Date: May 7th, 2023
Location: Vienna, Austria
Phew, what a busy day!
Though I guess it started yesterday, the 6th. I finished moving out of my dorm on the 3rd, and immediately I had to rush into unpacking my stuff from my dorm, packing away my winter clothes, and packing for this trip. Luckily, I managed to scrape on by without forgetting anything major (knock on wood) but it was definitely a rush. Still, I somehow made it to my flight to JFK on time with my luggage checked and my bag packed. I arrived hours before anyone else in my group had made it to JFK so after I deboarded, even after quite the delay, I had to wait around for a long time. JFK was huge so I got a lost for a bit trying to get my luggage and leave my terminal. But eventually I found the bus that would take me to my next terminal. There, I waited for an hour and a half to be allowed to check-in.
Before long, the rest of my study abroad group joined me and we were able to get checked-in and go through security. We had about three hours to kill since we all arrive early so some of us tried to get dinner in groups to kill time. Of course, everything was super expensive and it was airport food but so I figured this wouldn't be the best meal I had. After that I walked around for a little bit and before I knew it, it was time to board.
We got on the airplane and it was really, really nice. It was one of those bigger airplanes that had three seats in the middle and a row on chairs on either side. I lucked out and sat by the window this time. Surprisingly, it didn't take us very long to get boarded, settled, and for the plane to take off. It felt like immediately after I sat down, everyone was ready to go. I didn't even realize we had already taken off until I looked out the window and we were thousands of feet high up. I spent the entire 8-hour flight watching a movie and getting some sleep. It was pretty relaxing flight overall. They served us a little inflight dinner towards the beginning and we even got a muffin not too long before we were set to land. They even gave all the passengers a planet, a pillow, and a set of headphones for the flight. Definetely one of the better airlines I've ever been on.
By the time we landed, it was around 11:30ish in the morning in Austria. But because of the six hour time difference, I knew it had to be about 5:30 in the morning back at home. What a weird feeling! But eventually we did have to get off the plane. We got our stuff and made our way through customs which took about under a minute since there was virtually noone there. I can't lie- I was half worried I would be stopped in customs. My trip to Iceland was only about two months ago, and I had been watching the show, To Catch A Smuggler right before this trip so I can't help but worry about me and my big, giant carry-on getting stopped. But things went off without a hitch so I was okay!
Afterwards, we got our bags from baggage claim and got picked up by our tour guide for the day. She was this extremely sweet Austrian lady named Susanna and she led us to our tour bus just outside and loaded us all onto the bus to finally make it to Vienna.
It took a couple of minutes to get into the city. Or, at least the main part of the city. But on the way, Susanna told us all these different facts about Austria and Vienna in general. It's been so long since I had a history class that talked about something else beside American history and the World Wars that it completely caught me off guard when she started talking about the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Admittedly, I didn't do as much background research as I should have (my excuse was that I was busy with school) but it was amazing to hear of Vienna's influence and size throughout history. But the two things that really stood out to me was that Vienna was an Imperial City and it used to be more countryside rather than a metropolitan. And you can definetely see bits and pieces of both facts as you walk (or in our case, drive) the streets of Vienna.
Eventually we made it into the city. But our bus had a pretty hard time navigating. And it was all thanks to a marathon that just so happened to be running a loop through one of the busier areas of town! Apparently, this is a marathon run by Red Bull called Wings for Life. We got to catch a glimpse of the runners from the bus and there were a lot of them. Definetely more than enough to shut down part of the streets, that's for sure. Luckily, our bus was able to take us down some roads that weren't shut down and we got to hear about those places from our tour guide. We passed by Embassies and old palaces and so, so many foundations. But one thing that amazed me was how virtually every building was still in the Baroque Style. It looked like the whole city of Vienna really kept to its architectural roots. Sure, there were a few modern looking buildings here and there. But it looked like people just preserved what was originally there and moved their store or apartment into the old, traditional buildings. So beautiful!
We had been traveling for a while at this point and the marathon was throwing our plans for a loop so we ended up only making on stop on the bus. But it was well worth it. We stopped at an old imperial palace called Schönbrunn. It was so beautiful!! Words are so hard to describe what I saw. I'm pretty sure it costed money to go inside the palace, but the garden was open to the public. And oh my god, it was an impressive garden.
I must have walked around 30 minutes straight and barely covered it. It was so big and grand and it felt like it stretched on for miles. It's hard to even believe the we were still within city limits. But it truly showed you just how big Vienna was. And just how green the city is too considering all the parks. Seriously, there were flowers and fountains everywhere. Within the palace garden grounds, I walked past a so many different things like Japanese garden, an old tropical house, and even a zoo!
I wander around for a while, not knowing what anything was or where to go since the signs were all in German. But I enjoyed myself all the same. Eventually, it was time to head back on the bus and check in to the hotel. The hotel that we're staying in is pretty close to a couple of things in the city but we have easy access to the metro too! Not that I'm able to understand the maps that much anyways. Though the hotel we're staying in is very cute. I'm sharing my room with someone and I think most of the people in my group are too. The design is really pretty, but I can't say the functionality is all that practical. But there's water, heat, lights, and clean sheets so I guess I can't complain too much.
After a little while of unpacking and freshening up, it was time to head to dinner. At dinner, I was able to see everyone from the Penn State program who was joying us! As it turns out, there's 12 undergraduate students and 8 graduate students. We also had two teachers, a teaching assistance, and a couple of friends of the program join us at dinner.
Speaking of dinner, it was amazing. We went to a place that served very traditional Austrian cuisine right by my hotel. I started off by getting something to drink. And under recommendation from someone who had spent a lot of time in Austria, I decided to order a Märzenbier or a March Beer! Apparently, it's a classic in this region and people really like it. It's also known as a seasonal beer, but you can drink it as anytime. As for the taste? Well, let's just say this trip won't turn me into a beer drinker (or even an alcohol drinker) anytime soon. But at least I can say I tried it! Go me!
For my appetizer, I got a beef broth with minced vegetables, beef, and noodles. I don't have much to say about it besides the fact that it was very good. Nothing too crazy, but apparently soups like that are common in this region too. Very warm and filling though. No complaints here. Though I think it was my main course that I was most excited about. I ordered some pork schnitzel and potato salad and I couldn't wait to try it. It was my first time trying schnitzel and it definetely did not disappoint. It was light, crispy, but just super, super good! And the potato salad was also good too! For desert, I had something called a Sacher cake. It's also a very traditional, regionally famous dish and it seemed to be like a special type of chocolate cake. It was very tasty and overall, everything was so good!
Naturally, after a big meal like that (and a full day of traveling) I was ready to hit the hay. Luckily our meal way already paid for so I didn't have to worry about that. I just walked back to my hotel. Squeezed into the tiny little elevator that took me up to my bedroom on the 6th floor and got ready to go to bed. What a wonderful way to end the day!
Anddd that's where I'll leave you guys for today! Thank you so much for joining me! I'm very excited to finally be on the trip and share my adventures with you all. So I hope you all enjoyed today's entry! And I hope you'll join me for the next one too! Thanks for tuning in! Until next time!
- DD
Picture Sources (in order of appearance):
Schönbrunn - My photo!
Japanese Garden - My photo!
Tropical House - My photo!
Fountain in the garden - My photo!
Pork Schnitzel for dinner - My photo!
The scenery is so beautiful. I am glad your first day was enjoyable. Looking forward to reading more about your journey. Until next time, love Aunt Sandra.