Salzburg - Our final stop before returning to Vienna was both the setting for the Sound of Music, and the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Truly a musical city, we saw a pretty interesting string quartet (pictured) among other things. The city resembled a smaller Vienna, and once again there was requisite castle on a hill.
Finally, after nearly two weeks on the road, complete with traffic accidents, people getting stuck in elevators, random fireworks displays, good beer, giant castles, bad beer, tipsy parents, Roman foundations, kindly motorbike police, wind turbines, great beer, waffles, seashells, tourist information centers, softboiled eggs, and visions of my own gory deaths on the autobahn. It was a great trip, but I think I prefer trains.
A roadtrip in retrospect
What I did on my Summer Vacation
Recently, my parents came out to visit. While they we here I took some time off work and we all headed out on an adventure. Over the next few posts I'll share of some of the details of the places we visited. There's a lot to cover, so bear with me if I have trouble commiting it to words. Also check out my photo albums as I've added quite a few from the trip...
Getting off the train to Vienna sure brought back memories. It had been just over six months since my first visit, and although the city was familiar, the difference between the Summer and Winter was quite striking. In fact the weather was the exact opposite, sweltering heat, versus bitter cold. Anyway, it was nice to see the city with so much life in the streets and parks.
We stayed in Vienna for two nights and then rented a car with the intentions of driving up through Germany, into Belgium, then returning in two weeks time. Pretty much the only hiccup in the plan was getting hit by a truck ten minutes after renting the car. We were very lucky that the damage was minor enough that we could continue (or rather start) our journey.
And so it began...
Walking in the footsteps of Beethoven and Strauss
One thing that I miss about living in Boulder, Colorado was being able to hike up the foothills, and being rewarded by the fantastic views from high above the city. So when I heard of a great hill to the north of Vienna, I set my mind to making it to the top. Near the foot of the hill lied a street by the name of Beethovengang. It turns out that this district, Heiligenstadt, was where Ludwig van Beethoven wrote a famous letter to his brothers expressing his grief concerning his growing deafness. Being a fan of the composer, and of synchronicity, I turned my iPod to the Ninth Symphony, and started down the road, a small pathway really, which went along side a small creek. At the end I found a small bust of the man himself, and signs pointing to Beethovenhaus, which I'm guessing was some sort of Beethoven house. Cough.. actually I believe it was the home of the brothers he wrote that letter to. It would probably have been interesting to check out, but as the signs pointed in the opposite direction of the giant freaking hill, I opted to stick to my plan and head upwards. Large vineyards surrounded the path I took, and when I wandering out into one I found remnants of the huge fireworks display from New Years a few days before. There were casings and launchers all over the place. Eventually I made it up to the top, it was quite cloudy and I wasn't able to see much of the city, but it was still a fantastic experience. At the summit was small village, a few houses, a restaurant, a chapel, and a forest covered in snow. It wasn't snowing down in the city, but up here at a slightly higher altitude there was quite a bit of accumulation. It was definitely a change of scenery from being in the city. And so, after hiking around the area for a while, it was time to meet up with my friends for a trip to an historical Viennese coffeehouse
Now, the Viennese are serious about their coffee, and I mean serious. Not only do they have their own terminology for everything (names like Melange, instead of your basic latte, cappuccino, etc.) but the coffeehouse there are quite fancy. Not exactly the same experience as your average trip to a Starbucks. Graying middle-aged waiters in tuxedos fly by as the Metro dressed patrons sip their coffee for hours. Once you've fought off the hordes to get a table, you can stay there all day without interruption. I've included a photo of one of the places we visited. As you can see from the blurs, the aisles are face-paced, while the customers take their time to savor the scrumptious cakes, and heavily blended roasts.
This coffeehouse, Café Bräunerhof, was visited daily by the famous Viennese author Thomas Berhard, renowned for his books about how much he hated Vienna and Viennese coffeehouses. Go figure. We also visited another coffeehouse, where we sampled a piece of the famous Sachertorte, a delicious cake unlike any I had tried before. Covered in a chocolate shell, each bite was so rich I could feel my arteries crying in agony. Delicious, delicious agony. This second coffeehouse was also famous (everything seemed to be famous for something historical in Vienna) for being the local of the debut of the violinist/composer Johann Strauss. He's probably most well-known for his piece, The Blue Danube, which always reminds me of an old Looney Tune. A young duckling resembling Daffy tries to swim along with some more refined looking waterfowl and is shunned, but after saving them from some predator later on he is accepted into the flock. The fact that this is what immediately came to mind goes to show you, I'm so cultured that it hurts.
Thus ends my tales of Vienna, for now. As I said in the last entry, hopefully I'll go back again someday soon.
One won't be left in want of beauty here
After having spent nearly four months in a Slavic speaking country one would think it would be a relief to enter back into a Germanic one, but instead I just became the most awkward American in Europe. When a Viennese server comes up to you speaking German, they respond poorly if you answer them in broken Czech, a language spoken by no more than 10 million people worldwide. Unfortunately the impulse to speak whatever foreign language I'm used to was just too great, and basically every transaction I made in Austria left me gritting my teeth with embarrassment.
Aside from that, however, I much enjoyed my few days down in the beautiful city of Vienna. Although it was quite cold, the architecture was astounding, the coffee sublime, and the people, well, they were a welcome break from the Czechs. As much as I like most of my students here in Prague, most Czechs can be very reserved and come off as unfriendly. And although some would say the same about the older Austrians, I didn't see much evidence of this during my trip. They actually make noise! Also despite my issues speaking German, it was interesting to see things in a different language. I am now able to make a few stupid, grammatically backwards pun like "the Wiener Bürgermeister works in the Rathaus." (The Viennese Mayor works in city hall.)
The city center is very interesting, there are many Gothic and Neoclassical buildings (among other styles) to be seen in quite a small area, and detailed sculpture (like the one shown above) could be found on every corner. In addition for the holiday season there were many street markets set-up selling roasted chestnuts, a highly alcholic juice available in many flavors, and lots and lots of kitsch. Although I wasn't keen to it, the sausages looked very tasty as well, ingeniously placed in a hollowed baguette that acts as a condiment catcher, making it the perfect street food for those inclined towards feasting upon the delicious flesh of animals. Sadly, I had enough willpower to resist, and maintain my vegeterianism.
On that note, I had an excellent meal at a small Greek tavern that was cheap, filling, and quite scrumpous. Plus, the man working there was trilingual, speaking English, Greek, and German. It was strange to think of someone in America speaking three languages and running a small eatery. He could be working for the state department. Lucky him.
Behold above, one of the main busy streets in city center. In writing this entry I had a lot of trouble picking merely two pictures to show, so I recommend you visit my photo album to get a larger glimpse at the beauty of the city. But no number of photos can truly capture the feel of Vienna. I hope to return in the warmer months, when I can be less of a sightseer and perhaps soak up the culture a bit more. If that's possible for a bloke like me. Check back again soon for more, one entry is not nearly enough for such a subject.