I arrived in the city on a Sunday. Very few things are open on a Sunday in Vienna, in all of Austria, in fact. I checked into student housing and unpacked. Then I made the dubious decision to attempt a grocery store run (“Expect queues,” the RA who checked me in warned me).

There are maybe 5 grocery stores open in all of Vienna on a Sunday (or so the new friend I made while waiting in line told me), one of which is near my apartment in the train station. Grocery stores allow a certain number of people in, and then they close the doors. I think it’s 50 or 60 people at a time – I don’t know how they keep track. I was lucky to arrive between closed-door periods, so I got to go right in. I have never seen a more crowded grocery store. The lines went all the way down each aisle. I grabbed some fruit, veg, milk, and cheese and got into line. But as I mentioned, I made a new friend in line, so all was not lost. It was an interesting introduction to living in Vienna.

The following day was Oct. 26, National Day in Austria, celebrating the first day after World War II Austria was not occupied by other nations. This year was the 60th anniversary of that day as it took a full decade after the war for the Allied Control Council to leave Austria after the war. This day also marks the beginning of Austria’s permanent neutrality status.

My cohort mates and I took the opportunity on this holiday to explore the city a little. The pictures in this post are from a light show we caught at the Maria-Theresien-Platz that night. The light show was projected onto the façade of the two museums who stand parallel to the massive statue of Maria Theresa: the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Art History.