The group dropped our stuff off at the hotel then headed back into the city to see a few churches, grab lunch, and go to the second largest residence in the world, the Sissi Palace. The palace was cool on the outside and the history behind it but the museum was nothing but china. Room after room of plates and silverware. I was actually starting to fall asleep while standing, listening to my audio guide. Unfortunately the museum did not get any more exciting when I went to the upstairs part. The best thing was learning about how the assassination of Elisabeth of Bavaria. Several hours spent in the museum was enough.
We went to dinner at this pub where we had local wine and a traditional Viennese meal: kraut, potatoes, sausage (for those that eat meat), and strudel for dessert. It was a lot of fun and after we attempted to go to a bar. This ended up with me going back to the hotel with some people I met at dinner and we played cards before going to sleep.
On Saturday we went to the Schönbrunn Palace, which is where the largest garden in the world is. The palace was a bunch of old furniture and the people I was with were just as disinterested with the interior as I was. We quickly ran through the palace and then headed to the garden.
The garden was massive and had a zoo and labyrinth in it (neither of which I went to). We walked around for a while and then headed to an art exhibit across town. This was the best place we had visited yet. I walked through the exhibit with my new friend Kinsey and we interpreted all the painting. After walking through the gallery we were free to do whatever we wanted. I walked around the small christmas fair behind the gallery with Kinsey and her roommates and then we headed back to the hotel. I met up with Chrissy and Rebecca and we hung out until we had to meet to go to an Orchestra Concert at the Sissi Palace.
The concert was amazing. The performers were having fun with the show and the opera singers were a nice touch. We were free to do whatever after that so a few of us went to dinner and then an Australian pub. Since the metro had closed we had to take a cab back to the hotel. It was very sketchy. The driver wasnt sure of where he was goign but luckily Jon sat up front and had a map of where we needed to go.
Sunday we went to another museum that had archeological findings from ancient Egypt, greece, and Rome and also several paintings galleries. This museum was really nice and had mummified crocodiles in it. The best part of the trip was after the museum we went to the Vienna Christmas Market and were set loose to do whatever we wanted. Chrissy and I wandered around for several hours looking at all the ornaments and other festive items.
We met back at the hotel and disembarked for the train station. The train home was very similar to the way to Vienna. People drinking and running from room to room. Around 12:30am we made a 10 minute stop and the 10 of us that were awake ran outside and started playing in the snow. I ran back onto the train with frozen hands. I finally decided to go to sleep around 330. I awoke about 45 minutes before we got to Milan and had to switch trains.
From Milan to Florence I was unable to sit with the group so I sat with the chaperones in another car. My seat was right next to my Italian teacher so for the 2 1/2 hour trip I learned everything I needed to know for Italian class and she had me talk to the strangers around me.
It was a fun trip except for the boring palaces. Its finals time.
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