To Vienna!

Thursday was in average day as a study abroad student in Florence. I went to my China and Italy relations class where we discussed how different people stand out in culture relating our time now as Americans living in Florence to the early Jesuits living in Ming Dynasty China. After I ate some food and then went to my sociology of the senses class where we discussed how different foods are made in Italy and some of the main differences between food in Italy and food in America. Afterwards I went on a little walk around the city because it's Florence and I live here :) 

Afterwards I went to the food store and picked up some snacks for the bus ride. At first my friend Lauren had said she was going to do that and I laughed at her and thought it was so foolish to get snacks for the bus ride because Italians don't eat snacks so there wouldn't be any snacks there. As I was walking I got really nervous and then decided to go to the grocery store. I got a ton of unhealthy snacks - Pringles, pretzel sticks, peanuts, cookies, a giant water, and Ritz. It was an impressive amount. Afterwards Paul crafted a fantastic dinner with all kinds of cool good stuff. It was like a cream Risotto. It was simply splendid. Then I packed up for the weekend and headed to the train station. I know this probation sounds so spoiled but I so wish I had a dryer! My clothes weren't completely dry as I was packing but I needed socks so the wet socks went into my backpack and it was not great. Also a lot of the clothes I packed were damp. I need to be a better planner. I guess it is part of the study abroad experience, you know. I'm learning how to live without a dryer. In America we are used to having things instantly but in Italy things move a little slower, and not having a dryer is a really good way to learn that. I'm learning. 

Afterwards I was headed to the train station to catch a Coach bus to Austria with the company Bus2Alps. If you've read every blog post: 1. You need more hobbies 2. You know that I've done a lot of research with Bus2Alps and I planned two trips with them. This was the first one. A trip to Vienna and then Salzburg. The bus ride I knew would be tough, but I knew I had to do it. The bus left at 9:30 for Vienna and we arrived at 7:30. I'm not going to lie when I say it was really tough. The company played two movies on the way there: the first one was Friends with Benefits and the second one was Mean Girls. Did I also mention there were 36 people on this trip and I was one of only 3 guys. It was tough (if you don't know girls are great to travel with). I took a sleeping pill but couldn't get to sleep when we stopped at 1 A.M. for a quick rest stop. Everyone was so happy at the beginning of the ride:

I got a muffin and a powerade at the rest stop and then I attempted to sleep. I think I got like 4 hours. I'm not great at sleeping vertically like in a seat. I kept on waking up at odd times and moving. I woke up to see snow, and I missed the border. But we got there at 7:30 A.M.: 

We got a quick but much needed two hour break at the hostel which allowed me to take a quick nap. Then we were off to explore Vienna and go through a guided tour. We started by exploring the Subway of Vienna which was very exciting and in German. We got off at St.Stephen's cathedral. There we met our tour guide and did some cool stuff like explore the city and such. The church: 

Me and the church:

This building used to be owned by an American insurance company so the man in charge added the eagles on ot as a symbol of America:

Buildings are typically only curved for one reason in Europe: because they are built on the foundations of something that had to be curved (such as a Roman arena). The buildings here are curved because they are built on the foundations of the old wall:

This was built during a plague and people could come here and pray for the disease to leave. It is built with three levels. The bottom shows the average person trying to defeat the disease symbolically with the Holy Spirit. The second level is the nobility demonstrated by the King who is shown kneeling. This was not normal because the King never kneeled in public. Although the force of the disease is so great that even the king is forced to bend down and pray. The third level is heaven, where the angels and saints, which are above the disease, reside. 

Also in the tour we saw this church which is known as St. Peter's and is a minerature copy of the one in Rome:

There was some beautiful architecture on display throughout the city as well:

A pharmacy that was supposed to have a cure for a special disease in Vienna. The mosaic is also apparently famous:

There were some glossy shops we walked by and then we saw the palace:

But before we got to it we stopped by a cafe that specializes in a really good Austrian cake that I can't remember the name of. It's just a really good bakery. The figures in the glass window are made completely out of sugar. Seriously. Just Sugar:

This was a really old church across from the palace. Like over 500 years old. We only saw the outside but it was apparently gothic on the inside:

Walking through the Hapsburg Palace:

The main plaza in the palace:

Me in the main plaza:

The amazing political piazza. In this square all of the political a decisions for Austria are made:

So many girls:

This statue is known as the street cleaning Jew. During the holocaust any and all Jews in Vienna were forced to clean the streets of the city on their hands and knees. They also had to bring their own brushes and this was a daily torture in Vienna that took hours out of a Jewish person's day. They also had to work at the same time and live in the terrible conditions known as the ghetto. The barb wire on the statue is to show that Vienna became a prison for the Jewish people:

This is rock is a plaque that details Workd War 2, the Holocaust, Fascism, and Austria's part in all 3. The plaque explains in German that Austria will never let something like that happen ever again:

I thought this was a really pretty church:

We all had lunch after the tour at a traditional Austrian restaurant. It was kind of expensive but really tasty. We ate in the cellar. It had original been a place where pretzels were made however now it is just a restaurant. It had an old time feel. Very dimly lit, mainly relying on candlelight:

Of course we got some pretzels instead of bread:

I got a really good beer with my meal. It was really really good:

I got roast pork and two other things that I can't remember what they are called but this is a traditional Austrian dish. Like I said, pretty tasty: 

The view from the outside:

Then I got that famous cake from the cafe. It was like chocolate with an apple jelly in the middle. It was pretty good:

Then we went out in Vienna. The nightlife is pretty cool in Vienna. There is a group of clubs and bars known as the Bermuda Triangle and that's where we went. This picture was taken by the riverside as we were on our way there:

It turns out the Bermuda Triangle was a little bit friskier than I was expecting. As soon as we arrived, we saw a fight and as we walked we avoided stepping in vomit. But the bars were really good. They really like tequila there:

We ended the night at a nightclub that was underground and very cool. I personally had the most fun there:

We left the club at around 12:15 because we were all so drained from the night before, and the very long day. Even though it was long only an idiot wouldn't say it was a great day.