Hi! Sorry this is so long.
Well, let me tell you about Vienna. It is a really beautiful
city that deserves much more than 3 days. Anyway, I'll start at the
beginning.
I flew out Friday night (Jan. 30) and landed in Vienna around
10:30pm. The language of Vienna is German, and as you know I speak
no German. I had called a youth hostel earlier that day, and they
said they were all full but I should call from the airport and maybe they
would have something. So I found a phone, called them, and fortunately
they had one bed available. (If they didn't I guess I would have
just stayed at the airport all night.) So I found the information
desk in the airport, and the woman there spoke English and was able to
give me directions to the hostel, praise the Lord. It took me over
an hour to get to the hostel because I took a few wrong turns and had some
problems trying to buy a subway ticket because all of the signs are in
German. I did finally make it to the hostel and surprised my roommates
by bumbling into the room after midnight. The room was a triple,
and the other two guys were from Munich. Both spoke English and were
a few years older than me, but we got along fine for the few days I was
there.
The first morning, after a hearty hostel breakfast of piece of
bread and a roll, I set out to see the city and discovered that Vienna
is bitter cold in January. oh well The level of English fluency
is not as high as I had been lead to believe, as I soon discovered while
attempting to buy cough drops. I tried to ask the check out lady
where the cough drops where, but she didn't speak any English. I
ended up coughing and pointing to my throat repeatedly until she handed
me a box of something that resembled lozenges. I'm still not sure
what they are, but they seemed to work.
Anyway, almost everything you would want to see in Vienna is
in the center of the city, which is surrounded by a main avenue called
The Ring. So I walked around some of the palatial museums at the
edge of the Ring and then took the tram around the whole thing in about
20 minutes.
I got off near the University of Vienna, which looks a
lot like the History museum in Forest Park, except much larger. I
thought I'd just run in to the University to get out of the cold and look
at my maps so I could plan out my day. I walked in and I saw only
a couple of people so I found a small, warm hallway on the fourth floor,
sat down and started looking at my maps. But it was nice and warm
and I was so tired that I decided to take a little nap. When I woke
up an hour and a half later, it was one o'clock in the afternoon, and I
felt much better. I gathered up my maps and walked back down to the
exit. But when I got to the exit, it was locked, and the place was
deserted. I tried every exit I could find, but they were all locked--I
was trapped in the University of Vienna!
At times it was a very surreal experience, sometimes scary but
also quite an adventure. I frequently felt like I was in a dream
or a movie; like when I was walking through a long basement corridor covered
in posters and announcements which were gently fluttering in a small breeze
from the air vents, and the darkness of the hall was broken by small pools
of light unevenly spaced about the floor, while empty black passages leading
toward unknown destinations looked out upon me as I made my way to an exit
at the far end. You get the idea.
Near the end of the first hour, I thought, "Great, it's Saturday
and tomorrow is Sunday, so no one will find me until Monday. I'll
waste almost my entire trip stuck in the University of Vienna, but what
a story it'll make." As I neared the end of the second hour, I decided
that one way or another I was going to get out of there. So I found
a window on the second floor that I could open about an inch before it
got stuck, and I went looking for something to use as a lever to pry it
open. I figured I could maybe climb or jump from the second floor
without too much risk of injury. But then from a second story window,
I saw a professor walking across the inner courtyard toward one of the
exits I had tried. I frantically raced down towards the exit, but
I got turned around and couldn't get there until 10 minutes later by which
time he was gone. Still, I did find a shovel near the door he went
out, and I was just about to pick it up to take back to the window I found,
when another professor opened the door and yelled and ran out saying, "Danka,
danka." (thank you, thank you) He made some witty comment in
German, and I laughed and briskly walked away, savoring the sweet taste
of freedom--or at least very glad to be out after two hours locked in the
University.
I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around in the Ring,
looking at the buildings. I also visited St. Peter's Cathedral (relatively
small but very ornate) and Stephansdom (a HUGE cathedral, with little ornamentation
but very intricate stonework). Then I headed back to the hostel for
supper. I went down to dinner with one of my German roommates, and
we debated whether to eat at the hostel or go local, since they would both
cost about the same. A guy who was already eating dinner said, "Run
for it, quick; save yourselves." Apparently Austrians can't make
good pizza, because the pizza served at the hostel was very bad--topped
with tuna, ham, onions, corn, and an unidentifiable vegetable. The
guy turned out to be an engaging Canadian named Greg, and Greg and I decided
to go out to dinner while my German friend went to a musical with the rest
of his group.
Greg and I ended up eating in a very good and cheap local place,
where although the owners don't speak English, the menus have translations,
so we didn't have too much of a problem. Then it was back to the
hostel for an early night after a long day.
The next day Greg and I went to the National Art Gallery to see
the Brueghel exhibit, and we ended up seeing the whole museum--it took
a little over four hours, and all the art and artifacts and beauty were
rather overwhelming. Then we took a tram around Vienna for an hour
and went to a sort of fair in front of City Hall for a quick bite to eat.
It's called a market and is a collection of food and craft booths around
a large ice skating rink in the middle.
Then it was off to the opera! We went to the National Opera
where I saw La Bohemme for less than $2! But we had to stand the
whole three hours, but it was worth it.
After the opera we went to a coffee house that a girl in Lee
Abbey who is from Vienna made me promise to visit. Coffee houses
in Austria are entirely different from coffee houses in the US. In
the US they are dark, little holes in the wall where you can choose from
one of maybe ten different beverages as well as a few paltry pastries.
In Austria, coffee houses are elegant establishments where you can eat
a meal, choose from a nearly limitless list of hot beverages, or sample
a small piece of paradise in the form of a torte. I had melange which
is like a latte, but instead of steamed milk, they use cream, so it is
much richer and sweeter, and I had one of the finest pastries it has ever
been my privilege to taste. Delicious! Then back to the hostel
to turn in just after midnight.
On Monday, my third and final day in Vienna, Greg and I saw the
Hofsburg--the Imperial Palace of the Hapsburgs, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire. Huge. We saw the Imperial Crown Jewels and the treasures
of the Hapsburgs, and that was more wealth and oppulence than I have ever
seen in my life--more than I even thought existed--countries could base
their currency system on what I saw. I took pictures of some of the
most impressive items, so hopefully they turn out. You would not
believe me otherwise.
Then we took the bus out to the Summer Palace of the Hapsburgs,
the Schonbrunn. This is a palace to rival Versailles, and I have
pictures of it as well. This is another incredibly huge and beautiful
building, and grand balls are regularly held there. I would love
to go to one someday.
It was early evening by this time, so we had dinner at that great
little restaurant, the Burg-Keller, and then headed out to see the Riesenrad,
which is the largest Ferris wheel in the world and is featured in the film
"The Third Man." Then back to the coffee house, Cafe Digla, for another
taste of heaven.
At 11:30pm, it time for Greg and I to part ways. Cafe Digla
was closing, so he had to go back to the hostel, and I had to go to the
airport. My flight was leaving at 6:40am the next morning and rather
than pay for another night in the hostel, I just decided to go to the airport
and crash for a few hours. So I took the tube to the train station
to catch the train which would take me to the airport.
I got on the train I thought was the right one, but I wasn't
sure so I asked a passenger if this train would take me to the airport.
He said no and that the last train to the airport left 30 minutes ago.
He asked me if I had a place to stay, and I said I could go back to the
hostel. I explained when my flight left and my plan for staying at
the airport; then we checked the train schedule for the times of the morning
trains. There was one leaving the stop where we were at 5:09am which
would get me to airport in plenty of time. Then he told me he was
staying at a friend's flat only a few minutes walk away and invited me
to stay there for the night. I was a little scared, and I was concerned
that he might be trying to pick me up or something; but I said a quick
prayer and told him ok.
It turned out alright--he didn't try to molest me or anything.
He's a conductor who has been all over the world, and we talked for about
an hour about music and politics. Then I slept on the couch for three
hours before I had to get up to catch the train. He gave me his address
in Paris, and I thanked him profusely for letting me stay the night, then
I left.
At first I got on the wrong train and had visions of being stranded
in Vienna, but at the next stop I finally found the right train, by the
grace of God, and made it to the airport a little after 6am. I got
on the plane and landed in London a couple of hours later, and thus ended
my adventure in Vienna.
bye for now
Matt <:{)