Austria: WIEN (Vienna, Austria)

Vienna is a school sponsored trip, and is separate from the 10 day travel period throughout Europe. The four day trip was packed with tours and lectures, some awesome and some were honestly a bit boring. The train ride was only two hours from Salzburg, and once we arrive in Vienna we were shown to the hostel and then provided a short tour around Vienna. There was a holiday at that time, and there were military events everywhere which I though was really cool. After the tour some of us went to dinner and got a bit lost on the way back, but found our way eventually. The city is huge, beautiful, and packed with people.

The second day we had an "official" tour by a local that lasted three hours and included tours in a big church and to the Habsburg burial vault. I also saw the Jewish town center and memorial, many more buildings and great statues (with horses!) For lunch we went to the "Naschmarkt," a local market with fresh produce and shops. At 1 pm we met again for another tour. This tour was on the "Vienna Ring Tram," a subway that provides audio guides with music and a narrator as we passed significant buildings and monuments.

On the third day I skipped the first lecture at the Bank Money Museum and Opera house to go see the Vienna Spanish Riding School famous LIpizzaner Stallions!" For three hours I was able to watch the morning training with classical Austrian music, it was really beautiful. Unfortunately they do not allow cameras so I only have a couple pictures and video's. After the riding school I met with the group again to tour the Archives of the Austrian Resistance.

Day four was much less packed with tours... we only went to Schloß Schönbrunn, a summer palace from the royalty. From here I let with some friends to go to Prague!