Several Weeks of Beating the Heat

A late night train back from the Northern Island of Norderney was not terrible. I arrived home around 1:00 in the morning: just enough time to throw some laundry in the wash so I’d have clean clothes for the flight heading to Rome the next day. A bit of a tight squeeze travel wise but it wasn’t too terrible. What was an adjustment was the temperature stepping out of the Fiumicino Airport in the city of Rome. It was 94 degrees Fahrenheit with a sun beating directly down, which was a physiological shock after the cold waters of the North Sea.

We bolstered through the heat and made our way to dozens of landmarks in just three or four days. The Friday night we arrived was the day of my 21st birthday, and we celebrated it well in a cozy and cute restaurant we found with various meat and cheese plates and the best pesto lasagne I have ever had. Waking up early the next day to tear through the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, The Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, and a dozen souvenir shops in between, all under the blazing sun was absolutely an experience. Taking a relative break Sunday to see free sights like the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, a cat sanctuary on the site of Julius Cesar’s assassination on a day that was somehow hotter still was great too. Running through the Vatican Museum on Monday morning with barely enough time to see Michelangelo’s esteemed Sistine Chapel before bolting to make our flight on time was an appropriate end to a weekend absolutely jam-packed with amazing things. Four sweaty days later I was back in Bonn.

The visiting of the Orgelbau Klais group organ manufacturers and observing real-life surgical processes for the first time were both experiences worth meriting blog posts of their own, but they were both done before I even knew they happened and a Friday excursion to Bingen that left me with the deepest V-neck tan-line I have ever received reminded me that as hot as it could get in Rome, Germany was not to be outdone in the amount it can be affected by climate change (read: it was hot).

A relaxing weekend in Bonn later it was time to get back out with the group. Everyone’s departure to Vienna came at 4:10 AM Tuesday morning and soon we were in Vienna: a beautiful place with amazing medical history and yet another city with a sun that seemed to stare directly down on its citizens with a divine fury. I happily sweat my way through every tour, museum, Käsekrainer, and bar I enjoyed though, Vienna was amazing and I was just happy to be there.

Budapest finally ended this entire saga as a beautiful and well needed cherry on top of an ornately decorated cake made from dehydration and exhaustion. A quick bus from Vienna was all it took to arrive at the Hostel One Basilica, and I immediately loved the location. Right by a huge lit up Ferris wheel that we immediately bought tickets for, the entire place seemed lit up with lights and the night life. Touring beautiful views like the Danube cutting through Buda and Pest, the Fisherman’s Bastion, the Parliament all added to the amazing experience that was some of my last weeks here in Europe.