A Day of Exploration

Thomas got up and left really early this morning. Maybe he had to go to the bank before class or something. The rest of us had trouble moving, because it was cold & rainy outside. By the time we were ready, it wasn't too bad, but like the Americans we are, we made it seem a lot worse. So we met out on the corner and walked to the U-bahn and from Stadtpark to school huddled like a pack of penguins. Kelsea and I had our umbrellas, but we're calling her's "the leaf," because it is more like a green floppy mess of polyester. Emily and I came up with a system where we can both squeeze under my tiny one if we walk everywhere in an tight hug.
The weather seemed to be affecting everyone. Kelsea, Sara and I kept making eye-contact and taking pictures of all the sleeping people in class. When we were finally out for lunch, none of us wanted to move, but a pack of people eventually went out, driven by their teenage-hunger. Emily stayed with me and we finally decided to try the McDonalds next to the school. Of course it started pouring the minute we left, but we did our hug-walk and even though we probably got as wet as we would've without the umbrella, we didn't feel that way. The restaurant was PACKED! Not only with other UT kids, but all e other Americans who wanted something homey on their rainy vacation day. Europe does fast food MUCH differently. We didn't really notice a difference in the fries, like Billy said we should. However, their selections were more Viennese - Schnitzel from Mickey-D's might be interesting. We decided to get plain burgers though, because they were 6 euros as opposed to 15. They were pretty bland, so I wouldn't recommend wasting a european meal on fast food. We tried to eat at the restaurant to wait out the storm, but it didn't let up. When we were done, Emily couldn't find the trash can, and we discovered that they didn't have any! Just carts to put your trays in, so the staff would come around and collect them. But since the carts were empty, we stood there for about 5 minutes wondering what the heck we were supposed to do with our trash. We hug-walked back through the downpour, nearly fell into a puddle, and got hard-core JUDGED by this one viennese guy who was just strolling down the street in a coat with his tiny dog.
Back in class, Billy talked for most of the lab time, so we were there nearly the whole time today instead of being able to get out a little early. Right after lab, a lot of us went to Philadelphiabruke to verify our rural passes. It turns out we didn't need our passports anyway...weird. Most of us got Budapest tickets but the Interlaken group also went and got their overnight-train passes. After that, we went back to Bitzerk 1 to Aida, a big coffee-house/pastry chain in Vienna. All of their desserts looked so good, but we couldn't pronounce any of them or tell what they were, so we ended up walking the waitress over to the bar and pointing out what we wanted. Whatever I got was good, and I also got a hot chocolate with rum. The rum was a little overpowering, but it still tasted good. I may or may not have lifted the tiny thing the rum came in...it's a good memento. We left and decided to go exploring as a group. Jonathon & Kelsea wanted Kasekrainers, so we had to stop and let them satisfy their urges, and then we strolled. We found all kinds of funny shops with weird mannequins (and we have pictures posing in from of a few these). We also found a cast bronze model of the old Vienna next to a still-existing section of the old wall around the first district. Eventually we had meandered our way to Landstrasse, where the big mall is. We almost went to see a movie, but then we realized the Schonbruun concert was starting soon so there was some deciding to do. Kelsea and I were cold and curious, so we went ingot the mall instead of standing with the group outside. We told them to call us when everyone had decided what to do but I guess they forgot. Kelsea and I got carried away looking at all the shops. We spent a lot of time in Thalia, a bookstore (with a bunch of other cool stuff). I bought a "Super Frau" keychain for Kristen, and Kelsea bought one for herself, along with the ping-pong balls she'd been searching for for days. We went out to find other people, but they were gone, so we went back into Thalia to look around. We found ourselves in the kids' section reading books next to people less than half our size, and we also had our own puppet-show (yes, it's documented)! As we started walking to the exit, we noticed that right next to the kids' section there was a table COVERED in porn - and it was on clearance. We were SO close to buying one or two books from here as gag gifts, but instead we stood over by the greeting cards and watched as literally every old person who walked in perused the material. Kelsea was all excited because the store had free wifi and she was able to Snapchat her friends. She tried to make me think that her ridiculously distorted faces were a valid form of communication, but I still don't get it.
We decided we wanted to go to the concert, but after stepping outside and feeling the dropping temperatures, we decided to just go back to our apartments. And the people who were there said it wasn't worth it. I cam san wrote part of this post when I got back to my apartment, but then we all went to Aaron's to play beer-pong. And by beer-pong, I mean water-pong, because we wanted to drink at our own paces. Emily, Kelsea and I ended up back in the park swinging on hammocks, Kelsea's shoes, and hiding in the tourism shop's alcove around 3AM. Then we went back to our rooms, packed, and slept so we could get to the train station on time in the morning.