Monday, July 04, 2011
I’m in Austria. It’s very different here than I expected it to be, but still very beautiful and interesting. Everything seems to be coated with age; it’s like the city is some aged beast that’s still living quietly. Perhaps it’s just the section of the city we’re in. I’ve been on the move for the past 30ish hours and my body says so. I was able to grab a 3hr nap this afternoon and then went to eat dinner with Chase and Matt at a coffee house. It was a really cool place; it was a quiet tucked away place with nice furniture and many many mirrors. It was nice because… well I can’t really describe it, other than it had this quiet quaint feel, with a group of elderly ladies quietly talking and drinking coffee behind us. The three of us had an fun and kind of confusing time ordering because about 2/3rds of the menu was in German and the rest was in English. Eventually we figured out what to get through our broken German and the waiters broken English.
Tomorrow I’ve got paperwork to fill out, auf Deutsch naturlich, and then start class. I can see the steeple of a church from my window, and I want to go take a look at it after lunch tomorrow. But, I think the professor has a bike ride planned, not sure.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
I’m tired; it doesn’t seem possible that it’s only the third day here. I’ve had some interesting stuff going on; yesterday the fire alarm went off and we had to wait for the Feuerwehr (fire-watch) to come and turn the screeching thing off. Then today I left the group at the Stephansdom after our tour of the city center and the Hofburg, but took the completely wrong direction. Several hours later and having gotten directions 3 times, I’m back at the apartment. At least now I thoroughly understand how the U-Bahn system works, and the S-Bahn fairly well. I’ve tried two new foods over here that I was hesitant to, and I’ve absolutely fallen in love with them: Döner (kind of like a BBQ sandwich that tastes more like a taco and is loaded with veggies) and Himbeer Eis (Raspberry ice cream). Everything, I mean everything, tastes so much better here; it has so much more flavor. The water is better, the milk, the apple juice, the wurst (hot dog/sausage)- everything. It seems kind of hard to believe sometimes.
I’ll upload some photos to Facebook relatively soon. I think one of the most interesting things I’ve noticed so far is the mixing of the different cultures and architecture styles. A lot of the people I talked to before I came here seemed to have the concept that Vienna is a… I suppose western European city, but in reality it has strong Turkish and eastern European influences. The way that different building styles are mixed and matched (a lot of it is because of bombing in WWII) with Baroque stonework on one side of a street and glass and steel on the other… takes a bit of getting used to. Every city I’ve been to has a unique “feel” to it: NY is all hustle-bustle and shiny expensive metal skyscrapers, Chicago has nice wide streets and art nouveau style architecture, San Antonio’s well kept river front, Charleston’s cobblestone old quarter- every city has a different feel to it that one can’t really put into words.
One aspect about the city that’s surprised me is that it seems like there are almost no beggars. Maybe it’s the European social setup or political practice, or perhaps something else. In any event, I find it surprising and relieving. When I visited Chicago a few weekends ago, there were apx 6 per block, and would get in your face and follow you. Here, there are hardly any and they aren’t creepy, aggressive or demanding at all.
Oh, and also, the Hofburg is AMAZING and HUGE - it’s absolutely beautiful.
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