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!!