Vienna- Day 2

Me and Laura at the Palace outside Vienna

It seems like we did the least in Vienna but we still saw a lot.

We woke up and hung out with Alyssa for a little while but unfortunately she had class during the day and had some homework to do. We met up with Laura and Stacy at the subway station and then took the subway over to Stephenplatz which is a giant cathedral that is like the center of town. We walked around for a little bit and then decided it was a good idea to have dessert for breakfast and stopping in Aida, which is a coffee place that had an amazing array of tortes and cakes. I opted for the schokobombe while Britt and Stacy got sacher torte. My father is a fantastic chef and makes both schokobombe and sacher torte at home and I have to say that I don’t have to travel all the way to Vienna for the best because I can have it in my own kitchen.

After our delicious desserts we shopped more. One of the big things about Austria is its ties to Mozart so every shop had Mozart this and Mozart that. Another novelty they had were items that said “No kangaroos in Austria.” I guess they are saying the people get confused between Austria and Australia, but Laura did not find that funny.

I wish I could have this every day of my life.

After getting our fill of browsing the shops we took the subway over to the palace outside of Vienna. Like a lot of the other palaces we saw it would have been more beautiful when things are in bloom but it was a nice sight nonetheless. Laura also had many new experiences at the palace which included making a snowball, seeing a squirrel, and touching frozen water. If she wants to see more squirrels she should really make a trip to the University of Illinois. Jen also met up with us at the palace and we took more group pictures. It was very windy there and after spending time walking the grounds we decided to head back into the city for a late lunch.

Stevie, Brittany, Laura, Stacy

After our food we decided to search for a place for dessert but we ran out of time and had to meet Alyssa before heading over to the opera. I had never seen opera before but what a better place to start than in Vienna. The show was Medea and we bought standing room tickets for only three euro. We found a place on the SL balcony and I had a trouble seeing the stage but it was still a great experience. Although the show was in German they had small screens in front of you with subtitles that you could switch from German to English. The show itself was interesting and even if I spoke German I don’t think I could follow it because a single word can stretch out for what seemed like minutes. There was also a man I couldn’t see while he was singing and thought he was a girl until he came into view. I don't know if that is impressive or creepy or both.

A Night at the Opera

After the first act the rest of my comrades were getting tired of standing after a day of sightseeing so we headed out of the opera to a late dinner. We met up with Jen at the café downstairs due to the fact she couldn’t get into the show because it was sold out. I felt so bad for her.

Stacy’s friend had told her that she must go to the restaurant Centimeter before leaving Vienna so that was our destination for dinner.  I really liked going there because it was a local dive and I like to soak in the atmosphere like the locals. Another great thing about dinner was it wasn’t just the Wolf Pack but a couple other girls that go to school in Vienna with Alyssa and Diana so we had a nice group to chat with. Like dinner every night we had a toast to Vienna, old friends, and new friends and then went around the table doing “pits and peaks” which I think the other Vienna girls enjoyed. As for food (I never forget a meal), Britt, Laura, and I got a sampler of finger foods which was basically deep fried everything. Alyssa and Diana got “mish mash” which was basically all sorts of various foods served together in a giant metal scoop. Talk about local dive food! I was sausage-like pieces with noodle-like pieces and maybe some bean-like things. Stevie got a bunch of apple donuts which she shared because the small size apparently serves at least eight people. The rest of the girls had schnitzel which is typical fair in Austria. I had such a good time at dinner talking with the other girls and hearing about their study abroad experience. It was also nice having a taste of home along with a hearty helping of Austria.

The whole Vienna gang at Centimeter

After dinner in a very smoky Centimeter we took the tram back to Alyssa’s dorm and hung out for a bit talking. We also met her roommate who major in the recorder. Yes, the musical instrument that you master in about a week during second grade. She was nice enough for letting us crash on her floor though. We also got to use Alyssa’s computer which was nice considering we had been using the ones with the funky keyboards ever since getting to Central Europe; the problem with Alyssa’s was that it didn’t have a “u” key because it had fallen off. It still worked fine for gchatting and emailing. After that it was time for another night on the floor.