I traveled to Vienna, Austria on February 28 and stayed until March 2. On Sunday morning, while exploring the city with my friends, we noticed what looked like a protest taking place in a gated park across the street from where we were walking. People were chanting, flags were being waved, and police lights flashed in the distance. Because we had arrived the day before after a long travel day and had spent most of that time catching up on sleep, we hadn’t checked the news at all. Not knowing what was happening, and feeling a bit uneasy about getting too close, we decided to continue sightseeing about a mile away.
About two hours later, after walking around a cathedral, we began noticing police officers blocking off several roads. At first, we assumed it was simply traffic control for a busy area of the city. Then we heard shouting and music in the distance. As the noise grew louder, it became clear that the group we had seen earlier had moved from the park into the streets, and they were heading directly toward us.
My friends chose to go inside a nearby restaurant, but I decided to stay outside to watch the march as it passed.
