April 14th, 2010 - Wednesday

Today started off like a normal day in Wein: it was still raining like it has been the past few days. Today we had our first Math and Politics exam, and for me it was my first one of the semester. I guess it had to happen at some point. So instead of class we just took the exam. It was not as hard as I anticipated it to be, which was a pleasant surprise. After the exam everyone retreated back to their rooms for a brief, rainy-day nap or to watch a movie, but that didn’t last for long. Before we knew it, it was time for lunch; but lucky for us it was Wednesday candy bar day!

After lunch we all started to get ready to head out for our tour of Schönbrunn. As we were walking up to the building all I could think about was how beautiful it was and massive! As the tour started we were taken though so many beautiful rooms and told that anything gold was really 24k gold. The rooms were breathtaking! Every room was so different, yet they all had some common themes. Many of the rooms had a wood and gold color scheme. But my favorite room of them all was Maria Theresia's private room. It had a blue and porcelain theme with over 200 drawings done by friends and family. It was so beautiful! On the tour we also learned so cool facts like Maria Theresia loved to gamble and always won! There was even a room strictly for gambling.

I would have to say Schönbrunn has been my favorite place that we have visited in Wein so far--everything about it was beautiful. Unfortunately, because it was so rainy, we did not get to go outside and see the breathtaking gardens. But everyone agreed that we would go back on a nicer day; we even found out there is a zoo there, too. So in the near future we will be returning!

After we got back to school it was dinner time. Everyone ran back upstairs to take their rainy, wet clothes off and then back down to get some food. After dinner we all hung out and played cards. It was a very low key night, but a nice one too.

by Ally Billingsley