Thursday, November 1, 2007

Main attaction: Starbucks...But I walked away with so much more

Vienna- October

Hungary celebrates their freedom and the victory of the 1956 Revolution in late October. The country takes two days to celebrate, and ICSB provides the students both American and Hungarian time to celebrate with these days off of school.

Mary Orr and I decided to rest for a couple days and then take an overnight trip to Vienna. The two hour drive is simple and direct, and Vienna is a beautiful city well worth the visit. In fact, after having been there- I'm dying to return.

Mary and I walked A LOT. The city is accessible by foot but not small. We saw St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Opera house (but no opera), the parliament building, St. Mark's church, 5 Starbucks, 4 H&M's, and many more beautiful buildings. We even took a short side-trip to view the Danube as it runs through Vienna. While Vienna is quite wonderful, Budapest can brag of it's beauty related to the Danube River.

We also visited the Hofburg palace, the Music House, and an authentic Austrian resturant. All in all, our 24 hours in the city were well worth the trip. I learned that there is so little that I know about the architechture, history, and culture of Europe. The greatest part is that I can visit and observe and never really understand it all. It's such a mystery, such an adventure, and such a great way to spend a long weekend.