A Tale of Two Cities

Vienna was absolutely magical. There is so much history packed into one place, I couldn’t even wrap my head around it all. I was amazed by Dr. Snobel’s wisdom guiding us through the city and I enjoyed fighting off the plague with various mysterious elixirs. My favorite part of Vienna was visiting the old psychiatric ward at the Josephinum. As we walked through I couldn’t help but feel a little eerie just thinking about all the people that once lived in those halls. I was amazed by all of the preserved specimens and wax models.  The specimen that really caught my eye was the preserved body of the little girl who died because she did not have the ability to sweat. I found it very interesting that her family requested that a face be painted on her body so that God would recognize her. It was also heart breaking to stare at the real body of a little girl who went through so much suffering. Another amazing part of our time in Vienna was visiting and having class in the Freud House. Once again, just being in the presence of that building made it impossible for me not to find myself placing myself back in time and picturing patients in and out of Freud’s office. The cherry on top to my time in Vienna was roaming around the city during our free time on Thursday. We roamed the areas surrounding the City Center and stumbled upon a beautiful garden. I felt like I was walking through a scene from Alice in Wonderland. There were bright roses throughout every inch of garden. We also found a man dressed as a leprechaun blowing bubbles where we found ourselves playing in them like little kids for about 10 minutes.

The end of my time in Vienna marked the beginning of a new adventure in Prague. The ride on the bus between the two cities was one of the most beautiful rides I have ever been on. I couldn’t help but stare out the window for hours just admiring the rolling hills and quant towns that we passed. Once we arrived in Prague I fell in love. I have to say Prague was my favorite city that I have visited so far. The architecture blew me away, I felt like I had traveled back in time. We hiked up to the top of the Prague castle where we found miles of red roofs and rolling hills—It was truly breath taking. We also went on a lovely boat ride along the river under the Charles Bridge and went to the Chocolate Museum where I could unleash my inner Willy Wonka and created some chocolate. Prague would not have been the same experience without the food. I had some of the best meals of my life there. It was Goulash, schnitzel, pizza, and pasta heaven. As saddening as it was to leave Prague, I found a little more beauty to top of the trip on the plane ride back to Bonn. As we took off, the sun was setting and I had the opportunity to watch the sunset for the next hour from thousands of feet above.

Traveling to two gorgeous countries this week was the experience of a lifetime, but returning to Bonn made me gain a greater appreciation for this city. Bonn really is beginning to feel like my second home. It is crazy how quickly this journey is passing by, and I cannot wait to see what more the next few weeks have in store.