Made it! Back in Vienna, pooped but excited. All and all, the trip wasn’t too bad. The lovely Andrew dropped me off at the airport and apparently with my big sweatshirt, my big jacket, and windpants, I look like a hooligan. I managed to make it through the ticketing line alright, but before going through security I got asked to step aside so they could swab my hands. They got a nice swab of vermicelli with fish sauce and some chocolate and vanilla swirl custard with jimmies. So apparently I’m not that sketchy.
The flight wasn’t too bad either. I had thought we were taking a United plane and I was going to have swanky seats in Economy Plus, but turns out we were just in a regular Austrian Airlines plane where all the seats are sized extra small. I actually slept for a decent amount of the trip rolled up into various shapes as the lady in front of me decided to recline her chair for THE ENTIRE TRIP. Thanks lady, I appreciated that.
As we were pulling up to the gate at the end of our journey, I looked over and noticed the lady sitting next to me was reading a book in Hebrew. So, somehow, I think I ended up sitting next to probably the only other Jewish person on the entire flight. We had some brief exchange about Hebrew and my knowledge of it, which inevitably lead to some confusion and then just some awkward silence. It was a fun fact to learn as the flight was ending though. Before that, she was just the lady who was compulsively putting on hand sanitizer all flight.
Getting into Vienna wasn’t too much of a hassle either. My giant, lime green suitcase was easy to find and everyone’s luggage made it Austria. Apparently my sketchy attire still looked sketchy in Vienna because I got stopped and given some extra special questioning about my visit to Europe by the customs folks.
But after that, the sketchy treatment stopped and the special treatment started. Being a girl, traveling with a bunch of boys means you get your bags carried for you by the taxi guy and the last room available when checking in early.
We didn’t do a whole lot today. After we got to the hotel, we sort of did a quick overview walk of Vienna. Having been here before, I did not feel the need to take a million pictures of all the landmarks again. This time I want to go and actually see stuff. Like the insides of the buildings. It’s a bit colder here than in MD and I’m glad I had my hat and gloves. Not everyone was so prepared so our walk was brief and ended with lunch in a cafe and a slightly testy Austrian lady.
No, this isn’t the testy Austrian lady. This is some ridiculous statue in the middle of the museum quarter. I don’t really get it. In truth, it sort of grosses me out. So naturally I had to take a picture of it.
After lunch, most of the crew went back to the hotel to relax, take a nap, and just hang. Calvin and I decided to press on, despite our tiredness and check out a museum. We headed to the Museum of Art History get our cultural fix.
It was a pretty cool museum as far as art museums go. We saw Egyptian art, Roman art, classical paintings, and best of all, there was an audio tour! I made sure to get all I could out of that audio tour. I learned fun facts about paintings like this one:
It’s called “The Bean King” and the dude on the right with the crown is, you guessed it, the king. The lady next to him is the prettiest lady at the party, so she’s the queen. The rest of the guys and the less-than-attractive women all play members of the court. It’s a big party and whoever finds the bean in the cake is king for the party. It sounds like a King cake for Mardi Gras. So, the dude behind the king holding the fish to his mouth plays the official taster for the court and the guy on the left, looking like he doesn’t feel so hot, is the court doctor. I felt the need to take a picture of this painting, because really, how many paintings are in museums of guys projectile vomiting?
After the museum we headed back to the hotel to meet up with the group for dinner. We went back to the same restaurant near our hotel that we visited last time. But this time we knew we had to pay for the appetizers.
Now I’m back at the hotel, sweating in my overheated room and falling asleep. In fact, I fell asleep for a few hours until I woke up and realized I forgot to post anything for today. So, internet, here you go. Or rather, mom, here you go. I’m off to bed now…a fun day of work tomorrow!