Just Some Thoughts...

Vienna was a city that I really did not know much about going into this field trip. I did not know what to expect. I was underwhelmed when we first arrived, as the part of the city where our hostel was looked like almost any other city. It was not until we walked down to the Museum Quarter that I saw the beauty and history that Vienna has. On Wednesday we got to go to the Austrian Imperial Treasury. There were jewels, robes, holy items, and many more things that covered over 1,000 years of Austrian history. Most of the things there are from the Habsburg family, who occupied the throne of the Holy Roman Empire from 1438 to 1740. It was amazing to see so much of a country’s history in one place, and it did not hurt that they had some of the most beautiful jewels I have ever seen.

After the treasury we went to the Museum Quarter. The museums are housed in absolutely beautiful buildings. We were able to choose from three museums: The History of Art, the History of Nature, and a modern art museum. Being the science geek that I am, I of course went to the History of Nature. The museum had many displays, including plants, parasites, large animals, dinosaurs and fossils, rocks, a planetarium, and early human history. The dinosaurs were my favorite. It never ceases to astound me how big they all are. It makes me very glad that they do not live here anymore, or I would be afraid to go outside. After we were finished in the museum we got to lay in the grassy area by the museums and enjoy the beautiful weather.

After Vienna we took a 7 hour bus ride through the Alps to Venice. The Alps were even better than I expected. I have always loved the mountains, and being able to experience the famous Alps was great. Venice was also amazing. It is the first city we have visited that fully lived up to the expectations I had built up in my head. It looked almost exactly as I had imagined it. The winding streets and alleys are extremely easy to get lost in, but that is half the fun of wandering Venice (providing you can actually get back to your hostel at the end of the day). I do not know what people did before Google maps, because it was a life saver for me in Venice. Thank God for international data plans. Venice is very much a tourist city. In fact, very few local people actually live in the part of Venice that has the waterways. Because of this, around 11 o’clock at night, the city becomes like a ghost town, and you can wander the alleys without seeing hardly anyone. We also visited some museums in Venice, and they were nice, but they just did not live up to the actual experience of walking around Venice and experiencing the city and its waterways. We, of course, took a gondola ride and found some great Italian food, so I can say that our trip to Venice can be considered a success.