Before departing for Vienna, I had gotten in touch with an old classmate--Freya Zorn--who had spent a year at NPHS studying abroad. I had remembered her saying that she was going to school in Vienna... what a perfect opportunity to reunite!
Well, I soon found out that Freya was no longer studying at the Wien Universitat, but had transfered to a school in Mannheim. Luckily, she would be returning to Vienna for a visit during her summer holiday at the end of August--which just so happened to be this past weekend! Perfect!!
So after a few Facebook messages and phone calls the date was made! Freya was going to give us the official "must-see" tour of her favorite city, ending with a trip to the Danube Tower. From the top you can see the entire city of Vienna, the Danube River and all of the twinkling lights of the peaceful city below!
So Saturday afternoon, we met Freya at the Museum Quartier alongside Stephansplatz. After exchanging hug-filled greetings, we picked a small cafe inside the Quartier and paused for lunch. It was a lovely cafe--my only despair was the incredible amount of bees that frolicked around the outdoor tables. You KNOW how much I LOVE bees (Joke). Up to this point I really hadn't seen any bees (or any bugs for that matter) around Vienna, which is why people so easily leave the windows hanging wide open. But clearly they've all congregated at this particular cafe. And you would've been so proud of me! I managed to not overturn the table in a panicked escape, but sat patiently and just wimpered through my clenched teeth. lol! I had a mozzerella and tomato pita sandwich and it was delish! Freya also convinced us to try Himbeer Gespritz, a carbonated rasberry drink that tasted like a pimped up Crystal Light. Mmmmm I love it!
After lunch, we began the Vienna Tour--Freya Style--an 11 hour tour which was mostly on foot! We went in a giant circle around the city. It was then that I realized how "small" of a "big city" Vienna is. Everything is basically within walking distance. We walked past city hall, the parliament building, the museum quartier (of course), the "twin museums" (named for their identical architecture--Museum of natural history and another museum that I can't remember lol), lots of Embassies, the Volkstheater, Volksoper, Mozart Musikhaus, and lots of historic coffee houses where intellectuals like Sigmund Freud would often congregate. It made me wonder if the Daily Grind would someday receive such recognition as the coffeehouse where famous intellectuals like Trey Overholt, Annie Worth, Mitch Garver and Ben Roth would congregate. It's a cool thought :)
Freya was a lovely and informative tour guide, as you can imagine, and she is absolutely hilarious! It made me saddened that I hadn't gotten to know her as well as I would've liked when she was here in the US during high school. But Olivia and I were certainly enjoying her company, and we happy to finally get to see the Vienna we saw in all the Tourbooks!
Then we visited Freya's old school--the Wien Univeritat--an incredibly HUGE and beautiful campus... it's main building looks like a frickin castle. We walked in the courtyard, and admired the row of sculpted busts of the university's dead professors. I can't imagine going to class in a building with high ceilings, ornate scaffolding, marble floors, doors as tall as a crane.... it puts BW to shame! There were some interesting posters in the student center... and ofcourse, students had written comments with permanent marker upon them. Freya enlightened us to some German slang lol! Always learning!
Our first "pit stop" was to the Votiv Kirche, a church that Olivia and I had passed many times but never been inside. It was your average church... but I loved the way the sunlight passed through the stained glass and onto the floor. It looked like a caleidescope (see the picture above). For some reason, these are the small things that remind me that there is a God. Light through a stained glass window. Seeing a little girl tug at the cheeks of her father on the subway, giggling and wrapping her arms around him as he sticks his tongue out at her. Watching as young boys give up their seats on the metro to an elderly couple. Sitting by the river at school, eating my lunch and watching the sunlight dancing on the water. These things, of course, have nothing directly to do with faith. But at the same time they are all reminders for me--reminders of something entirely beautiful and good. I realize that I have slipped into the terrible habit of taking the small things for granted... I'm always looking for a big miracle or sign. There have been so many tiny miracles around me everyday. I just had to move to a different country to find them.
WOW... and once again, I digress! So we managed to find our way to Graben--a fancy shmancy shopping drag of town, choc-full-o' Dolce and Gabanna, Tommy Hilfiger, Louis Vuitton... you get the deal. Freya did us the most amazing favor by taking us into the Julius Meinl market. It was this three story high class market that specializes in selling foods from around the world. I was in heaven. There was so much to take in... literally EVERYTHING you could imagine. Every fruit, vegetable, fish, spice, candy, preserves--from every country! Of course everything was outrageously priced (including the fish marked at 180 euro a piece) but we loved it nonetheless. They had this marzipan that was shaped and painted like fruit. I could have sworn up and down that it was real fruit... it reminded me of something from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, where everything is made of candy... But I invested in some souvenir/gift material and Olivia purchased the oh-so-famous marzipan Mozart chocolates (we have enjoyed these chocolates immensely over the last few days).
Then it was on to Stephansdom--a large and gothic style cathedral in which W.A. Mozart married his wife, Constanze. That is the cathedral you see pictured above. It is said that during the ceremony, Mozart's bride-to-be began to weep (as many brides do!). Mozart, being the terribly sensitive man he was, also began to weep during the vows. Soon enough, the preist was also in tears and the whole congregation was having an emotional break down. Leave it to Mozart :) But I really do love that story. It makes Mozart seem so real to me, you know? I'm so used to studying him... like he's just some character in a book I'm reading. But he really was a man. A brilliant musician. Who loved like any of us do, cried, and was married in the very church I stood in (can you even imagine being married in a place like that?!). The cathedral was remarkably detailed, and I will forever be amazed at how they were able to work such mastery. It smelled strongly of sweet incense, but I loved it... there is something so calming about it really. And it provided this everpresent haze in the sanctuary, which was perfect for seeinng the distinct sunbeams coming through the windows.
After Stephansdom, we decided it was time for ice-cream :) After passing handfuls of street performers and those crazy people who dress up like statues that can hold still for ungodly periods of time, we came across a cafe specializing in ice cream. The picture that you may have mistaken for spaghetti is actually ice cream with strawberry topping, believe it or not! How cool is that?!
Freya then introduced us to chocolate covered strawberries on a skewer (also seen pictured above) and walked us through the Stadtpark where one can find statues of Strauss (pictured above) and Mozart, among many others. The great thing about Europe--and Vienna especially--is the wide abundance of parks and grassy areas. I honestly think that the world gets it's oxygen soley from European trees. Olivia made the comment that: "Wow... even the trees here look European!" And as much as I laughed initially at the ridiculousness of that statement--I knew exactly what she meant.
Freya took us to this apartment building designed by an artist in which the straight line does not exist. Even the walls are not flat--they bend in and out at the base. The colors are bright and primary and it stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the normal European architecture.
We made our way towards the Danube Tower, already beginning to freeze our little buns off with the setting sun. That's the thing about Vienna. The weather is GORGEOUS during the day. But once the sun starts setting, it drops about 20 degrees I swear! If there's anything I've learned so far, it is to dress in layers! Initially we had planned on eating dinner in the tower, but the cafe was booked competely with tour groups. So we just went to have a look-y anyway :) Despite the freezing temperatures and the wind gusts that about took my breath away, it was very incredibly peaceful at the top of the tower. You really could see everything in the city--even the lit up Ferris wheel at the Praterstern amusement park. Poor Olivia had decided to wear a dress that evening, and I regret to say that the winds may have prevented her from truly experiencing the great view (she spent most of the time trying to hold her skirt down lol!).
Somehow we had to pick a place for dinner. Freya suggested a favorite of one of her friends--an Italian place. When we walked up, my chest clenched. It looked awfully expensive... fancy... and I was hoping to start my "penny pinching effort." Ah, what the heck! We decided to go in. Dine in style! Night on the town. In European restaurants (particularly the nice ones) you actually pay for the table. This means the bread and hors d'eurves are not free like they are in the states. The waitor came up to us outside and asked if we wanted "a table for three." But with his thick accent, both Freya and I thought he said a "table for FREE." We were all like, "YEAH!" It was quite a funny moment when we realized the misunderstanding! Anyway--I ordered gnocchi and it was worth every euro... I think I even dreamt about it that night, it was so good. Then Freya realized she had a coupon for a few glasses of wine at this particular restaurant, so we enjoyed our free white wine.
Olivia kept pointing out a picture on the the restaurants "Hall of Fame" (all the famous people who had eaten there) and commenting on how much it looked like Lyndon Johnson. Well, it wasn't Lyndon Johnson... try Placido Domingo--but we still love you Olivia! Beside his photo hung Luciano Pavoratti's as well! And can I just tell you again how much I love European bathrooms?! Each individual stall is it's own private room. Doors all the way down to the ground with no awkward gaps in them. The bathrooms at this restaurant even had classical music piped into each stall. Nothing like quality music while you pee.
We had such a great time with Freya--laughing and joking most of the time, and complaining about our aching feet the other part of the time ;) She was leaving for Bulgaria on Monday to visit a friend... but we just had to see her again before she left! So we made plans to go out Sunday night--yes! On a school night! Seeing as how I don't have class until 1:30 on Mondays, I didn't see the problem in it! Freya had made the executive decision that we should go out for cocktails, as Olivia and I had admitted earlier to never having one before. And so an outting was born!
______________________
I had originally intended on attending a church service Sunday morning, but found myself with a splitting headache that kept me in bed most of the morning. The church is called Vienna Community Church, and it's an English speaking, multi-denominational church downtown. It looked awfully beautiful, and the service is famous for being very musical. Sounds like my style... but I guess I'll have to check it out next weekend.
So the Sunday consisted of doing homework, procrastinating homework by cleaning the bathroom, the room, sweeping the floor, hanging up clothes, researching Munich plans, trains, and attractions, etc. Olivia and I are beginning to feel more "at home" in our apartment, and we certainly have adjusted well as roommates. We're basically the same person, actually. It's frightening at times. We sing 75 percent of our day--whether it's just singing along to the continuous juke box in our heads, finishing the lines to a song, singing to the radio getting ready in the morning or just singing for fun. We also quote YouTube videos constantly, and laugh about them like we've never heard it before! We've already had to make some compromises, but we've worked things out to a well-oiled machine. She doesn't snore, and as far as she admits to me, neither do I (which is actually good to know!). Hahahaha, one night though--I was up late blogging and Olivia was already asleep in bed. All of the sudden--out of NOWHERE--she pops up and says very urgently: "G-friend, what's up? What is it? What do you need?" Meanwhile, I am just staring at her with the "I didn't say anything" look... quite puzzled... and then she just srunches up her brow and shakes her head tiredly: "Ugh... nevermind... don't listen to me...I'm going crazy!" Then she's out like a light again.
Soooo anyway--Sunday night. We join Freya at the U-bahn station where she had been waiting to meet us. Apparently she was not only solicited for drugs, but for sex by this creepy guy at this station. Mmmm, gotta love Vienna night life. We head down to this bar/club called "Loco," which was Freya's "place" when she lived here. Granted, it was 10 on a Sunday night, so it was pretty empty. The interior, however, reminded me of Laser Quest! Black dilapitated brick walls with neon spray paint designs, black lights, haze, you get the idea. I picked up the little paper insert on the table, hoping to find a list of drinks and descriptions. Not so much. Luckily, Freya knew what she wanted us to try--her personal favorite--but I had no idea what she ordered us. But hoenstly, how are you supposed to know what to get when you've never drunk a cocktail before?! Had it not been for Freya I would've looked like an idiot for sure. Oh well. I'm American. I'm used to it by now!
I'm still not completely solid with how tipping works in Austria, and our server was noticeably new at the establishment. I didn't know how to tell him to "keep the change," and on the first round he had given Freya back her change after she had told him "Danke," so I just didn't tip right away. Basically he hated us. He would barely even look at us. Freya thought this was funny--but I felt a little bad, guilty too. So when he came to give us our drinks the next time we gave him a tip that was borderline outrageous. After that he set a candle at our table and gave us coupons for free cocktails next time we were in. Sometimes it pays to be gracious :)
Just as we were getting ready to leave, this Swedish man comes up to our table and starts speaking German. This is when Olivia and I turn to Freya in a panic that says: "You're our only hope... what's he saying?!" We all had a nice, decent conversation with him (in English), and I appreciated his approach more than the typical pick up line. I don't even think he told us his name. But we let Freya do most of the talking! Olivia and I were too anxious to get home, in fear that we'd miss the metro back home and have to take the night bus (!!!!!).
So we said our goodbyes to Freya and we headed our opposite ways. We didn't miss the train. Phew. We'll hopefully be seeing here again when we go to Munich in less than two weeks! Fun fun fun!!
Anyway, I'm pooped and I have class in the morning. This may be my last post for a while--I am waiting for my power cord to be mailed to me, and this could take over a week. Meanwhile I've been using a friends cord, but she needs it back tomorrow. So, until we speak again--auf wiedersehen! Tschuss!
Love always,
Laura
No comments:
Post a Comment