Vienna Weekend

 

            This past weekend all the exchange students came to Vienna for our meeting. We all slept in a youth hostel near Mariahilfestrasse (a shopping street). The hostel was actually not too horrible, but I would have rather slept in my own bed here! On Friday night, we went to the opera. The opera house was beautiful, and the acoustics were amazing in there! I found that the opera itself was a little dull, but I spoke with my friends Simon and Rachel, who both had a true appreciation for it. It was really cool to hear them talk with such sophistication and passion, and I hope one day I can learn to love the opera the way they do!

Headed to the opera

Opera House

             On Saturday we toured the parliament building and Schonbrunn. These are places in Vienna I have driven by several times but haven’t actually been in. It was super interesting to learn about the history, but the day was quite long. I had a headache the whole day and my feet were aching from my stupid boots. When we got back to the hostel we had to get a shot to prevent meningitis. So the day was kind of turning into a bummer. We ate dinner together, and after dinner, I was determined to make the night better than my day had been. So Crash, Lucas, Lauren, Seth and I headed off to my favorite Viennese café, Café Schwarzenberg. Crash (of course) sparked up some really interesting conversation between us; comparing inspirations and new discoveries about ourselves since we’ve been on exchange. I loved that conversation because I felt like I really got to know my friends better. It was awesome to hear how much we’ve all grown and changed.

Sam and Juliet resting before our tour of Schonbrunn

Parliament Building

            After the café we went to my house for a little while, where I got coaxed into playing guitar for everyone. I usually don’t enjoy those moments too much because nerves make my voice sound horrible, and I’m not a huge fan of having attention directed at me. But it was over soon enough and then we got to watch Lucas juggle for us (the high ceilings in my house make it a perfect juggling spot)! Crash was starting to crash (haha I had to!) on my couch, so we decided to head back to the hostel and get some sleep.

Crash doing some stretches on the escalator

            The next morning Crash, Lucas, Lauren, Laura and I went to Stadtpark and the Belvedere. It was a foggy morning so they couldn’t really see the whole beauty of it, but they still made the most of it. I was really tired that day and somewhat of a grouch, but my friends did a pretty solid job of cheering me up. Saying goodbye this time wasn’t as hard, because I will see most of my friends again next week for our tour to Prague, Dresden and Berlin!