Wieder in Wien

There are some lovely cities in Europe. Prague is romantic, Amsterdam is egalitarian with wild tourists, and Vienna is elegant. I miss it. Turns out, there was a way to get on a train in the Czech, give ourselves a couple hours' "layover" between trains in Vienna. So, we walked from the beautiful new Hauptbahnhof (main train station) into the city center. 

Fountain at the Oper (Opera house)

Lower Austria (Niederösterreich)

After a drizzley but historically rich weekend in Innsbruck (castles! armor! art!), I took the early train across Austria to see Ulli, my former tandem (language partner from UniGraz) in Lower Austria.

Our adventure in pictures

I finally uploaded our pictures to Picasa!

To view the album directly, check out the album online here.

Home again...

My laptop was stolen in Vienna (one of the safest large cities on earth!) so I am currently without my picture loading software, but rather than bore everyone with pages of text and pictures I will post photo albums from the last few weeks on the Photo Gallery page in the next few days. Otherwise, it would take forever to sort it all!
In any case, Ana and I have survived our adventures and have many stories to tell...

Wien, take 4

Ana and I are finally in Vienna! We have met up with Tim Irving (a friend from home) and a korean girl we met on the train for an afternoon tour of downtown. Went out for a last sachertorte with Viennese coffee and later a kebab... Can't believe that tomorrow's is our last day! I picked up my bags from the hostel, except for the one with my laptop and important documents... Hopefully it is found before we leave!

Vienna III: Van Geest Edition

   I have been avoiding blogging all of this because every time I sit down at my computer I feel guilty for not working on my history paper... but that is in the final stages, so here is the week's news from Graz in summary.
   Monday afternoon I jumped on a train to go meet two very special girls who were passing through Austria on their way from Prague to Venice. Erika was my roommate for a year and a half, but studied abroad my last semester at Calvin. She and her sister Marijke are currently in the middle of a month backpacking around Europe. Wien Meidlung train station was the first time we had seen each other in two and a half years. There was much screaming and hugging :) (click Read More)

   We popped on the U-bahn and started our walking tour of downtown at the Dom, enjoyed some famous Austrian white wine at a café, and then jumped on a subway to Hostel Hütteldorf. We had been upgraded to a private room with en-suite bath. Sweet! Breakfast was included in our stay so we fueled up at the hostel the next morning, then trekked back to the U-bahn for a day packed full of sightseeing.

Neumarkt - Karlskirche - Schwarzenbergplatz - Belvedere - Kärntner Ring *Vienna coffee stop!* - Albertina (we highly recommend the Monet to Picasso exhibition) - Heldenplatz - Volksgarten *stop to smell the roses* - lunch at a park café - Parliament - Innenstadt - Prater...
I had to catch at train back to Graz to be back for a class Wednesday morning. Erika and Marijke decided to stay an extra night in Vienna and visited Schönbrunn and the Tiergarten, and then arrived in Graz in the evening. We had a gluten-free Steirisch/Deutsch dinner with Südsteirisch Welchriesling and did three loads of laundry before crashing falling asleep talking about friends and good times ... just like old times in our bunk beds :)

   A complete fluke, but Thursday was Ascension Day and Graz was even quieter than a Sunday. We hiked all around town and hit the most important spots: stadtpark, Schloßburg, Murinsel, Hauptplatz... we finally ended up having lunch at Glöcklbräu, where the Glockenspiel did it's 3:00 display while we were in the middle of a rather good lunch. Marijke discovered the joys of Käsespätzle, Krautsalat, Kürbiskernöl, and Radler. I realized that, with the potato pancakes for breakfast, Erika and Marijke had probably just had more german food in 24 hours than they normally eat in a year.
I still can't believe that they were actually here. The three days went by so fast that they feel like a huge blur. That is about the pace of life right now. I realized a little while ago that there were only 8 weeks left until I flew home. Last night Ruth, Petra and I went to see the King's Speech. Hanging out in Petra's flat with our Turkish friends (Mediha had cooked- lessons to come!), we realized there was only one month left in Graz. And when I leave, so will they. Coming back to Graz will never be the same.

Wiener Parents, ja!

   Mom and Dad were subjected to essentially the same Vienna tour that I did with my friends about a month ago, so you should recognize the locations of some of the pictures! We took the U-Bahn into downtown and did a walking tour around Stephansplatz and the Dom, down the main shopping streets (Dad was not as amused as Mom and I that "douglas" is the name of a makeup store chain), past the Oper (where Mom met a charming gentleman selling Mozart tickets), and through the Hofburg.

   In the afternoon we headed out to Schönbrunn and walked up to the Gloriette through the gardens. The weather started out clear and sunny, but by the time that we reached the huge summer palace it was a little cloudy, though not unpleasant! Mom and Dad went on a tour of the imperial apartments while I explored the Carriage House- Ana, it is definitely going on our list! 

   Over the next 24 hours we also made stops by the Hundertwasser houses, Belvedere palace and gardens, the Nachsmarkt, parliament, Stadpark, Manner chocolate store,  and espresso and tortes (including Sacher) at a Viennese Café/Konditorei... by the time that we finally got on the train to Graz, Mom and Dad were pretty exhausted!

  

Vienna 4: Schönbrunn to the Danube

   We were up early in the morning on Saturday and, after some granola and tea, took the tram to the Schönbrunn Palace. The summer home of the Hapsburg family was stunning, ornate, opulent, and steeped in history. The walls had the stories of the Emperors, Maria Theresa, Marie Antoinette, Sissi (Elizabeth von Bayern)... written into them by the royal family and a the best artists of the period. After touring the personal apartments we walked out to the gardens. Funny, it was a pretty popular place for Vienna's morning runners! Warm, just everything ready to bloom... We didn't walk up to the Gloriette, but next time! (tea, Mom?)

   The next stop: Belvedere, yet another Schloß/Palace, where we met the three boys who came up from Graz. Two baroque buildings filled with different galleries. The first section was medieval art. It was so interesting, walking through scenes of the crucifixion with my friends from Turkey. Mediha said that she would try to find me an english translation of the Muslim version of the story. Upstairs we found romantic, expressionist, modern... all sorts of pieces. The most famous is probably "the Kiss," by Gustav Klimt. His artwork did not speak to me as much as the portraits in the "interwar period" gallery. In the lower palace (a 5 minute walk away through the gardens) there was a modern exhibit focusing on the impact of industry and mechanism on art in the past 150 years. A little more abstract, but very cool! Even so, after 3 hours of sensory bombardment and processing Manet, Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh,  and a so many others, I was ready for a change of pace.

    I discovered that I really prefer travelling in smaller groups. Two people and you might have trouble making decisions. Seven people... ummm, well... there may have been some misunderstandings between Belvedere and the market where we finally ate dinner. I somehow ended up being the navigator, and thought that we were going back into the city center... they wanted to go to the Nachmarkt. I thought that we could walk past a cafe, they thought I had chosen a place to eat. Anyways, I may have come across a little bratty- but we made it to the market! aaaand they decided to go to the same place as the day before, where there was no vegetarian entrée. So I went a few doors down and had vegetarian couscous. Then we walked into town and got Gelato (tiramisu and biscotti!!) and then rode the U-bahn out to the Donauinsel to enjoy the last rays of sun setting over the Blue Danube. Then it was back to Graz for some much needed sleep and time off for my feet :)

That's it for the [first] Vienna adventure, folks! Thanks for following, I would love to hear from you!

Vienna 3: Prater to Sacher

    After joking and poking around the Prater amusement park, we hoofed it south to where a little blip on the map said that we could find a Hundertwasser house- and find it we did! We stumbled into the KunstHaus through the back Hof, which was a neat little garden! The architecture reminded me of Mom's mosaic. Colourful, playful, organic.
    From the KunstHaus we went in search of Sachertorte! The evening was warm and there were musicians every few blocks. Hearing Strauss and Mozart echoing through the streets from violinists was a little surreal, although I think that my favorite was an acoustic bass/hammered dulcimer/accordion trio.
   We did find the Sacher hotel and sat down to some absolutely incredible chocolate cake. Its story, according to the Sacher Hotel, goes like this:

 "The story of the world-famous Original Sacher-Torte began in 1832, when the all-mighty "coachman of Europe", Wenzel Clemens Prince Metternich, ordered the creation of a particularly palatable dessert for spoiled high-ranking guests, "take care that you do NOT make me look a fool tonight", he warned. That very day, however, the chef was unavailable! The order was reassigned to a 16-year-old apprentice in his second year, the quick-witted chap Franz Sacher...

One thing was certain; the speciality which was finally presented to the masters and mistresses was a resounding success: a soft and fluffy chocolate cake with the tasty apricot jam under the icing. Franz certainly never forgot the great success of his ingenious idea within this exclusive circle. He spent his apprenticeship working for the Count of Esterhazy, first in Bratislava and then in Budapest. When, as a fully qualified cook, he started to work on his own account, he offered his successful composition once again, this time on a large scale. He was successful and soon the "cake by this man named Sacher" was in great demand, and the victorious career of the probably most famous of all cakes began."

 ... and oh, was it ever good!


We wandered around the center of the city for a few more minutes before taking our tired feet back to the hostel. We were all asleep within moments of our heads hitting the pillows!

Vienna 2: St. Stephen's to the Prater

Outside of the cathedral we met up with one of Mediha's friends who is studying in Vienna. She led us to the Hofburg, winter palace of Habsburg emperors and home of the Spanish Riding School. My group wasn't exactly full of horse lovers and the horses were not performing, so we jumped over to the rest of the palace. We decided to buy a combined "Sissi" ticket for the Hofburg and Schönbrunn and started with a tour through the imperial silver collection. The pieces were mostly from the 19th century and completely extravagant. Upstairs we walked through an exhibit on the Empress Elizabeth of Bayern. She married the crown prince Franz Joseph I when she was 16 and a little bit of a spitfire who spent as much time away from court as possible, mostly  riding and travelling. Her exhibit continued into the private apartments, which were my favorite part. There were no photos allowed inside, but you can take a virtual tour on the Hofburg website!

   We were absolutely ravenous by the time we had walked down to the Naschmarkt and chosen a place for the girls to get some Wiener Schnitzle. After we re-charged we headed to the closest U-bahn station- where I  found my first Starbucks in months! I dragged the girls in so they could smell the Seattle aroma of strong black coffee- they brew it strong in Vienna! I sipped my tall black on the U-bahn on our way to the Prater just outside of the Innenstadt. The area is an amusement park built around a giant ferris wheel, which was built in the park near the turn of the century.  We didn't go up, but we had fun and ate Mozart Kugeln! 

   Esgi and Mediha both had their cameras out- pictures to follow when we swap! 

Wien 1

The past 48 hours have been a bit of a whirlwind, so I think that I will probably post the adventure in a few installments over the next couple days.

Friday morning I woke up at 05.40, threw the clothes that I had laid out in my backpack, jumped on my bike and flew through the mostly-empty streets of Graz to the Hauptbahnhof. Petra, Ezke, Mediha and I caught the 7.25 express and were in Vienna by 10.00. We headed to our lovely hostel and deposited our gear before catching the U-Bahn (subway) into the city center. First stop: the Dom (cathedral) at Stephensplatz... Yikes, it's late here! Well, I'll post my Picasa pictures in the Photo Album page, more to follow in the morning!

Next stop...

Hey all-
heading off in 8 hours for a weekend in Vienna with Petra and two of her roommates. Fun stuff!