Thoughts and Observations: Weekend in Vienna!

My travelling has begun! Spending this weekend in Vienna was amazing. I’ve wanted to go there for so long, and seeing my friends from MSU was incredible! Marliz was such an amazing host and I am so happy I could meet the friends she has made since she has been in Vienna. We were very busy the whole time I was there, but it was fantastic.

I left very early on Friday morning to catch my bus at 6:35. The bus line I took was so fantastic! It is called Student Agency and goes from the Czech Republic all over Europe, even to London! It was only about $25 round trip and the busses had free hot drinks and movies to watch. I had to change busses in Brno, but had to wait for around three hours. I sat in the waiting area a bit and walked around the center of the city too. I got into Vienna at 12:15… and was a bit nervous about finding Marliz! I didn’t have her phone number, and the bus dropped me off on the side of the street near the train station… so I wandered around and tried to be logical and luckily found her and her friends quickly! I just listened for English! From there we got on the subway and I got a great tour of the city.

That night we ate wonderful lasagna made by her roommate and went out on the town. The nightlife starts really late there, so we decided to be culturally aware and follow the rules. We went to an Irish bar and met some more of the people Marliz goes to school with… I should mention that they are all American! They are in a music exchange program and they go to school with only students from American Universities. It’s definitely a different experience than what I’m having where there is only me and one boy from Iowa as Americans at Palacky! From there we went salsa dancing which was fabulous. Definitely a great night in Vienna!

The next day we dragged ourselves out of bed early to go to the Naschmarkt, which is a huge out door market and flee market. There was so much wonderful food to see and smell… We only bought falafel and some desserts, but it was hard to resist buying anything else! I really wanted cheese… but I didn’t want to be the stinky traveler on the bus! We then rested a bit at their apartment and walked around in the beautiful weather before getting in line for the Opera. It was definitely an experience… In Vienna you can wait in line and pay 4 Euros to see any of the operas, but you have stand the whole time. So, it’s really cool because it’s so cheap, but standing proved to be quite difficult! I was really excited to see my first opera, but I was exhausted from so much sigh seeing and little sleep that I didn’t make it through the first half. It was very hot in the standing section, and a woman behind us even fainted. Still, I was so impressed with the amount of people, young and old, who do stand to watch the opera. I really wish I would have felt better, but I really didn’t want to faint and knew I could handle standing for 3 hours.

Today Marliz, Matt, and I planned our spring break trip to Croatia! We’re so excited… and trying to do it as cheap as possible. We’ll be going mid-April… so look out for that! And I’m now back in my room in Olomouc… This weekend was fabulous and it was wonderful to see my friends, but I will admit that I am a bit jealous of how they are living. Vienna is huge and cosmopolitan, and they live in an absolutely beautiful apartment with everything they could possibly need. They go to school with all American students, so it is easy for them to connect. It is definitely a different experience from living in Olomouc, and seemed a lot easier to me. I have only been here a week and I don’t feel very settled yet. My dorm is so small and I am not used to living with other people any more, and I still haven’t met many international students. So, I am going to refuse to be jealous of my friends in Vienna and work really hard this week to make Olomouc my home. I need to make my room feel homey, and put myself out there to meet people. And I need to explore the city and quit being embarrassed about not knowing Czech! It’s so different being on exchange this time without a family to take care of me, but I am definitely ready to take on the challenge now.

I still won’t have much school this week because a couple of professors of mine are out of the country, so I still don’t have much to tell in that department. Tomorrow I need to do laundry, go shopping for food, and start my reading for school… It’s time to get to work!