Busy Busy Weeks

The last few days have been jam-packed with things to do, places to see and people to meet; I have hardly had time to catch up on my blog.

Tuesday June 14^th

I have been missing Horn since the moment we left but we have been up to so many great things here so I’ve been keeping too busy to dwell on it. This morning we visited the Violin Maker, which was honestly the most spiritual and touching experiences thus far. He played the violin for us, an original piece, and I was moved instantly. It was beautiful and truly a piece of art. We had a few hours for lunch so Adam and I had lunch at the Australian Café near the MAK Museum. It was a great place with delicious and affordable food and they spoke English, which made ordering a lot easier. Then the group met up at the MAK Museum to sketch, learn, etc. We were there for a while and afterward Anna, Will, Kevin and I decided to go to Neubagasse to buys some much needed pens and get dinner before the scheduled concert that night. We ended up going to a restaurant called Vapiano’s, which was superb. I got a personal pizza, which is twice the size of my face, and devoured it, twas epic.

By the time we got back to the apartment, Anna and I had all about 5 mins to change into our dresses and run out the door in order to make it to the Carmina Burano concert in time. The concert was AMAZING. There is no other word to describe it. The main theme song was O’Fortuna and there were about 500 people on stage, singing and playing instruments. The music was so beautiful and it was the perfect way to end the day; truly magical. After the show, some of the crew went out to celebrate at the KIX Café, which was fun and very entertaining. Overall, a great day!!!

So I have been extremely busy the past few days and have not been able to journal/blog every night as I have done so before. I am just going to briefly write about what we did overall in the past few days in bullet-like form.

June 15^th

The day started off with an hour long ride to visit a Lutheran Church designed by Coop Himmelblau’s Wolf Prix. The Church was a masterpiece and beautifully built. We spent several hours taking pictures, sketching and discovering the space. We had lunch a local restaurant; I shared a soup and salad with Matt and then headed back to Vienna. We had dinner (happy noodles) by the Danube with some of the crew and then headed off to the Institute of Fine Arts for a Wolf Prix Lecture which was very inspirational and amazing to hear. Then we headed of to Zenoni and Zenoni for some ice cream and saw the Vienna Fashion Night Show at 10. Pretty amazing day.

June 16^th

Met up at the Museum Quartier and looked through the bookstore and gift shop.

Visited the Beethoven house museum—listened to the 7^th sympony among others.

Visited an industrial design store called Walking Chair, and they actually had a chair that walked on voice command. REALLY COOL VISIT.

Lunch with Anna, Adam and Matt at the Pizza Bizi (best pizza thus far and cheap too).

Visited the Coop Himmelblau architecture studio, which was very interesting and different from the other studios we have seen thus far, a lot more corporate but still very creative.

Dinner (hot dog) on the run to our apartment in order to make it to the next event on time. Left the apartment within 5 mins to head to the Ballet, which was absolutely beautiful and breath-taking; an amazing performance.

Hung out with some of the crew at the open public space in Museum Quartier.

Great Day!

June 17^th

Visited an architecture company called EEOS, which by far had the most detailed presentation. Very dedicated group of people and a really interesting visit.

Quick lunch from Anker (Ciabatti Mozzarella Sandwich) on my way to the bus to vist the Loiseum Wine Museum, which was absolutely not what I expected it to be. There were several haunted rooms, banquet room where if you tickle a baby toy’s foot the laughter would generate electricity creating light, a room where your shadows could pop bubbles on screen and a wine tasting.

Bus ride to Grafenegg for a classical concert; the best cello performance I have every seen. We picnicked on the grass and watched the show from the top of the hill; it was beautiful.

An hour long ride back to Vienna.

June18th

A very chill day, walked around most of the morning. Saumbrau for lunch (garlic soup and pasta).

Window shopped at Neaubagasse where Anna and I ran into Will, Kathy and Kevin.

Dinner from a hot dog stand, quick one on my way back to the apartment to get ready for the Umbau concert.

AMAZING duet by two Russians (pianist and violinist). Absolutely beautiful performance; we got our booklets signed and some bought cd’s.

Went out to celebrate with the group as a whole, got separated and at the end of the day Anna, Matt, Adam and I had a fun late night together and a long walk back home in heels and in the rain.

June 19^th

Fathers day! Happy Father’s Day daddy!

We met up with our host family at their country side farm house early in the morning. It was a 45 min train ride St.Polten.

We visited several beautiful monasteries, saw Manfred (our host dad) work a tractor on the farm. Played with their horses and sheep.

We visited ruins, churches, torture chambers, old castles.

Our host family treated us to lunch (chicken snitzels) and dinner (wine tasting and a platter of meat with bread).

Tea at the farmhouse while trying to find Beethoven the kitty (he really didn’t want to go back to Vienna).

Failed to find kitty so we headed back to Vienna, a super fast drive home (our host mother is a crazy speedy driver).

Stopped by McDonalds for a late night snack and internet.

June 20^th

Early morning.

Pichlar and Trabhaus architecture firm visit, some very cool stuff.

Another architecture firm visit called GausRaub; they were a huge contrast to the earlier visit, a lot more laid back and loads of fun.

Lunch with Anna, Matt, Adam and I at a restaurant Tate recommended.

Dinner dessert at Café Diglas with Anna, where I smeared raspberry juice all over my shoes.

Visit to a light installation performance at St. Stephan, very very cool.

Great Day!!

June 21^st

Tough morning; my phone malfunctioned and our alarm didn’t go off so we missed the train to visit the sunlight house designed by Hein Troy. Anna and I were very upset but there was nothing we could do.

We had lunch and coffee at Café Klein…delicious!

Then Tate had me lead the group up to the top of St. Stephans; by far the most terrifying thing I have ever had to do.

Deregistration with the City of Vienna, so sad not to be a resident anymore.

Lazed around with Anna at Café Prince, which has the only decent ice coffee in the entire city of Vienna.

Anna, Adam and I stopped by the Lia Wolf bookstore and the MQ bookstore for another look.

Anna and I had our second dinner with our host family; had chicken nuggets with cranberry jam,  potatoes and peach dumplings (delicious).

Met up with some of the group at the Museum Quartier to enjoy one of our last few nights in Vienna.

June 22^nd

Visited Michler and Traxler Industrial Design studio; loved every aspect of the visit. They were super cool and talented.

Visited the Westlicht Polaroid exhibit designed by Gregor. Really great stuff.

Bus ride to visit the Regners winehouse for wine tasting and buffet. An amazing night with amazing people and amazing food.

Bus ride back and Simon (our Viennese friend) invited us to a house party. Very swanky scene, got to see an amazing view of Vienna from the roof of the apartment. Interesting night but great day! Only a day left till I’m back; I am going to miss this place.

Horn. Horn?

I haven’t had a chance to write for some time because of our trip to Horn these past few days. So I am going to summarize this amazing trip in one post..here it goes.

Wednesday June 8^th, the day before the trip, we had our usual routine. We had class in the morning at the institute, where we talked a bit about the Succession and had a brief history lesson before heading over to the succession building to see the Beethoven murals by Klimt. They were absolutely breath taking, gorgeous murals. His depiction of the human body is truly unique and his color choices brilliant. I bought a few postcards and hopefully will be sending them out soon, so keep a look out for them. I had a kebab for a quick lunch but ended up getting caught in the middle of an unexpected torrential downpour and was soaked to the bone for the rest of the day. Tate and Alexandra took us to see the train location for our trip to Horn the next morning. Then we stopped by the Shakespeare and Company bookstore and I bought a Haruki Murakami book to read for the remainder of the trip. Afterward, we visited the much-anticipated Ring King, who lived up to all the hype. He had some beautiful creations and some funny ones. One in particular was a 14,000 euro gold monkey that latched onto your finger. It was a fun visit, very different from the previous ones but still very eye-opening. After leaving the Ring King’s studio, some of us headed to a café called Prince Coffee Lounge, where we soon discovered the largest cup of ice coffee you could probably get in all of Austria (slightly smaller than a Venti cup size in the States). I tried the carrot cake along with my coffee and it hit the spot. The entire space was really cute and reminded me a lot of a Korean Drama called Coffee Prince (I wondered if they are related in some way). We lazed around in the café until around dinner time and then Will, Kathy, Anna, Kevin, Adam, Angerica and I headed to Akakiko for some sushi. We had a really good time at dinner, but the packing for the Horn trip was not fun at all. I had way too much stuff I was trying to cram into a small bag, but alas after some major organization I was able to make it work.

The next morning, we got up bright and early to catch our train ride to Horn. We met up with the rest of the group at the station; I spent most of the train ride reading my Murakami book and after about an hour and a half we were in Horn. Our hotel room was really cozy; I shared a room with Anna and it took no time at all for us to fall in love with our fluffy beds. We had lunch at a Pizza place (I got a Hawaiian pizza, which could easily feed three people, and devoured every last bit) and then we were on the bikes. Within an hour, we were all strapped in to our bikes and followed Tate outside of Horn. I am so glad I invested in the padded bike shorts! The bike trail we took was about 10-15 miles; we rode for most of the day. The weather was beautiful, and the ride surprisingly relaxing minus the hills. I struggled up most of the hills… I was definitely not prepared for this bike ride at all but we all made it back to the hotel together. It was a glorious ride followed by celebrations at a restaurant called Flo, where I practically had a beast feast before hitting the sack. The hotel provided us with complimentary breakfasts every morning, which was amazing compared to what we get back in Vienna with out host families. We woke up bright and early the next morning; had a massive breakfast and once again we were on the bikes with no time to spare. We biked about 12-15 miles again to a castle ruins. It was a great ride, we got back super exhausted but decided we would have to see this pool that we had heard so much about from the previous Vienna groups. Very few us did decide to go, but it was definitely worth it. The pool, or rather the “plake” as we soon started calling it, was massive; three times the regular pool size you see in the States. There was a slide, water hammocks, logs, under-water light poles and numerous diving planks. We spent several hours in the water enjoying ourselves then we headed back to dinner. We went an Italian/Greek restaurant called Giovanni’s. I ordered Spaghetti Carbanera and loved it.

The next couple of days are all blurred together. We biked yet again for most of the day, had a picnic at a really nice park and saw the town parade for the military men. The next day the group split into two groups; some went to bike 60 miles to the Czech border and some decided to join Alexandra on a mysterious off-roading trail. I decided to go with Alexandra and what an adventure it turned out to be. At first we were all doing great, following bike trails but then we decided we wanted to see wild boars and decided to go up a trail not marked on the map. We found ourselves carrying our bikes up and down steep mountains, through thick trees and bushes. We got lost in the middle of the mountains for several hours where we tried to retrace our steps with no progress. We picnicked at the top of the mountain with a great view before trying to find our way back down, which we eventually did. We were all cut up and bruised up with major paranoia of ticks (horn is known for having a lot of ticks). Once we were back down and out of the mountains we biked for another two or three hours to some ruins past Rosenburg and back to the hotel. We visited the pool yet again but not for too long and then headed off to Giovanni’s yet again for dinner. They gave Alexandra and I desserts on the house and I enjoyed every bit of it.

The next day was super relaxing thanks to the rain. We originally had plans for yet another bike trip but because of the rain most of us stayed in. We watched Aladdin, read our books, walked around, picnicked out in the corridors of our hotel, had dinner and then headed to the soccer fields to laze around, play soccer and enjoy ourselves. We got in trouble for being loud as night time came around so we all headed back to the hotel.

We got back to Vienna this morning around noon. My host family wasn’t home so Anna and had lunch at Hit Mi yet again and strolled around town for a bit. So far today has been super relaxed. I am currently in McDonalds using their wi-fi, but will head back soon to get dinner and get ready for a really busy week.

Miss you all!!!

Tuesday June 7th

We had some rest period this morning since we didn’t have to meet with the group until noon. Anna and I both slept in and took it easy, which was much needed. At noon we met up with the group at the Kunst Historiches Museum to see the Pieter Bruegel exhibit. We spent most of the time in the Bruegel room, but I was able to also see some Ruben, Carravagia, and Tantarino. We sketched almost the entire time we spent at the museum. There is so much to see, and we are lucky to have student passes, which allows us to come back anytime; I will have to stop by again soon to see the other exhibits as well. At 3, we all headed out to Windelin Pressl’s studio. Pressl is an architect and a conceptual artist. He was absolutely adorable and extremely humble. His stuff was definitely interesting and intriguing; he creates art to invite conversation. There were some great opportunities for photography, sketches and chances to get to know Pressl’s thought process better. It was an inspirational talk, as everything thus far has been. Everyday I leave these artist’s studios and work space with a newfound motivation to create.

Since most of us had skipped lunch, Anna, Adam, Kathy, Kevin, Katie, Will and I decided we would get late lunch and coffee at another Gregor space, Kunstale Café. I ordered a Viennese hamburger, which was delicious and a side of fried potatoes. Some of us had plans to go to an optional architecture lecture later that day, so we all headed out to the Institute of Fine Arts. The speaker was Hani Rashid, a renowned architect who is best known for his architecture work in Seoul, Korea and his use of unusual skin for the exterior of his work. He talked for an hour about some of his work but mostly his philosophy; the presentation overall was very optimistic and up beat which was great to hear. After the lecture, Alexandra ran into a professor there who got his graduate degree in architecture from UPenn. He took us around the institute and gave us a tour of the studio space and talked to us about the masters programs they offer. I was surprised to hear that the graduate program tuition was only a $1000; I might start considering this as a future alternative to paying around $45,000 a year for a US graduate program. It was great insight to the architecture program and we were lucky to run into him. He invited us back to see the final project works sometime in the next two weeks and I am really looking forward to it.

When we arrived back at the apartment, we found that our host parents had some guests over. So we decided we would go get a late night snack at McDonalds. Earlier Will had told us about Brie Snitzen, which are basically small wedges of deep fried brie cheese that is served with cranberry sauce. We decided we would give it a try. Anna absolutely loved them, but after three wedges it just got to be too much for me. We had a long conversation about Rashid and again about being artists (this is starting to be a routine) and then headed back to the apartment for a good nights rest.

The last few days

Friday June 3rd:

At 9:15 today we met up to head to one of the places I have most been looking forward to, Typejockeys. Typejockeys is a graphic design firm that is run by three people my age, its crazy to think but they are a huge deal now. I have been so excited to see them the entire time I’ve been here in Vienna. When we arrived at their office, Michael (one of the three founders) talked to us about the their award-winning fonts. Anna (the only girl in firm) sold some of their merchandise to the group and we walked around for several hours looking through their stacks of books and designs. It was eye opening to talk to them and truly inspirational, I only hope one day to run my own firm without the pressures of success and starting your own business wearing me out. I came out of this experience with hope for the future and great ideas for future projects. Afterward we grabbed a quick lunch; I got a hot dog (bratwurst as they would say here). Then we headed out to see yet another artist, Cristov Kateref, who works primarily with tape to create massive installations for sets and on location events. We were invited to his apartment, which is also his studio. His work is absolutely genius; he starts with a simple idea and works with it until he is able to create a true piece of art. I was most impressed with a dance performance he helped with; he strategically installed large poles onto the set and gave each dancer a roll of tape and asked them to trace their own movements with the tape while dancing through and around the poles; the result was absolutely stunning. We left his house around 3:30 to get a head start on getting ready for the Opera that night. We were all really excited, especially since most of us have never seen an actual live opera performance. On our way back to our apartment, Anna and I stopped by the Spar (the grocery store) and I attempted to eat healthy for once and bought fruits. We spent some time getting ready; I finally got the chance to pull out my glamorous dress, heels and jewellery, which was a good change from the regular comfy clothing I’ve worn for most of the trip. We were running a bit late but what made things even worse was on our way to the Ubon station, two stops into the Street Car I realized I had left my ticket back at the apartment in a rush to get to the opera house on time. I told Anna I would meet her at the Opera House and ran back on foot, in heels and a dress, back to the apartment. The play was scheduled to start at 7:30 and by the time I arrived at the Ubon station it was already 7:10; they normally do not allow late costumers into the opera viewing rooms until intermission but I had my heart set on seeing this performance. I got off from the Ubon at Karlzplatz and sprinted to the Opera House, I walked through the doors at 7:34! 4 minutes late! But I was able to sweet-talk my way into letting me go in. I had only missed a few minutes of it. The performance was breath taking and unforgettable and I am grateful I got the chance to see most of it. The music and the talents were beautiful; all the sounds pulsated off the walls making it seem as if the performers had a microphone but it was purely their own voices. The play was called Ragoletto (and Italian love tragedy) and it was truly exceptional. After the Opera, the group all decided we would go out for a celebration, since it was Kate’s birthday. Along the way the group split up and I ended up going to a Gregor space called Ronconsoda with Anna, Kathy, Will and Katie. Soon Adam, Kim, Kat, Matthew and Matt found us and joined us for some Viennese nachos (literally Doritos and ketchup). We had some fun talking and then some of decided we would check out the techno place next door. It was definitely an interesting scene but some really good music. We all danced and had fun for a bit, but I decided I would head back early since I was still in heels and my feet where killing me. When I arrived I found Anna, who had left after Ronconsoda, had forgotten her keys to the apartment. She had been waiting for me and was glad I came back as early as I did. We laughed over this for a bit since I had forgotten my keys the day earlier and had to wait for Anna to get back. It was definitely an eventful day but a great one, now off to bed!

Saturday June 4^th:

I had a super late start to the day today. Anna and I had originally planned to join Kathy, Kate and Will for stroll around the flea market, but when the alarm rang this morning I decided I needed to recoup and take it easy. So around noon, I got up, took a long shower, did laundry, got ready and went to McDonalds (which are super fancy here) for lunch and to mooch off their WiFi. I spent A few hours catching up on emails, blogs and a few other things. Then I headed back to the apartment and Anna and I made plans to go work for a bit and get more Internet access before heading to dinner. We spent most of the day on our computers. The weather was unbearably hot this morning but as we headed out to Stephanplatz for dinner, the weather took a turn for the worst. We decided we try some Asian Cuisine and popped into a restaurant called Akiko. The food was delicious, I ordered Spicy Miso Chicken Soup and Anna and I shared Saigon chicken rolls. We then walked for a bit after the downpour stopped, and as usual we headed for Zanoni&Zanoni for the sixth time this trip. We had a really funny encounter with one of the waiters working there, which made our night and we walked back to our apartment laughing the entire way. Tomorrow Anna and I have plans for a day trip to Salzburg, can’t wait!

Sunday June 5th:

As expected, we woke up early this morning to get ready for our trip to Salzburg. Anna and I decided we should take advantage of this free weekend opportunity to sightsee outside of Vienna. We headed down to the train station, bought our tickets, got some breakfast, boarded the train and in two hours time we were in Salzburg by 11 am. It was truly beautiful. We walked through downtown for a bit, strolled through the Mirabell Gardens, listened to some people playing instrumentals and took a lot of pictures. We then decided we wanted to hike up to the top of the Hohensalzburg Fortress; it took as about an hour to get the top. The view was breath taking; you could see everything. It was well worth hiking to the top and sweating like a dog. By the time we made our way back down, we were ready for some dinner. Anna had looked up some good places to visit in Salzburg and one of them was a large beer-garden called St. Augustine that seats a 1000 people. We bought some delicious food (I bought ½ roasted chicken, bread and potato fries) and sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We talked, ate, drank and relaxed for a bit and then headed back to Vienna. The train ride back was relaxing and everything we needed to soak up the experiences of our day. We got back to Vienna around 9 and took it easy for the rest of the night. We sketched, edited our photos and prepared for yet another busy day tomorrow.

Monday June 6th:

This morning started out pretty rocky. Although Anna and I thought we were well prepared for the day and arrived at the Institut well ahead of the scheduled time, we soon realized we had not gotten the memo about meeting up at St. Stephans instead. I called Professor Tate when no one showed up and found out they were already at Next Enterprise, an architecture studio, for our first visit. I got directions and we were able to make to the studio in no time. The Next Enterprise was definitely and interesting visit; they ran through a presentation of their past work and talked in depth about their work aesthetic. It was good to see people who were making economical and environmentally conscious decisions. We all spent some time looking through their studio and taking pictures of several models. We had a short break for lunch, so Anna and I went to Café Strock and got a sandwich and the largest coffee you can find in Vienna (about the size of a grande coffee you would get at a Starbucks in the states). The group all met up back at the Institut for some class time; we looked through our schedules for the remainder of this trip. There is so much planned and crammed into the three weeks we have left, but we are very excited for it. This Thursday, the group is headed to Horn where we will bike to the Czech border, swim, relax and breathe in the natural environment. After class, we all went down to the Belvedere, where we saw drawings and paintings by Egon Schiele. This trip by far has been my favorite; I am absolutely stunned and overwhelmingly influenced by Schiele’s work. I came out of the exhibit feeling an urge to create, which is all I could ever ask for. I also bought some beautiful postcards and Adam and I both got Schiele tattoos on our wrists (temporary of course). We all had a chance to look through the Belvedere gardens, which was really nice. I spent an hour or so strolling through the garden, taking pictures and enjoying the sun and the chill wind; it was perfect. Anna and I walked back to our apartment soon after. We originally had plans for dinner with our Viennese family at 6, but that fell through. So around 7, we went to our favorite spot for Asian cuisine, Hit Mi. I ordered a tempura bento and enjoyed every bite of it. We left with smiles on our faces and our bellies full. We walked for several hours because it was the perfect weather for walking. We talked about Schiele and about ourselves. It was a great walk and talk. Tomorrow we will have some downtime in the morning, which will be great for sleeping in and recouping.

More Updates

Tuesday May 31^st:

Today was all about Gregor. Gregor is an architect, designer, and a true artist. Tate says he knows about everything ranging from art to wine and even techno parties. First we visited a flower shop called Blumenkraft, which Gregor designed the interior. It was absolutely beautiful. His concept he later explained was to contrast the delicate and elegancy of the flowers with strong, heavy structures to make it appear as though they are floating. The design was very modern with the flowers in geometric and organic glass structures sitting atop concrete slabs. Gregor also designed the furniture and arranged the interior as well. We sketched and took photos for quite some time; it was a truly exceptional flower shop. Afterward Tate took us to see a few other structures by another architect where we sat and sketched for a bit as well before heading to another Gregor space; a wine shop. When we arrived, we found that the space was significantly smaller than Blumenkraft but the design was just as spectacular. The ceiling was a perfect shade of blue and arched out, the wine selection was on display on a shelf that seemed to never end and it curved through the shop creating the illusion that the space was much bigger than it actually was. He later explained he was inspired by bookshelves, as you would see them in the library. We were all served to a wine tasting and a few minutes into it, Gregor came to visit. Gregor certainly has presence; as soon as he walked through the door he demands attention. We talked to Gregor for a very long time; he talked about art, his inspirations, techno parties he has thrown for thousands of people, modelling and philosophy. He was a total teddy bear despite the intimidation you feel when you first meet him. Midway through talking to Gregor, two Viennese students our age also joined us; they had met the group from last year and wanted to come introduce themselves to us. Ella and Simon are absolutely amazing; Ella is studying to become a translator and Simon is studying Computer Engineering and both speak impeccable English. We stayed with the group for several hours but Tate and his wife, Khaki, had plans for some of us to come to their apartment for dinner, so me, Anna, Kate, Katie, Kathy, William and Emily headed out. The rest of the group stayed back and later told us that Gregor took them out to Georgian restaurant. At Tate’s house we were treated to a cozy dinner (chicken and spinach and rice) and talked about Vienna for quite some time and got to know everyone a bit better. It was a really nice gesture and I feel very fortunate to have come on this trip with this particular group of people and an amazing professor. It was a great ending to an amazing day.

Wed June1st:

Today we took a day trip to visit an artist, Nikolaus Eberstaller, we would be spending most of the day with. Tate had seen a wine label he had designed (it was a completely white label with only one cursive text on it) and got in contact with him to visit. Simon and Ella joined us for the trip; we all met by the Institute and took an hour long bus ride to visit him at his house, where he showed us some of his work and talked in depth about the process, the struggles and being an artist in general. Then he took us to his studio space and showed us some works in progress and his past work and talked about what inspired him to create these artworks. Afterward we visited the Vineyard of the man Nikolaus designed the wine label for. The structure was extremely modern and truly a piece of art. We were given a tour of the main building and then taken out to the terrace for a wine tasting. Nikolaus then took us to Mole West, a restaurant he helped design. It was a beautiful space right near the lake. There were gorgeous yellow sofa and couches facing the lake with beautiful white drapery over top for protection. We got some drinks, I got a delicious chocolate milkshake and then we were off to yet another restaurant for another wine tasting and dinner. At the restaurant we were taken to a wine cellar where we had a brief white wine tasting then we sat outside on the porch and had a buffet style dinner (mostly cheese, spread, salami, etc). Then we headed back to Stephanplatz to get some ice cream from Zenoni&Zenoni for the fourth night in a row. Tonight was Hedfig’s architect party and some of made plans to go. Anna and I met up at the party with Simon, Emily, Katie, Morgan, Lauren, Matt and Mathew. The party was huge, about six floors high; it was crowded with young architects and artists. We saw Hedfig and he was glad to see we came. He talked to some of us for a while, while the rest of us chatted with each other, found a floor with some music and danced and had some fun. Throughout the party there were baskets full of bread being given out to guests. Since tomorrow is a holiday and in Vienna almost everything is shut down during holidays I guess this was a generous offer. Anna ended up taking a huge loaf of bread, which had to weigh at least 5 pounds. We all munched on it on our Uban ride back to our apartments. Overall it was a fun night, but I am super exhausted; time for some rest.

Thurs June 2nd:

Anna and I woke up really early to today so we could get some work done for Tate. Every year Umbau prints a book about the Vienna trip and they are looking for cover designs for this year’s trip, so Tate asked all the designers to meet him at the Korbe Café at 11 to show him a few options. After the architecture party last night, Anna and I both were too tired to get some stuff ready so instead we decided we would leave early for the café, get breakfast there and work on some designs. We were able get a lot of work done and Tate seemed really happy. We got a quick lunch at Anker, stopped by the apartment to drop off our laptops and then met the group at the Mobel Museum Wien (Furniture Museum). We saw Marcel Breuer’s exhibit and some beautiful architectural and smart designs. It was nice to see so many different ideas and historically significant designs. We spent a few hours looking through all the exhibits; chairs stacked on chairs stacked on chairs stacked on chairs, it was beautiful.

I was feeling a bit off today, completely exhausted and extremely tired from waking up so early, so I decided I would head back to the apartment for a bit. A few hours later, the group met up again to head to Shonbrun to watch the Vienna Phillharmonic play a concert. We got there a few hours early to reserve spots. Some of the girls brought blankets and we all brought snacks and drinks to share. We played some games and chatted for a while before the concert started. The music was absolutely amazing to listen to, and beautiful to watch. The first half was simply the stage lighting but then ballerina’s began dancing and toward the end fireworks shot up to the sky. It was a surreal night that I will never forget.

Update

I haven’t had the chance to update this blog for a while since I haven’t had Internet for the past week but I kept a journal every night with the intentions of publishing them once I find the time. SO here it is starting from last Friday.

Friday May 27:

At 9:45 this morning, we met up with rest of the group at the Institut and Professor Tate took us all to the Albertine museum. There we walked through the Der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider) exhibit. The Blue Riders were an art movement that attempted an artistic renewal of 20^th century; it included major artists such as Kandinsky, Pete Klee, Franz Marc, Heinrich Compendonk, Alfred Kubin, and Alexej Jawlensky. What made the Blue Riders so unique was the fact that they did not share a common artistic style; instead they portrayed a variety of strength and artistic talent. The exhibition was absolutely beautiful and inspirational. We spent a few hours at the gallery and sketched as much as we could; I was most impressed by the line work and etchings of Lyonel Feininger and Alfred Kubin. Anna and I also stopped by Mel Ramos exhibition (he does photo-realistic paintings of pin up girl cigarette ads as well as parodies of infamous past works) and the Albertine’s permanent collection (they had original sketches from Michelangelo, paintings from Egon Schiele and the palace apartments). We had an hour for lunch before heading back to class so we stopped by a street vendor on our way and bought sandwiches; the woman that worked there didn’t know any English so it was a good opportunity to practice my German. In class, Tate gave an inspirational speech reading excerpts from Bacho (a former Japanese NEET who decided one day that he would leave the comforts of his apartment and actually experience the world) and showed us various photographic masterpieces by an artist we will actually visit sometime next week.

After class, we met up with Alexandra and her boyfriend, and walked down to Hein Troy’s studio. Troy is an architect and an extremely talented one at that. He is young but has so much experience and knowledge under his belt. He talked to us for a few hours and showed us some commissions he has worked on in the past. In particular, I really enjoyed a house he designed and built for these twins. They wanted the same exact flat design but Troy thought it would be more fun to design two extremely different spaces and make them each so beautiful the twins would have no complaints. He also showed us his awesome sketchbook collection. He is very particular about the type of sketchbook he uses and when he found out the company that manufactures that particular sketchbook would stop producing them, he ordered everything he could find online. He is very committed to his work and extremely creative which was great for us to see; it was truly motivational. We are planned to see one of the houses he designed later in the trip; I am so excited!

We made plans with the group for later that night for the festivals that would be going on in central Vienna. We decided we would meet on the stairs facing St. Stephans. When Anna and I headed out, however, it started raining pretty hard. As we stepped out from the Ubon (the Vienna Metro Station), we were hit by a downpour of cold freezing rain, and as we sprinted to the church, lightening and thunder created chaos as everyone started running for shelter. As we were running we ran into the boys, Matthew, Adam and Matt, from our group; after a quick look at the lighting show at St. Stephans we decided we would wait by the steps for the rest of the group. We were joined by William and Kat but no one else showed, so we headed out to see what else was going on. After getting lost in the rain a few times we found that the food and beer fest were shut down due to rain. We were told all churches would be holding a ceremony of sorts so we headed out to see if there was anything interesting worth seeing. We stopped by a few churches, listened to the choir but decided in the end that we would go to an outdoor concert by K&D (a famous techno band that was coming back together after 16 years to sing in Vienna).  The beats were pretty fun and the crowd seemed to be enjoying the performances so we joined in. We all danced and joked around, met a few people including two guys from Canada who were here for a biophysics conference. Then we all decided a midnight snack would be a great idea before heading back to St. Stephans to hear the chanting of the Monks. Matt and I split a hot dog, which I hadn’t tried yet; it was delicious (a bread roll that has a one sided whole where they pour the condiments into first an then slide the hot dog through). We ended up having to stuff our faces while taking shelter in a telephone booth. We walked back trough the rain to St. Stephans and watched the Monks, which was truly beautiful to see. Overall the night was a success and I had a ton of fun, even though I was soaked to the bone, covered in mud, and completely exhausted. The festivities are planned to last the entire weekend so tomorrow awaits yet another adventure through the streets of Vienna.

Saturday May 28:

Today was a gloomy, rainy day and I woke up feeling exhausted from the day before. Looking out my bedroom window it was clear it was just going to be one of those lazy, take-it-easy sort of day. The morning was off to a pretty slow start. Our Viennese mother and father go to the countryside every weekend so they said their good-byes and took off, taking kitty (my official new name for Beethoven) and the internet with them. Anna and I spent a few hours writing, sketching, looking through photographs and designing. We both took turns getting laundry done and hanging them up to dry. Then when the rain had stopped for a bit, we decided we would go get some lunch and grocery shop. The sandwich shop we went to was closed and it seemed most places closed early on weekends so we bought a few stuff from the grocery and headed back to the apartment. After a long late lunch we lazed around for a bit before getting ready to see the festivities.

By the entrance to the palace there was some beautiful music being played, it sounded like a mix of Turkish, Arabic and Middle Eastern inspired sounds. On the other side (the same place we listened to K&D last night) a German pop star was performing. She wasn’t my cup of tea but there was a huge crowd out to see her. We checked out some of the tents with food, wine and beer and headed to the beer fest. At the beer fest we ran into some girls from our group and later that night into Tate, Khaki (his wife), Alexandra and her boyfriend. We hung out with Tate for most of the night until they started shutting down the fest and we were asked to leave. We had a massive midnight snack and then called it a night. Overall it was a fun night.

Sunday May 29:

Today started out pretty lazy. I stayed in most of the morning, sketching, editing photos and cleaning around. Around midday Anna and I went out to the Prater, which is fast becoming our favourite place to go. We packed some lunch and snacks, grabbed our camera and sketchbooks and a picnic blanket we found in our room and headed out. It was absolutely beautiful out, the sun was blazing but the cold wind balanced it out. We set up our picnic on the grass facing some lovely flowers, we just spent most of the day talking about life, being an artist and being in Vienna. We took a nice long nap out under the sun and then took ton of pictures and sketched along the way. On Sunday’s in Vienna you can hardly find any places that are open; all grocery stores are closed and most restaurants are too. Unfortunately for us, we had just run out of most of our easy to make food and when we tried to work the stove we failed miserably. So we went out for a walk and decided if we run into any restaurants that were open we would just take our chances with us. To our luck, the only restaurant we found to be open was Hit MI, the sushi place our Viennese family took us out to the first few days we were here. I tried the fried noodles this time and it was delicious. We walked around for a few hours and discovered some beautiful spots near our apartment. Right across the sushi restaurant there is an old theatre that was burnt down; we got a closer look and decided we would definitely come back for a photo shoot soon. We also discovered a bike trail along the Danube canal and will make plans to revisit with our bikes. We got back to our apartment and took it easy the rest of the night knowing we would have a busy day tomorrow.

Monday May 30:

When we woke up this morning, our Viennese family was still not back, which meant kitty had not sneaked into our room, like he does every morning, and we didn’t find him curled up next to Anna and of course no internet. We had a late start to the day, mainly because I felt completely exhausted for no good reason. We met up with the group a few minutes after we had been scheduled to meet and found out today would be all about sketching. We walked to the National Museum of Fine Art, I almost got ran over by a group of bikers, and spent an hour or so sketching the exterior of the building and the map of the surrounding area. Afterward, we walked to the Succession Building to sketch some more. After a quick lunch on the lawn facing the beautiful structure of the Secession building, we met up back at the institute for class (we studied Egon Schiele’s work) and then headed off to Alles Wird Gud (means All is good in german), an architecture company. It was a really interesting visit; we met Herfig, who is the founder of the company. He talked to us about his past and recent projects and the obstacles of being a college drop-out attempting to start a business. After the talk, Professor Tate invited Herfig to dinner and drinks, where we all sat together and got to know the group better. Herfig invited us to an architect-party later in the week, so some of us will possibly join him. Some of the group decided we would go to the Prater Amusement Park to eat and hang out for a bit. After a few hours enjoying the lit up lights in the park, we decided we would try the highest ride in the park. It didn’t look fast or scary in the least, but the height was a huge intimidation. I have always been uncomfortable with heights but in the moment I decided I would get on. Anna and I were sitting side by side, and as soon the ride began and we were off the ground, I started screaming. The height was awful and the pitch-blackness of the night was extremely intimidating. I screamed my guts out the entire ride… despite the others never letting me live this down it was well worth it. As a pat in the back for attempting the ride and mostly keeping our cool, we decided we would get ice cream for the fifth night in a row at Zanoni & Zanoni (I tried the Boscotti gelato this time and thus far it is my favourite). When Anna and I arrived back the apartment, we found our host mother was back; she would be leaving the next day again but for the time being all is good.

Let the Sketches Begin

 We had a late start to the day today, which was nice because when my alarm rang this morning at 8 I was completely passed out. After getting ready and some breakfast we got to the Institut at 10. From there we walked about 10 minutes to the registrar and become official residents of Vienna. Along the way we saw some beautiful architectural masterpieces, and stopped by to observe two installation pieces. One was by Rachel Whiteread for the Jewish museum to commemorate the burning of the books. It was a rectangular structure, white marble, carved to look like endless rows of books. The other was more discrete, off the bat it looked like a ground ventilation system, but we were told at night, yellow smoke is emitted from the ventilation creating an illuminating and hazy environment. I would love to see that. After registration, we had two hours to ourselves to get lunch and sight see. A group of us decided we would walk around for a bit and then head down to Nachmarkt to see what we are in the mood for lunch. We found out that there are several festivals planned for the weekend, including a beer fest and several musical concerts, so there were a ton of preparations with tents and construction in every corner. We passed by the Succession building and the ornamentation of the building was absolutely jaw dropping. Atop the building is a large gold circle shape structure with ornate cut outs; the gold is repeated throughout the design of the building and there are beautiful patterns along the two sides of the entrance. There are also three human heads with serpent hair etched out from stone on the main door entrance. Along the way, a bird dropped a nice present on my shoulder; pleasant. We also passed through the Hofburg palace, which was beautiful and peaceful. The interior was definitely a sight to see. After sitting down for some lunch (we decided on kebab’s again) we met up with the rest of the group at the Institut. There we learned we would be working on final project of sorts with the collective group to document our experience here in Vienna. We also practiced very basic German. Professor Tate was off picking up Khaki, his wife, from the airport, so Alexandra (the UPenn Professor) took us out to our first location visit. We went to Café Das Moebel, a modern furniture store where costumers are encouraged to use, try, lift, play with all the furniture. There were some beautiful spaces and extremely intelligent design. I had left my camera back at our apartment so I decided I could get some good sketches instead and stop by later in the trip to get some pictures. There were two things that I absolutely loved at the shop. One was a small hanging chair in a corner facing one of the rooms on the bottom floor. I found sitting on it backward, that there was a small hideaway with brick walls closed off by the bottom of the stairs. It was eerie and out of place, but it made me feel something so I sat there and sketched for a bit. The second was an outdoor space created for smokers but what made it so unique was how packed in the outdoor space actually was. It was a small space corned in every direction, creating almost an interior room, but if you look up you can clearly see its three buildings meeting at a point, and the trapped space in the middle was created into this claustrophobic comfort zone (if that makes any sense). The buildings were built 4 stories high so looking up you could see the sky but it seemed miles away and so distant. I got some great sketches and plenty new ideas from sitting out there for some time.

Afterward, my Viennese family decided to show us around town and recommend cheap and quality restaurants. We all ended up getting sushi at Hit Mi restaurant and some shprietz before heading back. Then Anna and I took a stroll around town for a few hours, we saw some really sweet design shops and a really artsy puppet show house; I'll have to remember to take pictures in the morning. The weather was perfect but it seemed most places had already closed, so we decided to call it a night. Tomorrow we are going to try the noodle stand for lunch and make plans with the group for a weekend trip. Until Then!!