The Sound of Music

For Easter Break, I went to Vienna to visit my Austrian (not Australian) sister, aka an exchange student who came to live with my family in 2010. Travelling took 7 or 8 hours by train, and I had to switch twice. But get this. MY TRAINS WERE ON TIME. I was surprised. That must be a new record. I enjoyed watching the pretty landscapes roll by. I even saw some mountains and hills. When I crossed into Austria and realized there really are a lot of hills, I got the strong desire to run through them singing “The hills are aliiiiiiive with the sooooound of muuuuusiiiic!” or something about raindrops and kittens. Hmm. Can’t fathom why.

Anyways, I was so extremely excited to see Sandra again!! I won’t even try to express my excitement in words. What I can express are all the cool things we did together.

We spent the first day going to all the “basics”. So, the Stephansdom, Nationalbibliothek, Parlament, and important stuff around the Innenstadt. Just kind of looking around at the beauty of Vienna. Because it is GORGEOUS. I have seen some beautiful buildings, but Vienna is something different, because practically the whole city is like that. Going around, I couldn’t help but stare and admire all the architecture and art.

Throughout the week we did lots of fun stuff. We went to lots of museums. The Albertina art museum was really cool. There were a lot of exhibits from artists that I know about, like Rembrandt, Rubens, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, and Max Ernst. It was SOOOO cool to see works that I recognized in person. I about exploded. I enjoyed seeing the skill of those artists up close. As far as museums go, we also went to the Leopold art museum, Kunsthistorische (art) museum, Naturhistorische (science/nature) museum, and Haus der Musik. All of them were fun to go around in their own way. The Kunst- and Naturhistorische museums were really impressive just because they were so HUGE and the buildings were so ornate and gorgeous. I was just awestruck by the building itself, and I tried not to look like an excited maniac from all the art as well. There were some really amazing things there, and we saw only about half of the museum. In the Naturhistorische museum, we didn’t get to see much because we spent most of our time there looking at the “Bodies” exhibition. You’ve probably heard of it. I know it was in KC a few years ago and was really controversial because they use real bodies that they basically turned into plastic. But it was actually really, really interesting to see how exactly our bodies function. Sometimes I felt a little nauseous, but then I pretended it was plastic, and it was all good. Also in that museum, we got a “night tour” of the parts of the museum that aren’t usually open to the public. There wasn’t actually that much. The most notable thing was a BUNCH of shelves full with human skulls. But this tour was cool because it allowed us to go onto the roof, so we got a really nice view of Vienna by night. The Haus der Musik was fun because it was so interactive; for example, I got to “conduct” the Wiener Philharmonic with a sensor baton. I blame the parts that sounded funny on the sensor.

We also went to some cafés, because Vienna has a lot of those (tradition, I guess). Most notable was a really yummy Gelatos ice cream place, and Sacher, the most famous café in Wien (I think). So I ate Sacher Torte feeling really classy in the Sacher Hotel/Café. And like a tourist. But… I am. So no big deal.

We also went to the Prater, which is an old amusement park. The oldest Ferris wheel in the world is there, so we rode on that and got another really good view of Vienna. On another day we went to a winery, which served grape juice. And traditional country Austrian food. Yum.

For Easter, we chilled and ate practically the whole day. Speaking of food, I had some really fantastic stuff while in Wien. One of the best was a Käsekrainer from a Würstelstand. The other best was when Sandra’s mom made Wiener Schnitzel, which was awesome. Real Wiener Schnitzel (from veal, not pork) while in Wien is a must. Duh. I also had Kaiserschmarren and Gulasch and Gugelhupf.

I was really sad to go, because I really had a great time in Wien despite the really bad weather. It was unseasonably cold and we contemplated making a snow Easter bunny. But still, it was a lot of fun and I hope to be able to visit again someday. And another thing: MY TRAINS WERE ON TIME. I’m so proud.