Vienna

This weekend, I traveled outside of Spain for the first time this semester. Suzy was meeting up with her sister in Vienna, so I presumptuously invited myself along and arranged to meet up with friends from Haverford who are studying in Budapest. All I know about Vienna I learned from Before Sunrise (if you have not seen this movie, stop reading this and go watch it right now). I really didn't have any expectations for this trip, which is my favorite way to travel.

We left on Thursday afternoon and got to Vienna around midnight. As soon as we got off the airport bus, two guys came up to us and asked us if we spoke English. We told them that we were American, and it turns out that one of them was not only from the US, he was from Dorchester! We could not help them find the bar they were looking for, but we wound up talking to them about Vienna and what they were doing there. They were both their on a scholarship for Jewish students, because Vienna is trying to rebuild their Jewish community (you can probably guess what happened to the original community). After telling Dorchester Man that I was from Andover, he told me "You're from a very different part of Boston than I am, but even you don't have to worry here, it's very safe." Speaking to someone who knew enough about my hometown to blatantly judge me was oddly comforting. We found the hostel and settled in for the night. This was my first hostel experience, and it was an overwhemingly postive one. The hostel was not only clean and cheap, but the staff was friendly and helpful and it was a very social environment. The hostel had its own bar with a happy hour and a room where people could socialize and play games. We met a lot of interesting people.

Our first priority in Vienna was breakfast. In Spain, breakfast is never more than a piece of toast with olive oil, so we were looking forward to being in a place that served something more substantial. We went to a funky place called "The Breakfast Club." I had french toast. It was like temporarily going home. Later that day, we went to the Schönbrunn Palace and walked through the gardens. No words (see pictures for a thousand of them). That night, I met up with my friends from Haverford and their friend from Budapest. It was so nice to see familiar faces. We went out to dinner (wienerschnitzel!) and caught the last 15 minutes of a show at a jazz club.

Grounds of the Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn Palace

The next day was our main sightseeing day. We walked miles trying to see all that Vienna has to offer. We saw various beautiful buildings, visited the Belvedere Palace, went to the Albertina Museum, ate our way through the open-air Naschmarkt, and had the classic Austrian cafe experience. We were unabashed tourists, taking way too many photos and asking people for directions in English. After dinner that night, we wound up playing a British drinking game with a bunch of other people in the hostel. I learned that certain words that are extremely offensive in America are commonly used in the UK, that the official animal of Scotland is the Unicorn, and what Welsh sounds like.

Belvedere Palace

The next morning, we all went out for a Turkish breakfast and then the Budapest crew left. Suzy and I walked along the Danube and went to the Vienna history museum. The museum only told Vienna history up until 1930, conveniently leaving out little events like the Holocaust. I want my money back. To make up for this, I spent the afternoon walking through the old Jewish quarter and visiting the Holocaust memorial. Later, Suzy and I saw Gone Girl at an English language theater. Going to the movies might seem like a waste of our precious time in Vienna, but we were desperate. We were dying to see the movie, and Spain is only showing the dubbed version, Perdida. I have no regrets.

We came back on Monday. When I got back to Sevilla, I felt like I was coming home. It's nice that this place has become so familiar.

Overall thoughts about Vienna: Vienna is probably the most beautiful city I have ever been to. I highly recommend that everyone go at least once. I plan to return one day when I have more money, because it is EXPENSIVE. There are so many things that I wanted to do but couldn't because they cost too much.  I spent way too much money. I think it was worth it, but I still feel guilty. In a lot of ways, going to Vienna felt like going home. It was the perfect autumn weather, and the leaves were starting to turn. They had all different kinds of food. There was a Forever 21. For the first time since coming to Europe, I looked like everyone else. In Spain, I can't really pass as Spanish and people often speak to me in English. In Vienna, people came up to me and asked me for directions and spoke to me in German. I never fully appreciated what a privilege it is to ethnically blend in. However, this weekend also made me appreciate Spain. I had never been in a place where I didn't speak the language at all. Trying to read a sign in German made me feel anxious and frustrated, and I missed Spain, where I could mostly understand the language. I also missed Spain's low prices (the economic crisis comes in handy sometimes). But overall, it was a welcome break from Spain and I think it made me see Seville with new eyes.