Day 17: Tax Cuts

After eating the standard breakfast, the morning started with quite an interesting topic, international tax law. For the entire week, I get to go to law school. Its not in any terribly amount of depth, but its quite interesting. Also, its likely the most challenging course work I have dealt with on the trip. After classes were over we got lunch in the WU's amazing dining center. Its as modern as Mojo, but with a more European feel.

Nest, Rachel, Robbie, Dylan and others enjoying a bite

The food was excellent and the options were much appreciated after a few weeks without much choice for lunch. We had some extra time after lunch, so Robbie, Erica, Steph, Christine and I strolled around our hotel's district to gather our surroundings. The local area is pretty nice, and feels quite American in comparison to the other cities we have visited.

The local trash incinerator, visible from my hotel room

We got a little lost, but found the University just in time to go on a sight seeing tour of Vienna, and learned about the places we walked by just the day before. The architecture here is incredible. The Parliament building parallels that of the US capital building, but for the dome, in recognition of the Greek creation of democracy.

Reminds me of the US Supreme court / Capitol Building

As per usual, the tour occurred during a drizzle, but I think it was favorite thus far. We visited the square of heroes, which is where Hitler addressed the masses decades ago.

Heroes square past the fountain, with the Palace just behind it

Dylan and Jake in front of the Winter Palace

It features what I think it my favorite stature of all time. It depicts a leader rallying his soldiers into a fight with his focus more on his people than on his opponents. Scholars claim he had more interest in protecting ground than destroying or fighting others. As a commander he is recognized for unique strategy and different values than others in similar roles.

Looks great even on a cloudy day

Following the tour we sprinted to a local castle which hosted Maria Theresa and her family. While the story and lifestyle of the family was less than ideal, the building was impressive and surprisingly homely.

After leaving the castle, we headed to the shopping area since we were already downtown. The stores were open today, but we didn't find anything we liked and decided to return to our hotel's district to eat. We agreed to go to the pub from the night before. Unfortunately, we got there at 6pm and the schnitzel was not on special until 7pm. So we sat and told stories over drinks for a while before ordering. Robbie got a beer called Edelweiss, but after each of us tasted it, we agreed it had a funk after taste. On the other hand, the schnitzel was great and quite filling. We returned to the hotel before meeting others to try another part of town. We got on the metro and were quickly identified as foreigners when several members of our party were encouraged to chant "We will, We will rock you."

We got off at Schwedenplatz to meet Dylan at the Australian Pub...not the Austrian pub, but the Australian pub. The irony was overshadowed by the incredibly high prices, which encouraged Steph, Christine and I to catch the train back to the hotel. Before retiring for the night we returned to the place we got dinner earlier that night to try a glass of wine and were soon followed by everyone else. After an hour or so of good conversation and Robbie not having his order taken, they closed the place and asked us to leave.