Vienna: Engelszug

Fifth post from Vienna!

So the results are in and unfortunately my team did not advance to the next rounds. However, we are proud of our effort and definitely thankful for the the opportunity to participate. Our consolation prize = touring Vienna with new friends.

Cardozo vs. Silesia - and our arbitrators.

(Don't worry Silesia didn't get through either)

UChicago & Cardozo Joint Team Dinner <3 

It has been said all along (and its true) that one of the greatest benefits of participating in the Vis are the people that you meet. After the results, we met up with the lovely team from UChicago for a team dinner. We headed to an Austrian restaurant for local fare, complete with 

Blaufr

änkisch

. The mandatory food and drink photos are featured below. I was excited because we finally found an Austrian restaurant that served German-style dumplings known as 

spätzle. I was surprised how uncommon it is to find this dish on the menu. If you have not tried them before - you should... maybe right now! Regardless, the food and company were both excellent and it was a great way to end the competition.

Paprika chicken with dumplings;

Opposite picture = celebratory team drinks

to start of the night.

From the dinner, we headed out for our last night at the Vis Bar. While some of my group members may disagree, it was about time to say auf widersehen to Ost Club. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Ost Club can best be described in one word ... sweaty (Though I would use shady in the alternative). Additionally, one person can only spend so many nights in a row ... in the same club ... with the same people.

Now for liability reasons, I never take pictures in these establishments. You never know who, what, where, or why those pictures will come back to bite you later. But, I know that some of my readers are on the edge of their seats waiting for a description of what goes down at Ost Club, so I will give you a taste, gossip-girl style:

Cardozo team arrives at Ost Club and heads to the bar. This will likely be a crazy night - their goal... to stay out until morning. Spotted on the dance floor - Cardozo ladies teaching the Swiss a few moves, while the Germans are popin' & lockin' - funny yet impressive all at the same time. If you are wondering where the French are - check the smoking room. And did you see that they opened another back room? I am just thankful they played some hip hop songs tonight. xoxo KC

All jokes aside - the Ost Club was a fun scene and great place to unwind with fellow Mooties. But don't put us in the bar rat category just yet! We still got up the next morning to see some more sights in Vienna. First, we headed to the nachsmarkt. It is an open air street market with restaurants, food vendors and a few stores. We stopped to buy some dried fruit and stopped to have lunch at a Thai restaurant. The food was great and it was nice to be outside on a sunny day.

View of Belvedere Palance from the courtyard

Then, we walked to the Belvedere Palace. This palace was originally built for Prince Eugene in the 18th century who believed the old palace was to small for his taste. Thus, he built the two building complex as a more extravagant summer residence. Today, it is now an art museum. The museum features a little bit of the essentials - medieval, 18th/19th century, impressionism and modern art. In fact, the title of this blog post was inspired by the title one of my favorites from today which, loosely translated, means "Angels flight." The crown jewel of the collection is the museum's Gustav Klimt collection - which was very impressive to view in person. This palace is worth the trip alone just to view the extensive grounds and architecture, but the fact that it doubles as a diverse art museum is an added bonus.

For my last photo - Prince Eugene must have been thinking right - check out the view from his front yard...

Cheers!