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.