Week 5- Stop this Train

Vienna looks like cake

Let's give it up to train rides for bringing to me the most interesting and profound encounters. Encounters that are sometimes so wild that I could not dream them up. So here's a touching one I'll share with you. Last week we were traveling to Vienna to see some of the oldest medical schools and the beautiful collection of wax anatomical models that students studied, as well as the crypts at St. Micheal's and a classical concert. As you could have guessed we took a train from Bonn to Vienna. I sat with a couple of my friends at one of the four person tables and worked on homework as I listened to music. The seat next to the window was reserved for part of our travel so it was nice having no one next to me for most of the trip. I got to relax and just get some thoughts written down. Eventually we reached a stop and this little old man came and claimed his seat next to me. I was still trying to work on homework for a while but then the wifi wasn't working very well so I quit and pulled my earbuds out. After a while this man starting speaking to the three of us. But... he was speaking German and he didn't seem to understand when we would say "sprechen sie Englisch". He was very sweet and when he would say anything to us we would respond with "ja" or a nice laugh. 

A little later I noticed that the German guys behind us were switch to English occasionally so I turned around and asked if they would translate. One of the boys was brave enough to walk over and so he told our tablemate that we were students form America and we didn't speak any German. They both chatted for a while in German ( I still have no idea what they said), and then the boy told me that "well if you need anything else, ha, I guess you know where I find me" so I told him "yeah thanks I'll just... knock?" we both laughed and then I started to finish up a Belgium chocolate bar. I decided to share a piece with the old man, we'll call him Thomas. Thomas was soo excited and said "mmm lecher". He ate it and then started going through every single pocket in his brief case and pulled out an apple saying "I only have apples". Oh. My. Gosh. He totally knew English! I was shocked. I thanked him for the apple, and guys it was honestly really good.

Since my laptop was out I started showing him pictures of my family. I would pull up a picture of my mom and say "meine Mutter" and others "das ist mein Vater und Bruter" and he flipped through his wallet and would show me pictures of his wife and grandson.

Eventually he got more comfortable with his English, and I learned that his wife and both his parents had already passed away. His father had died in 1945 (the year World War Two ended), he was 88 years old, and he had many grandchildren who were all really tall now. We sort of had to play charades for part of our conversation, but it was fun. He told us that he learned English in school over 70 years ago, and it blew my mind that he still remembered what he did. It was such a profound shared communication and it really made my heart happy to be able to have a conversation with someone without actually having the words to say. I don't think I'll ever forget that experience.

In hind sight it was only fitting to have such a beautiful interaction on the train ride to Vienna- just foreshadowing all the good that would come out of this excursion. 

Dr. Schnabel

When we finished unpacking at the hotel that afternoon, we took a tour around Vienna with one of Dr. Wasser's colleagues- Dr. Schnabel. We were told that Dr. Schnabel was a plague doctor and would show us around the most medically relevant historical buildings in Vienna. We got to see one of the first medical schools in the city and some of the buildings that became plague hospitals, and some very important figures that were leaders in medical advancement like Paracelsus. Throughout the whole tour we were given various different "medicines that prevent or cure the plague" including various herbs, spices, and certain liquids. Fun fact, if your doctor noticed that you had bad looking pee, a great cure for this would be to drink the urine of a young child. Really effective for sure. Ew. In the end we were obviously aware that Dr. Schnabel was indeed our beloved professor Dr. Wasser. Surprise!

That night we ate dinner at the Goulash museum. It was so so good. Some of my friends ordered the horse goulash which I did try, but I got myself the veal goulash with spinach dumplings. I highly recommend also getting the chocolate goulash for dessert.

Goulash Museum

The next day was probably one of the best days in the entire program so far. We started out with the discovery that they actually do serve cake for breakfast in Vienna. Then we headed to the Josephinum. This is the building that hosts a couple thousand anatomical wax models that were used by the medical students in the late 1700s. The exhibit was beautiful. First of all, the artists had to analyze these cadavers for long hours to create such detailed and perfectly accurate models- shape and color. Second of all, it blew me away to get to see the different systems of the body displayed in such detail. The human body is truly a miracle, there are millions of molecules and tissues that work together to create a balance which we refer to as life. We were created so beautifully. My favorite exhibit were the exclusive obstetrical models. The waxes displayed the fetal development, the different forms of pregnancy (twins, triplets, etc), and the different positions a baby can be in the birth canal. Very fascinating. 

St. Anna's Church

It was only fitting that the very same night we would come to see a string quartet perform in a gorgeous church downtown. We walked into the golden inside of St. Anna's church and took our seats in the pews awaiting the performance of music by Mozart and Beethoven. Watching the quartet make this beautiful, dramatic, silky, tense, dynamic music brought me straight back to my days of performing in ensembles. I miss the hard work that turns into that type of beauty, the breathing and moving together, the excitement and the fun. I miss my ensembles and my cellist, pianist, and violinist. The improvement, the goofy rehearsals, the long rehearsals, the good Indian food, the inside jokes, and how we have been there for each other in some of the hardest times. Fun fact, I met the musicians after they played and they told me that Vienna has a doctors amateur symphony.

Back in the olden days.

Here's a video of the Schumann piece that we performed and won 1st in state the summer before my junior year of high school (4 years ago).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4_aE1CVr1s

When I got back to Bonn I visited the Beethoven Haus, a place in Bonn where Beethoven was born and grew up. It was an inspiration to walk in the home of such a man that I looked up to for so many years. Listening, performing, and living in his music. What an honor. What a reminder. You are never too (fill in the blank with excuse) to spend time doing what you love. Disclaimer- I do still play with the Texas A&M orchestra, but I don't play as much as I used to.

Beautiful cake at Cafe Central

Some other highlights from our trip were visiting the Fools Tower (also established by Joseph the second and is now home of the pathology museum), the Natural History Museum, and the Freud House.

Freud House

In all honesty I didn't immediately fall in love with the place, but over our time there the city grew on me and everything that happened there has a special place in my heart.

It is hard to process or fully express, but this trip pointed my eyes, taste buds (cake), and ears to the most exquisite and delicate parts of the world in which we live. The harmony and life blood of music, the perfect coordination of the quartet, the perfect balance and coordination of the human body, the tango of cake flavors, the attention to detail, the joy, and the true miracle of life.

"I am going to steal... the MOON!!!"