A tour, a palace, and an opera - all in one day!

Whew! Busy day. This morning we woke up at the crack of dawn (it seemed) to catch the bus at 8:02am to go to the flea market. Lilo left breakfast for us, which we enjoyed, and we ran out the door. After an unexpected walk (when we got off the bus too early), we successfully made it to the flea market. Everyone bought lovely scarves, among other finds.

After the flea market, the entire group of 58 students met in front of the AAIE to do a walking tour of District 1. We did our rainy walk lead by Dr. O, who explained the important historical buildings, the monuments, and the layout of the city. We (Audrey, Annika, Abigail, Allison, Brant, Jessie, Boyu, Meredith, and Rebecca) ate lunch at Rosenberger's, then split up to shop a little.

The big group met up again a little later to journey to Schönbrunn Palace by the U4. The palace was massive and beautiful, despite the rainy and cold weather. We got to do an audio tour on the inside, where we learned a lot about the Hapsburg family line.

After Schönbrunn, Audrey and I took a few more pictures before heading back to the house with Rachel and Annika. Our navigating was more successful on the way home. We frantically changed and left again to go see an opera at the VolksOper (the Folk's Opera), Carmen. We navigated the bus, tram, U4 and U6 all the way to the VolksOper. The four of us stopped to have dinner (and a glass of wine) at the Opera Café across the street, enjoying the character of the very helpful waiter. We had a very typically Austrian meal: frankfurters and potatoes.

Carmen brought very mixed feelings for all. As for me, I was enraptured by the music, but frustrated by the acting and the look of the production. Most other students thought it was too long and boring, reacting by sleeping and fidgeting. Ah, college students. I was disappointed that the performance was not interesting enough to hold our attention, but also disappointed that it was such an ordeal for the other kids on the trip. I was, however, glad we had the experience.

On the journey home, Audrey and I had wonderful conversation with Jared and Micah. Audrey and I had some panic when the bus home whizzed 5 stops past where we wanted to get off, despite our frantic button-pressing. We had a brisk jog home, and it felt like we walked 400 miles, but we made it.