Wien-

JUL. 8

I figured out where the word Wienerschnitzel comes from- at least I think. Wien (veen) is the German/Austrian name for Vienna. So Wiener is a person from Vienna. And schnitzel, as I have already explained, is a breaded meat that is common here. Thus, schnitzel from Vienna is Wienerschnitzel.So, Manuel and I caught the 10:10 OBB headed to Budapest (Vienna is on the way). The OBB is a train that runs across Europe and it's a very good transportation system. When we got to the city, we used the Subway to get around, and our feet.

It's nearly impossible to explain everything about Vienna, but I took some pictures so you can see. I didn't take pictures of was Manuel's apartment. It is so nice, with matching couches in two rooms and two full bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. He got it because his friend's dad owns a hospital system and the apartment is right next to his hospital in Vienna.

The River Wien (more like a canal now). Manuel thought maybe the river came first and the city was named after it. See that thing in the middle? That is a pile of garbage.

This is the central ring street. I can't remember its name. It encircles the first district, which is the very middle of Vienna.We crossed this street multiple times.

Imagine that- a hydrangea bush (or a snowball bush) just like the one in our yard. It was in a nice park we walked in.

In that same park: a "no soccer" or "no fußbal" sign.

Haha just goes to show how common it is here.

Here is basically the center of Vienna. It was not that busy when we were there, but Manuel said at certain times it gets really crowded (we were there on a late Thursday morning).

Here is the Operahouse, which I guess is famous or something.

We're going to Vienna during the "Sound of Music Camp", so we figured we'd probably go in then and so we just walked by it this time.

Manuel says this is one of, if not the, most famous hotels in Vienna.

There is a huge line of horse carts waiting to carry tourists around the city.

We had pizza for lunch. It was very big. I got spinach pizza.

Ok, you won't believe this... This is the University of Vienna main building!!

It is so ornate and beautiful, impossible to believe it's a college. And remember, college here is free. Most students in Austria attend the University of Vienna (there is the main school shown here, the Economics school where Manuel goes, the Med. school, and the Law school) because there are not many private colleges. Not really any. And there are maybe a couple other national universities around, so Vienna is the place to be.

My last picture... Manuel had an interview with "the top consultant in the world", I guess. I don't know him. Anyway, he was there to discuss working with this company after he finishes school, possibly before he goes back to get his Master's. My plan during this was to chill in the National Library. However, that was closed. So I ventured down the street to Helden platz, a tourist-focused conglomerate of museums and stores. I wandered around, finding that most things cost €, and just kept walking until I reached this garden. This is a statue that was in it.

After Manuel got done, we headed back to the apartment, he cleaned up some more things to bring to Linz, and we went to catch the 6:20 OBB, and home. We arrived at 7:55pm, and then had dinner and watched Forrest Gump with Christa. And then I slept, and very well.