What a month. The last four weeks have been one of the most incredible experiences in my life. I saw incredible concerts, learned a lot of about each city, made wonderful new friends, and ate great food. 100% beats out sitting in a classroom for a month.

We ended the class back in Vienna for a few quick days. It was kind of bizarre to come back--it almost felt like we never left in the first place. The sense of familiarity was really nice though. I knew my way around the public transportation system, what the hostel was like, and the food places I wanted to go back to. (shoutout to Mr. Schnitzel for the best schnitzel I had all month).  The final concert of the trip was in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, a venue we had been to in the first leg of the trip. The first time we had standing room  only tickets (an experience for sure), but this time around we got to sit and appreciate the concert hall for all it is. Going back to the same venue really made the month feel like it had come to a full circle. I sat in my seat reflecting on all of the concerts we'd seen since I was last there and I was almost overwhelmed by how incredible it really was to see so many fantastic ensembles in such a short period of time. It was an experience of a lifetime.

I'm so grateful to Dr. Powell, Dr. Rhyne, the Wang Center, and PLU for making study away courses like this possible. It's an experience that could not be replicated in a classroom setting--seeing the places where some of the world's best composers lived, worked, and performed as well as learning about the socio-political setting in which they worked made these legends seem tangible. Great works of classical music were made accessible to me, and I am ending the month enjoying it more than I expected to.

It was a wonderful, exhausting, mind-expanding, and fun month, and I'm so grateful for all the experiences and new friends I made during it. Danke schön and Auf Wiedersehen!!