So we had a three-day weekend and my friend Erik came down to Vienna from Prague to visit Jessica and I! On Friday night we went to the Prater fun park! We rode this huge ferris wheel that overlooked the entire city and got some goofy pics :) We also rode a few rollercoasters including one that went through a haunted house! We called it an early night (well maybe not so early) and came back to the hause since we needed to be up early the next morning for our train to Mauthausen! This was a bad experience, in a good way-if that makes any sense at all.
Mauthausen (Austria) was the last concentration camp to be liberated during WWII in 1945. Upon arrival I could just feel the weight of being in such a place. The Holocaust has always been one of my favorite areas of study and it took a while for me to wrap my head around the fact that I was walking on the grounds of a former concentration camp. We watched a 45 minute film on this camp and it just made my stomach turn. Words cannot describe what went on there. Walking through the camp, I got to see the insides of the huts where the jews were kept and I was floored by how many people they fit into these tiny bunkbeds. It made me sick to think about how many people were sick, beaten, and murdered there. I also went through the cremetoriums and gas showers which I won't even go into detail about. The smell still lingered and I could see bullet holes in the walls. We have all learned about these camps in history books and in documentaries, but to be there and see it in color is a whole different story. Ended this night by getting on the wrong train, then getting caught in a lightening storm on the way home. Gloomy day if you ask me...I don't want to go into too much detail about this trip on blog because it is too dark, but if you wish to know more, just get ahold of me and I'd be willing to elighten you further...
On a lighter note, Sunday we got to see some really cool places! We all went to Schonbrun Palace and holy cow! Its HUGE. The gardens were beautiful and it had some of the biggest most eloaborate fountains I have ever seen. After this we went and got some amazing Eis at Tichy and headed for the cemetary! Never in a million years did I think I would ever get to see what I saw: the graves of Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert!!!! I was practically 10ft away from their dead bodies!! Again, another fact I had trouble grasping ;) We ended Erik's last night by exploring the nightlife of Vienna and finished with a rumba! It was such a blast but unfortunately missed the last U-bahn :( But this was just another opportunity for me to flag down a sweet mercedes taxi and have the experience of riding in a real car (which I am missing so dearly). We did make it home safe and sound though and hit the hay.
Overall, GREAT WEEKEND!! Im just waiting for all my tests this week to be overwith so I can spend a nice quiet weekend in the country with Jessica and our host family! I've been enjoying myself tremendously on this trip but honestly, I'm starting to get a little homesick. I think this has been the perfect length for a study abroad program. I've learned a ton and had some amazing experiences but I'm just about ready to see my friends and family. Love you guys and see you soon!!!
Gute Nacht,
Brooke
brooke, just wanted to say hi and that im glad your keeping to date on your blog. i studied in vienna during the spring of '09 and as you are living this moment, words just cannot describe the impact it had on my life. i feel like not a day goes by where i think about getting back to vienna to park it for good. anyway, i saw you are looking for a quiet way to spend the weekend...here is an idea for you. take a walk through the wine country. i did this on many occasions just to "get back to nature." if you take bus 38 in front of school to the last stop (away from the city center) you will get off where the bus turns around. getting off the bus, turn right then left up the main street. stay to the right as you walk up and you will see the street "fork" to the right (kind of in a triangle shape up a slight incline) once there, just walk and enjoy the views...if you are feeling more spontaneous like i was you can do one of two thingS when the road dead ends...1) turn right and walk down the hill and make your way back the the end of the u-4 where you will pass einsteins house of four years...2) turn left, continue up the winding hill where there is nice cafe and great views of the city. you will also pass a small cemetery where "the most beautiful girl in the world during the congress of vienna is buried." there is also a bus upthere that you can catch but i am not sure how regular is runs.
ReplyDeletewhat i did was walk up, enjoy the views, eat lunch, then walk back down. probably on of the best days i had in vienna...
http://alslusher.blogspot.com/2009/02/vienna-countryside.html (this is was i started to keep while in vienna and the post from that afternoon during my first hike.
www.aaronslusher.blogspot.com is what i keep up on now (still in an on again off again fashion)
either way, enjoy your stay in vienna, soak it up, and most of all sit, relax, and enjoy yourself at a cafe...its the only way to truly understand vienna