FU-Best Excursion

Hello Everyone--

This past week has been a whirlwind of exploring new cities. Budapest turned out to be more than I expected. The weather was beautiful and the city views were breathtaking. However, I have to say that I LOVE VIENNA. Vienna is a fantastic city, the weather was beyond comfortable, there were beautiful people everywhere, the café culture was fantastic, and the museums were amazing. I was overwhelmed with Austrian expressionism and being there felt like a fulfillment of all my art history studying. I feel so thankful for having been able to experience both cities… I’m already making plans in my head to return.

The next two weeks will be busy. First Jeff and Jessica come for the next week and we’ll be in Prague over Easter weekend. Then Josh and Addysen (my friend studying in Paris) will be here for my 21st birthday! So much to look forward to! I’ll keep you updated….

Love, Jillian Mary

Vienna Day 7: Friday 26th

-Spanish Riding Show: Maddie, Deborah, Tessa and I started the morning by watching the morning exercises of the famous L. horses. This has been a tradition for 430 years in one of the most beautiful and oldest riding halls in the world. The easiest way to describe it is as a horse ballet.
-St. Stephen’s Cathedral: After enjoying gelato and soaking up the sun, Deborah and I strolled inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral. It was decorated for Lent and was beautiful.
-Belvedere Museum: Deborah, Sadie, Maddie and I visited this incredible museum in southern Vienna. It is in a old palace whose garden overlook downtown Vienna. The highlight was Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. This painting has been a favorite of mine, it made me realize how much I love art. It was overwhelming how beautiful it was…
-Yelling Room: One room in this museum was empty besides a sign that read “Scream as loud as you can, NOW” in four languages. Sadie, Deborah and I mustered up the courage and screamed at the top of our lungs. In response, a loud breathing noise came over the speakers and the lights on the chandeliers came on and off.

Vienna Day 6: Thursday 25th

-Visit to the Hofburg (the Hapsburg palace): Our program toured the royal families’ china sets which were quite extensive. Then we toured the royal palace which the apartments.
-Albertina Museum: Deborah and I (my museum going buddy) visited this great museum whose collection was basically a review of what we had just learned in our art history class.
-Café Sperl: After spending time wandering the museum, Deb and I went to Café Sperl. This is one of the oldest and most famous cafes in Vienna. Café culture is important in Vienna and this one is top notch. I enjoyed a delicious hot chocolate and apple strudel!
-“Die Fledermaus” operetta: This night my program got all dressed up and went to see this Viennese classic. It was extremely entertaining—a story of trickery, lying and jokes. I had a great view of both the stage and the orchestra.
-We ended the night with class—ice cream at McDonalds.

Vienna Day 5: Wednesday 24th

-Guided visit of Vienna: great guided tour with historical information about different buildings including Mozart’s house
-Wiener Schnitzel with Deborah, Carolyn, Tessa and Aric at a local cafe
-Leopold Museum: amazing collection of Egon Schiele, my favorite artist! I was in heaven… such a highlight of my trip
-Secession Building: Deborah, Sadie and I checked out Gustav Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze in this building which was an important building during the Austrian Expressionist movement.
-Dinner at Ra’mien with friends: great dinner outside in the most beautiful weather
-Praterstem amusement park: We went to ride a Ferris wheel but that ended up being too expensive so we hopped on a couple roller coasters. It was pure, childish fun…

Leaving Budapest/ Arriving Vienna Day 4: Tuesday 23rd

-Quick visit to the Parliament museum and saying goodbye to Budapest
-1:10pm train to Vienna: this 3 hour train felt extremely short compared to our 12 hour train ride to Budapest
-Dinner at Rosenberger: a buffet style restaurant in downtown Vienna
-Gelato at Zanoni and Zanoni: little did we know that getting gelato would be a staple to our diets in Vienna. My favorite combination was hazelnut, Nutella and vanilla!

Budapest Day 3: Monday 22nd

-Visit to Memento Park: park just outside Budapest where the city placed all the Soviet era statues
-Lunch at large in door market: Had amazing goulash and potatoes
-Deborah and I did some shopping and walking around in the shopping district of Budapest
-Relaxing night playing cards and eating in the hotel lobby with friends

Budapest Day 2: Sunday 21st

-Walking tour of Budapest: great, spunky tour guide who called our group her “chickies,” “my dear guests” and “her family”
-Lunch at a great open air local market: indulged in some delicious Hungarian food, very hearty meal!
-Budapest’s Fine Arts Museum: had a great exhibit including Degas, Matisse, Van Gough
-Dinner at traditional Hungarian restaurant: I had beef with potato dumplings
-Hanging out in the park: we ended the night by hanging out in this little town square where all the local youth hang out