Vienna, Austria 25-6-16 : Freud Museum Tour and Kahlenberg Visit

          Our first morning in Vienna began with a complimentary spread of breads, jams, fruits, yogurts, as well as meats, cheeses, and vegetables. It was a little unusual to have vegetables, cheeses, and meats that early in the morning since in the U.S. those are food groups mainly reserved for lunch and dinner. After we ate breakfast, we had a lecturette in the Hostel lobby, in a common area with colorful deer antlers mounted on the wall. The lecturette was about Freud and how he pieced together the current practices and theories that led to psychoanalysis. He used hypnosis as the roadway to dreams, which was the roadway to the unconscious.

            After the lecturette, we had an audio tour of the Sigmund Freud Museum near our Hostel. The museum was also featuring a Women in Psychoanalysis exhibition. The museum was Freud’s apartment where he lived with his family, including the dog, and saw clients there until the family moved to London, England. The museum was set up with a Consulting Room and Study, featuring enlarged pictures and furniture of Freud’s. The exhibition displayed information about key women such as Anna Freud, Sabina Spielrein, Marie Bonaparte, and Emma Eckstein. Our favorite quote from the museum was “It seems to me such a beautiful goal: to make the child free of fear and at home in everything” from Anna Freud.

EMU Student Signatures in the Freud Museum Guest Book ft. Random Stranger Signatures at the Bottom

            When we were finished at the museum, we enjoyed a lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch, the big group split in half and our group took to the Underground and went for a short ride on the metro train. We had also experienced the metro on our first day, however, today’s trip was much better because we did not have to carry all of our luggage. The trains can get fairly cramped, but it is interesting to listen to the local chatter. Today, when we got to our stop, we jumped on a public bus up to the top of a mountain. This was an interesting experience, and we learned that some of the locals are very friendly and give advice on nearby activities. We do prefer the train over the bus though, because the system was quicker and simpler.

            Kahlenberg is a place at the top of a mountain that has a beautiful view of the city of Vienna and mountains in the distance. There is a large lookout area, a cafe, an ice cream parlor, a church, and some souvenir shops. This area was much cooler than in the city, due to the merciful breeze. Also, just outside of the church, there was a well surrounded by a fence that was covered in locks and ribbons, and inside the well were coins and keys. This whole experience was wonderful, in fact, it is one of our favorite side trips so far, and one we will always remember. This area is very relaxing and truly like living an amazing dream.

View of Vienna from Kahlenberg

            From one adventure to another, we explored Augarten located down the street from our Hostel. There was an expansive park with two large, and formerly in charge, WWII Flak Towers and gorgeous gardens. Rumor had it that there were three towers, but we were only able to discover two before we needed to embark on our journey to find food. The location of the third tower will remain unknown…for now. We left the park to explore some more of the city and had dinner at a pizzeria recommended by a local as we were walking down the street. She definitely knew what she was talking about. Overall, we had a remarkable day in and around Vienna. 

WWII Flak Tower at Augarten

~ Kara Gardner & Alison Payne