Before I start, though -- Love It or Leave It.
Reason to Love It : Feeling "at home" in Paris -- I'm comfortable enough here that it was a big relief to be back in the city after fall break.
Reason to Leave It : Knowing that most of my IES friends are leaving in about a month... and I'll be here without them.
And now, Part 1 : Waltzing in Wien
I arrived in Vienna late late thursday night and rode the City Airport Train (CAT) into the heart of Vienna, where I transferred to the U4 subway line to get to my hostel. By the time I checked into Hostel Hütteldorf, it was well past midnight. I got into bed and quickly fell asleep. Travel is tiring, you know.
I woke up friday morning just after 7, took a shower, and headed downstairs to eat breakfast with a (newly acquired) friend from South Korea -- Kim. After breakfast, I took the U4 back into the city for some exploration. My plans for the day were simply to hit up the 3 big sights from my wish list, and fill in with other random visits in between. The big 3: the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna National Opera), Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), and Hofburg Palace. I made it to all 3 just fine -- although the Hofburg was a bit out of my "budget", so I mainly just saw the outside. But it was beautiful. In between, I saw some pretty cool stuff. Like the Kaisergruft -- the crypt where they keep old, creepy tombs holding the remains of countless Austrian Emperors & Empresses. Then there's the pedestrian avenue Kärtner Strasse, a kind of car-less version of the Champs-Elysées. As I quickly found out, old downtown Vienna is an awesome district. The baroque buildings are beautiful. The traffic isn't too ridiculous. And everything is close together, so you can easily walk everywhere, as I did all weekend.
The highlight from friday has to be Stephansdom. After walking around the expansive interior of the church, I pulled a little trick I read about in my guide book. Rather than waiting in a long line to ride up a crowded elevator to the bell tower, I snuck outside and around to a side entrance. There I found a second ticket window, this one for the church's south tower. The south tower is taller, has a better view, and is less crowded. BUT there's no elevator to the top. So I readied myself, did some stretches, and pulled out my oxygen tank for the climb. After the 300-some meter trek up the spiral staircase, I made it to the top. The view of the city was incredible. It was a bit overcast, but I could still make out most of Vienna. The room at the top of the tower held a small gift shop, so I made like a tourist and bought a stack of postcards. I descended the tower just before noon -- right on time for mass. What a weird experience. Mass in German. Clearly, I had no clue what the priest was saying, but I was still able to follow along. It was a nice break from all the walking I'd been doing all day.
Friday night, I went to an a cappella pop concert at the Haus der Musik. I wasn't planning on attending, but I was drawn in off the sidewalk by the sweet sounds of "Easy Like Sunday Morning." How could I resist? The a cappella group was great. For their finale, though, they did a pretty crappy version of California Dreamin. I was disappointed, but I didn't pay for the concert, so I couldn't complain.
Saturday was another leg-ache-inducing day -- I'm logging some serious kilometers in my walking-shoes. I had breakfast around 8am with a couple from Cornwall, England. I was drawn to them because the guy had a sweet beard -- trust, it was mythical -- and his girlfriend looked like the young girl in love with Alexander Supertramp from the film version of Into the Wild. How could I pass up a couple like that? After breakfast, I was going to exchange some Euros for their leftover Slovakian Koruna, but the only ATM in the area was out of order. Rats. Anyway, I soon headed out the door on my way to my first stop of the day: Schönbrunn Palace. It was like a not-quite-as-ridiculously-opulent Versailles, only in Austria instead of France. Still, it was very impressive. And using the free audioguide headset thingy (which I normally find extremely annoying), I learned a lot about Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife, Empress Elizabeth, AKA the legendary "Sisi". Apparently, he was madly in love with her, but she could've cared less. So I guess it serves her right that she was eventually stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist... I kid, I kid. But yes, the palace was great, and the gardens were greater. Just like at Versailles.
Afterwards, I headed to Naschmarkt -- a huge outdoor market. It usually only sells food stuffs, but on Saturdays it also includes a flea market. Just my luck. I didn't buy any rugs or figurines or old Austrian records or anything like that, but I did find a delicious falafel sandwich for only 3€. Yumm. Who could ask for more?
Next, I went back to old Vienna for a return trip to the Haus der Musik, and a visit to Karlskirche. At Haus der Musik, I went through their very high-tech, interactive exhibit all about sound. The "Sonosphere" explores the physics of sound, how humans process sound in our ears, how instruments work, and so on. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a little boring, but I was blown away. Very nice. After, I hopped over to Karlskirche, the church named for St. Charles Borromeo. It was beautiful. I was pretty lucky, too: There was a concert going on inside by the Tokyo Municipal High School for Music. These kids were damn talented -- the perfect backdrop to my visit. The big draw to Karlskirche is the lift and scaffolding leading visitors up to the dome sitting atop the church. The dome and it's frescoes recently underwent a massive restoration project. They decided to leave the scaffolding in place for visitors' use. How nice of them, right? I rode the elevator up -- way up -- to the level of the dome. From the platform, you can see all the artwork on the ceiling. You don't get a chance to see that kind of work up close very often. Then (and this was the kind of scary part) there's another staircase leading up to the smaller dome at the very top of the church. I made close friends with the rail, and climbed up to the high platform. From there, you can look out the windows for a 360º view of Vienna. It was beautiful.
After dinner that evening, I went to buy a standing-room ticket at the Wiener (haha... sorry) Staatsoper. I got a ticket, but it didn't work out too well. First of all, I was hoping to see an opera -- I mean, it's an opera house -- but it turned out (yet again) to be a freaking ballet. Now, I don't have anything against ballets, but they need to quit tricking me into seeing them. Second, I got to the ticket window after the show had already started, so I had to miss the entire first act. Being very tired, bored of ballet, and having no clue what the show was even about, I only stayed for the 2nd act. I didn't feel like standing through a finale I wouldn't understand. It was okay, though. I only really went so I could see the building itself, and to hear the orchestra play some Tchaikowsky. So I guess it was a success in that light.
Finally, I went back to sleep at the hostel. Well, I tried to sleep. The nice British man I had met earlier that afternoon was already in bed. And my God, he sounded like he was dying. Honestly, I've never heard snoring like that before... Anyway, I finally got some shut-eye, and good thing, too. I had a big day ahead of me.
[To be continued...]
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