When in Vienna!

The last several days of our trip were spent in Austria. We took an overnight train from Hannover to Vienna. This was quite an experience. I was actually very amused by it. We had reserved beds for the entire group. There were 6 beds in one compartment. This meant that 6 people, with all of their luggage had to fit in as 8ft X 8ft closet. There were three beds on each side stacked on top of each other. After about an hour of manipulation, we finally fit all of our luggage into the compartment and laid on our beds. I think that an overnight train to Vienna was a good idea. We didn’t have to go through all of the security needed at an airport. Considering the circumstances, I actually got a good night’s sleep. I woke up a few times but overall it was good.

In the morning the train travelled through the Austrian countryside. It was gorgeous. It looked just like the scene from the Sound of Music where Julie Andrews is singing in the hills. The first thing we did when we finally arrived was go to the hotel to freshen up. Then it was time to explore. Throughout the week we went to visit the hospital to learn about the German medical system, the Sigmund Freud museum, the anatomy museum with thousands of wax models, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and the Natural History Museum. The most interesting thing for me was seeing all the wax models. These were used by Medical students many years ago. It was unbelievable how detailed and accurate these models were.

One of the weirdest this that happened in Vienna was one night at our hotel a little boy walked into our room. We had forgotten to lock the door one night and in the middle of the night I woke up to someone walking in my room. I thought that my roommate had gotten up to go to the bathroom, but then she turned around to go back to the bathroom. Weird. Then the little boy came back and tried to get in the bed. That’s when we realized that it was a little boy. He was crying and looking for his mom. We went down the hall to find her, but she was nowhere to be found. As we were walking downstairs we ran into his mom. So moral of the story is always be sure to lock your door, you never know who will walk in.

I really enjoyed Austria. I think that the countryside is very beautiful. However, I did not stay long enough to decide if I liked it better than Germany. We were in Germany for so long that it almost felt like home. One of the things that I really liked about Vienna was their transportation system. It was easy to maneuver. It was probably the easiest city to get around. Even though I liked Vienna a lot, it will be very nice to finally go home.