Vienna!

After our four weeks in Salzburg, it was time to head to Vienna. We were sad to leave the hostel where we’d begun to feel at home, and to say goodbye to the city we had learned together. But after a four-hour bus ride we were in a new city with a very different feeling! Vienna has over two million people compared to Salzburg’s roughly 150,000, and it is filled with many different ethnicities. Our hotel is in the 10th district, and from here we take the bus to the 1st district, the original city where the museums and other buildings from the Hapsburg Empire are. This city is alive with culture and the mixture of ethnicities and languages makes for a modern feeling. 

We went to the Art History Museum and saw the Durer, Cranach, and Holbein exhibit. The building of the museum itself is gorgeous, with a tall dome and ornate decorations inside. The rooms seemed endless, and thankfully the descriptions of the artwork were in both German and English. We also toured through the Egyptian exhibit as well, but there was so much more we couldn’t fit in! 

We were also able to tour the city hall. Our guide pointed out that even the location of the building was significant; almost directly across from it was one of the main buildings of the Habsburg Monarchy, and this highlighted the fact that the city hall stood for the voice of the people. Balls are held at the city hall throughout the year, from the firefighters’ ball to the diplomats’ ball. It was interesting to see the mixture of Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance architecture - to see what we’ve been learning about combined into one building. At the end of the tour we were able to sit in the room where the representatives of Austria convene, and it reminded us of a smaller version of the U.N. building in New York.

It’s our last day in Austria. Tonight we go out to celebrate the past five weeks of culture, friendships, academics, and learning more about the world together.