Last Days in Vienna
After Emily left for Germany I only had about eight days left before moving back to the States for good, and I wanted to make those eight days spectacular ☺ Coincidentally, around that time the weather turned hot and sunny – the perfect combination for lots of outdoor activities and fun-ness.We spent a lot of time outside in the sun; we would sit in the Stadtpark for hours on end, or we would rent ViennaBikes for one Euro and ride all over the city (not as easy as it sounds – have you ever tried to ride up a steep hill on a one-speed?) We also realized that, free of snow, my roof-terrace was an excellent place to while away an afternoon, and we spent time up there talking and painting toenails and drinking beer. I love lazy summer days!I also partook in some interesting activities, however. Kelly, who had a very productive year, worked part-time at the Naturhistorisches Museum analyzing a collection of bones. The work sounds morbid, but it’s actually really cool – this collection of bones is probably around one thousand years old, and she analyzed each skeleton to see if there are any traces/evidence of how they died. She actually made some startling and important discoveries involving a rare illness that I know nothing about, and we are very proud of her ☺ Anyway, on Friday, June 16, she invited us to the Museum to go “behind-the-scenes,” per se, and see where she worked and what she was doing. Let me tell you, I’ve never seen more skulls in one place in my life!! The whole thing was very impressive, and I’m so glad I had a chance to see her in action.After looking at the skulls, she took us up to the roof of the Museum, from which you can see the entire city. It isn’t open to the public, and it was a lot of fun to run around and see the views from up there. We got some great photos, actually, and we were able to see some of the preparations they were making at the Hofburg (across the street) for George W. Bush’s upcoming visit to the city.Later that evening was Kelly’s birthday party, which she held at a Heuriger. All the girls decided to get all snazzed up, so we looked very cute for our evening out ☺ We all sat around a big table outside and snacked, drank local wine, and chatted. I love Austrian life! It was a great evening, and we had a lot of fun ☺ It was sad, though, to realize that my time with all these people I’d met was ending, and it was very strange to think that next year they wouldn’t be just a streetcar ride away if I needed a buddy to grab a coffee with.On Saturday, I went to my Betreuungslehererin’s (boss’s) house for tea. In Austria, when people socialize (unless they are with family), they do it in public – restaurants, bars, etc. Rarely do people visit each other’s houses. So when Christine asked me and two other teachers over for tea, it was really a great honor. I stopped on my way and bought her a potted flower as a gift, and when I arrived I saw that Kathi (another teacher) had done the same. Ilona, the other teacher who was invited, brought homemade pfirsichtorte (peach cake…mmmmm….) It was a fun afternoon, and I had a good time chatting with my colleagues. For the first time all year they actually wanted me to speak German, which was a little intimidating. I don’t think it would have been intimidating if I’d been speaking German with them at the outset, but somehow having to change languages after nine months was unnerving (but luckily I remembered how to speak properly, and all was well ☺)After tea, I headed out to the Praterstern (home of the famous Viennese Riesenrad, or Ferris Wheel), where I met the girls for a Mexican dinner. While our own dear Tin Tan serves up some of the tastiest margaritas I’ve ever tried, their food is sorely lacking in authenticity, and we’d heard tell of a better restaurant in this area. We weren’t disappointed, and I only wish I’d gone earlier in the year!After dinner, we decided to find a place to partake in our new favorite activity – watching World Cup football in a pub. I think I probably went to pubs every night of my last week in Vienna (excepting the night at the Heuriger) for football, and while I was never a football fan before, this totally converted me (at least to understanding the excitement of World Cup time!) We were sorely disappointed by the Americans, who did not play all that well and who had some unlucky calls against it, and I wasn’t too thrilled when Italy won it all (although at least they didn’t play dirty like France did), but I got sucked in by the Cinderella stories (like Ghana, who I believe was the first African team to make it past the first round of the tournament, or Tunisia, for whom we naturally had a special affinity and who almost beat Spain.) Anyway those nights were some of my favorites from the entire year, and I am so glad to have experienced a World Cup in Europe ☺ (And getting a free World Cup/Erdinger baseball cap for buying Erdinger beer – the German equivalent of Keystone light – wasn’t too shabby either!)Saturday, Sunday, and Monday for me were spent packing and tying up my life in Vienna. It took me a while to understand how I could arrive in Vienna with two suitcases worth of clothing and finish my year with so much more junk than that! I went through my wardrobe and basically divided it in half – the clothing that would come home, and the clothing that I would leave in the Red Cross drop box down the street. They got a huge donation, let me tell you! I also had to de-register with the authorities, arrange to have my mail forwarded, and close my Austrian bank account and have my money transferred to my American one (a task that didn’t actually get completed until the morning of the day I left…whoops.)I originally wasn’t supposed to leave until early July, but after Zack passed away I decided that I would like to come home earlier, if we could work out the flights. It took some finagling, but my brilliant mother found a way for me to fly British Airways on Tuesday afternoon from Vienna to Manchester to Edinburgh, and then take Delta’s flight on Wednesday from Edinburgh direct to Atlanta. On Monday, I decided I’d better check the weight limit for bags on British Airways, and good thing I did. Most airlines allow around 50 pounds per bag, but BA’s intra-European flights had a weight limit of 50 pounds total. Major Problem. So Monday I quickly unpacked and repacked and mailed a few more boxes home (cheaper than paying the heavy luggage fee.) Although I was still over the weight limit, it at least wasn’t 30 pounds over, and I figured I could cry my way out of it if necessary (I love being a girl!)Monday evening some people came over for one last drink on my roof, and Tuesday I had Billa sandwiches with the girls before heading off to the airport. I arrived in Edinburgh feeling hot and sweaty and in desperate need of a shower. Since I tried to get rid of all possible excess weight, I didn’t bring any toiletries with me, having assumed that the Holiday Inn in Edinburgh would at least have soap and shampoo. I was unfortunately wrong, and I decided it wouldn’t be a huge deal if I flew home gross (that’s what World Cup/Erdinger baseball caps are for, anyway, right?)I talked to my mother that night and she urged me to try to locate some shampoo at least – she said the front desk should have some, and luckily she was right. So I got a shower, which was probably nice for all the other passengers. My flight from Scotland to Atlanta was straightforward and easy (I even had an empty seat next to me – the best way to fly!)
It was a perfect last week to end my amazing year overseas. I’m so grateful and lucky to have had the chance to really live one of my dreams. Since I was a little girl (probably seven years old), I had planned to live in Vienna one day, and I actually did it. And it was perfect ☺
Climb Every Mountain
While Meghan was with me in Vienna, I had my final day of teaching, which was exciting. While I thoroughly enjoyed my job (for the most part), I was really looking forward to having the month of June to just hang out with my friends and do some good sightseeing!The Wednesday after Meghan left (June 6), Emily Conger (a good friend of mine from high school) arrived in Vienna. She had been traveling with her family in France and was meeting up with her boyfriend Rob a week later in Germany, and she spent the intervening time in Vienna with me! I picked her up from the airport, and it was so great to see her – it had been over a year, which neither of us could believe.We spent a few days doing some sightseeing around the city – the first district, Stephansdom and other churches, the Belvedere (where we had some fun with some crazy statues), Café Central, and other Viennese things. One day we took a walking tour of a part of the city I’m unfamiliar with, which was fun. We also took a trip to the Naschmarkt for lunch one day, and that evening we headed to Kristina’s for a end-of-the-year farewell party, complete with slideshow (courtesy of Jen, the technology genius.) It was a fun party, but it was sad that it would be our last time all together before Jen headed back to the States.On Thursday evening (much in the same vein as with my sister), we decided to take a weekend trip. Emily wanted to go to Bratislava, but I’d been there already and had no wish to return, so we decided instead to go to Innsbruck. I am so glad we did this, because Innsbruck probably became my second favorite city in the world (or at least Europe!)We left early Friday afternoon, but since the trip is almost six hours, we didn’t arrive until it was getting dark. We located our hotel (walking distance from the train station), and then set out to find some dinner (harder than it sounded since we weren’t near the city center.) We finally heard tell of a pizza restaurant that stayed open late and headed in that direction. We thought we’d found it when we spotted the large neon sign of a man tossing a pizza, but when we got closer, we realized it was actually a large neon sign of a naked woman flaunting her leg, beckoning us into a nudey bar. And right next door to THAT was the pizza place (that actually had delicious food!)On Saturday, we took the street car into the city center, where we took the Lonely Planet walking tour and saw all the major sights and buildings. Innsbruck is really neat, because it feels very old and mysterious in the inner city, but on the outskirts, there are these gorgeous baroque-style buildings. Anyway, it was a great way to see the big sites in the city, and a nice morning jaunt. In the afternoon, we decided that since we were in the middle of the Tyrolean Alps, we should take advantage of it and do some hiking. We managed to locate the Innsbruck tourism office, who pointed us in the direction of Patscherkofel, the mountain that was used in several Olympic events when Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976.We were able to take a streetcar from the city center out to the town at the base of the mountain, and from there, we took a gondola lift (Wikipedia term) about 2/3 up the mountain. From that point, we decided we had enough time to hike down the mountain and back to the base town, which we proceeded to spend the next five or so hours doing. It was quite a hike – more rigorous than we thought initially, but it was a great way to spend an afternoon. We saw cows and climbed gates and stopped for a Coke at a little restaurant next to a little church about halfway down.When we reached the town, we took the streetcar back to Innsbruck, where we had dinner in the city center and talked about what we wanted to do the next day. Luckily we were in agreement that the best thing to do would be to take the gondola lift back up the mountain and then hike up to the peak (and back down to the midpoint again.)This proved to be much more strenuous than we thought, for several reasons. First, as we set out, I read the map wrong, and we accidentally started down the path that would take us over to the next mountain down the line. Whoops. Got about a half mile before we figured that one out and came back. Then we thought we saw the pathway up and started to climb. Man, that was a durn steep pathway, and about halfway up, the pathway kind of petered out. We were very confused, because, well, old people and young kids hike this mountain, and this was tough for two fit twenty-somethings. Then we got to the top of our little slope and saw…a road…that people were walking on…that led right from our little starting point to the top of the mountain. Double whoops. But I rest assured that we took the *ahem* adventuresome way up and thus were more rewarded because of it ☺ We got some gorgeous photos at the Spitze (peak) of the mountain, before we headed back down.Since we had to catch a train, and since we’d hiked the rest of the mountain the previous day, we took the gondola back down to the town, and we headed back to Innsbruck to take our leave and go back to Vienna. I, for one, wasn’t ready to leave, but alas. I would go back to that city in a heartbeat!The day after we returned, Emily set off on her own for a day trip to the Wachau (very fun) while I stayed in Vienna and studied for my final exam (less fun.) It sounded like she had a great river cruise, but I guess it was good for me to be responsible and prepare for my test. Meh. I’d rather be cruising the Donau ☺The next day, we just hung out together around the city before we went to the train station. Emily caught an overnight train to Düsseldorf, where she was to meet Rob, her boyfriend, for some World Cup action (and yes, I mean soccer) It was so great to have her visit, and I had such a great time both seeing the familiar sights of Wien and traveling to a new place!
A Tale of Two Sisters
I met Meg at the airport just after I got back from Rome. Luckily our flights landed within minutes of each other, and it was so great to have my sister with me in Vienna! We took the train back to the city (because the airport is actually in the town of Schwechat, which is a half-hour train ride away.) All we did on that day, Tuesday, was head back to my apartment, where Meg took a nap, and grab some dinner.On Wednesday evening, Meghan and I decided to go to Mass at the Piaristenkirche. While I was in Rome, I found out that a close friend of mine from high school passed away suddenly, and there was no way for me to get back in time for the funeral. I was lucky to be with friends and my boyfriend when I received the news, and I was even luckier to return to Vienna to a ten day visit from my sister, who was a wonderful source of support for me. She suggested that on Wednesday, the day of the funeral, we go to Mass so we could be with Zack in spirit, if not in body.Before Mass, we were approached by a lovely and very friendly elderly Viennese woman, who pointed out some of the architectural hallmarks of the church and gave us a prayer card. After Mass, we left the church to see a rainbow stretching out over the city (you can see a city view from the church steps.) At this point, I’d been living in Vienna for nine months, and this was the first rainbow I saw – while leaving the church on the day of one of my best friend’s funerals. I refuse to believe it was a coincidence.On Wednesday evening after Mass, we decided that we should take a trip and made some last minute plans for a weekend trip to Salzburg. We found inexpensive hotel accommodations on the internet (hurrah for technology!) and we decided suck up our pride and schedule ourselves for a patented “Sound of Music” tour – the thing for American tourists in Salzburg to do (and my second time taking it!)I, being a travel agent wannabe, also scheduled a side trip into our journey. On Thursday, we left Vienna on a morning train, which we took to St. Valentin, where we changed trains. We arrived in the town of Mauthausen at around 2pm. Mauthausen was home to the only concentration camp that the Nazis set up in Austria, and as with the other concentration camps, it has been turned into a memorial and a museum. I, a person who considers herself a scholar of German history, had actually never been to a concentration camp before, and while I obviously wish the places never existed in the first place, I was glad to have the opportunity to see this one.We arrived at the Mauthausen Bahnhof (train station), which, like most small rural towns, has just one platform and two tracks. We knew the camp was a few miles outside the town, but we weren’t really sure how to get there other than to walk, so we set out on foot. Luckily, less than a mile into our journey we actually walked past a taxi depot, where we hired a cab to take us the rest of the way (and they gave us their phone number for the return, bless them!)I’m not quite sure how to describe the camp. Solemn is a good word. Desolate in feeling, but not in location, which was actually quite beautiful. The camp itself was rather bleak, as you might imagine, with buildings made of graying wood, walls made of stone, and fences topped with barbed wire. We received headsets with our admission fee, so we took a self-guided tour through the barracks and work areas and shower rooms. They have actually torn down many of the buildings that used to be there (mainly barracks), and ironically, where the buildings used to stand, there are now patches of beautiful wild flowers that are surrounded by manicured grass lawns. All over the camp people have donated memorials – plaques, obelisks, headstones – in memory of the victims and also of the soldiers who liberated the camp. It was a sobering experience, but I’m very glad we were able to go.After seeing the camp, we headed back to the train station and took the train the rest of the way to Salzburg, where, since it was dark (and I do say this to offer an excuse, because I don’t normally do this!) we grabbed a taxi to take us to our hotel. We hadn’t had a proper meal yet that day, so we were overjoyed to be staying next door to an Italian restaurant, where we had a delicious meal, after which we headed to bed.The next morning we woke up and headed back to the train station (we walked this time, because it really wasn’t very far) to meet Antonia (!!), who stopped for a few hours to meet us in Salzburg on her way to a weekend at her family’s lake house in Kärnten. After meeting up with her, we took a tour of the Mozart Geburtshaus (Mozart’s birthplace), which is one of several Mozart museums in the city. Being a good girlfriend, I took illegal photos surreptitiously of the old-fashioned instruments for my boyfriend to see ☺After the Mozart museum, we wandered around the city, grabbing lunch in a Beisl (café), and stopping in to view the Cathedral, which is extremely different (and more modern on the inside) than any church I’d seen in Vienna. We played around in the city, taking fun pictures and having coffee until Antonia had to catch her train out. After that, Meg and I wandered some more before heading back to the hotel, grabbing dinner, and going to bed (because we had a big day the next day!)We woke up early on Saturday so we could meet our Sound of Music tour bus on time. We stopped by several major landmarks of the movie – the house that is the front of the von Trapp estate (and is now a conservatory), the different house that is the back of the same estate, the famous gazebo (where Maria and the Captain sing my favorite song before smooching), and finally, the church where Maria and the Captain get married. The church is in the lovely town of Mondsee, which is right by a lake of the same name, and we stopped there for lunch. Strangely enough, while wandering around Mondsee I actually ran into a favorite pupil of mine from Vienna. Apparently her family owns a vacation home in Salzburg. I’m not jealous or anything!We got back to the city in the mid-afternoon, after a rather fun tour. I have to say, it was a great experience, and we got to see a little bit of the surrounding countryside while sitting on a bus and singing along with the Sound of Music soundtrack ☺Meg and I took the train back to Vienna that night, because on Sunday we had another treat. As a graduation present to Meg, my parents bought us tickets to see the Spanish Riding School perform! It was so amazing to watch those horses and riders doing their thing. While I got to see them practice, I’d never seen the actually perform, and it was a really cool thing to watch. Thank you mommy and daddy for that ☺I had to work the next week, so we just did some of my usual Vienna-life activities (such as go to the English Bookshop and take our purchases to a café (if we wanted to be Viennese) or Starbucks (if we wanted to be smoke-free) to while away the afternoon. Unfortunately, the weather was cold, rainy, and gray for the duration of Meg’s visit, which really stifled the urge to sight-see outside.One thing we did get to do was take a boat ride on the Danube through Vienna. I’d been on river cruises through the Wachau Valley before (outside of Vienna), but never through the actual city. It was interesting to see all the landmarks from afar on the water (the Danube doesn’t actually run through Vienna, but beside it.)On Saturday, June 3, Meg and I woke up at 3am to get her to the airport in time for her flight (yeesh!) I was sad to see her go, but it was so wonderful to have her come stay with me! I only wish Bridget had been able to make it over as well, but maybe next time.
