Duesseldorf Digest and Bonn Blog: Thrivin' in Week 5'n

Monday, July 01, 2019

Thrivin' in Week 5'n

It really surprises me how much I am able to pack into one week. Munich over the weekend and then Vienna during the week for our second excursion led to many fun and unforgettable memories! It was sort of a rough start trying to get to Munich because our over night train got delayed 2 hours. We almost decided to stay in Bonn because we were so tired, but I am so glad we pushed through and finally made it around 9am on Saturday. Our first stop was the Neuschwanstein castle (aka the famous Disney Castle). The train ride over was scenic with a beautiful view of the Swiss Alps, and when we I saw the castle it was better than I could ever imagine. When we got back to Munich we decided to go to the Hofbrauhaus where I experienced what I think was true German culture for the first time. There were multiple bands playing, people were wearing Lederhosen and dirndl, baskets of pretzels and pints of beer were being passed out left and right...I was in heaven. The next day we went to historical concentration camp, Dachau. Being a crucial part in German History and a topic of discussion in the History of Medicine class, it was an eye opening and stomach churning experience to see the terrible conditions all of the prisoners had to suffer through during the time of Nazi Germany. Although an amazing experience, it was nice to lighten the mood and end this trip with a cold pint and sausage for dinner.

On Tuesday we left dark and early in the morning for Vienna. We were greeted by Dr. Schnabel who was definitely not Dr. Wasser in plague doctor attire and had the best tour of Vienna. The plague ran rapid in Vienna in 1679, so we learned about all of the different remedies and precautions people took in order to “protect” themselves as best as possible. From herbs like mint to urine of a small boy, I think we tried it all. After that we toured the catacombs in Michaelerkirche. It was believed that the closer one was buried to the alter the closer one was to God, so there are more than 4000 individuals buried at this sight. It was interesting and slightly spooky to see the mummified individuals as well as the different designs and materials used for the coffins. Our next stop was the Goulash museum where I ate incredibly too much but had the best goulash in my life! The next day we learned a brief history of drugs used in the past and present at the Drogistenmeuseum, and we had a free afternoon where I visited the Austrian National Library, ate lots of food and went to a small theme park. One of my favorite stops from this trip was the Narrenturm which was once a housing facility for individuals who had physical deformities, diseases and other illnesses and were thought to be insane. There are 5 levels of this museum which correlate to the 5 phases of the lunar cycle, or where the “lunatics” were kept. The wax figures were impressions from real people and were very detailed! On Thursday night, we all got dressed up and attended a concert at St. Anna’s Church. The acoustics and the warm musical tones from the stringed instruments sounded beautiful! My other favorite tour we had was of the Natural History Museum. Here we learned about all things from evolution to rocks from the moon and Mars. I could have spent a whole day just walking around and looking at all the displays. It was after this tour however that the trip came to an end, but I wasn’t too sad because I would be in Prague the next morning!