As I sit down to write this I am sad that this story is almost over. It’s like the trip is ending it all over again, and maybe that’s why I have been procrastinating on writing the last piece of the story for so long. I don’t get to travel nearly as often as I want to and telling you the story has made it feel as if I am living it over again. I only hope that I can paint you a picture of the trip half as amazing as it was. I will never be able to get close to the real experience with my words. Here’s the last piece of my trip and my Farewell post to Europe.
Vienna. By the time we reached Vienna I was restless. Not necessarily restless to go home, but restless to escape people—restless to escape the noise of strange cities, the constant fullness of the horizon and the sensory overload born from seeing so many different things for the first time.
We checked into our last hostel—one of the nicest we stayed in during the trip.
A group of us took the subway into the city a few stops to find some food. Bo, one of the girls and I found a restaurant, got dinner and then gelato, before taking the train back to the hostel.
That evening we took a night time bus tour of the city. It would have been nicer if therewas no construction and we hadn’t had to walk for part of the tour. We saw the Vienna opera house, some statues of people I don’t remember, and a lot of old important buildings. It was so cold I found it hard to concentrate focus on what they were telling us about the city.
We spent the next morning at Schönbrunn Palace. It’s 1,441 rooms of Baroque design and royal pomp. Truly, it is a beautiful palace, and I would recommend visiting if you’re ever in Vienna. The front square held an Easter market where I bought a notebook, some food and postcards and the kids bought souvenirs for their friends and families.
We spent the rest of the morning in another royal treasury filled with jewels and gold and gemstones. They had a display of royal robes dating back hundreds of years, as well as relics claiming to be a tooth from John the Baptist and a scrap of Jesus’ loincloth. I am always fascinated by jewels and treasure, but I think most of the kids were tired and bored after about 30 minutes. At this point, I couldn’t blame them. We had been racing through Europe for nearly 2 weeks non-stop and they were clearly exhausted.
In the afternoon we wandered through the city, window shopping and exploring the Easter markets set up throughout the streets. Some vendors were selling food or chocolate or flowers or handmade goods, but the most impressive were the stalls with the decorated Easter eggs. There were so many eggs, each painted in beautiful colors, decorated with gold or silver designs, and tied with string so they could be hung up.
We went to the famous Demel’s Chocolate shop in the city center, and the Vienna music museum. Demel’s was a prestigious dessert shop, and if you got Demel’s delivered to your house, you were officially rich. The store itself was crowded but full of beautiful desserts, chocolate confections and Easter candy of all kinds.
The museum was interesting enough, but my introversion was calling. I finished my walk-through of the museum and slipped out to wander the streets alone until it was time to meet up again. It was still cold, but I bought Gelato anyway, and wandered back to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Clearly you all know I have a thing for Cathedrals, and this one was no different. It was the main reason I slipped away. There I found a few minutes of silence that gave me the clarity and peace to deal with 18 exhausted students and another strange city. I bought a watercolor depiction of the city and slipped back into the museum with a few minutes to spare.
We ended the day together with one more tour of a Mozart house and then dinner.
The mom team and I, along with a group of students, had a delicious hot dinner at a very nice restaurant, and finished up the evening with gelato before heading back and falling into bed to catch a few hours’ sleep before our 5:00AM departure for home.
2 long uneventful flights connecting through Istanbul later, and we were home.
Trekking through Europe with 18 teenagers was an adventure in of itself. I honestly can’t say I would be ready do it again soon, but the experience was something that I will always be grateful for.
I got to see more of Europe and visit things and places I wouldn’t have done on my own. There are so many countries and things I still want to see in Europe, and this trip gave me practice for my next. I fell in love with more cities and more places than I ever thought I would, and I cannot wait to go back.
Aperture & Eloquence 