Starting off Slow

The Weekend in Vienna began later than I had planned. I blame continued jet lag for the fact that I slept in oh so much more than I wanted. I meant to get up fairly early to go to the Erntedankfest, which is something like Thanksgiving, but I think it revolves more around the Harvest rather than having a set date. I'll have to look this up some time. At any rate, they have been setting up booths in Heldenplatz by the Hofburg and it looked like it would be really cool. I wanted to get there and check it out early, but... well, I didn't get there until the afternoon.

My goal was to find my way there without a map, and to some extent I managed. It did take me quite some time, though. I find myself completely and hopelessly lost in this city. I just can't get a handle on the layout. I carry a map with wherever I go, and I consult it often. I did my best this time around to just try to follow the landmarks I could remember and make it there, and amazingly it worked!

There were a lot of interesting things to see. I wasn't sure what everything was, so I decided to just walk around a bit. There were a lot of little stands set up handing out fliers for programs I had little hope of understanding. One area seemed to be mainly dedicated to preservation efforts around Austria for wildlife and woodlands and such. In the middle were a lot of stands selling pretzels, other forms of bread, loads of beer, bratwurst, and pretty much what you might expect to see sold at a festival in Austria. There was a stage with a large band on it, and even a rock climbing wall and a mechanical bull. I ended up running into a few other people from my group who had been there a while already. As my curiosity had largely been satisfied by some brief browsing, I decided to tag along with them to the next adventure. On the way out I was accosted by a kangaroo and either a garbage can or an outhouse, I never could figure out which. I was also given a free sample of Bio-Milch. Cold whole milk. Glorious. I actually hadn't had cold milk since arriving, as my Hausfrau puts my breakfast out the night before. I'm not sure why I haven't died yet from drinking milk that sits out all night, except that it's really essentially water.

We ended up at the Stadtpark. It's beautiful and packed with statues. We found statues of Mozart, Bruckner, Schindler, and a million others that we both had and hadn't heard of. There are large grassy areas and in the middle is a lake with ducks. It actually reminded me quite a bit of a park in Sacramento... except that has a golf course and not really any statues. I think the clock was possibly one of the coolest features of landscaping that I have ever seen. It was just a large clock made entirely from plants and a huge mechanism. As parks go, this one was fairly ornate. Normally a park is something I expect to have a lot of grass, trees, flowers, and maybe a lake or some other special feature. I wasn't expecting statues, obelisks, large landscaped clocks, and carefully trimmed hedges. It also seemed like the grass wasn't actually to be walked on, but more just admired. I did see people on it, but not as much as I might have expected. I'm beginning to feel that this city will take some getting used to.

After the Stadtpark we went and checked out the Votivskirche. I had of course seen the outside several times, as my apartment is very nearby. This was my first time inside. I much prefer this interior to that of Stephansdom. It is much simpler, yet still beautifully decorated. It's a fairly typical gothic interior, with the gothic ribcage arched ceiling. The stained glass here was either still intact or had been restored as typical stained glass, which gave the interior absolutely beautiful lighting as the sunshine filtered through blue and red. Heavenly.

The rest of the group told me that they had been invited by one of the locals to come to a pub and watch a European Football match (a.k.a. Soccer). I decided to go. It was a good choice. The pub was filled with smoke, of course, and the fans are fairly passionate so there was a lot of noise. Still, I had a fantastic time. I tried an Almdudler, which is a local soda. It was alright, but overall lack-luster. I just felt odd being there without ordering something, and it was a good a time as any to try something new.

Naturally, I became ridiculously lost in trying to get home. I think I was actually really close to my apartment, I just went really the wrong way. I am really hoping to get the hang of this soon. It's just not going very well at all. The problem is that every building here looks so similar. You would think that it wouldn't be quite so hard, but there really seems to be an overwhelming amount of baroque architecture here. Even the shops repeat. Billa, BIPA, Palmers, Tabak, and Spar are everywhere, as are Zanoni und Zanoni Eissalons. There are landmarks visible from a distance, such as the mountains in Provo. Normally statues might even be helpful, but here they're all over the place. I even attempted to photograph every statue I saw in a single day, but decided it wasn't really worth the effort after 20 or so in less than half an hour. There are even multiples of subject matter! I know of at least two statues dedicated to Mozart. The street I live on has three different names depending on where you are along it. I'm sure I'll get it in time, I'm just so sick of wandering around alone in the dark staring at my map trying to figure out where I am and how to get back to my apartment. Oh well. I finally made it home safely.

My first Sunday didn't go very well. I was terribly late to church, after an unfortunate incident of me being lost (again) and making way more U-Bahn transfers than should ever be made by one person in one day. Ever. I got there in time to realize that 1.) the schedule here is different somehow. 2.) I don't understand German. 3.) I am still tired. Still, it was good to at least have found the building. I also felt ridiculous when I realized that the tram that stops right outside the church building is the same tram that stops right by my apartment.

We had dinner at the Holmes'. Yes, I did get lost on the way there. I got off one U-Bahn stop too late, but I figured it out... after walking down the street in both directions and not finding what I was looking for. Oh well. Dinner was delicious. Afterward we had a bit of a fireside. It was a pleasant Sunday evening. Bonus: I didn't get lost on my way home this time! I am so proud.