Vienna Day Eight: Country Roads (or Flight Paths) Take Me Home

After waking up bright and early, it was time to begin the long trip back to West Virginia. Our first stop was the Amsterdam airport, where students shopped, rested, and reminisced about the trip.

Vienna Day Seven: A Biergarten and Eiscafe

After a tiring day of exploring the palace grounds, we ended our last evening in Vienna at a typical Biergarten. Just as we began our trip with a meal together, we also ended our trip with a meal together at the Universitaets Brauhaus right in the middle of the University of Vienna.

Vienna Day Seven: The Imperial Zoo

The Imperial Zoo was the next event on our last day in Vienna. It was behind the Schoenbrunn Palace next to the labyrinth. There was a wide variety of animals throughout the zoo. The first exhibit included rhinos, deer, and mountain goats. One of the crowd favorites was the Red Panda.

Vienna Day Seven: Schoenbrunn Palace and Gardens

Our final day in Vienna started with a tour of Schoenbrunn Palace. When we walked into the plaza of the palace, we were awestruck by the grandeur of this architectural masterpiece. Reminiscent of France's famous Palace of Versailles, it contains gold embellished walls, lavish decor, breathtaking gardens, and its own Hall of Mirrors.

Vienna Day Six: May the Living Learn from the Fate of the Dead

Today was cold and dreary, a fitting setting for the destination of Mauthausen, the largest concentration camp in Austria and one of the few grade three camps (meaning it was equivalent to the infamous Auschwitz in terms of harshness and it possessed the highest death rate of any concentration camp).

Vienna Day Five: Musicians and Mass

During some downtime, a few of us decided to explore the city and went to the Zentralfriedhof cemetery to visit the final resting place of Beethoven. After walking to where we believed it would be, we discovered that we needed to travel by tram towards the outskirts of the city. Upon arrival, we found the cemetery to be massive in size with no end in sight. 

Vienna Day Five: The Austrian Army Museum

AAfter our visit to the Imperial Treasury, we traveled to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, or Austrian Military Museum.

Vienna Day Five: The Imperial Treasury

To start the day, students visited the Imperial Treasury located in the Hofburg Palace. The Treasury included items of gold, silver, crystal, and many other types of precious jewels as well as the crowns and vestments of the Austrian royal family.

Vienna Day Four: To the East -- Bratislava, Slovakia

After some light cardio -- i. e. the time-honored tradition of running for one's train -- we found ourselves on our way to Bratislava.  The 60km train ride offered us the chance to view the Austrian countryside. We were particularly struck by the juxtaposition of the modern and medieval as we went farther from the city. 

Vienna Day Four: The Prater after Dark

We left for the Prater amusement park at 7pm, soon after we got back from Slovakia. Dating back to 1780 when Joseph II donated the park to the people of Vienna, this area has provided entertainment for the city. It is home to a world famous ferris wheel, the 220 foot high Riesenrad.

Vienna Day Three: Sailing through the Wachau Valley

After the Melk Abbey, the group headed toward the Danube River for a cruise through the famous and beautiful Wachau Valley. Our first boat, the Wachau, had four levels, and while a few students and faculty stayed inside and enjoyed some food, other braved the cool weather and sat on the boat's top deck.

Vienna Day Three: Melk

WJU students and professors made their way to Melk to see the Benedictine Abbey that overlooks the quaint village, located along the Danube about 55 miles outside of Vienna.