I walked through Vienna about 50 times

 This past week involved going on the excursion to Vienna and then staying in Vienna for the weekend. To address the title of the blog post, it did simply feel like I walked through Vienna an insane amount of times. During the days of the excursion, it seemed that we somehow always ended up in front of St. Stephan's Cathedral or the Hofburg Palace. I am certainty not complaining, but this speaks to a larger theme on the trip. I have been awestruck by the amount of history and beauty that I see so frequently. From the rolling hills along the Rhine River to the canals of Amsterdam and the ornate luxury of Vienna, it has all been simply astounding and truly remarkable all the time

While I could detail all the events that took place in Vienna, I don't think I will. I could detail highlights and share cool pictures of places or things that were simply amazing, but I will simply share how I felt and what was most important to me. It may be a very stream-of-consciousness type of blog, but frankly I don't care at all what people think of Vienna experience.

The trip is split into two parts: the actual excursion run by the program and the weekend I spent in Vienna. The first part of the trip was highlighted by a visit to the Fool's Tower with several anatomical models that were quite interesting to say the least, a walking tour of the city by the seriously cool Dr. Schnabel, the group dinner at the traditional Vienna restaurant, and a trip to the Belvedere palace. The Belvedere palace was quite unique because it was really an art museum. The palace was quite beautiful, but I was surprisingly moved by the masterpiece by Gustav Klimt entitled "The Kiss". This piece of art was amazing and really got me to think in a way that I didn't think it would.

The second part of the trip involved an easier and much more relaxed weekend trip. While I loved the week in Vienna, the weekend was so relaxing because we played things by ear and just went with the flow. I didn't feel the pressure to do everything in the time that we had and actually give my body the rest it deserved. One highlight I will mention is the Albertina Art Museum, and the Hans Weigand exhibit which had a unique style that really appealed to me. The theme of the over encompassing power of the wave in conjunction with Weigand's unique style on the wood medium were just breathtaking. The countless walks through the Naschmarket allowed us to explore a different side of Vienna that we didn't get to see during the week.

The first picture is me on the steps outside the Albertina Museum. The steps actually show a famous Monet painting that is in the museum. The second picture is of the Church that we went to during the string quartet. The last picture is a picture of the restaurant that we went to as a group on the first night, which offered a great opportunity to grow in relationships with a lot of the group.