Sean's Home for the Semester

When we arrived in Vienna we were very excited to see what has been Sean’s home for the last three months. He lives with one of his fraternity brothers and lives near the bridge and many other things around the city. Although the apartment is not the cleanest, they have done a good job and adapted nicely. Since Sean had a presentation shortly after we arrived we followed him to his class so he could point out a few things on the short eight minute walk. Our first stop was to get the famous kabab he spoke so highly of. The vendor was located directly across from his class, so I can understand where the love comes from. Theykebab itself was delicious. I asked for the spicy sauce and should have warned Kyle because his mouth was on fire by the end of it. After our kebab we headed to Zara for a little shopping. I did not get anything, but Kyle got his very European jacket that he could not seem to remove the rest of the trip.  After our shopping we went inside St. Stephens Cathedral (below right). Although half of it was under restoration due to pollution’s effect on the stone, it was beautiful. The multiply colored roof shingles and gothic style architecture were simply spectacular. We wandered around inside for a bit and took a moment to pray. A thanksgiving prayer was much needed after the travels we embarked on. After St. Stephens we explored more of the city. Not far from St. Stephens was St. Peters Basilica (below left and right). This Although it didn’t look like much more than an old copper dome from the outside, the inside was designed in the Baroque style. This being one of my favorite styles of architecture I was sucked in. The colors, detail and gold were beautiful. From there we explored more of the town and I read along to our city guide so we knew what we were looking at. If I didn’t have the book we may have been some stupid Americans taking in Vienna. After a while Kyle decided to take us off the beaten path a little. This is where I stopped in a cute bakery and had myself two Macaroons, one raspberry and one hazelnut. They were absolutely delicious and if I am being honest this was the first Macaroon I ever I had, so I would say this was a good first tasting.

 

               

 

 

 

         We escaped the tourist and shopping area and headed to Belvedere Palace. Unfortunately this is not where they make the vodka. On our way we passed by the magnificent Vienna Opera House and Karlskirche (left).We were constantly amazed by the architecture and the city itself. When we arrived at the Belvedere Palace we gazed over the large garden (below left) and decided to get tickets to the art museum inside. When we entered the Palace it was completely white and ornately detailed. It was said Prince Eugene loved to throw parties in the palace since he was too ugly to ever marry.  I imagined myself at one of his parties though and wished for a second we still lived that lifestyle. We spent some time at the museum before we headed back to Sean’s place.

             

 

 

 

 

 

   When we arrived back at Sean’s apartment we got ready for the evening.  Our first stop was for wine and cheese at a recommendation by Rick Steve’s himself. The staff was very friendly and the Venetian wine was delicious.  Sean wasn’t the biggest fan of all the cheese, mostly because it wasn’t cheddar. From there we headed to Sean’s favorite bars. The bar was closed so we went across the street to grab a Guinness. Once Dick Mack's was open we headed there and enjoyed a couple 2 euro Guinness. It is true what they say, it does taste much better in Europe. After a while there we headed back to Sean’s place, but not without stopping for a Kaiserkriener. What the hell is that you ask? Well it’s Vienna’s gift to Europe. They take a baguette and stuff a sausage in it with ketchup and mustard. I loved this, for the first night anyway.