Vienna, Austria

Prepare yourself. This post is going to be a doozy (how do you spell that?). It is going to summarize the three days that we spent away from Regensburg. Our first academic tour was to Vienna, Austria. We had been studying Freud in our Christian Worldview class (as a comparison. He did NOT have a Christian worldview.) so preluded our trip to Vienna.
We left Sunday morning and stopped at Melk Abbey about half way to Vienna. It was built by Leopold I of Austria as his place of residence. The castle was turned into an abbey in 1089 by Benedictine monks. It was a religious school until World War Two when it was turned into a state secondary school. The antiquities on display were very ornate. The ceremonial robes of the bishops were hand embroidered and were very beautiful. The chapel was one of the most beautiful of the churches that we have seen so far. It also housed the skeletons of St. Michael and another priest.
When we reached Vienna, we went to the Freud museum. It was much smaller than I expected, for he only lived in an apartment. It was rather bleak and only one room was furnished. Pictures of Freud's life filled the walls of his study and patient room. Freud denied God and surrounded himself with other gods and small statuettes which he had on his desk. These were displayed in a case in the waiting room. Freud had a hard life and he seemed very unhappy. His life conflicted with his views quite a bit.
We checked into the hostel and the five of us girls crowded into at room that wasn't much bigger than the room Heather and I share in Regensburg! It was fine for two nights, but I'm glad we don't all live in such tight quarters all the time.
Sunday night Dr. Trull, Tanner, Andrew, and Jeff found a bar where the Superbowl was showing. Needless to say they were quite excited.
Monday we went to the summer palace of the Imperial family of Austria: Schloss Schonbronn. It was amazing! The magnificent design and artwork was beautiful. The two women who starred during the tour were Maria Theresa and Sissi (Empress Elisabeth). Some construction work was going on during our tour, so those rooms didn't quite posses the same aura of antique authenticity as the rest of the rooms.
It was so cold in Vienna that we didn't wan to be outside, thus we didn't see as much as we wanted to of the city. We did get an extensive tour of Vienna at night on Sunday when we were looking for somewhere to eat. We finally found the Mexican restaurant we were looking for. In Germany/Austria, it is polite to eat as soon as you get your food. That is so hard to get used to! There is no "waiting until Grandma Bonnie takes the first bite of dessert."
The architecture in Vienna is beautiful. The city is smokey, even the air outside feels smokey. Nudes are everywhere one looks. Not only the ancient statues, but posters and paintings that are very recent. It is not a place I felt safe walking around by myself.
Tuesday morning we Kelley, Heather, Tanner, and myself went to the Spanish Riding School. The morning exercise is all that we were able to see, but it was amazing. Three groups of six Lipizzaners were trained and exercised in the time that we were there. The strength and control of those stallions is remarkable. They're so graceful too! It was so cool! Unfortuantely photos weren't allowed, so I bought a few postcards.

The Abbey.

The abbey library

Schloss Schonbronn


The Hofburg



Spanish Riding School