Vienna.

I finally have time to write about my recent travel! Actually, most of this was written going to/from Freiburg, and I now have time to transcribe it to my blog.

Day one (Friday):

We arrived in the early evening and found our hostel, which was a fair ways outside the city center, despite being named Meininger, City Center. However, it was right next to the subway, making everything really accessible. Then we found some cheap food near the hostel. I am not sure if it was just because I was really hungry, but the €2 schnitzel sandwich I had was amazing. Then we went to see all the major sights in the city center lit up at night. These include the Stephansdom (big cathedral), the Peterskirche (baroque church), the Hofburg Palace (home of the Habsburg dynasty), the Rathausplatz (city hall square), and Parliament. There was a carnival going on in the Rathausplatz (complete with cheesy music), which seemed a little out of place among the Gothic architecture. After that, we called it a night.

Day two (Saturday):

We got breakfast at a bakery and then repeated the circuit we had made the previous night to see the buildings during the day and go inside. The interiors of the Stephansdom and Paulskirche are stunning, though for completely different reasons. The Stephansdom is a Gothic cathedral, so the interior was airy and austere. On the opposite end of things, the Baroque interior of the Peterskirche was opulent and gilded. You will probably not be surprised to learn that I prefer the former style. While in the Hofburg, we visited the Ancient Arms and Armor Museum and the Ancient Musical Instruments Museum (strangely enough, in the same building). Most of both these collection comes from the private collection of the Habsburg dynasty. We got bratwurst from a street stand for lunch and headed to the UN headquarters in Vienna. Unfortunately, this is closed on the weekend, so we headed to the Mozarthaus. The Mozarthaus (where Mozart lived for a while in Vienna) cost a fair amount of money; since we didn't have that much time to view it and had already spent money on the earlier museum, we decided not to go in.

The Ancient Arms and Armor and Ancient Musical Instrument Museums are part of the Kunsthistorisches (Art History) Museum, so our ticket also got us into that museum. So, we headed back to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. However, we were sidetracked by a companion protest to Occupy Wall Street. My companions decided to follow the protest into the Hofburg Palace courtyard, but I decided to go inside the Kunsthistorisches Museum. We only had a little bit of time because we wanted to get a nice dinner that night and go to a concert. So, I was only able to see the entryway and the temporary exhibit of ancient coins. The entryway to the museum is incredibly gorgeous, and it was really interesting to look at coins from various points in history and compare them with modern coins. We followed through with our plan and had a nice dinner. I got another schnitzel, this time a real Wiener Schnitzel, in the sense that it was veal. In case you are unaware, the reason I tended toward schnitzel while in Vienna is because Wiener (English: Viennese) Schnitzel originates in Vienna. Then we went to an organ concert in the Peterskirche. It was a good concert - not the best organ playing I have ever heard, but the setting was very beautiful - after which we hung out for a while at a nearby pub.

Day three (Sunday):

Two of my companions, Cory and Ashley, and I decided to attend mass at the Stephansdom. We was a beautiful service, even though we couldn't understand most of it (them even less than me, because I could pick out a few words). We left after about an hour in the intermittent flow of tourists. Then we headed to the Schönbrunn Palace - the summer residence of the Habsburgs. The palace is aptly named - its name translates as "beautiful fountain" - the palace is very beautiful indeed. Being poor, cheap study abroad students, we decided not to pay for entrance into the palace but just explored the grounds, which are well worth exploring. We were able to stroll for several hours enjoying the tree lined avenues and various fountains. Then I departed from Cory and Ashley to head to the opera!

The Vienna State Opera was at one point the pinnacle of opera world, and is still among the top opera houses in the world, and I got to see Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) which is one of Mozart's most famous operas. It was AMAZING! Everything about it - the singing, the acting, the sets, the lighting, etc. - were very, very well done. There was an added bonus: I was hoping to catch a performance of the Vienna Boys Choir, but that was cost prohibitive. However, there are three youths in Die Zauberflöte, who were played by three boys from the Vienna Boys Choir. So in a way, I did get to see a performance of the Vienna Boys Choir. After the opera I met up with Cory and Ashley to explore the Karlsplatz, which is a park with a beautiful church, the Musikverein (concert hall), and other impressive buildings around it. Then we called it an early night.

Day four (Monday):

We started the day by checking out of the hostel and going to the Wittgensteinhaus (the house of a famous mathematician - we are math students after all). Unfortunately, the Wittgensteinhaus has been turned into an art gallery, so that was a little bit of a bust. Then we went back to the UN and this time got a guided tour. It was interesting to step onto international soil and learn about the UN. As someone who would typically consider himself politically apathetic, I was surprised how much interest I actually had in the UN. Our tour guide was Austrian, but spoke flawless English (which I am pretty sure she learned from a Scott, because she had a perfect Scottish accent). After that we went back to the Hofburg to get souvenirs and back to the Karlsplatz to relax for a little bit before heading back to Budapest.

I really enjoyed Vienna. It is such a beautiful city, but it is sooo expensive. I was prepared for food to be expensive, but I did not expect everything (museums, etc.) to cost so much. I really want to go back to Vienna when I actually have the money to burn on museums and lots of concerts (and of course more opera)!