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.