Natural History Museum and Vienna Zoo

Today we got a "behind the scenes" look at the National Natural History Museum and we toured some exhibits and learned the history of the building and the collection.  We even got to go to the roof, which is different from the top, and got a pretty good view of the city.  

After the museum, we got a surprise trip to the Vienna Zoo.  It, like the Natural History Museum, started as a private collection of the Emperor's.  They had Peacocks roaming around the zoo so we stopped to take pictures with them.  We also spotted a tropical zone, complete with a bat cave!  (I went in twice! and guided people through)

A lot of the animals were eating lunch and napping so it was hard to see some animals sometimes.  We spotted one wolf in the wolf enclosure, but I think thats just because it was white and the area around it was all brown and grey.  

Friday we go to Krakow and later in the weekend go to Auschwitz, so I am sure I will have more to post about that.  

Hope all is well with all of you!

Love,

Kristin

Fussball

Last night a group of us from Augie decided to check out a club soccer game in Vienna.  As we were waiting to get on the U-Bahn (subway) we saw a HUGE group of soccer players from Vienna Virginia, which is where the Diggs are from, but when talking with them I could only think of Sarah and Charlotte, not their last name:(  

The game was really fun but up until 10 minutes until the end they were down 0:1, but they finally scored!  They scored again a couple minutes later and the fanatic section was going crazy!  It was a great experience.  We all want to go to another one.  A few of us even went to the fan shop afterwards and found out that everything was half off!  I got a scarf that I plan to hang up in my room.  It has a saying on it about tradition and elegance since 1911, which I found amusing.  

We also met a different group of Americans visiting the region.  We must have been sitting in the American section of the game lol.  

Love,

Kristin

Paris

Paris, the city of lights...  More like PDA and pee, but other than that it was great.  

Our hotel was safe, but it was interesting staying in the "2 star" hotel.  The shower didn't have a curtain, or anything for the shower head to stay up so we had to hold on to it to shower.

Other than the some negative parts Paris was beautiful.  Kate and I saw all of the major sights and met some new friends from our tour we took.  We went to the Eiffel tower just about everyday and went up it once!  We got to see it light up and went back again to have a picnic and watch its light-up show.  

One funny moment was when we were strolling towards the tower while eating Nutella Crepes (AMAZING!!!), we heard the police sirens coming closer and saw all of the illegal merchants selling little Eiffel Towers running towards us from the cops.  I think it was so funny because they had been harassing us, and everyone else to buy from them.  

There were also a lot of beggars asking people if they spoke English, if they responded yes they would proceed to tell some sob story and ask for money.  We learned to respond in German.  

Paris was much louder and more tourist-y than Vienna is.  The subway system is MUCH harder to navigate in Paris and there is no easy way to get anywhere without at least one connection.  

It was a great city to visit but it seems people build it up and I would not want to live there.  

It was easy to spot people who were American.  We just had to listen for the loud English speakers who were complaining about one thing or another.  (At dinner some man in a group of Americans complained about a plate of food coming out later than the others, thats just something that happens in Europe, since they don't use heat lamps.) Other than just complaining, he was being very loud and rude about it, so much so that I felt bad for the waiter, Kate and I had a wonderful experience there!

All in all it was a great trip, we saw some great sights and I realized, even more, how grateful I am that the professors chose Vienna as our city to study in.  I think I would have a much different experience if we were in a different city.  

Parents visit!

This Sunday my parents came to visit for the week.  I showed them around the area I live and we went to my favorite Italian restaurant.  It was a good meal and the waiter was very pleased by the generous tip he received.  (I think the tipping lesson was learned after that, although the Greek waiter was very happy too)

On Monday we visited St. Stephan's Cathedral and went to Schwedenplatz for a traditional hot dog and gelatto!  We attempted to go to the War Museum, where I had gone with my class to see the exhibit they have on WWI, the Nazis and Austria's Naval history, but it was closed when we got there.  

Tuesday my teachers came out with us to a "traditional" Viennese restaurant, Vienna is a big melting pot city and doesn't really have any food of its own.  I think we all enjoyed our food, Wiener Schnitzel, apricot filled crepes and tiramisu, which was more like strawberry angel food cake.  Afterwards, we went out to a local bar and restaurant for a drink and chatted with some of my friends from the trip.  My roommate Lacey described my parents as "Smiley" and she could see why I smile all the time (which I dont see as a bad thing).  

Today we went to a Greek restaurant for dinner, after some questions and prodding dad got a "gyros", which is not like the lamb meat in a pita from home, but rather spiced chicken on rice, but still good! 

To my parents:

I hope you enjoyed Vienna!  You should comment on your experience and the sights you saw! I will try to post the picture as proof that you were really here soon.

Love,

Kristin

Ps. feel free to add me on skype, I have had some trouble finding people, it might be easier if you add me.  Its Kristin-Pergander.