A Deuce of a Post.

My "evening stroll through Vienna" turned into "an hour in the park." It began to drizzle ever so lightly as I headed northeast on Mariahilfer. I was also mentally drained, for no reason in particular, so I deviated 30 degrees onto a side street that took me to the playground neighboring the Aqua Terra Zoo. I was also itching to find a pull-up bar of sorts, so I figured a playground would have some options. It was rather busy for 6:30 P.M. I took a seat on a bench from which I could see a gang of young teenagers pulling some shenanigans on the only set of pull-up bars on the grounds. Slightly crushed, I decided to attempt to wait it out. So I scrolled through old text messages (they keep my ever so loosely connected to my loved ones) and made headway on my dear friend Jack Kerouac. An passed and the adolescents were still hovering like buzzards around the "big kid" swings and all the "cool" equiptment.

Wednesday evening I wanted to run. And I wanted to run badly. The thing about Vienna is that every day, at any given hour, I pass countless runners. And I become envious that they are exercising and I am not. It's an indirect way of putting myself down- it makes me want to work harder. So I set out in the evening heat, took the Wienzeile past the Oper to the Donaukanal. There I ran alongside the water, taking in the heavy activity: restaurants and bars were open, Spielplaetze (where one can go to play basketball or fussball on an outdoor court) were crowded, bikers flooded the trails as did walkers and runners and young couples. I discovered an alternative route to the Augarten via bridge. It excited me to see this nightlife- a new dimension to the personality of the city that I was not accustomed to. Westbahnhof is prone to rambunctious youngsters, beggars, window-shoppers-who-cannot-dress-fashinably, the Hostel, etc. I wished I was staying closer to the Kanal so I could visit more frequently. Sometimes I just do not have the drive to get up and go here, because I walk everywhere throughout the day.
Upon returning from my run, I cleaned up and hung out with John the rest of the evening. We were sitting outside drinking- coffee for me, beer with the side dish of a cigarette for him- when one of the handful of young German men, who had been around for a couple of days and knew my last name thanks to my Leb Cath soccer tee, joined us for a smoke. He had in his hands a Doenner Kebap, which are renound in Europe, apparently. They are delicious and I made sure to let the German, whose name was Tobi or Tommi, that his dinner appealed to my stomach. I was just making a statement because when I find I have something in common with a complete stranger, I become excited and make sure to let them know of our shared...whatever. His English was just about as polished as my German, but he went on to ask me if he could treat me to one of the heavenly, by digestively brutal, sandwiches. I told him no repeatedly, but he practically talked me into walking to the Kebap shop with him (lucky for those of us here at the Westend, this sits at the end of our small street.) Once we were in the shop, I had no chance of escaping the food, so I ordered it spicy and gratefully accepted the treat. Tobi/Tommi then invited me to join him and his German friends on a pilgrimage to a bar by the Donaukanal for cocktails. I was pretty amused at this point, but I refused his offer. It was 9:00 PM and I was not about to spend the weeknight at a bar. I wanted to do my homework and hang low. But this persistent Deutschlander even said I could keep the key to his BMW until he brought me back safely. Haha. And this BMW, which he parked directly in front of the Hostel, was a fancy little princess. Really, what a ridiculous offer.

I witnessed the officialy installation of Westend City Hostel's first Fussballtisch. Yes, Table Soccer has arrive. This is a big deal, primarily because at Westend there is little to do unless you have a laptop or a bunch of spare Euro.

[It's in the box.]

Thursdays at the Deutsch Akademie mean Freizeit; every Thursday a different social activity is organized and students from any level are invited to attend. I was not particularly interested in doing stuctured activities, but Rita (Hungary) asked if I was going to attend. Her friendly, outgoing approach was the deciding factor for me, so I signed up to visit the Alte Donau with 4 others. We met back at the Deutsch Akademie at 3 PM- myself, Rita, Helga (the Italian wine tester who lived in Michigan for 5 years), Fardin and the organizer woman whose name escapes me at the moment. Fearless Leader woman took us into a classroom and pulled out three different maps- one of Vienna in the Middle Ages, one from a few decades ago, and one of the maps they give to all the tourists. She explained- entirely in German- the history of the Donau river and its importance for the economy and culture of Vienna. I understood a decent amount of what she said, but of course my vocabulary is rather limited.

The 5 of us took the U-Bahn to Alte Donau.

This was by far the most amazing evening thus far in Vienna (those spent with Sarah and Malcolm rank in a different way.)An entirely different city- if you can even refer to this as "urban"- lies beyond the Donau Insel, which divides the ship-heavy Donau and the Neue Donau.

For mom- the divider on this highway was so vibrant it was almost blinding.

Looks like the beach, doesn't it?

This is where we swam. It was a marvelous place-almost like a vacation park. We arrived around 4:00 P.M. and it was packed with Austrians of every age. There were at least a dozen Kabinets where visitors had "lockers" to store their things. There was a large pool, volleyball and basketball courts, picnic areas, large chess games (as in the chess pieces were the size of toddlers), paddleboats, a dock for jumping, and endless Donau water. This place was also rather liberal...meaning clothes are not a requirement. So there were quite a few naked children AND adults running around. But it was also very serene in the late afternoon sun. The water was not cold, either. I played sand volleyball with Fardin and then our group headed to the Museums Quartier to meet Helga's brother, his girlfriend, and a group of their friends. I had never actually been in the Quartier, so I was shocked to find a mass of young people piled on top of oddly shaped yellow benches, a few outdoor cafes, various museums...

This is Helga's photo. It captures the liveliness of this place so well.
After this, around 9 PM, we all walked 5 minutes down the street to the Rathaus where there was going to be a candlelighting chain against racism. We arrived to the sound of beating drums and an anxious crowd, people of all ages. Most of the gatherers held lit torches, but we just walked with the undulating mass. It felt invigorating to be a part of this cultural pehnomenon- me, an American student studying the German language in Vienna. I chose thee best month to visit. I am sure of that.

After Friday's class, I decided that it was time for me to make a pilgrimage to the famed Belvedere. It was about a 20 minute walk from Opernring, and the heat that day was suffocating, but I pushed forward, longing to encounter something that would reignite my appreciation for the historical, untarnished side of Vienna. Sure enough, I found what I was looking for. And then some.

The magnificence of the vast, open-air plot of land occupied within the walls of Belvedere is probably the first think one notices.

View down toward lower Belvedere.

Stark!

Endearing row of houses beyond the walls.

Hello, heavenly clouds.

The dome is not part of Belvedere. I was just in love with the look of the backside of the buildings.

I could not and still cannot get over how dramatic the sky was on Friday. It was absolutely perfect for photographing this masterpiece. I did not visit any of the art exhibits while I was there because I was unsure of whether I would find them interesting. And then I went to the gifts show and stumbled upon endless prints of Klimt's "The Kiss" and many others. I was in such awe of the artwork that I knew I would be coming back for the exhibits- I knew it within the first 30 seconds of entering the shop.

It began to drizzle as I made my way back to Karlsplatz. I stopped by Billa, the freshest grocery store in Vienna, for some Marillen (apricots) and a Thunfisch und Ei Salat (Tuna and Egg.) That's when it began to pour. But I didn't mind it. Because I had plans for the evening.Helga invited the same group out on Friday night to visit a popular Irish pub near Schottentur, about 15 minutes away by U-Bahn. I learned how to cheat the U-Bahn system. Here in Vienna, you do not need to put a card through a machine in order to board the metro system. You can just hop on and no one would know that you haven't paid for a pass. Once in a while, a ticket-stamper comes around, and if you're caught you become a heck of a lot poorer. Basically, I travelled across the city without having purchased a ticket.

Clockwise from the bottom: Helga's brother, Helga, Helga's ex-classmate's husband, the Spanish-speaking ex-classmate, Rita, "Alyson Hannigan" and Fardin.

After spending a good two hours around a table, followed by 30 minutes of dancing in the club below, Rita, Fardin, Helga's bro and I went to an underground club near Stephansplatz. There was a DJ, a live bongo player and saxophone player. It was packed with young adults and some awkward, older men in suits. The smoke factor was not bad, and the water was cold and free. We took over one corner of the room and danced until 4 in the morning. Talk about crazy- we had not realized so much time had gone by. We decided to hang around by the Donaukanal until the U-Bahn and trams began to run again. We ended up listening to a man play cuban music on his guitar until the sun came up. The waters were so serenene in the calm, breathing morning winds. Fardin bought 3 slices of pizza around 6 AM- yes, Kebap, pizza, etc. is ready to be served at the crack of dawn- and then we headed off in our respective directions. I napped for an hour back at the hostel, rose for the free daily breakfast and slept until 4:30 in the afternoon.

Saturday was spent with John. We hung around the empty hostel while rain dampened the cheer of Vienna. I played table soccer with him as well as Jacob and Miki, workers at the hostel.

And then I chose, yet again, to refrain from sleeping during sensible hours. Instead, I talked to Robbin for 3 hours via Skype chat. Much needed, truly appreciated. Heart-to-hearts with her always lift my spirits.

Needless to say that I slept through breakfast this morning, rising only at noon after the cleaning ladies came scuffling and banging and making racket in my room. I dressed and left to meet Rita around 2 to study for tomorrow's Deutsch exam. We took the U-Bahn to Donau Insel, the strip of land separating the Alte and Neue Donau. Neither of us had eaten, so we went to a cute restaurant near the water. This place was beachy, with a straw-roofed hut housing the kitchen and dampened sand serving as the floor of the outdoor eating area. We both ordered pasta dishes, and I had a Melange, as usual. She told me all about Hungaryher studies at the university there and her multi-lingual experiences (Hungarian, English, Japanese, Deutsch!)

Then we sat by the calm waters to review our German. We were there for a good 3 hours. I had never thought I would get along with this beauty. She is so down to earth, and I learned today how similar we really are: she grew up Roman Catholic, we both hold similar perspectives about the meaning of life and what we want to do with our time and energy, we are both into sports and outdoor activities, etc. The list could go on. It was windy and chilly, and both of us were wearing summer clothing, so we went for hot drinks near Stephansdom (giving in to Starbucks, seeing as everything European closes extremely early on Sundays.)

I believe we are going to become good friends during the next 2 weeks.

This post is massive. Sorry for allowing my Viennese experiences to accumulate in such an unfavorable way.

Hope you are all getting a fair taste of the lovely Wien!