A couple weeks ago, some friends (Alex, Mel, Hillary and Bri) and I decided we would try this service called “Blind Booking”. This is where you get to chose pre-set list of 5 or 6 cities, you pay (for us it was around 60 euro each) and then they send you a confirmation email with which destination you will be going to.
We ended up getting Vienna. It was something we were happy with, but to tell you the truth, it was the one which I wanted the least (mostly due to the fact that is was the only destination to which I had been before). I just figured I might as well make the most of it and not to complain. It was only sixty euros.
A small wrench that was thrown into our plans was the time the flights would be leaving and returning… which “allowed” us to make the airport our home for two nights. Due to train times and what not, this was the only way about it. It wasn’t too bad except the fact that there was a very odd security guard going around making sure no one was sleeping or laying down. The reason I say odd is that all other security guards and the police officers we talked to saw anything wrong with it. Also it was a bit odd when he threatened to call the police on us when we had just been talking with them and they were fine with it. But enough of that. Short summary- it sucked sleeping in the airport but was over soon enough and worth it in the long run.
Getting there, we found our hostel, dropped off our stuff, and set off to see the city (with no sleep). The weather wasn’t all that great the first day, so after getting a coffee (which is a very popular pastime in Vienna… simply “getting a coffee”) we decided to get out of the rain and go into the museum “Albertina”. This was pretty interesting because we had just written our test on German culture recently and we saw some of the actual artwork of those artists that we studied, as well as some Picasso guy…
I have to say the metro system was really useful (as it is in most European cities). Coming from Amsterdam, where we found it much more intricate, as different forms of transport are ran by different companies.
We also went to Schoenbrunn Palace. This was one of the places that I have been before (last summer in July), but I hadn’t gone inside last time. Going inside reminded me of Versailles in France. An absolutely overly opulent design/palace. Going down to every last detail, it seems everything is covered in gold, has wall to wall paintings, mirrors or whatever else would reflect affluence. Reminding me of all the amazing churches in Europe, how it’s difficult to appreciate each one for what it’s worth because of the sheer number of them and astonishment they cause, each room in this palace seemed to be equally striking as the last. But enough of that…
We walked around the gardens, up the “hill” and sat down, where we could see over most of Vienna. Since it is nearing Easter time, they had a mini farmers-market out front, where we got some “Austrian food” then set off.
Later on, Alex and I went to a church while the girls had to get some very important things done. Mainly shopping. Actually, only shopping. I found this church very unique in not only the “semi mosque-like” appearance on the outside (spiraling poles), but it had scaffolding set up on the inside due to reparations, but you were able to climb it to the top. Having been to many of the biggest churches in the world, it is interesting to looks up to the top of the domes to squint and see the paintings/symbols/windows up there. With the scaffolding, you get near enough to touch the roof, look out over the city from the top, and look down to the church and see some of the parts that have not been restored yet. This church will definitely stay in my memory. My friend Alex is somewhat “timid” with heights, so it was an extra to see him climb the whole thing and then feel it shake when you were at the top.
We then needed to get in line for the standing tickets for the Opera. You really need to go early for this because you can get standing tickets for around 5 euro. That becomes much more appealing when you realize the sitting tickets will cost 100,200 euros or more.
I’ll say the Opera was exactly what I expected… but more exaggerated. Most of the people going made it seem like it was something to do if you want to reflect a certain lifestyle. It looked like most people were wearing one of their nicest suit, and most ladies with really formal outfits. Some of the older ladies I saw reminded me of some royalty…. long white gloves, royal colors, and some sort of cape thing. This is all while we (the standing room peasants) walk through the same lobby in a bright T-shirt and jeans. Sure… we might have been a little underdressed. The Opera, as usual, was in Italian, but you had a small screen in front of you scrolling it in English. It was a different experience now that you know what is actually happening with the storyline. I almost preferred not knowing… seemed so much more sophisticated then. It was really neat to hear the voices of the actors/singers(?) fill the entire Opera house, which was quite large. The stage setup was quite impressive as well, and those playing the music. The 5 euro seats weren’t all rainbows and butterflies though… after a good half an hour in, it started to feel like they sold 2x as much tickets as there was room in this area, and they probably opted to put air conditioners in the seating sections rather then the place where all us peasant gather.
Overall, I was really glad with the decision to Opera and experience a little bit of huge cultural aspect of music in Vienna. A little bit of a surprise, I ran into a girl I knew from the University of Alberta in the Opera house. I know that the UofA and Vienna have a strong exchange program (as my brother Vincent partook in it), but it was still quite a surprise to see a face I recognized over here.
During the nights, we would usually take a quick nap to recover from everything we did that day, then hang out at the bar in the hostel (which was usually pretty busy) or go around to some of the bars or pubs in the area. All which provided some pretty entertaining times.
Seeing how Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna (Austria) are some of the, if not the most, closely situated capitals cities in Europe, we took the bus there for the day for a 12 euro round trip! Cheap enough for me… I had a real positive impression of the city. Although there was only enough “tourist things” to do to keep you busy for a day or so, I could see studying in a place like this being an awesome experience. The people were really friendly, had almost a small town feel, and it was relatively inexpensive there. I’m pretty sure we saw all the major landmarks… the castle, churches, government building and the bridge. It may be worthy to note that had we been 30 seconds later, I’m convinced we would’ve missed the bus there. We were running late as it was, and didn’t know which way to get out of the metro station until I realized. I’ve been to this bus station before! So off I went running, and was able to convince the driver to wait an extra minute to let us buy our tickets. This definitely was not the only, or closest, “close call” on this trip. Alex didn’t end up joining us for this trip due to his plans to use his euro pass for the trains falling through. That meant it was just the three girls and me for the day. It worked out pretty well, but when the shopping spree started, we parted ways until it was time to bus back. It seemed like it worked out for everyone and we were back in Vienna for the night. One last thing to mention of Bratislava was the overwhelming abundance and proximity of those “factory-made” buildings that characterized most countries behind the Iron Curtain. My description= they pretty much all look the same and are just big blocks of cement with holes in them. Easy enough.
We were also able to watch the marathon in Vienna on Sunday. It was a pretty large event and cool to see all the participants. I still don’t think I could complete a marathon, but I’m pretty set on trying a half-marathon in the next year or so. If some of the people I saw can do a full marathon, I’m convinced I can pull my lazy self together to do a half.
We then headed down to the “prater” and the surrounding amusement park. The prater is pretty much a huge Ferris wheel with “tram-cars” going around rather then little seats. It seems to be a pretty big landmark representing Vienna.
After visiting my own kryptonite… a buffet, we somehow made our way to the river and just hung out on the beach and “got our burn on” as I like to call it. It was a pretty cool atmosphere on the side of the Danube, with bars, ice cream shops, tons of people walking/sunbathing and even a floating platform with trampolines on it for kids to play on.
Now I’m back in Marburg for classes. It’s really hot here (above 20 degrees).My two classes are “Arts-based”… which doesn’t exactly interest me, but maybe it will open up my eyes to other areas… or will just give me an excuse to be over here.
This weekend I am meeting up with Dirty D in Prague. His friend Chris and him will be traveling some of Europe in his time off and I’m pretty excited to see the bonehead. Also I will be seeing my father in the next couple weeks, so that’s another thing to look forward to. It seems with all these people coming over here, and my short trip back to Canada for my interview, I’m not all that disconnected from the family.
Now off to do some reading before class. Ciao!
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