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!!

Hello From Vienna

Tuesday May 24th

It’s official; I am finally settled in Vienna. It has been a very busy couple of days and I have just found some free time to update my blog. There were a few bumps along the way but I made it to Vienna safe and sound. The plane ride over was pretty harmless, in fact the flight to London Heathrow Airport was actually quite accommodating and I discovered that quite of few us going to Vienna were on the same flight together and I coincidentally saw a good friend who was flying to India on the same plane as well (which was a pleasant surprise). I rode Virgin Airlines and was one of the lucky few who got seated with plenty of room next to me. I was in the middle aisle with two empty seats to the right of where I was seated. It was my first time riding with Virgin Airlines, but I really enjoyed it. The movie selections were pretty amazing and I finally got a chance to watch “The Fighter,” (my friends have been harping on me for months to go see it) but most of the time I read “Bicycle Diaries.” The food was surprisingly really good, it consisted of vegetarian pasta salad, cranberry walnut green salad, bread and butter, dessert and a cheese Danish for breakfast. They also provided each one of us with a goodie bag with all sorts of much needed necessities, like a toothbrush and paste, a pair of socks, and a sleeping eye patch. The flight connection from Heathrow to Austrian Air was simple and easy, but my backpack’s zipper tore along the way and I ended up having to stuff two bags worth of things into one and ditching the backpack before I went through the checkpoint. Austrian Air was pretty packed and I got seated next to the most amazingly cute and sweet old man I have ever seen, he made my day. When we landed, I met up with professor Tate and rest of the group, on our way to our house I got my first glimpse of Vienna. It was everything I expected and more.

My Viennese family (Manfred and Barbara) is absolutely amazing; they are so kind hearted, extremely sweet and accommodating. They are a sweet couple and made us feel extremely at home; they also have an adorable cat, Beethoven. The apartment is located on Untere Wiessgerberstrasse and it feels really cozy. Our room is simple but really nice, I am sharing a room with a good friend of mine, Anna. My bed is nudged up to the corner of room, with a drawer and closet and a shared seating area; it was extremely easy to get used to the idea of living here for the next five weeks. The apartment is full of beautiful art and Manfred’s clock collection (it’s a sight to see). After a quick nap, we woke up to the smell of Barbara’s home cooking. She cooked pasta and salmon to welcome us, it was delicious. Barbara and Manfred had plans to go to a classical music concert that night, but unexpectantly Manfred decided he would drive us around town instead. He drove us around most of Vienna’s districts, the architecture so superb and the culture so rich. Every building and every corner has its own character; everywhere you look there are renaissance inspired statues and figures, its absolutely breathtaking. Manfred took us up to the foothills of the Alps, the drive up was so peaceful, green and the weather was absolute perfection. From the hilltops we saw the most amazing view of the entire city, we stayed just in time to see the sun set. The Danube River, which runs right by where we are staying, looked a shade of perfect grey blue. It was every artist’s dream. He then took us to an amusement park (Prater), short walking distance from our apartment. There we went to a beer garden called Schweisserhaus (pronounced shh-why-zer-hous). He insisted we try “real” Budweiser (bood-why-zer) imported from Czech, it was much better than I had expected. We had an amazing time talking to Manfred, he is a professor at the Institut teaching ecology. He is fluent in English, which made things extremely accommodating for us. He then took us to try Shprietz, Austrian white wine mixed with seltzer water; I really enjoyed it. It was a perfect night out and I feel extremely fortunate to be here.

Wednesday May 25^th

I woke up at 7 this morning to get ready to meet up with the group at the Institut. After a shower and a quick breakfast, my roommate and I headed out to catch the streetcar; it was definitely an experience. You have to press a button near the doors when the streetcar arrives in order to enter and press another button at door to exit. They also work off an honor code, so anyone can use the streetcar and no one asks to see a ticket. However we are told, occasionally ticket checkers will board the streetcar, dressed as civilians and will ask to see tickets. If you don’t have one, you are fined 85 euros on the spot and purposefully humiliated in front of everyone, and don’t even dare try running away because they have a designated chaser (and a fast one from what they tell us). We arrived at the Institut at 9, and Professor Tate directed us across town to Boesner, the art shop. We were there till 11:30 picking out sketchbooks for the rest of the trip. The selection was incomparable; I looked for several hours and bought three sketchbooks. One small red Bindewerk leather-bound journal with textured, off-white paper; a medium sized yellow Intermediate Semikolon fabric bound journal with toned paper; and a large Zeichenbuch blue and grey journal with white interior. I can’t wait to sketch tonight. Afterward, we walked to the St. Stephan Paltz and bought lunch from a kebab stand. The twirling donar kebab stand reminded me of Turkey and as we stood eating, I reminisced about the seaside lunch walks we would take with our parents when we lived there. With our tummies full and happy, we headed back to the Institut where we registered with the Institut and had a short orientation. They told us a bit more about our families, the city rules such as how to behave at a restaurant, what to order (surprisingly beer is cheaper than water and they encouraged us to get beer with our food instead), how to go about using transportation, etc. Anna and I decided we would get some coffee and dessert before heading back to the apartment. We stopped by a café near by, ordered Melange coffee and a traditional Viennese Cake, Sacher Tort. It was a cute little café and time spent well.

For dinner, Anna and I decided we would stop by the grocery store (Spar in German) to pick up a few things to picnic at the Prater (the park located in the SportsKlub Strasse). We bought delicious pistachio bread, gouda cheese, salami slices, snack mix, and gummy delights. We sat on the grass at the Prater and chatted away as we soaked in the beautiful scenery and the amazing weather. We walked through the amusement park, took a few pictures and headed on back to the apartment. It was a really nice night out, but I am absolutely exhausted. I think I will sketch for a few hours and then hit the sack. Tomorrow we finish registration and learn basic German. Gute Nacht!!

Last day

I had my last good-bye today, a pretty tough one. I think its starting to hit me now but it will be good for me. I finished buying all the essentials plus a few extra, a German-English pocket dictionary, a hard cover laptop case and a ton of downloads of classical music. I finished packing with the much needed help from my sisters (would be lost without you two) but I am positive I am over-packing, yet it can't be helped. Tomorrow I will be in Vienna, wish me luck.

I will try to find an internet cafe sometime during the day tomorrow so I can assure you all is well. Until then!

Vienna Video Montage

Professor Tate just sent us a link to a video about the Vienna trip. It looks pretty spectacular! Check it out if you are interested.

http://www.jamesloizou.com/umbau09.html

I am considerably more excited and even more anxious after a day spent saying good-bye to two of my closest friends. More good-bye's tomorrow and then I will officially tackle packing!

It hasn't hit me just yet...

So a few months ago, I got an e-mail from a professor who would be leading the 11th studio summer trip to Vienna. He had seen some of my work and thought I would gain extremely from this trip. As an artist there is nothing more than wanting to constantly improve and gain, so I was sold. I attended the very next interest meeting, heard what the students from the past trips had to say, talked to my parents about going and in 2 days time I had sent in my deposit money and had signed my name down, I was going.

In 4 days I will be on a plane, all by myself, not knowing exactly what to expect once I arrive in London. Me, the person who gets lost the minute she steps foot outside of town, even with crystal clear directions and a map in her hand. How exactly am I going to find my way around London and make it in time for my flight to Vienna? I have absolutely no clue and yet I don't feel the least bit anxious... probably cuz it hasn't hit me just yet that I will be living the next 5 weeks of my life in Vienna. I am excited to say the least and feel extremely fortunate to get such an opportunity to experience, live and breath all the architecture, craft and design Vienna has to offer.

I already have high expectations of this trip. Having looked through the information packets a dozen times, phrases such as "Vienna studio will change your life...to live in Vienna is a gift of a lifetime" and "what you get out of Vienna is a direct reflection of your mental, physical, and spiritual state. Have them all in humming order. Then you can take full advantage and transform," have a tendency to repeat endlessly in your head. So I am starting this blog to do exactly that, have everything in humming order so that I may take full advantage of this trip. Cheesy? Yes very much so, but here I am giving it a go.

I've already started packing, well you could say I've started, but really I haven't given it any thought. I keep packing and unpacking everything every time I have to find an outfit to go out in, so for now its on hold. There are still a ton of things  I need to go out and buy for the trip, a dress for the opera, comfortable pair of shoes, presents for my Viennese family, and a copy of Beethoven's 7th symphony. But instead of planning to go and actually purchase these essential items, I have just secured a lunch date to Honey pig tomorrow with one of my closest friends. All I can think of for now is how delicious its going to be devouring succulent Korean food...yum. The packing will just have to wait until all the good-bye's are said and done.



I can't wait to share this amazing trip with you guys. I hope this will be a great way to stay in touch with friends and family and let them know what exactly I've been up to! Thanks so much for the support. Until next time!