Vienna, Austria

In order to fight the jet lag we got up Tuesday morning at a reasonable time. During the day we walked around for hours trying to take in a lot more of the city. Today we ventured out of the first district (where Dom’s apartment is located) and explored different districts along the Ubhan (subway transportation). We walked through a park just around the corner from the apartment and jumped on the Ubhan to head over to a street market called Naschmarkt. Naschmarkt is a unique mixture of Austrian traditions and exotic influences; it is one of the largest and best known of Vienna’s outdoor markets.

Fish/Octopus at Market

            We also explored the Donauzentrum, which is the largest shopping mall in Vienna – of course I had to check out a European shopping mall! The Donauzentrum is also joined with the Donauplex, which contains 25 restaurants. I didn’t have anything to eat but Dom got a slice of pizza that had ham and corn on it! Such an odd combination but it appeared that all of the options had corn as the main ingredient.

            After leaving the Donauzentrum we headed over to the United Nations offices here in Vienna. Both of Dom’s parents work there so it was a good opportunity for us to go and take a tour of it. After making it through security we met a woman named Glenda who works directly with Dom’s mother. She walked around with us in the beginning and then we met up with Dom’s father. Fortunately, today was the day the Secretary General of the UN was scheduled to speak via videoconference. Somehow, we were able to make our way into the huge meeting hall and witness the Secretary General speak over videoconference to various UN offices all over the world! Needless to say this was an amazing opportunity and I am so happy I was able to actually be a part of it.