Getting Settled

Jet lag is not fun. I'm constantly tired, sleeping odd hours, and I'm fueled purely on caffeine. It's been a bit of a struggle to adapt to the surroundings and figure out the do's and don't of being in a different country. One interesting thing is that cash is a lot more common than using cards, to the point where some cafes or restaurants don't except card unless you exceed a certain price. It is also fairly common to walk through back-ways and courtyards to avoid busy sidewalks and on-coming cars, where the road and walking area are basically combined. However, even though I may be tired and there's a lot of walking that's happening, this city is beautiful, the architecture here is incredible and it's so interesting too see such old and beautiful buildings host the most mundane and common shops.

Art from the Kunsthistorische Museum

It's day two in our trip, getting settled into being in Vienna, when we are about to do one of my favorite parts of any trip, the art museum. I don't know a lot about art, but I have quite the appreciation and amazement for it. Set in a massive building, vaulted ceilings with their own sculptures and art and rooms painted to fit the artwork being displayed. With a total of 1.2 million works, all collected by the Habsburg family, was collected and now in the art museum for people to enjoy. With our guided tour we most likely witnessed less that half of the art that was out and we were told that there is even more that is not displayed. It was incredible to see the works of art and hear a little bit of history behind they way the artists painted and portrayed the people shown.

One of my favorites, cows!

During the evening we went to go watch a ballet, Onegin, hosted in the opera house, an stunning building with beautiful architecture and detailed paintings. The performance room was massive with a main floor seating, standing room, then balconies going three or four floors up. The show was incredible. I've never witnessed so much talent doing so many things immaculately. The dances showed grace, strength, elegance, and incredible dexterity with every dance, the orchestra pit was mind blowing with the amount of detail and precision for very little rehearsal time they most likely had. The show was so emotional and riveting to the point I wish it could've been longer because I didn't want it to end. An absolutely moving work of art that makes me so excited to see what the rest of the trip has in store.