I can't believe that week 5 is done and gone with, not only because it means were entering the end of the Germany journey but because this week was unlike any other week so far. This week started out like any other with a normal class day. We got let out early from class so of course that meant the Birkenstock outlet needed to be visited! This place was such a blessing on this country, discounted Birks are a rarity but in Germany they had thousands of pairs to choose from! After spending a few hours shopping we headed back to central Bonn to visit the beer garden for what might be the last time. We stayed, we drank, we ate, we talked and then we all went our separate ways to embark on the rough journey of packing our suitcases and making them under 17 pounds for our upcoming flight to Vienna. Once the packing had been accomplished with a good amount of rearranging the suitcase was sufficiently underweight. By the time packing was done we had approximately 6 hours until our 4 am taxi call that we were about to endure. Waking up at 3 am is actually low key easy when it comes with the perks of flying to Vienna for a week. I still don't know how it happened but somehow we all made it to Vienna not only on time but with very minimal hiccups along the way.
The first day in Vienna after we touched down was go go go from the start! We found our way to the hotel where we quickly dropped our bags, grabbed our water bottles, because I swear it was never below 95 degrees that week, and set out on our city walking tour! This included a very detail oriented tour given to us by the one and only Dr. Schnabel in his full on plague attire and everything. On this journey we learned about the different medical aspects of the city as well as some plague remedies and history. After our tour we indulged ourselves in some lunch along with some very good pastries. After lunch we had a lovely tour St. Michael church as well as a tour of the crypts that are below it. At the end of the tour we were taken to a dinner at the Goulash Museum to eat some Austrian Goulash and dessert which was phenomenal. This delicious food and dessert made it pretty easy to want to just fall asleep instantly but of course "you can sleep when you're dead" so why not have some fun! After getting back from dinner that night a shower was actually the only thing in the world that I wanted in that moment. But after the shower a group of some of us staying in the same building got together for a few rounds of spoons before finally heading to bed that night.
Wednesday morning started with a quick breakfast before we headed to a cathedral as well as an old medical school that was transformed into a museum to walk around the grounds before heading off to the Drogistenmuseum. This pharmacology museum was run by retired pharmacologists which made the tour in general very knowledgeable and interesting to see them talk about the history of their own professions. After this tour we headed to a market in the middle of Vienna for some very cheap but delicious lunch. We got to walk around the city for a while which was good until the feelings of dehydration took effect. But we quickly made our way to the national library in Vienna to walk around a cool space and take in more history of the city. Our next stop after this was a very fancy cafe called Cafe Central which had very beautiful and historical architecture and amazing chocolate cake for us to indulge ourselves in. After this long day walking around in the sun we all headed back to the hotel to take a little break from the sun and nap until later when we decided on dinner. We went to a fabulous Indian restaurant followed by a bar called Loos. And like not the brag or anything but not only was I in the same room that Brangelina and George Clooney had been in before but also Mick Jagger! This bar was very aesthetically pleasing but also had drinks that were phenomenal. We spent a few hours here before all heading back to the hotel for an early night to catch up on sleep.
Thursday morning our first activity was the tour of the Narrenturm. The narrenturm is a building in Vienna that was once used to house and treat mentally, physically, and emotionally ill patients. We went on a tour of the floor which stored wax models of the body parts affected by disease of actual patients that once stayed on those grounds. After this tour we went to a lovely Pakistan restaurant and indulged in the buffet they had set up there. We were then given time to nap before heading off to the Freud house to look around the set up of what his actual office looked like with the exact furniture and trinkets he had present at the time of his practice. This evening then turned to another break where we were given time to shower and nap before heading off to St. Anna Church for a string concert. Everyone was dressed to impress before we all headed to Burger King to grab food before the concert started. This concert was an hour long with pieces of Mozart as well as Haydn. When the concert ended we were all released to do as we pleased for the evening. A group of us headed to a bar close to the hotel before finding somewhere we could all go dancing at. Once we were all exhausted from dancing we headed back to the hotel to pack up everything for our last day in Vienna.
Friday was our last day to be in Vienna but that didn't stop us from going on excursions at all. We started the morning with some Tai Chi in the park before heading over to The House of Music. This museum had interactive properties of it that made it all the more fun to visit and take part in. We got toured around and learned about those that were the essential beginning of music that we know today. Lunch was the next thing on our agenda but after this we headed to the Natural History Museum where were toured around and got to see animals of all species, old and new, as well as minerals and asteroids and everything else to due with nature. This was sadly our last stop in Vienna before we loaded onto a plane and flew off the Budapest!
To start out in Budapest we arrived on train not that late but still late enough for the darkness to be out. First thing was first and we checked into our hotel before headed out onto the streets to have some food and a drink. We found this quaint restaurant that had great food and even greater music blasting throughout it. After our food and drink we headed back to the hotel for an early night so we were rested up for the day to come.
Saturday started nice and late with a wake up call of 10 am. We headed to breakfast at the hotel where we actually met an anesthesiologist and a pediatrician from upstate New York. We talked to her for a good amount of time and received some very good advice and tips for the future to follow. After departing from this breakfast we headed out to do some sight seeing. We started with the Shoes on the Danube Bank; this is the placement of shoes on the bank of the river running through Budapest that are from Jews that were executed during World War II. After this we stumbled upon the Hungarian Parliament building which was absolutely gorgeous but filled with historical events and memorials. After our visit to parliament we decided to head across the river to the Buda part of Budapest. We walked around the Castle District visiting the Fisherman's Bastion before heading to the Buda tower and then the Castle of Buda along with the buildings that house the natural history and art museums in the city. We also stumbled upon a Michelin star restaurant at some point for lunch which deserved that star 100%. The food was phenomenal as well as relatively cheap. After all our walking around the city of Buda we headed back to the hotel where 45 minute naps turning into 2 hour naps. Even then we still got out in time for a lovely dinner followed by the exploration of ruin pubs such as Szimpla which housed about 12 or so different bars, after exploring this place and meeting so great people we headed to another ruin pub called Instant that had a great dancing environment that suckered us in.
Technically Sunday started while the night was still going on because we didn't end up leaving these ruin pubs until approximately 4:30 in the morning. Somehow we still got a good amount of sleep before heading off to the Széchenyi Thermal Baths that are famous in Budapest. We spent a few hours just floating around in a mix of indoor and outdoor pools that each had there own beautiful aspects. After attempting to dry off we headed to a great pastry shop that was home to a Hungarian pastry called chimney cakes. The spirals of bread were filled with ice cream and made for the perfect last meal in Budapest. The day was going so well until we then went back to the hotel to retrieve our bags and somehow I got trapped in the bathroom in the basement of the hotel. This required about half an hour of banging on the door until finally I was let out. We headed straight to the airport after this disaster where we sat for 4 hours because our flight just kept getting delayed. But it gave me time to write my paper due for class so I guess there's a silver lining to everything. These delays gave us an arrival time of about 1 am so were starting the last week in Germany on a very tired note but let's see if I make it all the way without taking too many naps. See you soon America!
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