Mozart and Freud were Wieners

During the fifth week of stay in Europe, I learned why air conditioning and ice in drinks are the real reasons that America is so successful. The European struggle to properly deal with any temperature above 60 degrees Fahrenheit has been the true cause of America's success since the beginning of Global Warming (better term is global climate change, but I digress). Conversely, the American adaptations to hot hot heat have obviously been the reason that some of our people have yet to realize that this phenomenon is occurring. To them, I say spend any amount of time doing a walking tour of a beautiful European city, then try to find a way to cool down. Spoiler alert, its impossible.

During the week, we spent our Monday learning about the brain, specifically the pathways auditory information takes to be processed, before a lecture about the Nuremburg Trials. Both topics were interesting, but the Nazi information was very weighty, especially proceeding a visit to a city where the Nazis were welcomed with open arms. The bulk of the week was spent in Vienna, or Wien. We spent 4 days among the Wiener people, learning about the ways their city dealt with the Black Plague, Nazi "occupation", the treatment of their Jewish community, and seeing their beautiful churches, universities, and artwork. The visits to the insane asylum turned specimen gallery and the catacombs were good examples of the Wieners' affinity for death. The day dedicated to Freud was my favorite, and moved my buddies and I to smoking a cigar in honor of Freud before experiencing a string quartet playing Mozart and Hayden in a spectacular church that evening. After all, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Leisure time for the week was good, too. Blake and I woke up early to do an outdoor workout on a street gym, consisting mostly of dips and pull-ups on what amounted to monkey bars. We also ate the world's most famous Wiener Schnitzel, which was delicious. Many members of our group went to the fair late one evening, which was fun. Seeing the rides lit up was a perfect backdrop for me and Blake to get matching neck tattoos.

The weekend was spent in Prague. The city was spectacular, with architecture like I had never seen. There was a pub that had been opened in 1357 below the spectacular St. Vitus Cathedral, which contested the cathedral we saw in Vienna for the title of most spectacular. The food was good too, with coffee and waffles from Coffee and Waffles and chimney cake with ice cream tying for the lead. At an antiques store, Blake and I were shown a collection of Nazi knives that the curator had assembled. They were gorgeous pieces, and the history of the city was very apparent as the man said that the passing Jewish men would spit on the windows because of the artifacts being there. Also, a pub crawl that was more of a club crawl was an evening event, and one girl even fell in love with a 14 year old boy named after a cow.

All in all, the week was only marred by the 10,000 degree heat and lack of cold places to gain respite. Someone in the EU, make it a law to have A/C.