VIENNA AT LAST!!!

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Trip Start Aug 31, 2008 Previous
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  Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

We have been here for 5 days now. We got to Schloss Neuwaldegg on Wednesday night, September 5. I got my own room and I got all unpacked. On Thursday we got to sleep in and then we had a tour of the castle along with a tour of the area right around the castle. Then we were put in groups and sent out on a Scavenger Hunt to find 9 different sites in the city of Vienna. Remember that the population of Vienna is around 1.8 million. This is a big city. We spent about 4 or 5 hours on this scavenger hunt, learning to use the transportation system which was confusing at first because there are undergrounds, trams, and buses. Now I have it figured out. We were pretty disgusted and tired with this assignment after our first 2 1/2 hours, but we finished and we made it back.

Then on Friday, we had our first German language and culure class. We have a teacher from Vienna. Her name is Frau Ehler. We only have 14 class sessions with her so we are learning a lot pretty quickly. We have learned the basics of German: numbers, greetings, my name is, manners, do you speak english?, how old are you? and a few other phrases. On Friday I got a little homesick realizing that I was going to be here for 3 more months before getting to go home. I spent the day relaxing and just spending some alone time in my room because I haven't got to do that since we left Michigan.

Now, I am feeling better and I have realized that these 3 months are going to go by so fast. Here is what our schedule looks like:
September 26-28th Alps Retreat with the whole group
October 2-5 Mission trip (leave on Thursday night)
October 9-12 Mission trip (leave on Thursday night)
October 17-26 Free travel (I am probably going to France, Spain and Switzerland)
October 31- November 6 Group travel to Italy
November 7-9 free travel
November 14-23 free travel
November 28-30 free travel
December 8 Depart from Vienna

On Saturday, we went to the Interspar, which is the grocery store.

London airport

We also we to the H&M and I got a purse and a fleece sweatshirt. It has gotten cool here very quickly. When we first got here it was in the upper 70s, but the last couple of days have been in the lower 60s and cloudy. Then we had another German session on Saturday evening.

On Sunday we went to the church in Vienna that is similair to a Church of Christ. They did the service in English and German. It took us an hour and 15 minutes to get there, but it was a good service and the people were very nice. I am going to work at a VBS there on Saturday.

Today we had German and European Civilization. Then we went to try and see Stephansdom, but it was closed for Mass. We ended up buying tickets for a classical music concert with Mozart and Strauss pieces for Wednesday night. I'm excited to go to that.

We went to the Mozart Concert on Wednesday night, September 17. It was a great concert and we had a good time. We went down to Stephansplatz and just walked along looking at the shops for a couple of hours before we went to the concert. At the concert, the orchastra members were all dressed in costumes from the time period. There were two clarinet players, so I enjoyed watching them.

On Thursday, we went back to Stephansdom and we were able to tour this time. This church is a huge tourist attraction so there were a ton of people in there. I don't really like the Gothic style, so I didn't like this church. But I thought the stained glass was beautiful. We took a tour of the crypt below the church.

Vienna airport

It was creepy. During the Black Plague, there was a hole in the street that they threw dead bodies down and they went under the church. Prisoners had to wash the bones and stack them up. There are rooms full of bones just stacked up like firewood. I wish I could have taken a picture. We also went to Jesuitkirche, the Jesuit Church. It was all marble and pastel colors with frescos on the ceiling. This isn't very touristy..I enjoyed it a lot.

Today, September 19, Liz, Emily, and I went to Schoenbrunn Palace. It was the residence of the Habsburg dynasty. We took an audio tour through the Palace. It was really neat and I learned a lot about the family. So many of them were unhappily married because their spouse was decided for them. I can't imagine what it would be like to have to live this way. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the palace but a lot of it was white walls with gold detailing and red velvet carpeting. The gardens at the Palace were beautiful too.

On Saturday, September 20, there was a wedding reception at the castle we live in. They had about 200 leftover roses that they didn't need so they gave them to us. On Sunday, we had the leftover wedding cake. It costs $25,000 just for the ballroom and the catering. What a beautiful place for a wedding though.

On Monday, September 22  I visited three of Vienna's historical churches.  We saw Michaelerkirche. The neatest thing about this church was the original entrance from the church that was built in 1220. It's hard to think about civilization existing so long ago. We also went to Minoritenkrche which has a replica of The Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The replica is very large and weighs about 20 tons! the last church was Augustinerkirche. This was where the empress Maria Theresa of Austria was married It was a very simple church and there were no stained glass windows. With all of the churches we have visited, I have a new interest: stained glass.

On Tuesday, four of my friends and I rented city bikes and road around town. We visited Votivekirche. I loved this church because it had so much stained glass. With all of the churches we have visited on this trip, I have a new interest: stained glass. This church has some of the most beautiful stained glass I have seen. I did my best to get good photos of it. Then we went to a mall at the Burgenstrasse stop.

On Wednesday, our whole group went to Belvedere. On the way there we stopped for gelato at Zanoni & Zanoni.It was soooo delcious. Belvedere was once the summer residence of the Hapsburg Dynasty, but now it is an art gallery. I wasn't very interested in the art here.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

First view of Schloss Neuwaldegg	My room, room 101	My closet	My bathroom
The computer lab and projection tv	1-The computer lab and projection tv	The pool table and ping pong table	The dining room
One of the rooms upstairs	Another upstairs room	and another	The staircase leading upstairs from the lobby
Emily, Liz, & I on our 1st day at the castle	The Gazebo	The trail in the woods behind the castle	The grocery store
Mozart Concert Hall	Cameron and I at Mozart Concert	Even their Burger King has a pretty ceiling	University of Vienna
Liz and I at Stephansdom	Stephansdom	1-Stephansdom	Stained glass at Stephansdom
Jesuitkirche	1-Jesuitkirche	2-Jesuitkirche	Gelato!!!
Liz, Emily, and I at Schoennbrunn	Schoennbrunn Palace	1-Schoennbrunn Palace	Me on the steps at Schoennbrunn
Schoennbrunn Gardens	Gloriette and fountains at Schoennbrunn	Liz and Emily at Schoennbrunn	Emily, Liz, and I at Schoennbrunn
Cobblestone on the way up to the castle	Liz and Emily walking up to the Castle	Oldest organ in Vienna at Minoritenkirche	Front alter at Minoritenkirche
Me at Minoritenkirche	Augustinerkirche	Replica of The Last Supper at Michaelerkirche	Me with The Last Supper
Window at Michaelerkirche	Stained glass at Michaelerkirche	Bottom of the hill leading up to the castle	Half way up the hill
Almost to the top	Garden in front of the castle	SCHLOSS NEUWALDEGG	Our Home for the Semester :)
Me with the castle	Side view of the castle	Another picture of the Castle	View from the castle steps
The garden	Up close shot of the castle	Me on the front steps	Closer shot of me on the front steps
Cameron and I in front of the Castle	Roses that were left over from the wedding	View out my bedroom window	"The Last Supper" in Minoritiankirche
Front alter at Michaelerkirche	Me with "The Last Supper"	Entrance from 1220 into Michaelerkirche	Augustinekirche
Window at Minoritiankirche	1-Window at Minoritiankirche	Cameron and Gary on city bikes	Liz, John, and I on city bikes
Stained glass at Votivekirche	1-Stained glass at Votivekirche	2-Stained glass at Votivekirche	3-Stained glass at Votivekirche
4-Stained glass at Votivekirche	The Mall at the Burgenstrasse stop

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