Day 4: May 17th, Three Countries in One Day, Hooray!

The United Nations is a household name all across the globe, yet many details of the organization illude the general public. For instance the fact that the UN is hosted in four different cities all over the world: New York City, Geneva, Nairobi, and luckily enough Vienna. What makes the centers at these cities interesting however is the fact that once you step into the center you are technically in a different country. So these sovereign countries hold very power in these duties based on what they do. The United Nations splits it's different departments and responsibilities between these four cities. Vienna being in charge of many departments but most importantly the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and UNOOSA (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs). The UN in Vienna also holds many conferences for these agencies as well as its multiple other agencies. During our tour of the United Nations today we were able to sit in on one of these conferences from an observation room above the room. There we learned that although the UN uses two working languages (French and English) they use may interpreters to translate for the 193 member states (and the two witness states). Our tour continued by walking about the different buildings learning about how the UN runs and what it does to try and make the world a better place. Many of them had displays that showed different countries accomplishments and plans. For instances in the Space office they had a rock from the moon donated by NASA along side may of the models of the rocket models used by the meter states. Something I personally loved was the fact that member states could donate art and sculptures to the UN to be put on display. This included things like the bell for peace donated by Japan made out of coins donated by the people, and a Chinese mural that depicted two sky phoenixes in the clouds who will only return to earth when humans are at peace. These personal touches really show the good will and passion the UN has for making the world a better place. I would love to return someday and see and learn more about the different agencies and offices of the UN in Vienna, and while the UN may seem unhelpful since it has no "real" power I believe having a place like this where we can talk and make goals without the need of power helps make better na more permeant change we need in the world.

After visiting the United Nations we were allowed to explore Vienna until our train at 3 o'clock. My friend Kristen and I decided to go to some of the more historic parts of Vienna to learn more about Vienna. Our first stop was the Imperial Treasury where all the jewels, robes, valuables, and crowns of the once great Austrian Empire are gathered. It was really interesting learning more about the Habsburg family and their long reign of power over Europe. The jewelry and crowns were also very impressive to look considering the masterful craftsmanship and their age. It really reminds you that all though we like to think that the past was a technologically inferior time they still made many impressive things that still amaze us today. After that we went to the Imperial Crypt per Kristen's request. While I was personally creeped out by the experience it was still quite amazing to see the crypts of the people we had just read history about or had just seen their paintings. It was also quite sad seeing how many small children of the Habsburg died at such young ages. I also enjoyed seeing how the crypts changed over time or depending on who they contained. The craziest part of it all though was they were still putting Habspurgs in there! The most recent crypt was as early as 2012, and there was still an open spot for the next Habsburg that died. Kind of odd thing to think about considering they no longer hold any real power in Austria. I also wonder how many more Habsburgs there are left to go into the crypt.

The last part of our day was of course the train the Budapest in Hungry. While the train ride through the country side was really beautiful I did admittedly fall asleep for parts of it (I was dead tired from the crypts). The parts I did see however I found very interesting. Even though Hungry was under Austria's control for many years the two countries seemed very different. While Vienna revered their history and were constantly cleaning and restoring their old buildings Hungry in a way was letting the past die, either by choice or due to something that was out of their hands. It was also interesting seeing how different all the train stops were. Overall I found the train very relaxing and enlightening and I am ready to explore more of Budapest tomorrow. Also know that Hungarian queso is the bomb . com and that cottage cheese wrapped in chocolate isn't half bad either (our dinner was very interesting due to circumstances out of our hands).