Vienz.

After we dumped our bags in the hostel, we headed to the city for some music 'n culture 'n shit. We waited in line for about 10 min and snagged standing room tickets for only 3 euro.  This system was clearly for the local enthusiasts who weren't up for spending tons of cash on a regular basis.  After we booked it up a few winding flights of stairs, we followed customary standing room procedure and tied our scarves to the hand railings to save our spots. The orchestra began tuning, the hall fell silent, and as soon as the strings began I got the good feelings. The second movement blew us all away. After an especially beautiful, lengthy solo, the audience exploded in applause and bravos. I got the feelings again. After the opera, we walked to a wine garden to chat life and wait for Lydia's birthday. 

We made it all around the city with the the help of trusty Rick Steve, our travel guide expert. With his help, we did self-guided tram tours to many statues, parks, and saw most of the notable buildings. It was interesting to ride around the ring and be in old vienna while seeing all modern building across the river that were rebuild after the area had been bombed. Below is one of our stops: the Belvedere Palace. Belvedere means "beautiful view."

Friday afternoon we ate falafel in front of the art museum. It was sunny and delicious. 

The Hapsburg's collection was also incredible. The museum had high ceilings, comfy couches, and smelled like oil paint. It was wonderful and refreshing to finally see some of the works I saw as slides in the dark Bytwerk Theater last semester.

We rented city bikes and pedaled our bods around the city, which occasionally got tricky on the gobble stone streets.

We wandered around quite a bit and sometimes got distracted. This is on the way to a famous architect's house, which was pretty wild. I should put more photos up, but it takes too long. 

Below is a picture of St. Stephen's Basilica in the middle of town. Some of us went to the service there on Sunday morning, which was beautiful. It was big. Being in the space with massive ceilings, towering fluted stone columns, and brilliant windows made me feel physically small. I enjoyed listening to the service in German and worshipping with such a vast amount of people in this historic place. 

Overall, our trip was successful, beautiful, and hysterical. We missed our bus home, had to buy a train ticket back to Budapest at 5:30AM, and spent the night in McDonalds. We ate snacks and took naps on the plush benches in the upper VIP room.  A long, but not terrible last night in Vienna.

The whole group is going to Transylvania for the weekend. Should be exciting. Lots of visits to churches.