Only in Vienna will you ever be woken up to your neighbor blaring Classical music… This wonderful high-culture city continues to amaze me – here’s a re-cap of some of the highlights from the past week (and I apologize for being complete rubbish at up-dating this on a regular basis!):
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Danny and I scoured the Vienna guide books and came up with a list of things she wanted to see and do in her short stay. We jumped on the underground and headed to the city center in search of a market. Unfortunately for us, Vienna does not have Sunday shopping – markets included. Instead we wandered around the city and found ourselves at Hofburg Palace. The grounds are gorgeous and the architecture amazing as well. There is a taxi stand at the center of the palace grounds, but these weren’t the traditional yellow cab – no, there were carriages upon carriages lined up ready to give tours of the city. We walked through the palace and through the grounds of Museumsquartier – snapping pictures of the detailed statues and what I describe as the sandcastle trees. We were excited to see daisies growing on the lawn of one of the museums – winter seems to have skipped Vienna for the time being! We continued our walk past the Volksoper (one of Vienna’s opera houses) and decided to grab a quick lunch at a café across the street from the opera house. With my recommendation, Danny ordered a Kleiner Moka, thinking of course that it would be like mocha at home… What she really got was more like a shot of espresso on a tray with a couple sugar cubes… One sip later and I had to Mokas in front of me! My win!
After lunch we went to the Stephansdom – a cathedral in the heart of the city. As we climbed the stairs from the underground station the cathedral was towering over us – I was surprised by the sheer size of it. The earliest surviving features of the church date back to the 13th century, but a lot of the church was destroyed by bombing in the Second World War. Its rebuilding was a symbol of hope of the country following the war. There are so many details in the interior of the church that it is hard to even begin to describe. My favourite aspect is the pillars. The main nave is dominated by the tall ornate pillars. In all, they are decorated with 77 statues and date back to the 15th century. The carving and just the amount of detail that went into each pillar is hard to believe!
As we left the cathedral we noticed another taxi stand, but this time we couldn’t just walk by. We jumped in a carriage and set off down the streets of Vienna with our horses and driver. As we bounced down the cobblestones under our blanket, our driver pointed out to us some of the sights – everything from where Mozart played a concert at the age of 6, to a palace where he performed with his sister, and the designer shops like Valentino, Dolce and Gabbana, Tiffany’s and Gucci. I have a new favourite street, but I am only allowed to visit on Sundays when the shops are closed! When we arrived back at the cathedral we took in some of the street performers. We were amazed by one guy from Bratislava who painted gorgeous pictures in less than 10 minutes with nothing but spray paint. Danny was so impressed by the guy that she bought one of said paintings for her boy back home.
As the sun was setting we made our way back to Hofburg Palace where our evening concert was to take place. As we waited we walked the grounds some more. We found one guy playing an electric violin at the gate. He was fantastic and I was absolutely taken when he played one of my favourite pieces of all time, Bach’s Ava Maria. Nothing beats standing in the beautiful gate of Hofburg palace listening to amazing music! Next, Danny taught me how to find constellations – I can find Orion and Cassiopeia now!
It took us a while to find the palace where the concert was to take place. Hofburg is much bigger than I thought! But we eventually found it – with 10 minutes to spare! Palffy Palace is the location where Mozart played a concert with his sister, and tonight it is the location of our Mozart Strauss concert. The concert was a test to see if we could handle a 3 hour ballet, opera or concert – I was honestly quite skeptical of the opera! But, the evening was spectacular and I can’t wait to check out a full-length show!
Monday, January 15, 2007
Danny and I went our separate ways for the morning with plans to meet at the UN at 2pm for a tour. So as she continued to tour the great city, I made my way to the bank to open an account, the Housing Office to sign my contract and the Municipal Office to register with the city. It was a bit of a frustrating day as I began to realize just how different living in another country can really be. Opening an account for example isn’t the half hour process it would be in Canada – no, here I have to fill out forms and give copies of everything you can think of then wait for a couple weeks for them to contact me to set up an account. This is a tad disheartening when you realize that my rent was due the week before so as far as I am concerned I don’t think I have any means of paying it for at least another week and a half! Lucky me though, one of the tellers took pity on me and offered to do a transfer using my travelers cheques. The trip to the Housing Office was pretty quick and painless once I found it – aside from the fact that I found out I have no place to stay my last night in this country in June and if anyone comes to visit me I have to get written permission from the Housing Office and pay 10 Euro a night (but they give me an extra bed) because if I don’t and they find out it’s an automatic eviction! The municipal office was about a two hour wait, but it was worth it – I now at least have a certificate saying I am a resident of Vienna, so that’s pretty fun! All my chores took longer than expected, and I was late for the UN tour. That was fine though, because I seem to have been the only person getting off the underground that couldn’t manage finding the entrance to the complex anyway. Another hour later and I finally realized that the concrete wall with barb wire around the top surrounding the complex just wasn’t right and that the 4,000 people that work at the Vienna headquarters have to get into the complex somehow. I was right – turns out you have to get in through the underground station… I was there just in time to meet Danny coming off her tour!
We spent the rest of the day at Naschmarkt – the largest market in Vienna. We, well I, got completely ripped off by the locals, so, groceries in hand, we returned to my apartment to make dinner.
I guess everyday in Vienna can’t be peaches – tomorrow is another day!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
I’ve only been in Vienna for a week now, but its funny how exited you can become over something familiar of home… What am I talking about? Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup! When I went with Danny to the train station to drop her off, we went into a store in one last attempt to find liquor she wanted to buy that and although she couldn’t find what she wanted, I found canned soup! Finally something that I recognize that I would have at home! I don’t even like soup, but that’s beside the point – it’s just so nice to find something you know! Danny caught a train to Bratislava so she could start her journey home back to Canada. Her departure has left me, once again, alone in this strange, yet exciting, new city!
Since Danny left my life in Vienna has been quite uneventful… I’ve had coursework for my distance class to keep my busy, and I’ve been busy prepping for the Foreign Service exams… The most excitement I’ve had was watching clips of the Rick Mercer show online!
I have posted a recount of my big Hungarian adventure below the pictures if you haven’t already read it…
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1 comment:
All I can say is that, girls you've got balls!!! I have written you a letter, yet I still have to send it. It's sad but I am too broke to buy stamps. Oh well. I hope you had a better week. Talk to you soon. Love, Katie
PS...Heather rolled over on to her stomach yesterday, all by herself!
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