As the End Nears,

Posted June 8th, 2010 by in Vienna, Austria

Hallo!

There’s only about a month left of my time in Vienna, and still sooo much to see!  Central College classes have been keeping me pretty busy with reading assignments, plays to see, and presentations in German to give – a great help for my German skills, and a great way to learn more about Austria and Vienna.

Last weekend, some Central students and I decided to try yet another “Stadtwanderweg”, or city hiking trail, which took us through the wine hills outside the city for a great overlook of Vienna. It was a beautiful day outside, and we met again later for schnitzel, yet another food Vienna does well, at a local bar/restaurant.

Vineyards outside Vienna

Schnitzel!

Early Sunday morning I woke up with a friend to catch a train through the Austrian Alps (the views never get old!) to Innsbruck. Innsbruck is a beautiful town in western Austria situated with a breathtaking view of the mountains around every corner. We spent the rest of the day walking around the town, enjoying the Lederhosen, Cuckoo clocks,  and warm wool clothes that were in the small shops around the town square. We sat down for yet another Austrian dinner, had a drink, and hit the sack to wake up again and move on the next morning.

View of the Alps at Innsbruck

The next morning we traveled shortly through the Alps a little further to the country of Liechtenstein, known as the largest exporter of dentures, 6th smallest country, and the only still-standing German-speaking monarchy. Why do you visit a country this small? To hike across it! We hiked across Liechtenstein in the morning, and still had plenty of time to explore its capital, Vaduz, and the other small towns scattered across it’s portion of the Alps. We made it to Switzerland to the east of Liechtenstein, and from my one or two small encounters with the Swiss, I can confirm that their German is almost impossible to understand!

Entering Liechtenstein!

On our hike, almost across Liechtenstein

This weekend I had originally planned to go traveling for a day trip or two, but changed my mind when I realized that my list of things to see in Vienna was still quite long. Having a finite amount of time left in Vienna and in  Europe makes me both happy and sad that it will be soon time to leave. The more places I visit in Europe, the more I realize how proud I am call Vienna my home, even if only  for a short amount of time. There are many things that I will miss in Vienna when it’s time to go: getting a Viennese coffee or bottle of wine or ice cream for under 2 euros, walking around the city with friends at all hours of day and night, picnicking in the park, people watching at the cafe, listening the the Underground doors open and close, hearing “Zug faehrt ab” or “Alle bitte aussteigen” overhead, learning German all around me, and the list goes on. Naturally there are many things I miss about home, but I will miss many aspects of Viennese life, and I decided to take this weekend to soak it all in.

Well, I hope that there will be one more blog before I depart, including, but not limited to, events of Prag and Salzburg!

Bis Bald! – Laura