Wien and Venezia

     So much has happened since our last group trip that I can hardly remember what we did. On Wednesday about two weeks ago, we all hopped on a bus in Olomouc and rode down to Vienna, Austria; the first stop on our long, long trip around Europe. One of the first things I noticed and like about Vienna was that there were trees and plants and parks all around. It wasn't just big old buildings with stone streets and no grass. There was nature and I felt comfortable there. It could also be that it seemed a little more modern and reminded me of cities at home. First, like in all other cities, we visited a cathedral:

St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna

When I walked up to the cathedral I thought to myself, "This is fake." I get that feeling lot on this continent. Things here are so huge with such intricate detail that it seems so unreal that people could build something like that, especially with the technologies available in the past.
     Later we walked around town and found a pretty park near the museum quarter. I appreciate the creativity with the nature =)

Near the Museum Quarter in Vienna

     Vienna was a nice place to stop, but we moved on. After we saw everything we needed to see there, we headed on our 7 hour bus ride to Venice, Italy for the second half of our class trip. I think Venice would have been much nicer, but streets made of water and rain falling from the sky makes for a pretty wet, miserable time. At one point the water started to flood on the sidewalks!

The "street" normally ends at the edge of the building.

     It seems like we didn't do much in Venice, at least that I can recall. Just visited more castles and cathedrals and wandered the streets. Interesting fact: there are 400 bridges and 170 waterways in venice, and I felt like I crossed them all! What I appreciated most about Venice was how easy it is to take lots of beautiful photos there....so picturesque!

View of a "main street"

The famous Gondolas. I did not ride one thanks to the weather.

Pretty, old architecture

From a window in the castle

     When we covered as much of Venice as we could, we were released to explore Europe for a week on our own. Thus began probably the most interesting two weeks of my life.....