Vienna and Venice! #8

(Field trip #2)

I cannot think of a better way to begin a spring break then by taking a field trip to Vienna, Austria followed by Venice, Italy! Both of these cities were beautiful and completely different. At the end of my London trip (which was two days before Vienna), I had come down with a rotten cold. It was just one of those where you want to sleep all day and you go through tissues and cough drops like you are getting paid to do it. Not much was going to stop me from having fun in these amazing cities, even though I was so sick.

A cathedral in Vienna

One of the hundred canals through the city

When we got to Vienna, we settled into our hostel and got to see the city square and go down the main street where there were a TON of dangerous places to shop. We learned how unique the city is and how much history is in every place we go. That afternoon we got to go to the Vienna Treasury and see some really cool crowned jewels. That was the mot interesting museum we went to as a group. The next day, the group of us woke up early to catch a horse show. I was not feeling the best and accidentally fell asleep at the horse show that turned out to actually be the practice so I didn't feel as bad. After that, a few of us went to go find somewhere for lunch. We went to a little cafe and I had some soup because that's exactly what I needed on that cold day. At the cafe we ran into a German couple who spoke almost no English. Even though we didn't speak the same language, there was no barrier and it was one of the best conversations that I had here. They were so nice and the lady even gave me a hug before they had to go. After the cafe four of us went to a museum called "Haus of Musik". It was the best part of Vienna to me. We got to see some of the most famous classical composers things and learn all about them. Artists like Mozart and Bethoveen were featured in this museum. We also got to learn about the science of hearing and how the ears hear different things. There was a really cool room that was supposed to sound like what a baby hears when its in the womb. It was a really cool thing to see since we were in the city of classical music. That afternoon I took a five hour nap followed by an eight hour night of much needed sleep.

Piano stairs in the "Haus of Musik"

One of my crowns at the treasury

In the "Haus of Musik"

The next day we were back on the bus and on our way to Venice. We took a quick pit stop at a place that had a beautiful view of the Swiss Alps, then after a seven hour bus ride we got to our final destination. Venice is unlike any city I have ever been in. I was shocked at it's beauty and it completely exceeded my expectations. When we got there we immediately walked to our hostel and then Martin lead us to the city center and St. Marcos square. He introduced the city and then said "Okay find your way back." The thing about Venice is that a lot of it looks the same and there was no way I was going to get back on my own. Luckily Erica and Anna have excellent sense of direction because we got back safe and in good time. We ate an excellent dinner and gelato following. When we got back to our hostel we decided that a group of us were going to wake up early and go exploring in the city before it got busy. That was the best idea we ever had. When we woke up there were barely anyone but locals on the streets and vendors getting their shops set up for the day. When we woke up early it made for excellent pictures and a whole new view on the city. We walked the opposite way from our hostel and found a really pretty park and a great restaurant. It was so early that we were having coffee with our ravioli at ten in the morning. I loved getting to explore Venice with my friends and having such a great time so early. We met up with the group soon after that and got to go to a couple of cool museums with great art and a beautiful cathedral. After that we were free to go exploring again in Venice! We did and got pizza on our way back to our hostel and we may have stopped at a few stores as well. Then we were off for our spring break! Venice and Vienna were a blast and I cannot wait to go back to those cities in the future. I never feel like I have enough time to explore everything I can in these cities, but I'm not complaining because that just means that I will have to come back in the future with my family.

Our morning ravioli

On our gondola!

St. Marcos Square

All of the early morning crew!