A Spring Journey - Venice

On Friday, April 3rd I boarded the train to Venice at about 8:30pm, and it was scheduled to arrive at about 8:30am. I’ve been on long train rides before, like my most recent lovely Amtrak ride from Connecticut College back to Minnesota. But I’d had a sleeper car on the longest stretch of that ride, which I did not for this one. I was sitting in a six person compartment, much like the trains in Harry Potter, and I was accompanied by five strangers. We all had to put aside our comfort zones for the duration of the trip, a fact which we came to learn and realize rather slowly and awkwardly, but surely. So, the train ride passed without much incident or sleep except for a blessed few hours when two of our number left, and the person next to me and I were able to stretch out on the folding chairs. We were soon interrupted by newcomers, however, and needed to sit back in our chairs and try the best we could to sleep upright. It was not particularly enjoyable, but at least I wasn’t sitting or standing in the hall, which I didn’t even know was possible. There’s always a bright side, and as the sun rose, I watched it do so over the Italian countryside as I sat there, bleary-eyed, and was grateful.

The train arrived into Venice, and I went to the tourist information booth to wait in a very long line to buy a map and learn about events going on during the weekend, which is how I got a tip about one of the best things I would do in Venice: a free organ concert on Saturday night. Blinking back sleepiness, I stepped outside and took in the slightly overcast skies and the canal that stretched out in front of me. I made my way to my hostel, only to be informed that the place I was staying was a few bridges down the road (that’s the closest thing to blocks they have in Venice, I’ve decided - it’s quite a maze of a city). The room was not ready, so I left my things there and ventured out to take care of a traveler’s business: buy a local SIM card and find food to eat. I was gross, tired, and hungry after that train ride, causing these simple tasks to actually be stressful to me. I quickly found a Vodafone store, and got a card with €5 on it, which amazingly lasted me my entire time in Italy. I then found a pizza place and ordered a calzone. “Are you sure? It comes in this size box.” the man had warned me. Oh yes, that’s great, said I, ravenous. An hour later I was still trying to finish it at a tiny park I found. Afterwards, to recover from the sleep and stress, I enjoyed a spritz, the ‘drink of Venice’ which Kate (who had studied there a little over a year ago) had suggested to me, from a canal-side bar. It was really amazing, and a good precursor for my love of having drinks in Italy.
Much more refreshed, I began to wander Venice and get thoroughly and completely lost. I actually really enjoyed doing so, because Venice is a beautiful city. It does have some downsides, like the number of tourists (and street vendors), and the lack of expansive parkland (almost necessary given its size though). But I can also see why it would be an inspiring place for musicians, and I saw the result of that first-hand when I attended the free organ concert that night.

After a dinner of bread and strawberries from the local market (saving money for Rome), I put on my nicest clothes and made my way to a rather impressive church on the north side of Venice. The concert was incredible, and I especially liked it for several different reasons. First, I was by myself, and it was the first organ concert in my life that I just sat and really appreciated, without any distractions. In front of the pews where everyone sat was an empty altar and massive paintings scaling the walls, while the organ sat neatly above the entrance to the church. This meant that I just gazed at the paintings and the incredible arches of the place as the music poured out from behind me, majestically resonating through every corner of the church. This was one of my first experiences with churches in Italy, and it was a good indicator of how seriously they take their religious spaces. The organist performed wonderfully, and I wrote at length about the concert in my journal, and I hope to write a poem about it soon.

I went to bed immediately after the concert, briefly meeting my five hostel mates as I did so, all quite kindly but I did not have many more interactions with them. The next morning I awoke early and went to explore more of Venice, this time going down to San Marco, the giant square with its impressive monuments and soaring cathedral. I just made it into the center of the square when I heard amplified singing coming towards me, and I turned to see a procession of people bearing palm fronds, intermittently broken by groups of guitarists, a few singing into microphones, all of them led by a group of important-looking priests. I had not realized that it was Palm Sunday. Before I knew it, the procession had surrounded me on both sides as they wound their way around the square and into the enormous church. The singing reverberated through the square for a short time after they entered, giving the place a very eerie and very religious atmosphere. A voice then came over the loudspeaker welcoming the English-speaking visitors and briefly explaining the procession before cutting out and leaving me bewildered and incredulous after witnessing such an affair so unexpectedly.

The rest of my day was passed in the main park in Venice, which wasn’t too expansive, but it was much more residential, peaceful, and quiet. Not only that, but I had to walk along the southern edge of Venice from San Marco square to get there, and it was a beautiful walk. By this time I had bought sunscreen (aren’t you proud mom?) and I was very grateful for it. I found the park, and found a bench to settle down in, updating my journal with all that I had seen and done since my last entry, and then taking out my letter pad and writing for a number of hours. It was incredibly relaxing and lovely, just sitting there in the weather that was at a perfect temperature to sit there all day long. Contentment washed over me as I wrote and watched people talking, walking, and playing in the park. It was really an excellent way to spend my afternoon. That night I got another long sleep and boarded the train the next morning to head down to Roma.

The train down was much better than my previous one, and I sat in a set of four chairs in a car without any compartments, and I was able to enjoy the incredible view the whole way, as well as enjoy conversation with fellow passengers. As it would turn out, two of the people I was sitting with were also studying at the University of Edinburgh for the semester! I talked to them for a good while about their travels, studies, and homes back in the states before the older Australian couple across the aisle joined in our conversation. I was quite glad that they did, for they were fascinating people. They were just wrapping up four months of straight travel, which they had spent with a small group of other couples, starting and spending most of their time throughout South America. They had then taken an enormous cruise ship from Brazil to Venice (how long it took I cannot remember, but many days). They had spent some time in Venice and were now heading to Rome to endure over 25 hours of travel to get back to Sydney. They gave some good life advice, and took a parental role as we neared Rome to warn us of the dangers of pickpockets. I took it very much to heart and wasn’t stolen from once. It was a very enjoyable and entertaining train ride.

That’s all for this one. I have uploaded all of my pictures from Vienna and Rome, which are viewable at my Google Public Gallery. I do not have my Venice pictures besides the few posted here, because I had to leave them on my friend’s computer due to camera memory space, so it may be a while before I can post those. Thanks for reading!

A Spring Journey - Vienna

Hello hello everyone! First of all, I must apologize for how terribly long it has been since I last posted. Well over a month, but I do have good reason (kind of). First, after my last post, I was finishing my classes at the University of Edinburgh, and writing several essays and enjoying my fair share of stress. Then I left to travel for two weeks straight, visiting three cities in two countries. My first stop was Vienna, where I arrived on Tuesday, March 31st, and stayed until Friday, April 3rd. After that was a third week staying at a friend’s flat (dorms were being rented out all break long) and ended by a weekend in the Highlands of Scotland. I’ll tell you about each one individually, so as to do them the best justice I can.

Upon arriving in Vienna, I noticed that my four years of German in high school, which I had thought something of a waste due to my lack of intention to ever visit Germany (the thought of other German-speaking countries had never occurred to me), came rushing back to me. I was able to read billboards whilst on the bus to the main train station, which was really only possible due to their appeal to our very basic desires, and use of simple words to do so. I arrived in the station and was greeted by my friend Michael Haviland (henceforth Havi), who is studying there this semester, and goes to Connecticut College as well. He led me through the Viennese U-Bahn, and I gladly followed to my first Viennese grocery store and then chocolate shop, to the district where he lived. I must note here that I’ve found the public transportation system in Vienna to be one of the best in the world, and as that is usually one of my standards to judge a place, I took an immediate liking. We got back to Havi’s rather nice flat, and he quickly cooked up a number with pasta, onions, and bread, which I devoured it happily.

That night, we went out to a kind of dive bar, and after infuriating Havi by ordering a feminine cocktail, I ordered an ale to make him happy once more. I didn’t stay long though, due to my travel exhaustion, and so I grabbed Havi’s keys and headed back to his flat. Public transit brought me safely back, and I quickly found Havi’s building, only to enter it in pitch darkness. Not having much experience with apartment buildings and being rather tired, I thought ‘Oh no. It’s dark.’ That was actually the extent of my thoughts. In an old Austrian building, needing to travel to the top floor in the pitch black, I was terrified. Cell phone? Check. However, a little bout of white light can sometimes just add to the fright. I scampered quickly up the three flights of stairs, tripping a few times, and arriving at the top to fumble with the keys, and reach to the walls in desperation... only to find the switch for the temporary light for the entire stairwell. Which was also at the bottom of the stairs. A good start.

My first full day in Vienna was also the first day of April, and so after saying ‘rabbit, rabbit’ (possibly the only superstition I hold), I went out into the world, just wandering where my feet took me as Havi attended his classes. I saw flutists in one of the numerous parks, and I started to like the city more. I saw a plaque in the sidewalk for Bach... Brahms... many others, and I liked it even more. I met up with Havi at the NaschtMarkt and very much enjoyed the sights, smells, and sounds of a well-established street market. Huge loafs of bread for €1, and cheese-filled cherry tomatoes soon filled our hands as we quickly found another of Vienna’s many beautiful parks, and sat to eat happily. Havi then gave me a tour of the First District, and I could do nothing more than marvel at the spectacular nature of Viennese architecture. After wandering around wide-eyed for quite some time, we visited the Rathaus - the Viennese Parliament. We took a €2 tour on the advice of a very friendly Austrian man, but it was led by an Austrian woman who translated the tour into English as much as she pleased, which wasn’t much - Havi and I could tell from the amount of German we knew. But it was fascinating to see the country’s place of political deliberation.

Wednesday I decided to devote to finding the Botanic Gardens of Vienna. While I enjoy monuments, soaring arches, and statues of a country, my love shall always lie in the green life of gardens and forests, and that quickly became what I looked for in the places I visited. You can learn much about a place from how it interacts with nature, and with 50% of Vienna’s cityscape being devoted to parkland, it proved so much to love. So I ventured to that ‘Botanische’ green part of the map, and I discovered much more. As it turns out, the Botanic Gardens belong to the University of Vienna, and they are located in the grounds of a palace (which Austria loves to have, along with cathedrals), which had its own large expanse of carefully manicured grounds sweeping out from it. I shed my jacket and sweatshirt in the beautiful spring day, and soon noticed two things: one, this is my first time in continental Europe, and two, I am burning slightly. Wow. Not to be disconcerted, I found my way to the gardens, and traversed them happily and quietly, reflecting on what it was like to be in a foreign country, and how comforting universal things can be. People enjoying parks. Pedestrian crosswalks. The joy that a new Spring brings to people. Benches. And, of course, the desire for comfort.

Had lunch at an Easter Market outside of Schönbrunn Palace (that’s the main one, I think), and then a happy discovery and exploration of the VAST grounds that stretched out behind it, which eventually blend into forest, which have a Tiergarten (a zoo) tucked into it. Oh Vienna. After exploring for quite some time, I received a summons from Havi to the StatOpern to get in line for standing room tickets for the opera taking place that night. I quickly went, and marveled at the concept of it. A line had formed for the StehPlatz hours before the show, with the veterans and their collapsable chairs at the front, followed by a variety of people, from students to elderly couples. Havi and I got our €4 tickets, reserved our place in the standing room area with our belts (‘No coats!’ the condescending man had said), and hurried home to change into nicer clothes (‘I refuse to go to the Viennese opera in commoner’s clothes’ - those may have been my words) and get some food. It was a classic collegiate moment, really. Havi got a nice shirt from my things as I grabbed food at a grocery store, and we both hurriedly changed and ate a bag of grapes, a loaf of bread, and a litre of juice in the span of time it took for the U-Bahn to take us to the opera. We arrived luckily just in time, and we settled (stood) in our spots, eager for the opera. It was Arabella, an opera full of melodrama, identity confusion, and secrets. Usual elements of an opera? Check. I was really enjoying it, as was Havi, but he had a German exam the next day, so he ducked out during intermission, along with about half of the standing room crowd. I stuck around to wait for the second half and a woman came unexpectedly up to me and started speaking in German. This happened quite a bit, and I always felt bad asking people to speak in English (my German is quite limited), but she did so happily, and I quickly learned that she was offering me her seat. Surprised and grateful, I asked where it was, looking down towards the audience seating as she pointed it out, ‘...by those old women talking’ (not too helpful in an opera house). ‘Where? To the right there?’ Realizing where I was searching, she says ‘No, in the balcony there, I’ll show you’. What?! Astonished, I followed, and was directed up some stairs into a hall. I thanked her profusely, and as she left, I made my way into Box 7. There was a door to enter, and a small room with a place to hang coats and make sure you are prepared in the small mirror (you know, so you don’t have to get ready with the commoners - glad I insisted on changing), and two elderly Austrian women chatting with each other. Oh. ‘Hello. Your seat is there’ one said, encouragingly pointing to the high chair in the back of the balcony. My height made it a great place to sit and admire the view and the other balconies (...is that one of the purposes? High-class interaction? I like it) and settled in as the second half began, and the other members of the balcony hurried in. It was much longer, and I was very happy to be sitting there, especially since I was in a Viennese Opera, and sitting in a balcony. One of my favorite parts was saying goodbye to those hospitable Austrians, in the mixed language that comes about when one party knows very little English and the other knows very little German. The result? A mix of me speaking in German and them speaking in English. Hearing an American-accented ‘Sehr gut. Danke. Gute nacht!’ and a Austrian-accented ‘You liked it? Good. Good night!’ exchanged made me smile for a long while.

The view from the standing room.

The next day I spent exploring more of the Schönbrunn Palace grounds, then quickly packing, then heading to a big dinner with Havi’s friends, and then heading over to the train station for my first overnight European train, from Vienna to Venice. Stay tuned for more - and sorry for the length on this one. Congratulations on getting this far! My best to you all.