Time is an Illusion

Countryside of Salzburg

It’s Thursday, right? Extended weekends always mess me up. When I returned from the break, my weekly rhythm was disrupted. Monday felt like a Sunday, Tuesday felt like a Monday, and so on. I hope that Friday still feels like a Friday. Speaking of extended weekends, I spent mine in Salzburg. For some, they might ask what is Salzburg? Where is Salzburg? Why is Salzburg? Others know exactly what I am talking about. Salzburg is a city in Austria with forty seven churches, bordered by beautiful mountains, and the birthplace of a famous composer. But these were not the reasons I visited the city. Move aside Mozart, I’m here for The Sound of Music!

Mirabell Gardens

The hills were alive as I toured the city in search of every filming location accessible to the public. I saw the gazebo, both Von Trapp houses, the gardens from “Do-Re-Mi”, Nonnberg Abbey, and much more. I also tried schnitzel and apple strudel and now understand why they are Maria’s favorite things. While the trip was mostly about The Sound of Music, I did some other cool things. I visited multiple lakes and mountains throughout the region and took a segway tour of the city center. And, yes, I did visit Mozart’s birthplace and listened to some of his music. The craziest thing that happened was on the flight back to Bonn. My flight was only an hour long, but about ten minutes after take off, a giant moth appeared. This thing was HUGE. It rained terror down upon the passengers of flight EW 277. My only weapon was the safety instructions card located in the seatback pocket. Luckily, the flight attendant was able to capture the creature before any real damage was done.

Apple Strudel with Vanilla Ice Cream

Even though I got back at a decent time Monday night, I was super tired getting up the next day. German group A had our hospital visit and I think we were a mix of exhaustion, nerves, excitement, and sweat (Bonn is getting pretty hot). We were split up into different groups to go see different surgeries. The surgery I witnessed was a gallbladder removal. I did feel a little faint but was able to stay through the whole surgery. One one the nurses, however, almost fainted and was quickly escorted to a rolling chair then rolled out of the room.

Wednesday was our last German class with Hilde. We had our normal class activities of answering Hilde’s questions and filling out worksheets, but since it was our last class, we got to play the board game Guess Who. The catch: we could only speak German. This was no ordinary game of Guess Who. The teams debated the best route to victory. Every question and probability of success was calculated. Hilde watched as we weeded out potential candidates based on hair color, gender, facial hair, and other factors to discover the culprit. In the end, the teams tied.

This week has been nonstop excursions. Besides the hospital, we also visited an organ maker and a museum of anesthesiology. I thought organs were just fancier versions of piano that use the pipes to create sound and though I was partially correct, I was also wrong. Organs are very complicated and now every time I visit a church, I will know the true work of art was the organ. The anesthesiology museum had a lot more stuff than I was expecting. My favorite parts were the iron lung and the hospital room for the 1930s.

Tomorrow, we go on another excursion to Bingen and I just hope the weather is decent. I don’t really have plans for the weekend, but next week we are going to Vienna.

Can’t wait!