First off, I’d like to apologize for not consistently updating the blog. I have a bad habit of procrastinating unfortunately.

Now then, let’s get to the actual interesting part. During the first 3 weeks of the program, we don’t actually have classes. All we have is a 3 hour German class each day, with the level being dependent on where you placed in the testing at orientation. Consequently, we have a lot of free time during those first 21 days; this results in a hectic schedule with a lot of tours, meetings, and informational sessions. To be honest, I’m glad that they do this, because being dropped off in a new, foreign city can be overwhelming. There is so much to see and do and you won’t know where to begin…

One of the tours they offered was a bus tour of Vienna. It was mostly just an overview of some of the sites, and it gave you a general idea of places to see and go when the weather got warmer. However, the day that was chosen turned out to be incredibly foggy; nearly the same level it was when I first landed (essentially not being able to see 20 feet in front of you). This really stunk, because one of the areas they took us to was in the hills overlooking the city. I decided to go to that area the next day, which turned out to be sunny and a warmish 45-50 degrees. In order to get there, I had to go through Grinzing in the 19^th district. This is one of the few areas in the city of Vienna where there are vineyards; making Vienna the only city in Europe to produce its own wine within the city limits. After you go through Grinzing, you head up into the Vienna Woods and the huge hills overlooking the city. There I got a beautiful of literally the whole city for as far as I could see.

Another trip offered was an aquarium trip at the Haus des Meeres. It is an aquarium/sort of zoo in an old World War 2 bunker. Though the all the bunkers in Vienna were initially supposed to be destroyed, the Viennese soon discovered that the amount of explosives required to blow up these bunkers would also involve leveling several blocks around them as well. So, they decided to put them to use as munitions storage or in this case an aquarium. The best part was when you reached the top of the bunker, you could see over the city center.

One cool thing about where I take my classes is that is right next to one of the many opera houses in the city. But, this one offers standing room tickets to all operas for either 3-4 Euros, and with that I ended up seeing my first ever opera: Don Giovanni. I very surprisingly enjoyed it. Never did I ever thing I would see an opera before studying abroad, and honestly it wasn’t high on my list of things to do before I left.  That being said, I am glad that I went, and wouldn’t necessarily be against seeing another.

Location: Vienna, Austria