After arriving from Milan and Zurich, quite literally, 20-30
minutes prior to our groups’ meeting time, it’s fair to say that my body was
not ready for Vienna. We had left to
Vienna and was taken onto our adventures. It is hard to admit that after
traveling from European country to country for weeks on end, the buildings and
architecture started to meld into a single entity. This was not as true with
Vienna, as I had noticed that the Eastern sides of Europe had a different
feeling. The next day, when Dr. Snobel arrived, I could not believe my eyes. I
had heard of him before, but really, I was star struck. He was really
knowledgeable about the history, especially for his ability to forsee the
future. When he had showed us his magical potions, that’s when I knew he had
really come prepared (my favorite being the gummy peaches with curing powers).
Once we proceeded to the Goulash museum, I had felt as if I was getting the
true Austrian experience. To me, food is an essential part of a country’s
culture and being immersed in traditional cuisine really put me in the proper
atmosphere. But, what really took me aback were the wax museum and the Fools
Tower. Simply the level of detail that was put into the wax exhibit was astonishing,
and having taken canine anatomy, it was interesting to see the comparison
between the human and dog (since I had never seen a human cadaver). What I wish
the exhibit included was an explanation on how the process worked to get the
wax structure, how the real organ was modeled to form the wax. Nevertheless, it
was incredibly impressive and a memory I will hold forever. In addition, the
Fools Tower, much to my surprise was incredibly interesting. The displays were
out of this world, by far the best one being the stuffed person. At first I
thought about it…oh yeah its just a stuffed person. But then the more that I
thought about it…oh my god it’s a stuffed PERSON. The tour guide was incredibly
knowledgeable, and I would honestly work there myself if I were in Vienna.
Psychiatry was never really my forte, but learning about the social aspects and
how the population dealt with the mentally ill was an eye opener. To know that
at one point a medial condition, a metabolic process that is under no control,
was punished on the same level as murder. We then continued onto our
educational ventures, including the classical concert. My biggest concern was
that my bronchitis would ruin the emotions and atmosphere of the beauty of the
music. My coughs, as I expected, was unfortunately adding to the beat of the
quartet. Nevertheless, it was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to
listen to classical music in the classical capital of the world. Once we had
visited the crypt, I surely had thought that being face to face with death
would be a lot more difficult than it was. As a future physician, I often think
about at what point in my life will I have a breaking point- what case will I
encounter that will strike me to my nauseous self? I have faced and heard of many
unfortunate events but I have yet to experience it. On the final day, we had
gone to the Freud museum. The only exposure I’ve had to Freud was the amount of
psychology and sociology I was forced to learn for the MCAT. I was familiar
with the Id, Ego and Superego theories and more of Freud’s ideas, but in this
house I was more interested in his personal life and how it contributed to his
work.
That
weekend I had headed to Budapest, Hungary. I had no real expectations, so when
I had arrived to our Airbnb which was located dead in the center of the city, I
was astonished. The city was full of life, with the majority of the population
having a younger demographic. The nightlife covered the whole city- with bars,
restaurants and clubs covering all the corners. In the morning, I had gone to a
(fake) cherry blossom café, that was covered in the trees. Next, we had trekked
to the famous thermal baths. It was like an outdoor pool that was about the
temperature of a hot tub. After being on the move nonstop it was a nice break
to finally sit and relax for a bit, floating in hot water. We had then gone
back to our airbnb to change for the highlight of the night: a sunset river
cruise. The view from the top floor was breathtaking, the sun’s rays beaming
over the parliament and city skyline. By the end of the cruise, the city began
to light up and with the last sip of champagne the excursion was over. On the
walk back to our hotel, we had stopped by a “thai massage” place that had those
fish that eat away the dead skin of your feet. After some convincing, I had
finally dipped my foot in the water. It’s as if there were microscopic fish
that tickled your feet. As a very ticklish person, it was about as equivalent
as torture. Okay, maybe not that bad, considering that my feet were about as
soft as a baby’s bottom afterwards. The next morning, we had left for Prague on
a bus that was accompanied by a mentally ill passenger, who was consistently
prodding at our presence. Nevertheless, after dragging our baggage uphill, we
had made it to the next Airbnb. Once we had settled our things, it was
lunchtime. As a person who enjoys being submerged in a cultural experience- I
had decided to eat the country’s popular food: Czech goulash. All was good
until I had noticed a rather round piece of what looked like fat. I kept poking
at it until it had rolled when I had noticed a clear iris and pupil. Yep, there
was an eyeball in my Goulash. Fast
forward four Chimney Cakes, a rip off at a restaurant, and an amazing view of
the red roofs later, I was finally home in Bonn after 2 weeks. Bonn was my home
away from home and I knew that it was time for my frail old sick body to
finally rest.
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