Day Seventeen: Wednesday, May 30

Today was an all-around good day. I was able to go for a run this morning, covering a little over two miles near my host family’s neighborhood. After this, I was able to make it to the train station with plenty of time to spare for a tour of Liechtenstein castle later in the day. Liechtenstein was a very neat experience, and was different from other castles/palaces that I had previously seen. It was built with light stones (hence the name) that were large and appeared quite heavy. The first thing I noticed upon walking up to the front doors were several bee boxes. Inside the doors, bees roamed the courtyard, finding plenty of flowers to pollinate. Once we entered the castle, the feel was much different than anything else we had seen. It was cool inside and dimly lit, with very little decoration. The only decorations were elk antlers adorning the walls in the first few areas of the castle. There was a room containing weapons and armor from the 15^th century, a hunting room full of taxidermy and hunting dress, a knight’s room, sleeping quarters, and a room for the lord and lady of the castle complete with a balcony. The last room we visited in the castle was a very small cathedral. Overall, the castle was decorated more plainly by far than the palaces of Vienna. There was some wall art, but it was mostly scarce. Small forms of art, such as decorative tiles or ceiling beams were present, but not in the excessive style that might be seen in Vienna. It was interesting to see the stark contrast between Medieval style and the Baroque styles that I had been seeing throughout Vienna. After the castle tour, I intended to go to a ballet, but was turned away because my clothing was not formal enough. I decided to try to look for a pair of pants that would be more suitable at a cheap price, so I went in an H&M. I was not able to find a single pair that wasn’t horridly tight. Every pair I tried bordered on the obscene in my opinion. Due to this, I decided to forego the ballet and explore Vienna a bit. I walked several miles, and found a majestic fountain, a gorgeous park (Stadtpark), and several statues or works of art spread out across the capital. I also finally tried Nordsee, which is sort of the Austrian equivalent of a Captain D’s, except MUCH nicer. Once I had basically made a circle, I hopped on a train to go back home, but changed my mind. I decided instead to go to Westbahnhof and explore that area a bit more, and took a later train. After I had satisfied my need for exploration, I went back home to get some rest.