take it to the limit

week 2

Just a heads up, I've decided to be difficult and include Vienna and Prague in the same post. Buckle up.

On Tuesday, I woke up bright & early at exactly 5:45am (having gone to bed around midnight the night before, of course) so I could catch the bus and make it to Bonn Hbf, our meeting point, by 7:15am. I met everyone there and we then took the bus to the airport. After a little confusion about check in and our gate number, we made it onto the flight. Alana and I watched A Bug’s Life for the entire flight (another shoutout to mom) and finished it on the train from the airport to the city. We arrived at our hotel not too long before midday, got our rooms, dropped off our stuff and headed to the meeting point to meet up with Dr. Schnabel for our plague tour. So, we’re waiting for probably about 20 minutes, when this guy dressed in the outfit of a plague doctor walks up. And when I say dressed up, I mean he had the cloak, the stick, the hat, and even the beaked mask. Unfortunately for Dr. Schnabel, his jig was up the second he opened his mouth and we recognized Dr. Wasser’s voice. Regardless, it was quite priceless to see all of the looks he got from strangers during out tour and I definitely appreciated the effort (especially since he was walking around in 90-degree weather covered completely in black). Our tour led us all over Vienna and we learned a lot about the city via various statues, buildings, and even snippets of murals preserved on walls. It was beautiful. Vienna is one of those amazing cities that holds so much city and life at the same time. Like, in some areas, if you simply imagine different cars on the street, you’re transported to another time period. I’m not sure if I liked it as much as Munich, but Vienna had a great vibe. Along the tour, Dr. Schnabel/Wasser gave us what were used as “cures” for the plague during Vienna at the time it ran rampant. This included clove, a small vial of a young boy’s urine (aka almduddler aka a delicious soda), and a horrible vinegar that I could feel in my stomach for the next hour. After the city tour, we headed to Freud’s house-turned-museum where once again Dr. Wasser gave us a tour. The Freud house was such a unique experience and I loved how certain rooms were preserved to look just as they had when Freud lived there. According to Dr. Wasser, we were breathing in air and cigar exhaust that Freud had which was pretty surreal if you ask me. It was difficult to imagine the fact that THE Sigmund Freud walked where I did and thought of the museum as his home. I almost wish more of it had been left in its original state from when Freud lived in it, (obviously that is not possible) but I’ll take what I can get. Afterward, we headed to our group dinner at the Goulash Museum. Carter, Gabe, and I sat at a table, split a bottle of wine, and had a great time. Many laughs and stories were shared over beef goulash, bread, and of course dessert. We decided it was in our best interest to split the three desserts that sounded the best, so we had the chocolate goulash (chocolate soup with cake pieces), cut up pancake and fruit preserves, and an apple tart. Dinner was a grand time and over too soon and before long we were heading back to the hotel. That night, Emily, Alana, Gabe, Carter, and I made sure to listen to Prof. Waltz’s music assignments and of course we were completely focused the entire time, never goofing off or laughing our butts off once. Showers and bed soon followed. 

On Day 2, we actually got to sleep in a bit and didn’t have to be ready until 10:15am! From the hotel we walked to the Josephinum, which was extremely interesting. Our tour guide gave us a little history of the area and medical complex, as well as showing us old medical tools used to teach medical students back in the day. BUT, after this is when it got wild. Our tour guide led us into room after room of these amazing wax figures used to teach medical students. I don’t even know how to begin to describe them. The figures ranged from a single organ, to just the vasculature in a certain part of the body, to an entire body showing the digestive system, or lymphatic system, or nervous system. They were so incredibly detailed and intricate and absolutely stunning to look at and there were SO MANY of them. It was nuts. After we finished looking at the wax figures, we headed to a separate room in the Josephinum that was dedicated to the development of the artificial heart. Now this was super interesting to me, as I very well may go into research for artificial organs. We also got a pretty neat pamphlet that although I have yet to read, will probably be just as fascinating as the exhibit. We finished up at the Josephinum and headed to the Haus der Musik. Now THIS I was ready for. What with playing the piano for about 15 years, I was prepared to love our visit. Now, it was a little more composer-focused than I anticipated, but I still thought the exhibits were well put together with interesting displays and unique ways of conveying the information. However, probably the coolest thing there was the piano staircase. As you went up or down the stairs, you played a chromatic scale. I could’ve played on that thing all. Day. Long. Gabe and I wanted to make a chord, but alas the tour was moving on and we couldn’t get it to work quickly enough. At the end of our tour, we actually got to participate in a game of sorts where you held a composer’s baton, so I got to conduct the Vienna orchestra in Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, which is a piece I’m actually familiar with so that was very cool. During the tour, I came to the realization that I would love to see the New Year’s Viennese orchestra concert, but then I saw Julie Andrews in the video shown and realized my dream might be unattainable (ha). After we finished at the Haus der Musik, we went to the crypts where the Hapsburg family is buried. The sarcophagi were so intricately decorated (now I kind of want one) but the stories behind them were crazy. One story that was particularly crazy was about a young woman (Audrey Hepburn, according to Alana) who was trying to hide the fact that she was smoking from her father, so she put her cigarette behind her back and subsequently lit her dress on fire. Also, Maria Theresia’s sarcophagus was incredibly large. As in, three tons large. Lastly, we headed back to the Freud Museum for a lecture about Freud that was actually supposed to happen before we went into his house. I really enjoyed the lecture and found a lot of the information very intriguing, particularly about how he was able to escape the Nazis and that he was medically euthanized. Dr. Wasser took everyone to gelato once he finished his lecture and then we were let loose for dinner. Alana, Kathryn, Gabe, Carter, Hailey, and I all wandered around for probably what was half an hour before finally finding a place to eat, which ended up being pretty good. I talked a lot about volleyball with Kathryn and Alana, so naturally now I’m dying to play some volleyball but probably won’t until we get back. (Even now as I write this I want to play) We stayed at the restaurant for a long while and just chatted and talked before heading back to the hotel to hang out some more before going to bed. 

Day 3 had a bit of an earlier start. We immediately headed to the Narrenturm, which was the first psychiatric hospital. It was built in a circular format with 28 rooms per floor. This made sure that the moon never shone two nights a row into one room, as the moon was thought to cause the lunacy. Additionally, if someone escaped their room, they would run around in a circle and just end up back at their room. Now, it is a pathological and anatomical museum and an extensive one at that. The first two floors are just full of what are called wet or dry preparations. They consist of everything that a doctor had seen or could see and a way to train medical professionals. Once again, the spread of material covered was extensive. It ranged from skin lesions to breast cancer to conjoined twins. Unfortunately, the cylinder that usually held the body with situs inversus was unavailable, which was a pity. We finished up at the Narrenturm and went to lunch at Unibrau where I had this dish made of potato, goat cheese, and spinach, followed by a chocolate mousse. It was a really great lunch, and we found out that Henning has a tattoo of the Harry Potter dark mark on his arm with his initial and his brother’s. Next was our free afternoon. Alana, Gabe, Carter, Kathryn, Hailey, and I went to the palace where we toured the royal silver collection, the Sisi museum, and the royal apartment. I found the silver collection way too extravagant for just one family, and Sisi’s story was beautifully tragic, in how unhappy she was in the public eye and how she longed to get away, despite being one of the most beautiful and sought after people in Europe. Then we went to Demel, a pastry and chocolate shop established in 1786 for some sweet treats. A chocolate bar purchase later, we were making our way back to the hotel to get ready for the classical concert at St. Anne's. Unfortunately, I am bad at thinking ahead, so while it was super fun to look nice and actually put on makeup, I was a wrinkly mess, no matter how much I tried to "iron" it with Emily's straightener (thanks anyway, Emily!!). I really enjoyed the concert, but I'm afraid I was a little too focused on wondering about the physics of the sound in the space (and being frustrated with my lack of knowledge), so I did not get into the music as much as I hoped. No matter, it was still a really great experience and St. Anne's was a really neat place for it to be held. (Sidetone: only in Europe can you casually find beautiful, old, and ornately decorated cathedrals to randomly hold small concerts in.) Afterward, we all followed Prof. Waltz to an Irish pub, where after one drink and a pretty good time, Alana, Gabe, Emily, and I headed back to the hotel to get a head start on packing and more importantly sleeping. 

On our last day in Vienna, we all packed up our things bright and early into the hotel storage and headed to the Naturhistorisches Museum, where we saw the Venus of Willendorf, which is basically this tiny, fat, woman but it's 30,000 years old!! Honestly, my brain can't even fathom how old that is. We also saw dinosaur fossils and heaps upon heaps of stuffed animals, some of which were extinct. Once we finished up with our tour guide, we were free to go, so Alana, Kathryn, Miguel, Gabe, Carter, Hailey, and I all went to eat at this pretty delicious cafe. Afterward, Alana and Kathryn had to go (they were on the early bus), and Miguel, Gabe, Carter, Hailey, and I found a park to hang out in. We took baby power naps and rested a bit before heading back into town, particularly round two of Demel so that Miguel could get some chocolate. Next we went to the Adidas store for Carter and then decided to find something to eat. Unfortunately for me, somehow we decided on this restaurant called Sparky's (still cringing) and it was mediocre American food, but alas, the want of the many outweighs that of the few. We finished eating and went to the bus station which was actually connected to a mall. We grabbed some gelato, as we had an hour to spare, and then got on the bus. The bus ride was not horrible. I somehow got Carter to watch 500 Days of Summer (a chick flick and my favorite movie) with me, and he actually liked it!! The rest of the bus ride passed without much event, except for one teeny tiny little thing. So what I haven't disclosed up to this point is the trouble I had with the Airbnb. Me being a dumb American, I told our host that the first group of people on the early bus would be arriving at 7:30 and I would be arriving around 11:30 and I completely forgot to use 24 hour time. Our host then had a conflict in the evening and wasn't sure how we were going to check in, so I was pretty much internally freaking out at lunch thinking everyone would be sleeping on the ground outside until he came up with the easy solution of leaving the keys under the mat. My stress was delayed until around 8:00pm, when I was riding on the bus and received a GroupMe notification that there were no keys under the mat. Cue ground sleeping nightmare. I did end up getting it all sorted out--fairly quickly too--but the stress and the adrenaline from those brief minutes where it was all my fault that we didn't have a place to sleep at night stayed with me for the next twenty minutes. Looking back, it's pretty amusing how I had to literally calm myself down. Anyway, we made it to Prague around midnight and ended up in the subway station. At that hour of night, there were no ticket booths open, only kiosks. The only problem was we had no Czech money and even when we did withdraw the Czech money, it wasn't the coins that the kiosks required. Only bills. So, we ubered to our Airbnb which ended up being really nice. Finally getting to the Airbnb and knowing that everyone was safe and sound was probably one of the best feelings I've experienced on this trip. Lots of celebratory hugs ensued. 

Our first full day in Prague got a bit of a late start for those of us that were on the late bus, but we finally made it to the old town in late morning. We were actually just in time to see the oldest astronomical clock strike 11. Afterward we grabbed a bite to eat at a food booth, where we all learned that if you pay in Euros rather than the Czech currency, you're likely to get screwed. We then headed to an art exhibit that I was rather pumped to experience. It consisted of works from Dali, Warhol, and another artist I had never heard of named Mucha. I absolutely loved it! I've always been a fan of Dali and Warhol so it was a really cool surprise to just stumble upon the exhibit. Both of them I find extremely fascinating, with Dali's surrealism and strangeness and Warhol's off kilter but kind manner, and it's cool to see how it translates into their art. I even bought a Warhol inspired shirt. After we finished at the exhibit, we hiked all the way to the castle complex, stopping for juice and pictures of the amazing view on the way. Unfortunately, I found the castle itself to be a little underwhelming and poorly designed for human traffic flow when compared to other sights I've already seen. In addition, St. Vitus Cathedral was already closed for liturgical reasons. But am I still glad I went? Heck yes. That ended up taking most of the afternoon and we finally headed back down to the river to eat. We found this boat-turned-restaurant that served delicious food and drinks, and we had a great time as per usual. We decided to head to the Charles Bridge in hopes of having a beautiful sunset view, but all we got were some clouds. While it was a slight bummer, I still enjoyed hanging out on the bridge and talking music with Gabe and Alana. Afterward, we headed to get some dessert. We found a place that served one of the most magnificent things I've tasted on this trip. It was basically an ice cream cone with strawberries and chocolate syrup, but instead of having a regular cone, it was made of a spiral doughnut (I believe the correct word is Trdelnik (turtleneck?)), and oh man was it delicious. We ate our undeniably delicious treat and headed back to the Airbnb. We hung out for a little bit before heading back to town to experience an ice pub, and I'm glad I did! That was truly...unique. If you get what I'm saying. We returned to the Airbnb soon afterward and went to bed in good time. 

For our last day in Prague, we woke up yet again on the later side, but we all somehow managed to get ready and packed by 11:15am so I was proud of us. We headed to town and ate at a little cafe that served pretty delicious flatbreads. Unfortunately, I somehow missed the fact that mine had a giant cracked egg on it (yuck), so I ended up giving half of my flatbread to Gabe and Carter to consume. After almost getting caught in the rain, we headed to a chocolate museum, which wasn’t as amazing as one would hope, but we got a good amount of chocolate out of it so I’m not complaining. However, one thing that was really cool was watching two guys make pineapple candy. They started with such a huge cylinder of sugar and ended up making tiny little pieces. It was very strangely artistic, and I could’ve watched it all day. Afterward, we decided to head to the airport and probably after what felt like approximately four hours of traveling underground we made it to the airport...super early. But it was alright and I FaceTimed the mother and the boyfriend. We made it through security, got a quick bite to eat (that was actually much more delicious than expected), and got on the plane. The rest of the way home was fairly uneventful, except for a bit of a rush to the Cologne to Bonn bus, but we made it back at not a horrible time. EXCEPT for the fact that I took the night bus for the first time and not only did I wait for it for 40 minutes, but I also found out that my stop is 31 of 40, so it took quite a bit of time to get home.

You know, I really liked Vienna and Prague. Vienna had such a charm about it, and Prague was honestly pretty dang cool for a city that I knew pretty much nothing about going in. This was probably one of the more strenuous weeks, but we pushed the limits and had a really great time. 

JMD