Eastern Europe and the Beautiful Game

Week 5 may have introduced me to my absolute favorite places in the world. We traveled to Vienna, Bratislava, Ljubljana, and Zagreb. It pains me to type “Week 5” because I know that means my time in Europe is coming to a close. I am truly torn between wanting to go home, and wanting to extend my time here. 

This week had quite the early start. I woke up at 5 am in order to catch my bus at 5:15. We were leaving on a 6 am train to Vienna and I did not want to miss it. This early morning came fresh off a late night return to Bonn from Switzerland and my body was TIRED. Luckily, I had a full 8 hour train ride to rest. 

That first day in Vienna was quite the treat. We had a historical city tour by one of Dr. Wasser’s colleagues named Dr. Schnabel ;-). Dr. Schnabel was dressed as a plague doctor, with a beak-shaped face mask and robes. The tour was a great way to introduce us to Vienna and its vast medical history. After the tour, we had a group dinner at the “Gulaschmuseum” which turns out is not a museum. I had some incredible Viennese red wine, and horse goulash. Goulash is basically a beef stew, and the traditional Austrian style is made with horse meat. When in Vienna right??? 

Roomie pic with Dr. Schnabel

Day Two saw us see some incredible wax figures at the Josephinum. These figures were all anatomical, and for educational purposes 200 years ago. They were extremely accurate, and insanely well preserved. Sadly, we could not take any pictures of them. After, we visited the St. Michael’s Crypt. According to Dr. Wasser this was the best crypt in the city, and we could easily see why. The church was beautiful, there were areas for noble burials, and there were 4 well-preserved mummies in the crypt. 

We had some free time after, and like true Texans, we sought out some Mexican food. The meal was great, but our waitress was the true highlight. We found out she rode horses, and had been to Texas (Ft. Worth) 5 times, and had to been to all of the major cities. She was so kind, so we took a Texas pic with her! 

The best waitress in all of Vienna

That night, we all put on our best clothes, and went to a string quartet concert in a Baroque style church in Vienna. The Church was stunning, and the music was beautiful. The last Mozart movement brought me to tears lol. Being able to hear Beethoven and Mozart’s works in the city they were composed had me ~slightly~ geeking out. 

Day Three in Vienna brought us to the Fool’s Tower. (Hello Stephen if you’re reading this ;-)). This was one of Europe’s first mental health hospitals, located in Vienna’s historical healthcare district. It was a very cool museum displaying thousands of medical oddities and syndromes. After the tour, I went to the large outdoor market for some delicious Asian noodles and sushi with Catherine and Megyn. We then met back up with the group to visit the Natural History Museum where we learned about dinosaurs, minerals, and touched dinosaur poop. 

The grad assistant to my organization Class Councils was in Vienna, so I met up with her to grab a not so quick dinner. It was so nice to talk about this upcoming year while sharing our stories of our different European adventures we’d had this summer. 

Our last day in Vienna was dominated by Sigmund Freud. Again, learning about Freud where he lived and practiced made everything much more interesting. After the Freud lectures, Jen, Megyn, and I had a quick lunch and gathered our things for our bus to Bratislava. 

Everything was smooth until the map took us to the complete wrong location. Luckily, buses leave every hour so we were not too inconvenienced. We even got to take a $4 Uber in a Tesla!!! I think I speak for all three of us when I say that we fell in love with Bratislava right when we got off the bus. It was unlike any European city we’d seen so far. It felt super quaint, while still having incredible history and architecture. That night, we actually stumbled upon a Slovakian fashion show in the middle of the main square of Bratislava! It looked super legit and I’m 99% sure we saw a famous Slovakian without even realizing it. 

The highlight of Bratislava was just being able to take a turn down a winding alley and come out on the other side to a beautiful building. Everything was colorful, including a pink building and a blue church. The windows were all surrounded by colorful tiles. There were random statues everywhere that were humorous, historical, or just weird. I can honestly say that I wish I had more time there, but it was time to get to Ljubljana! 

We were so tired after the bus to Ljubljana, that we just got McDonald’s and retired to our airbnb. In our defense, it was a 6 hour bus ride, we woke up early that day to see Bratislava, and it was already 10:30 pm and dark. When we woke up the next day, we headed straight for central Ljubljana. This might’ve been the most Europe feeling city we’ve been to. The narrow streets, painted buildings, quaint bridges over the narrow river, and accordion players gave this city a special feel. After an incredible Asian noodle lunch, we went up to Ljubljana castle. We splurged on the funicular and full castle experience, and it was totally worth it. The Slovenian history museum was super interesting, but the dragon room and view from the top of the castle made the experience one of a kind. After, we just chilled at several different restaurants along the river. We watched France and Argentina play, we ate some pasta, and we capped off our adventure with some cake and ice cream. This is another city that I wish I had more time in, but we had to catch our early bus to Zagreb (even though it was late and we skipped breakfast for nothing). 

On top of Ljubljana Castle

Our day in Croatia began with a border crossing. Since Croatia is not in the Schengen area of passport control, we had to get our passports stamped leaving Slovenia, and entering Croatia. We made a quick pit stop to drop our bags off at lockers in the central train station. It was time to hit the city!

Zagreb held many surprises. We saw the sites, and then foresaw an uneventful day ahead. And then our flight was delayed until midnight. That gave us plenty of time to watch the Croatia vs. Denmark game in the city center. This was one of the coolest experiences of my life. We watched a concert by a Croatian band. The entire crowd new all the words to their songs, so they might’ve been famous. The Croatian National Anthem played, and I got chills as everyone around me belted it with pride. When Croatia scored in the 4th minute, the crowd went wild, and it was impossible to not feel like a local Croat. I got beer thrown on me, but I didn’t even care, because I was jumping and screaming with everyone else. We had to leave the center shortly after to get to the airport, but we watched the penalty kick shootout in a bar in the airport. 

Zagreb City Center after the tying goal!!!

The coolest part about all of this was the locals that took us in as their own. The World Cup, and sports in general, carries such a sense of community. In the city center and the airport bar, it didn’t matter that we weren’t born and bred Croatians. All that mattered was that we were with them, sweating, yelling, hearts pounding, cheering on their countrymen. 

This weekend brought a new surprise around every turn. I will always enjoy looking back on this weekend as the most random of my life, yet one of the most exciting and fulfilling. Late buses, missed buses, and a VERY delayed flight back to Bonn couldn’t damper my mood, as I sat in the airport grinning after watching a thrilling victory. Soccer really showed this weekend as to why it’s called the beautiful game.

Next week is my final week, and I am very excited to see what Berlin, Luxembourg, and the final 2 days in Bonn have in store for me.