Vienna

For Spring Break, I was joined by my dear friend from Elon, Annie, who is studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain. She came to Madrid on Wednesday, March 28, in hopes that we could get a flight to Vienna that evening. The intent was that by switching our flight from Thursday to Wednesday, we would miss the complications in public transportation caused by the national strikes on Thursday, March 29. As it turned out, we were not able to switch our flight, so we spent Wednesday night at my house and left for Vienna, Austria on Thursday evening, March 29, just as we had intended.

We stayed at a hostel called “Do Step Inn,” which had pretty good reviews.

Our first night there was pretty interesting, to say the least. Despite my best intentions to get a full night’s sleep, I was interrupted countless times by various strangers, who were drunk, and who all spoke German. In their intoxicated state, they had no sense of courtesy to a) not turn on the light or b) keep their voices down. Luckily, I didn’t have to interact with them—we were only roommates for about three hours before they left. They were already gone by the time I woke up the following morning.

Friday, March 30 was the first real day of our adventure in Austria. Annie rides horses, so she was really exciting about seeing the Spanish Riding School, which is one of the only remaining influences of the Hapsburg Empire. Annie appreciates dressage the same way I appreciate dance. Therefore it was really exciting! We got to watch the “morning exercises,” and later we took a tour of the facilities and the stables.

Despite the rain, we spent Friday afternoon exploring the city.

We did a lot of sight-seeing on Saturday, March 31. In the morning, we walked around the market, the monuments, and the gardens of the Schönbrunn Palace.

Easter eggs being sold at the market in front of the Schönbrunn Palace

The Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

Roman Ruins in the Park at Schönbrunn

The Obelisk Fountain at Schönbrunn

Maria Theresa's Gloriette

View of the Palace

Neptune Fountain

 

Our next stop was to visit the Silver Collection, the Sisi Museum, and the Imperial Apartments of the Hapsburg Palace. So much history! It was really exciting, and quite fascinating. I definitely learned more about European history from my stay in Vienna than during an entire year of AP History in high school! I found it especially interesting when I was able to make connections with things from the audio-tour to other things I’ve learned about or seen since being in Europe, such as Marie Antoinette of Versailles, or the kings of Spain.

Prater Amusement Park was our last stop of the day, where we rode the Wiener Risenrad, or the Giant Ferris Wheel of Vienna. How fun!

On Sunday morning, April 1, Annie and I had tickets to go see the Vienna Boys’ Choir during mass for Palm Sunday.

And, here are the funniest/coolest pictures I took while in Vienna:

We caught a flight on Sunday night from Vienna, Austria to Venice, Italy. Each city felt like a new adventure, in itself!