August 30

Today was our last day in Vienna, so I was a little sad. I spent most of the day just walking around and shopping for souvenirs for my friends and family. I also wanted to get one last look at Stephansdom because I think that is just such an amazing sight. Later in the day, we went to Wurstelprater, the famous amusement park in Vienna. Everyone was joking that we would run into a bunch of prostitutes because the park is located in a red light district. We all met up at the Riesenrad, the famous Ferris wheel. It is one of the oldest Ferris wheels because it was erected in 1897. It used to have 30 gondolas, but now it only has 15 because the Ferris wheel was severely damaged during WWII. One of the reasons the Riesenrad is so famous is because it appeared in the film, The Third Man. In the movie, the main character, Holly Martins, meets up with his old friend turned bad guy, Harry Lime. While we were riding the Ferris wheel, we had an excellent view of the whole amusement park and the city of Vienna. I wanted to spend more time at the amusement park, but we left to go to dinner at Centimeter right after getting off the Ferris wheel. Dinner was fun though, because everybody was there and we got to eat our food (schnitzel of course) off of swords. We also got to try some original Budweiser (Budvar) beer. I still didn’t think it was that amazing, but it was definitely better than the American version. After dinner, I just tried to enjoy my last night in Vienna without getting too sad about the fact that we had to leave the next morning. My stay here was so amazing, and I hope that I get to come back someday.
The German word of the day is fremd, which means “foreign”.

August 28 and 29

On Thursday, I went to the Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien(Vienna History Museum) because we had no class and the tour of the Leopold Museum with Dr. O got pushed back to 4 pm. This museum is located practically right next to Karlskirche, so it was easy to find. I liked this museum because it was very well planned out. Each floor had artifacts and descriptions from the different periods in Vienna’s history, such as the Biedermeier period and the Baroque architecture period. I thought the first floor was interesting because they had some cool medieval knight’s armor on display, and they also had some of the original stained glass windows from St. Stephen’s Cathedral. There were also many models of the city throughout the museum that showed what the city looked like at various stages in its history. I liked seeing the city how it was when the wall and the mote surrounded the main part of it. There was another model that showed the city when the Ringstrasse was being built. These models helped me understand Vienna’s development and growth over the years.
Later on in the day, we went on a guided tour of the Leopold Museum with Dr. O, our favorite tour guide. This museum is unique because it is mostly made up of the private art collection of Rudolf Leopold and his wife Elisabeth. They also helped design the unique building that the collection is housed in. Dr. O told us that there are some paintings here that the Belvedere museum would kill to get their hands on. There are paintings in the museum by many famous artists, such as Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Moser, and Schiele. One of the most famous paintings in the museum is “Death and Life” by Klimt. It depicts a death-like figure on one side and multiple versions of life on the other side of the canvas. I like this painting because there is multiple ways to interpret it. The death figure could either be seen as playful or sinister. I also liked some of the paintings by Schiele, the famous Austrian artist who died at the age of 28. His paintings were usually pretty bizarre. Many people liked the “Cardinal and the Nun” because it was obviously influenced by Klimt’s painting, “The Kiss.” I think that many of these artist’s paintings are a reflection of the times. The beginning of the 20th century was when most of these artists were in their prime, and it was also a time of change and chaos. The working class was growing, more people were moving to the cities, different political parties were forming, and the Habsburg empire was about to collapse. Many of these paintings definitely reflect the confusion of the times.
On Friday, I pretty much just walked around the city looking for areas and places that I hadn’t seen yet. I was starting to get sad that we had to leave in 2 days. I ended up walking around in the inner city. I found a cool church that I had never seen before near the Hofburg, but I couldn’t figure out the name of it. It was definitely built in the neo-Gothic style, but it was much more subdued than the Votivkirche. I also found a flea market, where they were selling lots of random things, such as opium pipes. I ran into a seller here who was very anti-American. He was getting angry with me for all the problems that America has. He blamed me for electing Bush to office twice, and he tried to convince me that Obama was a drug addict. I was annoyed and amused with the guy all at the same time. I listened to his babble for a bit and then left. That was the first time on this whole trip that I had come across someone who was so anti-American. Some people have been a little rude to me because I was American, but never so overtly so.

The German word of the day is wohnen, which means “to live”.
The German word of the day is Freundschaft, which means “friendship”.

August 26

Today we discussed our visit to the Mathausen concentration camp in class. Everyone started to share their feelings on the experience. One of the things that came up was the question of whether people should be allowed to visit such places. In her book, Still Alive, Ruth Kluger stated that she would never go back to a concentration camp and she doesn’t understand why anybody would want to. Many of my classmates, including myself, initially agreed with her that we didn’t feel a need to go to a concentration camp before we went. After visiting the camp though, most of us changed our minds. I think it is good to visit these places so that we can understand what actually happened during the war and so that we will never forget it. We also talked about how the camp was surrounded by a neighborhood. The people that lived in this town had to have known what was going on at the camp, yet they didn’t do anything about it. Yet again, what could they do about it? They were almost as powerless as the prisoners in some respects because they were so scared of what the Nazis could do to them. Most people didn’t know who they could trust because at the time, the secret police were everywhere.
After class, I went to the Kaisergruft (Imperial crypt) with Stephanie and Jennifer. Since 1633, the Kaisergruft has been the main burial place for members of the Habsburg dynasty. There were many elaborate coffins down there. The most elaborate ones belonged to the most important people, such as Maria Therresia and Franz Joseph and his family. Most people seemed to be most interested in the sarcophagi of Emperor Franz Joseph, Empress Elizabeth, and Crown Prince Rudolf. There were still lots of fresh flowers on their coffins.
After the Kaisergruft, we went back to the Kunsthistorisches Museum to look at more paintings. We were able to look at some paintings by Catholic and Protestant artists. The paintings done by Catholic artists were usually more elaborate. The Catholic artists wanted their subjects to be drawn in by their paintings. They also depicted many saints, whereas the Protestant paintings did not. The Protestant artists from the Reformation usually painted smaller, more portable paintings that were not meant to be ridiculously elaborate. They were more practical with their art. A few of the Catholic artists who had paintings displayed in this museum are Rubens, Peter Bruegel, Tintorretto, Parmigiano. Some of the Protestant artists are Peter Aertsen, Hans Baldung Grien, Lucas Granach, Durer, Hansttolbiem, and Bosch. Examples of Protestant artists’ paintings are Frans Floris’s “The Last Judgement,” “Lucas Cranach’s Judith and Holofernes.” Generally, Catholic artists were from Southern Europe and Protestant artists were from Northern Europe. I didn’t have a certain type of painting that I liked better. Sometimes I liked the simplicity of the Protestant paintings, and sometimes I enjoyed the more elaborate Catholic paintings. I am generally not an art person though, and I can only spend so much time looking at paintings.
The German word of the day is heute, which means “today”.

August 25

Today was the third day of our second three-day weekend. I decided to go back to Schonbrunn Palace and see all the things that I didn’t see the first day that I went there. First, I went to look at more of the gardens and the large and beautiful fountains that were laid out in various spots around them. My friend told while we were walking around these gardens that during imperial times the fountains weren’t run with pumps but with a crank that servants had to spin, so when the emperor wanted to walk around the gardens, the servants would have to run out before them and start pumping the fountain for when the emperor walked past. I thought that was interesting. Anyway, we went to the Wagonburg next where all of the imperial carriages were on display. Some of the less elaborate carriages exhibited here were used for everyday use, while some of the more elaborate ones were for celebrations and parades and such. I loved the more elaborate carriages, such as the Imperial Coach of the Austrian Court. It would be amazing to ride around in such an over the top mode of transportation. I also liked looking at the cute mini-carriages that were made for the kids. They looked exactly like the grown-up ones, except smaller. After the carriage museum, we then went to the Palmenhaus. This is a huge greenhouse that is full of many tropical plants that wouldn’t otherwise be found in Vienna. It was very beautiful. To finish off our second visit to Schonbrunn, we went to the Apple Strudel Show, where the chefs showed us how to make Austrian Apfelstrudel. We were given a free sample also. Even though it was good, I have to say that it still wasn’t as good as my mom’s apple pie.
After visiting Schonbrunn, we went back home to find something to eat. We eventually ended up eating Kabops once again. There are so many Kabop, Kasekrainer, and Pizza stands around this city that I can’t help but going to one of them to eat almost every day. I am kind of looking forward to going back home so that I can find something to eat that is not full of salt or fried. The Kasekrainers and the Turkish Kabops are very good though.
The German word of the day is Kino, which means “movies”.

August 27

Instead of going to class today we took a tour of the UN headquarters in Vienna. We had to go through security, which you would think would be very heavy, but the security at the airport is much worse. Once we got inside the grounds, we were warned by our tour guide that we were no longer in Austria, but on international land, so Austria’s laws no longer applied. He also told us that if we wandered away from the group then we would be arrested. So, this tour was very serious. Anyway, when we first walked on the grounds we saw a large fountain surrounded by the flags of all 194 countries that are part of the United Nations. We also had a good view of all the curved UN buildings. We were told that the buildings were made in this curved design so that every employee could have an office with a window. Apparently, sunlight makes workers more productive and happy. While standing around the fountain our tour guide told us about the UN’s mission, and how this Vienna UN headquarters is one of four UN duty stations around the world. The other UN headquarters are located in New York, Geneva, and Nairobi. After walking around outside, our tour guide took us into one of the buildings and showed us a model of the entire complex. He described some of the things that the UN workers did there, and he then showed us some of the various Nobel Peace Prizes that the UN has won over the years. We were supposed to go up to the large conference room next, but it was occupied so we went in a smaller one instead. I noticed that interior of the building looked a little like our 1970’s bus from the other day because it was decorated in brown and orange also. These buildings were actually built in the 70’s, so that explains the ugly color scheme. Anyway, the conference room was cool, because all the chairs were facing each other to make for an easy dialogue and each person’s station was equipped with a listening device that allowed for each person to hear a translation of what everyone was saying into one of the five main UN languages. These languages are English, Russian, Chinese, French, and Arabic.
After our tour, we went to listen to a lecture on the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). The employee who gave us the lecture focused his presentation more on the types of nuclear technologies that don’t have anything to do with weaponry, so that we could understand that Nuclear Energy is not just used in weaponry. The IAEA was first set up in 1957 as “Atoms for Peace,” which was created to promote safe and peaceful nuclear technologies. The 3 main pillars that underpin the IAEA’s mission are safety and security, science and technology, and safeguards and verification. In the lecture we learned that the number of declared nuclear weapon states is 5 (USA, Russia, UK, France, and China), but there are other countries that have it such as India and possibly Iran and North Korea.
We didn’t actually get a chance to ask many questions on the tour or during the lecture, but some of the questions that I had were: How closely does the IAEA work with other programs at the UN?; What is the UN and the IAEA doing about the nuclear weapons manufacture in Iran?; How closely do the 4 duty stations of the UN work together? None of my questions were really answered because we didn’t have time to ask them, but the lecturer on the IAEA talked briefly about nuclear weapons and Iran.
After visiting the UN, I went to the Naturhistorisches Museum with Stephanie and Jennifer. It wasn’t required that we go there, but I just wanted to see it. It looked basically the same as the Kunsthistorisches museum on the inside and outside because the two museums were built to mirror one another. Anyway, there were many cool things to look at here, such as the 25 thousand year old Venus statue, the dinosaur skeletons, and lots of nice jewelry and crystals. I didn’t spend loads of time her though, because it was ridiculously hot.
The German word of the day is Fussball, which means “soccer”.

August 22

Today we skipped class and took a bus to the Mathausen concentration camp. This camp was started in 1940 as a labor camp. It grew to be one of the biggest Nazi labor camps in German-controlled Europe. I had never been to a concentration camp, and I can’t say that I was excited about going because I knew that it would be intense. I was expecting the camp to be located in a more deserted area, but it was actually located on top of a hill right next to the town of Mathausen. There were houses and farms located all around the exterior of the camp. The first thing we did when we got to the camp was walk around the surrounding areas to look at the monuments and to walk down the stairway of death into the quarry where the prisoners worked. The stairway down to the quarry was called the stairway of death because it was a long staircase full of high and uneven stairs that the prisoners were expected to run up and down while carrying heavy stones and dodging the blows of the Nazi officers watching over them. Many of the prisoners died here from either falling down the stairs, collapsing from exhaustion in the quarry, or being pushed over the edge of the quarry cliff by the Nazi officers. The stones that the prisoners collected out of this quarry were actually used to build the camp. After visiting the quarry we went to look at all of the monuments erected for the prisoners of the camp. Most of the prisoners here were men, but there were some women and children also. In fact, one of the monuments was built just for the children prisoners. It has become a tradition to place pebbles and stones on the monuments as a sign of respect for the prisoners, so many of my classmates did so. After we looked at the monuments, we went on a guided tour of the inside of the camp. We first saw the wall were the prisoners were originally brought in and lined up. Many of them were killed here because they were too old or tired to become good workers for the camp. We were then brought to the shower room where the prisoners were cleaned off and their belongings were taken from them. Some of them who resisted were made to take a shower in scalding hot or freezing cold water. The tour guide then took us to the bunk houses where the prisoners slept. In these bunkhouses, the prisoners had to share one bathroom and washroom with thousands of other prisoners. They also had to share their tiny bed with one other person. It was really hard for me to walk around in these rooms because there were pictures on the walls of how the prisoners looked and how they had to live that made me feel really mournful for them. After seeing the bunkhouses, we were taken to a room where some of the prisoners were hanged or shot. This room was located right next to the gas chamber, where many of the prisoners were killed from the different kinds of gases that the Nazis tested out to see which kind was the best and the cheapest to use for killing. We then went into the cremation chamber room, where the bodies were burned. This room was full of pictures and plaques dedicated to the camp’s prisoners. At this point in the tour I was getting a little emotional and looking at all of the pictures of the people that died in the camp was hard for me. At the end of the tour, I walked through the museum full of pictures and examples of the prisoners clothing and then went to go watch the video. We all sat in the video room to watch a movie about the camp. The part of the movie that really got to me was when one of the American soldiers who came to the camp at the end of the war tried to tell about what he was feeling when he came here and he started crying. He could barely even talk about it. It must have been a intensely horrifying experience to come to this camp and find the thousands of prisoners that were in the shape that they were in. At the end of the video, we left to go back to Vienna. I know some people believe that it is wrong to go and visit these concentration camps, but I think that it is ok because it is not out of disrespect. It helps us to learn more about what actually happened to the prisoners, and it gives us a c=sense of appreciation for our own lives.
The German word of the day is krank, which means “ill”.

August 21

In class we talked about what happened in Austria during the early 20th century, especially before WWII. Some of the topics we discussed were how the assassination of crown prince Franz Ferdinand started WWI, how the end of WWI ended the Austrian monarchy, and the various rulers of the Austrian Republic before WWII. For example, the first chancellor was a moderate socialist, Dr. Karl Renner. We also talked about how there was little popular loyalty to the Austrian Republic before WWII, so many Austrians were actually supporters of the Nazis and Hitler. We also talked about the German invasion of Austria by Hitler in 1938, and how Hitler’s arrival in Austria generated more support by the Austrians for a union with Germany.
After class, I went with some of my classmates to Schonbrunn Palace. This palace was much bigger and better than the Belvedere. I bought the Golden Pass ticket that allowed me access to every part of the palace grounds, so I was a little overwhelmed because I thought that there was no way that I could fit it all into one day. I found out that the ticket was good for one year though, so I took my time going through each station. The first thing we did was tour the inside of the palace. The inside looked very much like the inside of the Hofburg Palace, but there definitely more elaborately decorated rooms here. My favorite room in the palace was the ball room. I was disappointed that we couldn’t take pictures of it, so I bought a postcard of it in the gift shop after the tour. While I was buying the postcard though, I ran into an interesting Dutch woman who kept talking to me in Dutch, German, and English. She kept switching from language to language without even noticing. It was very amusing, but she was a very nice woman. After the tour of the palace we walked around the enormous garden areas for awhile. I had never been to a palace before so I thought that the enormity of the grounds was amazing and beautiful. I guess the palace grounds were meant to be breathtaking though, because Schonbrunn Palace was built to be the Habsburg equivalent of the Palace of Versailles in France. We eventually made our way up to the Schonbrunn Palace Gloriette, which we climbed to the roof of. This allowed us to see amazing views of the palace and its surrounding grounds. The place is huge. After the Gloriette, we went over to the palace maze in the gardens. I was a little disappointed because I thought that the maze would be bigger, but it was still fun to get lost in. After visiting the maze, we made our way to the zoo to see the baby panda and polar bears that were shown in advertisements all over the city. I was surprised at how big the zoo was. I thought it would be smaller than most zoos because it is not even the main attraction at Schonbrunn, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a rather large zoo. We looked at most of the animals, but after that we had to call it a day because we were all so tired from walking around the palace grounds all day.
The German word of the day is vielleicht, which means “maybe”.

August 23 and 24

Today was a Saturday, which means we had no class. Many people went on a weekend trip to Budapest, Prague, or Salzburg, but I decided to stay in Vienna and explore the city more because it was our last weekend here. Jennifer and I didn’t have a plan for the day, but we just Kind of walked around and admired the city. We did end going to see the Hotel Imperial though. This is a five-star hotel located on the Ringstrasse where many famous and infamous people have stayed there, such as Adolf Hitler during the Anschluss in 1938. The hotel didn’t look that great from the outside, but when I walked into the lobby I was amazed. The decorations were very high-class and expensive. I wish that I could have spent some more time in there, but Jennifer and I got the feeling that the hotel employees were annoyed with us just walking around the lobby and gawking at the decorations, so we left shortly after we arrived. After visiting the hotel, we just went for a walk around Karlsplatz and Schwarzenbergplatz. I don’t know where we ended up after that though because we got majorly lost for a little bit. I thought that I knew how to get us to Stadtpark from where we were without looking at the map, but apparently I didn’t. We eventually found it, but by that time it was raining and we were tired from walking around the empty streets in the neighborhood we got lost in, so we went home for the day to just hang out. When we were walking around in front of Karlskirche though, I noticed that there were many skateboarders and bikers doing tricks. I guess that they have a large skating community here just as they do in the U.S., but I was thinking how lucky they are to be skating around in all of the beautiful locations here in Vienna, instead of at a skate park across the street from a fast food joint in the U.S. It must be very cool to grow up in a city like this one.
The next day was a pretty relaxed day as well. The only really substantial thing I did was visit the Judisches Museum in Stephansplatz. For some reason, I thought that the museum would be focused on the Holocaust, but there were barely any displays on that subject. The first room of the museum displays many articles and pieces relating to the Jewish faith, such as Menorahs used during Hanukkah and Torah mantles. Each piece had a description that explained what it was and how it was used. The bulk of the museum was filled with paintings and photographs that were from prominent Austrian-Jewish artists. Since I am not a very artsy person, this section of the museum didn’t really appeal to me, but I did enjoy the sport section of the museum. One room was filled with pictures and descriptions of the many members of the Hakoah, which is Jewish sports club that was founded in 1909 in Vienna. Many different sports were included in the Hakoah, and many famous Austrian sportsmen emerged from the group. The club was dissolved in 1938 after the National Socialists seized power, but it was reformed after the war. I also really liked the hologram room, which allowed us to learn more about the Jewish history of Vienna by looking at holograms of important objects and people related to the topic.
After visiting the museum, Jennifer took me to the Turkish neighborhood that she lived in for 4 months while she was trying to immigrate to the United States from Iran. She took me to a peaceful park that she used to hang out at and we also walked around a bit. I thought this was a good trip because it allowed me to see a part of Vienna that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
After visiting her old neighborhood, Jennifer and I decided to ride the tram around the Ringstrasse so that we could admire all of the different types of architecture lining the street. The Ringstrasse was originally built when the wall surrounding the main part of the city was ordered to be torn down by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1857. The boulevard was lined with many important and beautiful buildings that were meant to show off the Habsburg grandeur. Some of the buildings located on or near the Ringstrasse are Parliament, Rathaus(city hall), the Burgtheater, the University of Vienna, Votivkirche, Hofburg Palace, the Kuntshistorisches and Naturhistorisches Museums, Stadtpark, the Hotel Imperial, and the Opera House. While riding on the tram I noticed the many different types of architecture used for each of these buildings. Parliament was built in a neo-Romanesque style, while the Rathaus was more in a neo-Gothic style. The Burgtheater was built in the Italian-Renaissance style, and the Votivskirche was built in the neo-Gothic style (it looks a lot like Stephansdom). Also lining the Ringstrasse are a few modern looking buildings and some other banks and such that are building using the typical Baroque style. I personal like the neo-Romanesque and the neo-Gothic styles the best, so the Parliament building and Rathaus are my favorite buildings on the Ringstrasse.
The German word of the day for the 24th is es geht, meaning “it’s okay”.
The German word of the day for the 23rd is wegen, which means “because of”.

August 8

Today in class we discussed the role that Austria played in the 30 Years War, which took place from 1618 to 1648. After class, a bunch of us went over to the Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury), which was located in the oldest part of the Hofburg Palace, the Schweizerhof. This museum houses many of the treasures, crowns, and relics owned by the Holy Roman Emperors and the Habsburg royal family. One of my favorite items on display here was the emerald box. Apparently, it is the largest cut emerald in the world. I also enjoyed looking at the many different types of decorated relics that were on display. One such relic was of what is believed to be a large piece of the cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on. Another relic was of the stake that was believed to have stabbed Jesus in his side while he was being crucified. Also, on display was a large “unicorn” horn. This was not actually a unicorn horn, but many people believed it to be in earlier times. A sword was actually made out of one of these “unicorn” horns in the hopes that it would bring special powers to its wielder. The treasury also had several articles belonging to the Order of the Golden Fleece, which was a order of knights founded in 1430 by Phillip III of Burgundy. Many of the Habsburg rulers and Austrian knights were part of this order.
After the treasury, I went walking around the city to visit more places that I hadn’t seen in the city yet. I ended up going to see the Russian monument located in Schwarzenbergplatz. This monument was set up in 1945, and it commemorates the Russian liberation army of WWII. I hung out here for awhile before heading over to Stadtpark. The idea to build this park came about around the same time as when the wall was being torn down and the Ringstrasse was being set up in its place. There are many famous monuments located in this park, including those dedicated to Johann Strauss, Franz Schubert, and Robert Stolz. Before I came to the park, I was expecting something a little bit nicer, but aside from the decorations and monuments surrounding the Wienfluss, which runs through the park, it looks like any other park to me.
The German word of the day is hoffen, which means “to hope”.

August 20

In class we talked about the “The Magic Flute” opera that we went to the night before. We also discussed the Congress of Vienna, which took place from September 1814 to June 1815. The main point of the congress was to wipe out the effects of Napoleon and the French Revolution and to reset the French borders to their 1792 locations. The main negotiators at the congress were France, Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia. The Austrians ended up losing their original lands in Switzerland and the Netherlands during this conference.
After class, I went exploring with Stephanie. We ended up going to visit Karlskirche, which first went under construction to be built in 1716 by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. It was ordered to be built by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI as a monument to the patron saint, Charles Borromeo, who was a healer for plague sufferers. The church is located in Karlsplatz, right off the Ringstrasse, and it’s famous for its large dome and two flanking columns. This church actually was one of my favorites because I loved the architecture. The outside of the church reminded me of something I would see from Roman times, but it was also very baroque-looking. The inside was very beautiful as well. The extensive use of gold to decorate the inside definitely gives it away as a baroque church. The interior of the church was actually getting work done on it, so there was scaffolding that led all the way up into the dome. Visitors were allowed to climb the scaffolding, so Stepahnie and I climbed up to the top, even though I was a little hesitant because the scaffolding got shakier the higher we climbed. I made it to the top though, and I took pictures of all the artwork on the walls as I climbed.
We spent a good while in the church before we decided to go visit the graveyard that is located not far from our dorms. We actually entered the grave yard at one of the smaller entranceways, so the first rows of graves that we saw were more overgrown with greenery that the main part of the graveyard. Once we started walking through the rows of elaborately decorated gravestones, I realized how big the cemetery actually was. The place was huge and filled with thousands of fancy and intricate headstones. However, many of the Jewish graves that were here were less elaborate. These gravestones were mostly small and rounded with a Jewish star on the front. We eventually made our way to the center of the graveyard, where the more famous people are buried and where the main church is located. We went inside the church, which sported a huge dome that was painted blue on the inside. The rest of the inside of the church was a little less fancy than many that I have seen on my trip so far. After going inside the church, Stephanie and I headed over to Beethoven’s grave, which she insisted on touching in order to perhaps gain some of his musical talent.
The German word of the day is gesund, which means “healthy”. Many people use the phrase “gesundheit” to wish good health on someone who has just sneezed.

August 12, 13, 14 (Alps trip)

We didn’t have class this week because of our trip to the Alps. I had been looking forward to this trip since I signed on to the program. Everybody has heard of the Alps, and I wanted to be able to tell people that I had hiked them. I know that the Austrian Alps are not as big of a deal as the Swiss Alps, but I was excited all the same. We left on our bus (which was a little 70’s looking by the way) in the early morning to go on our Alpine excursion. Before we drove to the mountains though, we stopped off in the town of Wiener Neustadt for a tour. We met our tour guide in the main square of the town. My first impression of the town was very good because I liked the atmosphere. The main square was a little touristy, but I enjoyed walking through the side streets. The town seemed very European to me because of its small sidewalks, cobbled stone streets, and old buildings. I was excited to learn more about the town from our tour guide, but my interest in the tour waned after spending so much time straining my ears trying to hear what the tour guide was saying. She was a small older woman who had difficulty projecting her voice, so it was hard for her to keep my interest. However, I did learn a few interesting facts about the town, such as how it is a very old town that had been around since medieval times, but it had to be rebuilt after it was heavily bombed during WWII. While on the tour, we also visited the military school where the church that Maximilian was buried in was located. We also visited the gothic-style church where there were still some of the original pictures painted on the walls. One of these pictures was of a man being defecated (definitely not a pretty sight). Lining the 12 pillars of this church were statues of the 12 apostles. I really liked this church because it was different from many of the other churches that we had been to so far because its exterior was much simpler. It was not built in the baroque style like many of the other churches that I have seen so far. After spending some more time walking around the town, we got back on the bus and drove up into the Alps. We finally stopped at the base of one of the mountains, where we went up on a lift to get to our hotel. It was a little nerve-wracking to ride up this lift because all of us were making the car shake a little. The lift took us straight to the hotel, where we all checked in to our rooms. I was expecting a pretty nice hotel, but the place was a little more like a hostel, considering the fact that all 25 of us students had to share one shower. That was a little disappointing, but I quickly got over it because the view surrounding the hotel was great. Some of us started hiking the trail almost as soon as we got there, and we found a Jesus monument of sorts along the path. It was basically just a large cross with some phrases displayed across the front of it. I couldn’t read what it said because it was in German, but this discover was just further evidence of how religious the country of Austria is.
That night we all ate dinner together in the restaurant, where they served us schnitzel or pasta. At this point I was a little sick of schnitzel, so I ate the pasta. We were also served a complimentary shot of pear schnops, which I didn’t particularly enjoy. The beer served in the Edelweiss cups was pretty good though. After dinner, some of us went for a night hike, which was probably not the best idea considering how dark it was. The next morning, we all came down for breakfast. I have noticed that many of the places that I have stayed at in Austria have served some form of lunch meat for breakfast. Now I remember learning in my high school German class that Germans ate sandwiches for breakfast. I guess they do the same thing here in Austria. After breakfast many of the students went with Kathy on a 14 mile hike to the Habsburghaus, but I went with Stephanie for a shorter hike to the Ottohaus. The hike only took two hours, but we got back just in time for it to start raining. I basically spent the rest of the trip just hanging out and enjoying the view. We left early the next morning, and apparently it wasn’t soon enough for some people who said that the hotel was haunted. Anyway, we got back on the bus, but we didn’t go straight back to Vienna. We stopped in the town of Mariazell for a little down time. Apparently, this town located in the middle of the Alps is a major Eropean pilgrimage stop. The town is 850 years old, and is home to the holy statue of the Blessed Virgin, known as Magna Mater Austriae. The statue is a symbol for people searching for meaningful goals in their own lives. As a major European pilgrimage site, Mariazell is part of the “Shrines of Europe”. The Mariazell Basilica, which we all walked through, is one of the prettiest churches that I have seen so far. It is very elaborate and beautiful. We were only in this twon for a few hours though. We eventually drove back home on our 70’s bus back to Vienna.
The German words of the day for the 12th, 13th, and 14th are:
-wohin=where to
-gehen=to go. “Ich gehe zu das Schule”= “I’m going to school”
-bei dir=at your place

August 18

Today was the last day of our weekend trip, so we got up early to go on our last adventure of the trip. Hallstatt is known for its salt mines. It is actually home to the oldest salt mines in the world, so some us decided to take a tour of these mines. To actually get to the mines we had to take a vehicular up the side of the mountain. It was a little scary because it was so steep, and it kind of felt like we were going up on a roller coaster. Once we got off the vehicular, we had to hike a little more to get to the entrance to the mines. Once we started putting on our colorful jumpsuits (to keep us from getting dirty in the mines) I was feeling a little nervous because I am claustrophobic. When I saw the entrance that we would be walking through into the mountainside, I was definitely scared, but after we walked single file through the entrance tunnel and started making our way deep into the mines, I felt much calmer for some reason. Our tour guide walked us through many different levels of the mines and explained to us their history. The mines were first used by men thousands of years ago, and they are still being used today. The guide also showed us some of the old and modern equipment used by the miners. My favorite part of the tour was sliding down the slides to get to the different levels of the mines. Instead of using stairs, the tour guide had us race down the slides to see who could clock the fastest speed. It was fun, but someone could have easily gotten hurt. At the end of the tour, we also got to ride out of the mines through a narrow tunnel on a train-type vehicle. I got very claustrophobic at this point because the tunnel was too narrow for us to be able to tell how far we had gone through the tunnel or how much farther we had to go to get to the exit. The tour definitely was not what I expected, but I had fun. For the rest of the time we had in Hallstatt, I walked around some more and visited the famous catacombs at the church, where they house the hundreds of painted skulls of many priests and other important people from the town. We left the town in the afternoon to go back to Vienna. I was sad to leave, but excited to get back to Vienna.
The German word of the day is offen, which means “ frank”.

August 17

Today we woke up a little late, checked out of the hostel, and went on our train to the town of Halstatt. There was a little confusion over which train to get on, but we figured it out. Once we made it to our stop, we had to take a boat to get to the actual town. Halstatt was so beautiful, because the whole town rested on a large lake that was in the middle of these huge mountains. The view was amazing, and so was the town. Halstatt looks like what you would picture the perfect little Austrian town as being. The buildings were all small and looked authentically Austrian. The fact that most of the buildings were built into the mountainside just added to the town’s appeal. We walked along the entire length of the town with all of our baggage while we looked for a hotel or hostel to spend the night in. We eventually found a place to stay, and then we spent our first night here just relaxing and going out to dinner. Some of the girls ate the signature fish dish, but I wasn’t feeling like fish, so I passed. I spent the rest of the night exploring the cute little town. Even thought there were many souvenir shops lining the main street, the town had a less touristy feel than any other place that I had visited in Austria so far. At the far end of the town, there was a park with a lookout point that gave a perfect view of the entire town. I took many pictures of the gorgeous sight, and then we all turned in early so that we could get up at a reasonable hour, because we only had half a day left in Halstatt.
The German word of the day is schmecken, which means “to taste”. “Das Essen schmeckt gut” means “The food tastes good”.

August 16

It was raining pretty hard when we woke up today in Salzburg, so I bought a poncho at the front desk for our walking excursion around the city. I felt like an idiot in it, but at least I was dry. We walked to the main part of the city where all the touristy shops were located. One of the main shopping streets reminded me of Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter books because it was so small, but so full of people and colorful window displays. While walking around the city, I was entranced by all of the beautiful buildings and statues. It reminded me a little of Vienna, except it was smaller and more compacted. I love the way that the river ran right through the city because it allowed for the view of the beautiful mountains surrounding the city to be seen more clearly. I especially liked to look at the castle-like fortress that was built on the top of a hill in the middle of the city. The fortress was built in order to protect the city and to ward off any outsiders who had the idea to come and invade the city. At 2 pm, all of us met at the tour bus for our Sound of Music tour. All the girls were so excited and were singing the famous songs from the movie throughout the entire tour. A few of the places we visited were the famous gazebo, the locations of both buildings used for the Von Trapp family house, the tree-lined lane where Maria danced in the movie, and the church where Maria and the general got married. Even though it had nothing to do with the movie, my favorite part of the tour was when we stopped for a little mountain-luging, which is where you ride down a metal track on a mountain side while sitting on a little cart. It is a little like bobsledding, but without the ice chute. It was really fun and I hope that I get the chance to do it again sometime. At the end of the tour, we walked around some more and ended up eating dinner at a restaurant that Rick Steves had been to several times. All in all, the day was pretty great. I think that I like Salzburg a little more than Vienna right now because it is easier to get a feel for the whole city and the people seem to be a little less pushy and rude to Americans.
The German word of the day is zelten, which means “to camp”. “Ich gehe zelten” is “I’m going camping”. My German is not great, but I am trying. J

August 15

We had no class today because it was a holiday (the Assumption of the Virgin Mary). Once again, Austria is a very Catholic country where its people celebrate and honor many more Christian holidays than we do in the United States. We still had to meet at the Belvedere museum for our tour with Dr. O though. It was my first time going inside the Belvedere, and I was expecting it to be fantastic, which it was. I loved the grand entranceway in the front of the palace. I could only imagine how awesome it looked when the doors were open so that you could hang out on the big front porch. Anyway, the museum inside the palace was full of many paintings by famous artists. One of the paintings that Dr. O talked about at length was “The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt, one of Austria’s most famous painters. It depicts a man and a woman in a kneeling embrace. Dr. O told us that people interpret the painting based on how they are feeling. Those who are happy in love usually see the two people in the picture as being in love as well. Those who are in a melancholy mood while looking at the painting usually see it as a picture of a woman who is uncomfortable in the man’s arms. I guess that I was in a good mood, because I thought it looked like the two were in a loving embrace. While in the museum, we also looked at many paintings that depicted Vienna’s Biedermeier period, which generally lasted from 1815 to 1848. Biedermeier is a term used to describe a certain type of lifestyle as well as a style of art. It is usually marked with simplicity and elegance. Dr. O was telling us that many of the tradition-minded and strict relatives that we have in our families would be considered Biedermeier, so the term is still used to describe a type of lifestyle today.
After the tour, a few of my classmates and I rushed off to the train station to catch our train to Salzburg, where we decided to visit for our 3-day weekend. After another train ride spent playing many rounds of 20 Questions we made it to Salzburg, where it was pouring. We checked into our hostel and then went out for dinner down the street. This was my first time staying in a hostel, so I didn’t know what to expect, but the place was pretty nice. I was pleasantly surprised. We didn’t do any sight-seeing because we were too tired, but tomorrow we are going on the Sound of Music tour. That movie used to be one of my favorites as a kid, so I am very excited about the tour.
The German word of the day is zu Fuss, which means “on foot”. “Ich gehe zu Fuss” is “I went on foot”.

August 19

We continued our discussion of Mozart in class today. Mozart came to Vienna in 1781 and became a member of the free masonry. The free masons was a group founded in the 18th century that consisted of a group of men whose goal it was to achieve the social equality of men. This group was a product of the Enlightenment, but its members still believed in the inferior rationality of women. In class, we also talked about Mozart’s opera, “The Magic Flute” (Die Zauberflote), because we were going to go see it that night. The opera centers around Tamino, a prince, who has to perform certain tasks along with his buddy, Papageno, in order to be able to be with his love interest Pamina. Pamina was supposedly taken from her mother, the Queen of the Night, by Sarastro. In the end, Tamino ends up with Pamina, Papageno ends up with Papagena, and Sarastro turns out to be a good guy while the Queen of the Night and her three servants turn out to be bad. After talking about the opera in class, I was excited to go see it because I had never been to an opera before and I wanted to see everyone all dressed up, as well. After getting to the opera house (called the Theater an der Wien), across the street from the Naschmarkt, it took us awhile to get to our seats. By the way, the seats were very uncomfortable. I think this is to deter people from falling asleep during the performance. The opera turned out to be very different from what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it. I was expecting a very formal production with elaborate costumes and sets, but the costumes and set were more simple and modern. I think this allowed for more humor in the performance. I was glad that I read the libretto of the opera before I saw it, because they sang in German and I would have had no idea what was going on otherwise. Overall, I enjoyed my first visit to the opera. The opera house was very cute too. It was smaller than I thought it would be, but it just made for a more intimate experience.
The German word of the day is moeglich, which means “possible”.

August 11

Today in class, we talked about the Ottoman Empire and then shifted over to a discussion on Mozart. The Ottoman Empire lasted for a very long time (1299-1923), but the height of their power was in the 16th century. The history of this vast empire is entangled with Viennese history because the people of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks, laid siege to Vienna twice. In 1529, it looked like the Turks were going to defeat the city of Vienna in their first attack, but they suddenly withdrew because of the onset of winter. If this hadn’t of happened, the world might have turned out to be a much different place. Perhaps, the western world would have turned out to be Muslim instead of mainly Christian. The Ottoman Empire was the only power that seriously challenged the rise of the west. After this first attack by the Turks, the Viennese invested in better fortifications. When the second attack came in 1683 the Viennese were much more prepared for the onslaught, and they managed to defeat the Turks. One interesting piece of information that I learned in class today was that the reason there are so many coffee houses in Vienna is because the Turks introduced coffee to the city when they were trying to defeat the Viennese. After our talk on the Ottomans, we switched gears to talk a little about Mozart as a child prodigy. For example, he played for Maria Theresa in court when he was just a small boy.
After class, some of us went to lunch at a nice restaurant on the Danube canal, which is commonly mistaken by tourists as the Danube River. We had a good time at the restaurant, but we had a hard time getting out of the place because the waitress had apparently forgotten about us and didn’t give us our check until well after we had finished our meal. I have been noticing that at many of the restaurants here in Vienna the waiters all take their time in bringing you the check. In the United States it seems like the waiters are always trying to rush you out of the restaurant. In some ways, it is nice that the waiters here aren’t hovering around you during your meal, but in other ways, it is annoying to not get your check right away, especially when you have somewhere to be. We were almost late for our meeting with the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Gregory Schulte. We made it to the lobby of the UN building just in time to meet the rest of our classmates and go into the meeting room. Even though attending this meeting was optional, most of us showed up because of the promise of brownies, which I think I may have eaten too much of. Once the ambassador came into the conference to give us his talk he went around the room and shook everyone’s hand. He seemed like a very nice guy, especially after he gave us a few pointers on how to figure out what career paths we all wanted to take in our futures. His actual presentation wasn’t too long, and in it he told us some of the things that his department does in the UN. He told us that his department represents the U.S. in the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the UN Commission on International Trade Law, the UN Office of Outer Space, the Wassenaar Agreement, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Office. I liked that he left plenty of time for us to ask questions after his presentation. I didn’t actually ask a question myself, but many of my classmates did. Most of the questions were about weapons of mass destruction in Iran and the Russia and Georgia conflict. The ambassador was very good at talking around some of the questions though. I also thought it was interesting that he had served in president Bill Clinton’s administration and that he now serves in president Bush’s administration. This fact must make him a little more open-minded to ideas that deviate from president Bush’s plan of action. Overall, I was satisfied with the visit. It made me want to pay more attention to politics because I was less informed on some of the topics under discussion than many of the others were.
The German word of the day is kurz, which means” short”.

August 9

We didn’t have class today because it was Saturday. Jennifer, Stephanie, and I wanted to go to one of the museums that we are required to go visit so we could cross it off our list of things to do. We decided to go to the Haus der Musik. This museum was different from all of the previous ones we have been to. It was divided into 4 separate floors, which each held different types of exhibits. The first floor focused on the history of Vienna’s Philharmonic. The second floor consisted of many interactive exhibits on sound waves, hearing, and other such things dealing with how we hear and interpret music. I liked this floor because it was fun and it reminded me of a museum in Philadelphia that I used to go to as a kid called the Franklin Institute. I especially liked the room that allowed you to make interesting and bizarre music by pressing a series of buttons that each played a different sound. The third floor was the most educational though, because this was where all of the exhibits on the important musicians and composers were on display. The exhibits on Mozart and Beethoven were especially interesting because of the many artifacts that were included. I also liked the display that allowed us to listen to how Beethoven progressively lost his hearing. This floor also had exhibits which focused on the Viennese Classical Period of music, which lasted from 1780 to 1830. This period was headed by Mozart, Beethoven, and Joseph Haydyn. Even though many of my fellow classmates didn’t enjoy the Haus der Musik, I enjoyed it because I liked the music that they played there. I am not particularly into classical music, but I listened to some of the CD’s that were on display on the first and second floors, and I especially liked the CD by Stefan Obermeier called Beethoven Reloaded. The CD was a remix on some of Beethoven’s compositions. I think that I am going to buy it when I get back to the U.S. because it was too expensive in the museum’s gift shop. Anyway, that night I went out again with Stephanie and Jennifer to city hall (Rathaus) to hang out and watch the concert playing on the big screen in front of it. I think that it is awesome that they play concerts and operas on the big screen every night. It is a really great place to hang out and have fun in the city at night, especially because there are many different types of restaurants set up right behind the movie screen area. I especially liked that the Rathaus is all lit up after the concert is over. I took many pictures of this beautiful sight. Before we went to city hall though, we walked around a bit to see what else was around, and we ended up going to see Votivkirche. I had seen the neo-Gothic church while on the bus tour with Dr. O, but I wanted to get a closer look at it. Renovations were being done to the church, but I still took many pictures of this beautiful church that was built on the Ringstrasse at the site of the attempted assassination of Franz Joseph. Ferdinand, Franz Joseph’s brother, ordered the church to be built as a monument to his brother. The first time I saw the church I mistook it for Stephansdom, but I realized that it wasn’t after I visited the much larger and older church in the middle of Stephansplatz .
The German word of the day is Krieg, which means “war”.

August 7

Today we didn’t go to class because we went to Melk Abbey. The town of Melk became the residence of the Babenbergs in 980 AD, and Melk Abbey was given to Benedictine monks in 1089 AD by Markgrave Leopold II of the Babenbergs. Ever since then, the abbey has become a famous place for tourists and students alike. We all had to meet at the Westbahnhof (train station) for our 9:44 train to Melk. The train ride was only an hour or two, and it went by pretty quickly because we just played 20 questions the whole time. The cool part about the train ride was that we got to see the Austrian countryside as we traveled to Melk. The town of Melk was very nice and quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of Vienna. There was one main road, which we walked up to get to the abbey, and it was full of cute little antique shops, gift shops, and restaurants. The actual abbey was built on top of a hill overlooking the town, so the view from the abbey and from the town were both very pleasing. We had to climb a ridiculous amount of stairs to get to the monastery, but once we go there we took a break and ate some lunch at the little café next to the monastery’s gardens. I was a little confused when my sandwich was served with a side of ketchup, but apparently it is normal to eat sandwiches with ketchup in Austria. I thought that this was a little weird, so I just ate my sandwich without the ketchup. After lunch, we started our tour in the main courtyard of the monastery. The tour consisted of a walk through the museum, the church, the library, and some of the hallways of the abbey. I learned many facts about the abbey and the Catholic religion in general while on the tour, such as how important saints relics are in this religion. There were many saints relics on display inside the museum and the church of the abbey. Sometimes, the relics (bones) of many saints are put on display together in one case. It is much easier to get a bunch of bones from the many less important saints than to get the bones of the more famous saints and other important people, such as Jesus Christ. There are no relics in existence from Jesus’s body except for his foreskin, which was cut off when he was circumcised. There were some contact relics on display in the abbey as well. Contact relics are objects that a saint has touched or come into contact with. Inside the church, which is decorated in the elaborate and beautiful baroque style that takes my breath away, there are a few skeletons of nameless saints on display in the side altars. The reason that these nameless saints were put on display is because there aren’t enough full skeletons of famous saints to go around to all the churches. There was one famous saint who was buried in this church though, and that is Saint Colomon, who was hanged and became a saint because his body didn’t decompose after 2 years. Also on display in the museum was a replica of one of the reusable coffins that Joseph II had people use in order to make the burial process easier and less elaborate. One of my favorite parts of the tour was our visit to the abbey’s library. To see all of the old illuminated manuscripts and books put together in one room is really exciting for me. I also liked the globe in the library that was made by a 16th century mapmaker, who thought that the west coast of the area that would be the U.S. was separate from the rest of North America. I also really enjoyed walking through the gardens and the little town after the tour. I bought some souvenirs to remember the place by and rested in the peaceful gardens for awhile before dinner (I can see why the monks like it here). We had dinner at the abbey’s restaurant, where we had a wine tasting. The good food and wine were a perfect end to the day.
The German word of the day is beantworten, which means “to answer”.

August 6

After class today, we ate lunch in the park by the Mozart statue. It was cool because there was a tv crew there videotaping a musical group of some kind. The group consisted of a beat-boxer, a violinist, an opera singer, and an accordion player. It was interesting to hear them all play together because that is not what a musical group usually consists of. We later took another tour with Dr.O, but this time it was of the Art History Museum (Kunsthistorisches Museum). This museum is located across the street from the Hofburg buildings and is also right across from the Natural History Museum. These two museums mirror each other. They look exactly the same and are both built in the baroque style. The buildings aren’t as old as they look, but they are both very nice to look at. The inside of the Kunsthistorisches Museum is very large and beautiful. The entranceway and staircase walls are covered in paintings. At the top of the stairs was a huge sculpture that I thought was really cool. It was of Theseus defeating the Minotaur. On the tour, Dr. O showed us many paintings by very famous artists, such as Rembrandt, Durer, and Rubens. I especially liked some of the paintings by Durer, who was influenced by many of the Italian Renaissance painters yet he had his own unique style. His painting of Emperor Maximilian I was especially intriguing because the emperor looked almost dead. Durer painted it the year Maximilian died, and many people believe it might have been painted after he died. After the tour, Stephanie, Jennifer, and I decided to stay and see the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman displays on the first floor of the museum. I was particularly excited about these exhibits because I am most interested in ancient history. There were many statues, carvings, and jewelry from all three of these ancient civilizations here. The coolest thing I saw here was a mummified alligator in the Egyptian display. When I got back to the dorm’s after the day’s excursions I decided to watch a little CNN, partly because we had to and partly because it was the only channel in English. I was surprised to find that the Daily Show was on. I just caught the end of it, but I don’t think that CNN plays Comedy Central’s The Daily Show in the U.S. I also noticed that there are less captions and little side-screen and bottom-screen news boxes here than in the U.S.. In the United States, there are usually lots of bold letters and blinking news reports that cover part of the screen on CNN. Here, there is much less of that. Also, since I have tried watching CNN multiple times since I have been here, I noticed that they have played the same special multiple times. I don’t think that they show a lot of repeats on CNN in the U.S.
The German word of the day is bereit, which means “ready”. “Ich bin bereit” means “I am ready”.

August 5

Today was the second day of class, and we mainly talked about various Habsburg rulers, and how they set up strategic marriages for their children in order to gain more powere and prestige. One such marriage was set up between Maximilian I and Marry of Burgundy in the 1400s. We also talked a little about the Reformation, which was started by the Augustinian monk,Martin Luther, and his 95 theses. After class, a bunch of us went to the Sisi museum because we thought it sounded like a fun museum to visit. The tour package we bought gave us access to tour the Imperial Silver collection, the Sisi museum, and the Kaiser apartments. The collection of silverware was massive. The museum was full of all different types of silverware, cups, plates, and beautiful centerpieces that were all mostly given to the imperial families as gifts from other great powers. The collection of pieces was passed into the ownership of the Republic of Austria after the end of the Habsburg monarchy. I liked to look at all of the elaborate center pieces that were used by the Habsburgs because they were so elaborate and over the top. These items gave me good idea of court life for the Habsburgs. The Sisi museum was interesting as well, because the display captions discussed all of the aspects of Elizabeth’s life, especially how she progressively slipped into a state of deep depression. Nobody called it depression back then though. They only called it melancholy. I also learned about Sisi’s obsessive dieting and strict workout regiment. She had an 18 inch waistline! The famous portrait of Elizabeth when she was wearing the star-shaped jewels in her hair was alsohoused in the museum. A couple of the girls that I went with to the museum had bought fake copies of these hair clips in the gift shop. The tour of the Kaiser apartments in the Hofburg was my favorite part of the whole tour. I loved seeing where the royal members of the Habsburg family lived. The Habsburgs used the Hofburg as their residence for over 600 years. During the tour, we got to walk through several private rooms used by Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth.
The German word of the day is wirtschaftlich, which means “economical”. “I am looking for an economical situation” is “Ich suche nach einer wirtschaftlichen Losung”.

August 4

Today was our first day of class. Since many of the students were late, we went over some German phrases that would have been helpful over the weekend. One of these phrases that I would have found helpful is “Wo ist die Toilette?”, which is “where is the bathroom?” Asking people if they speak English is the phrase that I have used the most though. It is “Sprechen Sie English?” In class we talked about the beginnings of Vienna’s history, such as how the city started out as a Roman military outpost called Vindobona in 100 AD, where the Roman emperor Marcus Aerulios died around 180 AD. Eventually the city came to be ruled by the Babenberger dynasty, which died out in 1246. King Ottokar eventually took over and was defeated by the first ruler of the Habsburg dynasty and the Holy Roman emperor, Rudolph I, in 1273. Our teacher, Kathy, took us on a short walking tour after class. She showed us a memorial for the many people that died in a bombing that took place down the street from our classroom during WWII. The statues and memorials at this site were made to represent the feelings and emotions of the victims. I thought it was very moving, and it was a little surreal to stand in a spot where a direct bombing had occurred during the war. She also showed us some more statues of various rulers, such as Prince Eugene and Maria Theresa, that were scattered around and near the Hofburg buildings. I liked the Maria Theresa statue located in front of the Art History and Natural History museums because I thought that it was a good representation of how important she was in this city. We also saw a spot where Hitler had given a speech. The spot was located on the balcony of one of the Hofburg buildings. She also showed us some of the Roman ruins from when the city used to be a Roman military outpost. There were also many museum located around this area of the city, so I knew that I would definitely be back to visit many of them. After the tour, many of us went over to the shopping area that Kathy said many of the Viennese shop at. It was exciting to visit an area of town where there were more native Austrians than tourists. We ate lunch here, and then I went off with some of my fellow classmates, Stephanie and Jennifer, to Stephanplatz, where the famous St Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom) is located. I was in awe of the size and beauty of the church because I had never seen anything like it before. Unlike most of the buildings in Vienna, St. Stephen’s is built in more of a gothic style rather than baroque. The inside of the church is huge and full of many decorative carvings and statues. We went on a tour of the church and the church’s catacombs. I learned many interesting things about the church and its catacombs, such as how there are not only bodies buried under the church, but there are many containers in the catacombs that contain the organs of important people. The reason for this is because many other churches want pieces of these important people to bury in their church as well, so the organs of famous rulers are divided up amongst various churches throughout Europe. Certain organs of Maria Theresia and Napoleon II are located in the catacombs here, as well as the bodies of Rudolf IV and his relatives. I also learned that Mozart was married in this church, and that the church was rebuilt after bombings during WWII. After the tour, we climbed up to the top of the south tower. It was a hard trek, but it was definitely worth it after seeing the view from the top. After buying a couple souvenirs from the gift shop at the top of the tower, we walked around Stephansplatz, which is full of shops, tourists, and musicians. I really liked the bustling atmosphere of this part of the city.
The German word of the day is wahrscheinlich, which means “probably”.

August 3

Today was a Sunday, which means that many places are closed because Vienna is a Catholic city. Many of the museums were still open though, so many of us decided to go to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (military museum). The museum was located in the middle of the arsenal buildings that Franz Josef decided to have built to strengthen the country’s defenses after the 1848 rebellion. It would have been helpful to know some German while we were in this museum because all of the signs for the exhibits were written in German. It also would have been helpful to know German because we walked right past the sign that told us that we needed to buy picture passes in order to take pictures. We eventually bought them after one of the guards told us about the passes. The museum was laid out in chronological order and had exhibits for all things military for all of the stages in Austrian history. I was especially excited to see the bloodied jacket and car that Franz Ferdinand was in when he was assassinated. The museum also had some cool WWII propaganda signs. I would have liked to see more Hitler exhibits, though. All in all, the museum was pretty exciting. It was very large and beautiful, so I took many pictures of the displays and the actual building, which had huge vaulted ceilings. After the museum, a few of us went to go find the schnitzel restaurant, Zu Den Zwei Liesln, which we looked up in the Lonely Plant guidebook. We got lost a couple of times along the way, but it was fun traveling around a neighborhood that we probably wouldn’t have gone to otherwise. Once we actually found the restaurant, we saw that it was located in a beautiful little courtyard. The atmosphere was very relaxed and we all got to try our first taste of schnitzel. I got the turkey schnitzel, which I liked very much. After lunch we all went home to catch up on some reading because we were exhausted from all the walking.
The word of the day is meistens, which means “mostly”. I remember this word from when I took German in high school.

August 2

I woke up very early today, even though I was exhausted from the lack of sleep on the plane rides here to Vienna. I was excited to see the city and meet everyone else in the program. One of the first things I noticed about Vienna is that it is very humid here. In Davis, it is more of a dry heat. I could tell that all the walking around Vienna would make for a very sweaty trip. Anyway, after meeting in the lobby of our dorm building, we all rushed over to the Ubahn station across the street. At first, I was confused by the complicated system of train lines, but after riding it a few times I realized that this subway system is a really easy and convenient way to get around the city. The public transportation system also includes many buses and trams that come every 5 or 10 minutes to each stop. This transportation system is much better than in the US, where buses come only every 30 minutes or so and where the trains, such as Bart, don’t even go everywhere. We rode the U3 and U1 trains to our classroom across from the opera house in downtown Vienna. Most of the buildings in this area of town are very pretty because they were mostly built in the 19th century in the baroque style. The opera house across from our classroom was very beautiful as well. The classroom was also in a nice building with a pretty little courtyard. Here we talked about the class and met Birgit, who works in the building, and she told us some relevant information about living in Vienna. After orientation, some of us went to the Naschmarkt for lunch. The Naschmarkt is a huge market that extends over a long distance. There are many restaurants, flea markets, food stands, and pickpockets apparently, throughout the market. I have never seen so much dried fruit, cheese, and spice stands in one place. We ate at a small restaurant where we all ordered a kabob. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was but it turned out to be a huge sandwich filled with marinated pork and other ingredients that looked and tasted very good. Later on, we all met with our tour guide, Dr. O, for a bus tour of the city. We drove by many of the main sights in Vienna, and even stopped at a few of them. The first stop we made was at Belvedere Palace, which is the guest palace that Prince Eugene had built by the famous baroque architect, Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, in 1714. The palace is surrounded by beautiful gardens, and it also houses the Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere Museum. We also drove up through the Vienna forest, which is where Dr. O told us that many of the Viennese go for hiking and other outdoor activities because many of them don’t have backyards due to the fact that most people live in apartments in Vienna. We also stopped at the Hundertwasser House, which is a very cool apartment building that was designed by the radical architect Hundertwasser. He didn’t believe that everything had to be symmetrical when it came to buildings, so many of the windows were different sizes, and there is even a tree growing out of one of the windows. At the end of the tour some of us went to the supermarket across the street from our dorms. I had a difficult time there because I didn’t know what some of the items were because I don’t know German. It would have been helpful to know some of the German words for the main foods. I think I am better off than many of the other students though, because I took German in high school and I remember a few words and phrases. Speaking of that, the German word of the day is verdienen, which means to earn.