Day 22: The Journey Home

3 hours of sleep... Still the most talkative... Let's GOOOOOO!

If you are wondering.... No. I did not cry.

I felt all the sadness of leaving Vienna, and I think I'm more "homesick" for Vienna now than I ever was for the States. Arkansas is home, but... Vienna was "home" for 3 weeks and I miss it already! My host mom told me that if I ever returned to Vienna, I would have a bed (if she wasn't full with students) and a free dinner! I have every intention of returning to Vienna, and I look forward to seeing her again! I may find other housing options, though, so maybe I won't have to take camp showers. Ha!

As I said, I will miss Vienna, but I also spent a lot of the day thinking about how much I will miss my new study abroad family! After spending 3 weeks with these people... I love them all! I look forward to reunions and hangouts. We are already making tentative movie night plans and there are talks of spring break trips.

I have always thought that I wanted to travel, but up until recent years, I didn't have much experience. I was satisfied to confirm with myself that I do, in fact, enjoy traveling and far away destinations! The idea of a 24 hour day doesn't scare me-- I embrace it! Sure, we got a little loopy in the Atlanta airport during our 3 hour layover... but I never felt fatigued or upset, it was all laughs and positive attitudes. I look forward to my next adventure, and I hope to spend it with some of my new friends and FAM.

Dr. D, Lisa Ray, I had a blast! You guys are AWESOME and I couldn't imagine wandering around Vienna with any other professors!!! Thank you for an amazing adventure!

Look at those Alps!!!

Day 21: Pow-wow in the Park & Before Sunrise

Cafe Phil with Lucas

bookstore

record store

coffee shop

"life's too short to learn german"- oscar wilde, english menu

self-control and lack of euros and "weight" left in my suitcase prevented me from buying books galore

Alt & Neu

alt and neu record shop- before sunrise

Pow Wow in the Park

homeless population

understanding being the other

a new sense of patience with tourists/visitors in the United States

the difficulty of a language barrier

snitzel sandwich and fries... YUM

one final gelato... zitrone and mango. YUM!

My Final Aida

... and some Burgerista at the Westbaunhof train station. My last supper in Vienna. 

Day 20: Deregistration

Deregistering felt a bit different than I thought it might. In my head, it was a dramatic and thoughtful process... but it all happened so fast! I went in, was assigned a number, and before I knew it it was my turn. There was no long, thoughtful wait... I got distracted talking to girls around me about random things! When my number came up, it took all of 45 seconds for the employee to stamp some papers and hand me back my passport. I still felt very much a part of the city, and was ready to take on the next two days with some last minute sight-seeing.

I've mentioned this a few times before, but I felt like the "other" for the first week or so of being in Austria. Our group was loud, I had no idea where I was going, and I just felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. Over time, however, I learned the relaxed and quiet ways of the Viennese culture. I enjoyed riding on public transport by myself with my headphones in, blending in as best I could. There were a few times that people mistook me for an Austrian, striking up conversation or asking me for directions in German. I really loved every time that happened! Don't get me wrong, I love being a tourist, but there's something nice about feeling like I fit in with different cultures.

As for the hashtags.... #KarlzsplatzCarol #Salzbudz #HowTheHellDoIGetToHutteldorfFromHere :)

I actually did not take any pictures today.... But I did go to Aida with a few friends at some point!

Day 19: Stephansdome, A Pool Party, & A Picnic

Today was a very productive day! It was mostly devoted to doing some last minute Vienna Things™️ that we had put off until the last minute or just wanted to do again.

Stephansdome

I met a couple of friends at Stephansplatz around 10am where we decided on some coffee (melange, yet again!) from Aida. I should try to count how many times I’ve been to Aida. I probably can’t. Our coffee fueled us for some nearby souvenir shopping until it was time to meet up with the rest of our group for the Stephansdome Spire. Man, I was so dizzy! I knew it was a spiral staircase... but I didn’t realize how tight the spirals were! The view from the top was so worth it!

After looking around for reasonably priced goulash, we finally settled on Aida! For many of us, it was our second time at Aida today. No regrets. I’m glad I got the goulash because it is a must... but I definitely prefer wiener snitzel. Hehe. By the time we finished our lunch, it was time for another crypt tour below Stephansdome. It was so interesting! We actually saw some organized skeletons, a mass grave, and a room of stacked bones. I was nerding out for sure-- trying to think back to Structure and Function I to name some of the features on the bones I saw. What an experience!

Pool Party
The Hutteldorf crew and I all made our way to the girls’s house house where our host moms were having a goodbye for us and the girls from Hope College. Everyone sat out by the pool until our meal, which consisted of lots of traditional Viennese foods.

Picnic at the Danube

Day 18: Lichtenstein

Lichtenstein Castle
I loved going to Lichtenstein castle! We may have gotten confused on our way there—hopping on and off a couple of busses— but we made it! The castle was beautiful and I loved the scenery. Inside, it was cold and a perfect way to escape the heat! I wish I could’ve taken some pictures inside, but it was really strange to stand in such an old place with thousands of years worth of history. One of the most interesting things about our tour was learning that they slept in an upright position.... wait, wut? Is that ALLOWED? Our tour guide explained that it was somewhat of a superstition because they felt that sleeping on their backs was too similar to the posture of a dead man. Wow! That was so crazy to me. My least favorite part about the castle tour was the mannequins... why do tours always feel the need to recreate scenes using mannequins? Especially the ones that are turned around? I will never understand that. Truly. It’s unfathomable to me. Besides the creepy mannequins though... what an experience! And what a view!

Shoppin'

After Lichtenstein, we made our way to a new suburb I hadn’t been to and did some shopping. We found a few really cool stores but I didn’t end up getting anything except some REALLY GOOD noodles. Yum! When we were shopped out, we made our way to a gelato shop in Stephansplatz. Yum!

Day 17: Krems & Friends

Wow, today was a full day! It started at 5:30am and I did not have time for a break until I got home at 11pm. It was so worth it!

Krems Institute
I learned a lot about Austrian and United States healthcare. I will admit, going into the seminar I had a really high opinion of the Austrian healthcare system, but didn't know all that much about it. Overall, I can still say that Austria does a better job of caring for its inhabitants, but not without some drawbacks. One of the drawbacks of Austria's universal healthcare system is that sometimes people end up waiting quite a while for surgeries, treatments, etc. There are options for citizens to purchase additional private care for faster treatment, but not everyone will have that option. In Austria, it is mandatory to have health insurance. There is no way to avoid having it if you pay taxes because it is automatically taken out of your check. One major difference in the healthcare/taxes systems of the two countries is that in Austria, everyone pays a flat rate percentage toward healthcare. A man who makes $20,000 a year may pay around 8% of that salary in taxes, and a man who makes $100,000 will pay a considerably larger amount of money, but it will still be about 8% of his income.

Friends in Vienna
When the symposium was over, one of the Krems Institute employees gave me a ride to the train station so that I could get back to Vienna to see David and Harrison! After figuring out my platform and switching lines halfway through, I finally made it! We met up at a gelato stand outside of the Stephansplatz station and walked to a coffee house in the first district where we all got melanges-- which are very similar to an Austrian cappuccino. After coffee, we made our way to a foot bridge to cross the Danube. I hadn't actually seen the Danube from Vienna so I was glad to see it! Praterstern was just a quick subway trip away from the Danube, so we made our way to the amusement park, walked around, and rode a really tall swings ride. It was amazing! The views were awesome and I was really fond of the wind blowing in my air. Haha. Swings are already one of my favorite things... but add in some extra altitude and a view of Vienna and it just couldn't get any better! I had really talked up Vapianos, so we ate there for dinner! I got the exact same thing I got the first time-- some basil and pesto pasta with a glass of merlot. Yum! After dinner, we walked over to the opera house and watched the live feed of the opera from the courtyard. From there, we hopped across the street to Aida and got some sachertorte to go. We took our cake, ate it in the subway, and made our way to The Mak, an art gallery that has free admission after 6pm on Tuesday nights. It worked out perfectly! Here are a few of my favorite gems from our short visit...

Day 16: Schonbrunn Palace

The first thing on today's agenda was to tour Schonbrunn Palalce!

I really liked the interior decor of the palace, but I will say, the exterior left something to be desired. I much prefer the beauty of their winter home, Albertina! One interesting part of the tour that stuck out to me was the fact that Maria Theresa mourned her husband after he died for the rest of her life. Walking into the room that was decorated with black walls and Chinese wooden embroideries was very interesting... and almost a bit creepy!

Another interesting part of the tour was these Belgian boys that stuck around me... just saying! Ha! One of them ended up asking for my number and I politely directed him to my Facebook page instead.... Hahahah! As if that whole ordeal wasn't embarrassing enough as it was, it turns out that a large portion of our group was behind me and witnessed the whole exchange. Yes, there is a video. Lol!

For lunch, we finally found some Mexican food in this town and it did not disappoint! The name was interesting, though. El Mosquito. It sounds exotic, I guess, but not when you live in Arkansas!

I don't have a lot of time to talk to our host mom, but I do know that she has some very strong opinions about water usage. According to the girls that live downstairs, she told them that showers should be 4 minutes... max! While I may never accomplish a shower in that time frame in this lifetime, I do try my best to respect her opinions about water conservation by turning it on and off between different parts of the my shower. I'll admit it-- I have been pretty bad about leaving water on during unnecessary times (before the shower, during the shower, while brushing my teeth, etc. sorry mom and dad!), but I have been much more conscious about my usage of it while in Vienna. I hope my conscientiousness continues when I return to the states, especially because I'll be paying my own utilities in my apartment soon. Ha!