A (touristy) Viennese Weekend

This past weekend (better late than never to write about it, huh?) we had free. This was the largest amount of free time I have been graced with since my arrival in Vienna. Every other Friday we have hopped onto a bus and sped off to another city to spend the weekend, but not this one! Many people elected to travel to other (somewhat) nearby cities; the destinations included Venice, Salzburg, and Munich. Although seeing another city sound fantastic I elected without much tribulation to remain in Vienna. Friday afternoon came and I was simply exhausted and quickly deduced that there was no way that I could have been forced onto a train that afternoon, so I had clearly made the right decision! Friday afternoon a couple of girls and I took a field trip to an old gorgeous church which we thought was located on the edge of Vienna. Turns out it was located outside of Vienna. We boarded a train and arrived at our destination later to find out that we were supposed to have paid extra to ride that specific train because it left Vienna limits (good thing it’s on the honor system and nobody checked, right?) oops! We walked around the picturesque little town and exclaimed that we had in fact left Vienna for the weekend! We met a few others and elected to locate a Chinese restaurant. We intended to find a small family owned place but it had turned into a chain restaurant named Akakiko, whose tagline is “easy Japanese dining.” Although this sounds horrific it is anything but! I had eaten at another Akakiko in Vienna and it was delicious. This restaurant in particular was fantastic because they had a large outdoor garden with beautiful green plants and twinkling lights. We spent the evening pouring over delicious food and great company and conversation.
The next morning we made way for the Spanish riding school. Resulting from our status as cheap college students we decided to go on Saturday morning because they have a practice, which including our fantastic student discount is more ¾ less than a ticket to an actual Sunday morning show. We got to see the beautiful horses walk around and basically just act like horses. They were also training some horses it appeared, so it was cute to see them practicing tricks and getting treats and perking up when the audience clapped for them. After the riding school we met the Hope professor who is leading the group (we call him Doc, short for Dr. Hemenway) as well as a few other students who stayed for the weekend for lunch. We hopped on the U-bahn (subway) and rode until we reached a district far from the city center near the Danube River. The restaurant was situated right along a small bay and served the most delicious food. We also, of course enjoyed great company. That afternoon, relaxing was in order! Three other girls and I set out to one of Vienna’s MANY phenomenal parks with the intention of catching up on some reading for class. After not too long we all closed our books one by one and fell asleep in the lovely summer air. It was likely one of the best naps I’ve had! I continued to relax the rest of the day rounding it out with a visit to an Internet café to enjoy a coke and time to catch up on e-mails and phone calls.
Sunday morning I finally slept in for a bit before going to an English speaking Protestant Church. A couple minutes into the service while saying a corporate prayer I had a few tears—understanding everything around me in a public setting was just so beautiful and comforting. I didn’t realize how much I missed English, and for the first time in a long time an English translation wasn’t a burden. It wasn’t a sense of homesickness that overwhelmed me, but rather a sense of peace. It was in that moment that I became fully content with my time spent and time left in Vienna. I am so ready to come home, but not until Thursday—I still have things that I need to do here first. It was a much needed sign that has put me into a great state of contentment. I wake up excited for the day and fall asleep satisfied that another day has passed. However, moving on from that aside, I then after church met two other girls to go to the zoo. I was skeptical about the high price tag, but after about 30 minutes was enthralled. The zoo is gigantic and filled with so many animals. Highlights include polar bears that liked belly flops, sea lions that were quite “talkative”, giant pandas that sleep on their backs kind of like my dog Emma, and monkeys that chased and jumped on each other. In true form, I forgot my camera, however not to worry I shared a camera and have an embarrassing number of zoo pictures! After the zoo closed we went to a dinner of broccoli corn pizza and chilly white wine mixed with mineral water (can’t knock it until you try it!). It was the perfect weekend filled with as usual good food, fun friends, and amazing sights!