May 30: Castle Tour

I swear my body is giving up. Today I slept in late yet again. The later in the day I went to bed early too.  I have an entire backpacking trip after this so I better get it together. 

After getting up after sleeping in, Peyton and I went into town to get brunch together in the Neubegasse area. We ate at Figo’s and got a mix of savory and sweet breakfast foods. 

After brunch, we went to meet up with the professors and everyone else to grab a bus to take us to Lichtenstein castle. Let’s just say this was no easy feat. We missed our first bus because we were at the wrong stop, and then we got on the wrong bus and had to hop off of it. Then when the right bus came, we kept getting off on the wrong stops. But it didn’t really bother me, getting lost on public transport should be expected when trying to navigate a new area of a foreign city. 

We finally made it to the Lichtenstein castle, after walking quite a distance. The castle stands alone in the forestry. Surrounded by high walls and towering above anything nearby. On the inside, the small courtyard and gift shop area was entirely too cute. Or tour guide took us up to the castle proper and showed us how the inhabitants used to live. From how they cooked to how they slept. People back in the day slept upright, because the prone position looked to much like they were dead. The interior of the castle was actually surprisingly cozy. For a castle, it really feels like a home you could live in. The castle came with everything anyone would need to survive. 

Surrounding the castle, the Lichtenstein family built several ruins. They did this because it was romantic to explore ruins while on a date with a woman. I think this just goes to show the obscene amount of wealth the family had at their disposal. After the tour, we told our guide goodbye and then began to straight up hike toward another bus stop. We didn’t come up a road like we did to get there. We went down a dirt path, with no markings on it. But I got to hand it to Dr. D, we popped out right where we needed to go. We all managed to get to a bus stop together, and miraculously we didn’t have any problems with the bus. Our route ended at the end of the U6, and we all went our separate ways. Most of us went home to nap, but I went to Neubegasse to do some last minute shopping. I went by myself, because I’m feeling worn down by all the group activities. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the other students. But my introvert self had really been lacking me time. I didn’t even buy anything, but just browsing with no one around me was very soothing. After a while, I meet up with everyone else who had come into town to eat dinner. We all ate Japanese food at this small shop. It was so small we took turn eating there. 

After we all had a turn to eat, we went back to Stephansplatz to eat at our favorite gelato place. The European Café next to the Zara in front of Stephansplatz. After the gelato run, we went back home to Barbara’s house.