The Vienna Trip Part 6-Actually Vienna!

 Finally, Vienna! After several adventures, I finally get to my final destination. Unfortunately my camera died, so these were taken with my phone. Crappy pictures are better than no pictures at all, right? Anyways, and I stand on the trolly, shooting through the Ring Streets I got a glimpse of this ancient city and the high class aura that surrounded it.

 With multiple tours came a realization that I can remember the layout of cities and streets very well. I explored many different parts of Vienna, and some specific places will be touched on in the next posts. This picture shows one of the many churches littered around Vienna.

This building sports the Austrian crest, a double headed osprey. I think this is the parliament building, but I am not for sure. So many buildings had elaborate designs and pillars that "fancy" was the common building style at the turn of the century.

Even on the top of some regular building is the sign of a bright age past. This huge angel just stands up there, marking a building of no real importance.

The famous Ring Streets featured these wide walkways that were used in the 19th century primarily for showing off your newest poofy dress or mustache. They really add to the charm of Vienna, but were constructed for more than just looks. With the addition of these wide walkways, it made it harder to barricade off routes (which had happened before).

This is the entrance to the Hapsburg Palace. The center of the Hapsburg Empire was here in Vienna, and the castle was huge. This picture only shows 1/6th of what I saw. The Empire eventually falls around WWI, but left remnants of its glory behind.

This was just one of the exits of the Palace. I thought it looked cool. :)

The Vienna Trip Part 1-Wurtzburg

For my Vienna and Modernity course my class was required to head to Vienna for half a week. Starting on Friday we had until Wednesday to get to our Viennese hostel. I took the chance to do a little traveling through Germany and Austria beforehand. Interestingly enough, there were several groups formed for traveling before also, but they included expensive Italian hostels and other things out of my budget, sooo...I traveled alone until Salzburg, where I planned to meet up with one other student. With itinerary in hand, I set out on my solo adventure.

My first planned stop was Wurtzburg, a town full of castles, churches, and a statue bridge. It sounded like a cool place to stay, and I was right. My hostel was on the other side of town, so I was able to get a glimpse of everything before I settled in. I wandered down the quaint little streets happily, my only goal to find the river. My hostel laid on the other side of the river...somewhere.

Everything was cute! 

I eventually found the bridge, but not before annoying everyone as I drug my suitcase across cobblestone (thump-thump-thump-thump). The bridge was one of the prettiest things I have seen since I have been to Europe. The scene was set by an accordion player who played his lovely tunes as I wandered dumbstruck over the bridge. The scene was helped by the huge castle sitting on the hill. Yes.

The small red building at the end of this street is a wine joint that opens up only at night. You can pay 8 euros for a glass of wine and a poker chip. You return the chip with the glass to get 6 euros back. This was they can cover costs for lost glasses.

This looks even better at night when they light it up.

I was able to make enough awkward hand gestures for the German man who took this to understand I wanted a picture.

As I got closer to my hostel, I realized I would be right under the castle and not too far from the bridge. Right below the castle were vineyards. So. Pretty!

Unfortunately I didn't get to go to the castle. :(

So, I settled into my hostel room and decided to explore more! I went back across the bridge to see the famously pretty churches. One was medieval, one was renaissance, and the other appeared...uh, red. I have no clue.

The red one shown above also had an interesting archway above the main entrance. Jesus with swords in his mouth? Wow, that's....odd.

???

As night fell, I wandered back to the bridge to enjoy a glass of wine from the previously mentioned wine joint. It was beautiful. The castle was lit up along with the church steeples, the lights reflecting on the water, the small street band playing music. People everywhere, enjoying wine and life. It was wonderful...Until the very drunk German guy threw his arm around me and offered me free alcohol. When I said I wasn't interested he proceeded to ask me on a date for the following night...No thanks.

 

I walked back to the hostel, happy with how the night had gone. I met a girl in the lobby from a nearby American college. Back to the bridge! She got a glass of wine and we walked around to the churches. We stumbled across this chalk street art when a second German guy threw his arm around me. Apparently this one was having his bachelor party and wanted some girls to come along...No thanks. :\ After a night at the hostel I got up and headed back to the train station to head to stop #2...

I hope it never rains, or else this is going to be lost forever :(

Chateau de Malbrouck

The second stop of the field trip was at Chateau Malbrouck, an ancient castle on the top of a very steep hill. The Chateau was reconstructed after it became ruins and now has a cafe and several showrooms. It was very impressive and intimidating, I would never have attempted to attack this castle!

It was amazing. I wanted to live here for the rest of my life. For an ancient castle, it was surprisingly warm. With a new friend I explored the castle, happily skipping through the ancient halls!

 The tallest tower provided a wonderful view of the valley below. The wind was cold, but it was worth it. It was the most wonderfully green area, and I could see hills for miles. Wonderful :)

 

It is so pretty here!

 Anyways, after all the lovely sightseeing, it began to rain again. The students were ushered back to the bus, but not before we hit the gift shop. Things got a little weird...

On to the next part!