll admit, I was less than psyched about being awake so early to head to Vienna, as expected. Sleeping hasn’t necessarily been high on my list while I’ve been here and the sleep-deprivation was beginning to catch up to me. The trip started off a little rocky. I found it comical that of course, as I’m sure everyone expected, someone was late. Typical college kids ;). Then at the airport, our gate number on our boarding pass was different than the one posted on the boards, and we realized this just in the nick of time. Luckily though, everyone made it on the plane, and we were off like a herd of turtles.

              Immediately after we arrived in Vienna, we began conquering our giant list of activities. Our walking tour with “Dr. Schnabel” was definitely not what I expected. I thought we would be meeting up with a professor who taught in Vienna and was legitimately a friend of Dr. Wasser's. I just about died laughing when Dr. Schnabel walked up to us in full on plague doctor get up. I quickly realized after he spoke that Dr. Schnabel was not a real person, but in fact he was none other than Dr. Wasser!!! That was definitely a twist I was not expecting. He stayed in character incredibly well the whole time though. Also, I’m not quite sure how he didn’t melt because it was about 92 degrees outside, and he was in all black from head to toe. I know I definitely would have melted, or maybe died of heat stroke, either way it would have been bad. The looks that we got from people during the tour were priceless! There was one old man who I actually thought was going to come up to us and ask what on Earth was going on. He was so incredibly confused, and it was hilarious. We actually ran into this guy twice, and none of the confusion faded the second time we saw him. If anything he was more perplexed than before. After the tour, we headed to the Freud house for a tour with Dr. Wasser. This tour was actually very cool, and I was impressed with all of the knowledge that Dr. Wasser had regarding Freud. I am convinced at this point that he is a bottomless pit of information. We then were treated to dinner at the Goulash Museum (shout out to AIB for covering our dinner!) I had the beef goulash and it was probably one of the best meals I may have ever consumed in my life. Definitely the best meal on the trip so far. Their desserts were also not too shabby. I finally got to have some of my highly coveted apple strudel! I had been wanting some so badly, but just never had the right opportunity. Luckily, my craving was cured that night.

              The next day, I was up bright and early when the sun came streaming through the blinds around 5 am. We didn’t have to be ready until 10:15. Luckily, I was at least able to fall back asleep for an hour or two. Breakfast was pretty good! The eggs were kind of cold, which made me sad, but their bread was awesome, and they had my new favorite unidentified cereal!! Therefore, breakfast was a 7/10. We visited the Josephinum, and this was probably one of my favorite parts of Vienna. The Josephinum was built in 1785 by Emperor Joseph II. We were able to see one of the oldest collections of wax models in the world used to train medical students during those times. The anatomical accuracy was astounding, especially when you consider how long ago those models were created. There was so much detail put into every object, and you could tell they took an immense amount of time and energy to create. After our tour there, we realized there was no room in the schedule for lunch *upside-down smiley face*. So, we headed to the Haus Der Musik, without getting anything to eat. Needless to say, a few of us were quite hungry, maybe even hangry. But hey, we survived. Our tour at the Haus Der Musik was actually a lot cooler than I honestly expected it to be. Our tour guide was awesome. One of the coolest things that I think they had there were the pocket violins! Who knew there was such a thing? They were so small and portable. I can only imagine what the sound from one of those instruments would have sounded like compared to a full-sized violin. I actually wish we had had more time at the Haus Der Musik because I think there was a lot more to be seen, and I would have loved to learn more from our tour guide. But, sadly, it was on to the next thing as soon as we were done. Thankfully, Henning was feeling merciful and gave us some time to grab a quick snack. Admittedly, due to the short time frame, we had planned to go to McDonald’s, boo. But God saved us from that atrocious place, and we came across a small little hole in the wall place that had kebap boxes. In all honesty I had no clue what I ordered when I ordered it, but it was like Chipotle on steroids. This guy could start an empire in America because his kebap boxes are the bomb. After devouring our delicious meal, we had a few extra minutes, so naturally, we got some gelato. When in Vienna, am I right? Then, we had a tour of the Imperial Crypt. There are about 150 members of the Habsburg line buried within this crypt, with Maria Theresia being the highlight of the tour. Her sarcophagus was massive. It was like 5 times the size of any other coffin in that place. She even helped design it, and she went all out. The amount of time and effort it must have taken to build that ornate sarcophagus was likely huge. It was also kind of cool to be able to walk through the history of the family from the 1600s all the way to 2011, which is when the most recent familial death was. There’s only one place left in the crypt, and apparently she’s not too keen on being buried there. According to our tour guide though, she may not really have a choice, and that is pretty savage. Around five 0’clock, we headed back to the Freud house for our lecture on Sigmund Freud. I was actually really looking forward to this lecture, but apparently, my body disagreed with me. Almost immediately after we sat down I started to get SUPER tired. Unfortunately, I for sure nodded off during the lecture a few times despite my valiant attempts to remain alert and awake. Even my handwriting was indicative of my quick little naps mid-lecture. Hopefully, Dr. Wasser will forgive me. Afterwards though, he took us to get some gelato!!!! And he even paid for it!!!! At this point, I decided he was the greatest professor in the world. I ate gelato then for the second time that day, unashamedly, because let’s be real here, who passes up free gelato? No one does. That would be ridiculous. We then had to figure out somewhere to eat dinner on our own, and let me tell you, with our group, this is never an easy task. I think we walked around for about an hour, in a circle, before finally deciding to eat dinner at a place that was literally one block from the hotel. Go us. For what it’s worth though, the food was awesome, and their mustard that they served with their sausages was incredible, so it all worked out in the end.

              On day 3, I had finally slept entirely through the night for the first time since I left Texas on May 21^st, so I knew it was going to be a good day. I got to eat some scrambled eggs for breakfast, which was awesome because they were actually warm this morning unlike the morning prior to this, AND I got to eat this pretty spectacular chocolate cereal that I have come across in two European cities now. I am determined to figure out what it is before I leave so I can buy it when I get home. Day 3 consisted of only one planned site visit which was to the Narrenturm. This old hospital was the very first insane asylum where patients with mental illnesses to be treated. This hospital was also built by Joseph II during his reign. The hospital is now just a museum, which holds a very large collection of wet and dry specimens including many wax representations of an immense amount of illnesses and conditions. The wet specimens were very interesting, but for me, the wax depictions kind of freaked me out. Most of them represented crazy skin conditions, and skin is the one thing I cannot handle. I feel like everyone who wants to be in the medical field has their one thing that they just absolutely could not ever handle. For many, it is teeth or mouths or feet. For me, it’s skin. Therefore, overall, this wasn’t one of my favorite places since everywhere I looked, there were lesions and rashes and tumors and necrotic skin. After this though, things looked up. We had a group lunch together on the grounds of the University of Vienna. I thought it was quite enjoyable, and the food was really good! For our free afternoon, we decided to visit St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Habsburg Palace, and the old royal bakery. St. Stephen’s Cathedral was so beautiful. The gothic architecture was incredibly elaborate, and it’s crazy to think that they were able to build things of that scale really before they even knew what they were doing. I will say though, the stained glass was not really anything special which surprised me. Overall though, it was beautiful. We then took a tour of the Habsburg Palace, the Sisi Museum, and the Royal Silver Collection. This was maybe the highlight of Vienna for me. I adore history and the history of royalty, so this was right up my alley. It was interesting to learn about Sisi because she was someone who everyone adored, yet she lived a life that she did not like at all. It was quite tragic to hear how unhappy she was for most of her adult life. Getting to see the apartments where the royal family lived was very cool as well. All of the rooms, even the bathrooms, were so ornate, and everything went together. There was one room in which the wallpaper and the chairs were the same material and the same print. It doesn’t get any more coordinated than that. Naturally, after visiting the palace, we felt obliged to make a stop at the former imperial bakery. This was a decision I do not regret. I bought some jams that look pretty delicious, and I cannot wait to try them. Unfortunately, we had to get back to get ready for the concert, so we did not get to try any of their delicious looking tortes. Sad day. The concert was a pretty awesome experience though, and I’m so glad we did it. The music was beautiful, except for some minor out of tune notes, or movements (haha). The fact that the celloist was playing on a cello built in the 1750s was unreal to me. Hearing an instrument that old is an opportunity most people don’t get. The sound of the instrument was so pure and rich, and somehow different from the sound of today’s instruments. I know some people didn’t enjoy it as much as I did, but it was one of my favorite things we did in Vienna. Professor Waltz took us to an Irish Pub afterwards! I had my first white Russian (I know I should have drank beer but it’s just so bad) and it was SO good. I think I have found my favorite nighttime drink. I enjoyed getting to visit with Professor Waltz for a while along with everyone else! It ended up being a good way to end our excursion in Vienna.

              Our last morning there was very short. We quickly visited the Natural History Museum, and had time to hit some of the high points, one of them being a figurine from 36,000 years ago. That amount of time is practically incomprehensible to me. I sometimes even forget there were humans that long ago (not really, but sort of), so it’s incredible to me that we have an artifact from the time that these primitive humans were living. You don’t get to see stuff like that every day, or ever in most people’s cases. After this, we had lunch at a cute little restaurant across the street before heading to the bus station. Alana and I had planned to grab some gelato at the bus station before we headed off to Prague, per our usual afternoon routine. Sadly, after investigating our surroundings, we realized there was no gelato at the bus station, and it was quite tragic. Overall, Vienna was a beautiful city in which I very much enjoyed my time. In fact, I actually wish we had more time there, but there are only so many days. Such is life. Vienna was definitely one of my favorite Europeans cities I have visited. I can't decide which one takes the cake between Vienna and Prague, so we'll say they tie for now. For the record, they do however win the award for best Stracciatella gelato. We will see if they can maintain first place throughout the rest of my travels though. Game on.