Vienna, a time capsule of elegance.

Vienna, the home of art and classical music.

I felt the need to truly enjoy and appreciate the legend of what Vienna represents. Classical music, palaces, art, museums, and cafes sum up this wonderfully eloquent place.

I wasn't certain what to expect from Vienna. I read a little about it from books and knew it was a hub for the creative, but what would be the highlight of my time here? Would it be the palaces, the museums, the cafes, or the people? I didn't even know what language they spoke there, I guess I should have done more reading.

Now that I've come and gone, Vienna surprised me in the best ways possible.

I knew it would be a beautiful city, I mean all the books said it would be; but aren't most European cities beautiful in their own charming way? I guess since I've been in Europe almost a month now, I was starting to think I had seen it all. Many of the cobble stone narrow streets, quaint houses on hills and beautiful rivers through the cities; were starting to look the same to me. I wasn't sure if I could get surprised anymore, but then again I still had two months to go. I just knew it was supposed to be nice, so I went there blindly as most tourists do.

I was surfing my third couch at this point, with a couple named Lena and Guggi. I couldn't remember too much from their profile, but I was certain they would be fine. I arrived late into Vienna, just past 11pm and all I had were an address and some directions. The first thing I did was to find a map. I've found that you're best friend as a foreigner is always the tourist office. I knew by that hour it would be closed, but I was hoping to find someone at the train information desk to ask for map. I was lucky.
I took the map and proceeded to follow the directions. "Take U6 and exit Wahringer Strabe," easy enough I thought. I hauled my heavy luggage onto the subway and found my way to U6. By now I was pretty familiar with the European subway system. For the most part, they more or less all work the same way, so I wasn't too worried. After exiting, I went to my map and tried to find Liechtenstein Strasse, no luck. I continued to look for another 20 mins before finally finding the tiny street on the upper right had corner. I wrote down the directions, again assuming it would be easy from there. Nope, too good to be true. I proceeded to wander around for the next hour, trying to find one street, Alserbach Strabe. The streets were extremely wide and didn't have crossing zones on every block, forcing me to cross several streets just to find out it was the wrong one. After a while I was not a happy camper and I was starting to feel helpless. I asked a few people walking around but no one could help me. Finally, I pulled myself together and just kept going. After two hours, I finally found it! Whew!

I was greeted by a very tall, skinny guy with a goofy smile - Guggi. "Hello! I'm glad you found it!" "Me too," I thought. He seemed really happy and excited to meet me. I walked in and was greeted by his other half, Lena - a laid back chick with a cool hair cut and a nose ring, like me! Both native Austrians, they welcomed me into their home and showed me to my "couch," which was actually a very nice, comfy guest room next to the balcony. I was more relieved than excited at that point, but once I got settled, the excitement became contagious. I joined them at the dining table to have a little getting-to-know time. We exchanged back stories about how we started with couchsurfing and our experience thus far. Both of us only had positive things to say of course. We continued to talk for another hour and I found out Austrians speak German, my second German-influenced country! I got a long history of Vienna and learned a lot about Austria and its former great dynasty. We kept going for another hour or so, then finally we called it a night. Sleep... that sounded amazing.

I had a good night's rest and woke up to the sound of light knocking at my door. Guggi and Lena were already up and about the have some breakfast. They invited me to join them out on the balcony. Breakfast was bread, cheese, coffee, tea and various meats on a platter; a typical Austrian breakfast? I forgot to ask.

They were telling me stories about Austrians and how their culture was like. They also shared with me the story of their crazy neighbor who yells at them when they're outside in the balcony being "too loud." Of course "too loud" for this lady was anything above a whisper; so Lena and Guggi just tried not to mind it. As we continued to talk, we got louder and sure enough, the crazy-neighbor-lady came out from the bushes and told us to keep it down. I couldn't help but laugh at this point because I was actually hoping to see her. This was our cue to end breakfast and start seeing Vienna.
My time in Vienna started and ended great, and I wish I could write pages and pages about how great my experience was; but frankly I just don't have the time to bring it all to life in these pages. So I will proceed to sum it all up as best I can in the following paragraphs.

Day 1

Lena, Guggi and I rode bikes into the city to try and make it to our 3rd Man Tour, which took you through the highlights of the 1950's movie that was shot in the underground sewers of Vienna. We got to wear helmets and go underground to see where all the fecal matter of the Viennese go on a daily basis. Now if any one has been down in a sewer, then I need not explain much, since I'm pretty sure the sight, smell, and sounds of a sewer are pretty much universal all over the world. But word of advice, don't wear sandals.

Afterward we went to the Museums Quarter - a massive hang out spot for Viennese youth. We went to the MQ cafe and had some coffee and an apple strudel. The average Viennese coffee time, runs about 1-2 hours long; and we stayed true to the tradition.

My last excursion of the day was at the Schönbrunn Palace.

I've seen quite a few palaces and castles by now, but this one is by far one of my favorites. The palace has over 1,000 rooms and has a massive garden that could fit a small city. It's elegance and beauty is remarkable and breathtaking when you sit and let it all soak in. Vienna is certainly the place for classical beauty and appreciation of art; and most of it can be summed up in the expression of this palace. The rooms each had themes and were dress accordingly. Outside there were several gardens with statues and another building overlooking the lake. The Viennese certainly had a knack for elegance.

Within the castle grounds is also a concert hall called the Schönbrunn Orangeire, where an orchestra performs classical music daily. After touring the massive palace grounds, I opted to see one of these fine shows, to get me in the mood for the classical vibe of Vienna. They played all Mozart music and had a few Opera performances with some dancing. A lively and classic show with an audience full of tourists. A great way to end day one.

Day 2

After listening to the classical music of Mozart the other night at the Orangerie, I knew I couldn't leave without having the true Viennese experience of a grand opera. I opted for standing room only for just 4 Euros, and since I knew I wouldn't understand any of it, I figured that was a good deal.
The opera was and wasn't quite what I expected. I felt the presence of a classic air around me but it lacked the capsule of time. At that moment when I was standing and watching my first opera, I wanted the exhilarating feeling the nobles and empresses once felt back in the early 1700's. I wondered what they felt as they watched such an emotional expression of art, but standing there in a crowd of tourists, knowing that they couldn't understand it like me, depressed me in a way. That elegance, that beauty fell on deaf ears of the modern man and woman. Even though I knew I was fully willing and able to appreciate all that this experience could give me, I would never be able to grasp the meaning of it all, nor would they.

I left the opera after intermission. My aching legs and feet along with the crowded, hot area, wasn't quite the experience I was going for. I wanted to stay until the end and even felt quite defeated leaving, but there was no use. The translation monitor was giving me headaches to look up and down over and over again, and I concluded that this was the best it was going to get.

Day 3

My last day in Vienna was a sad one. There was still so much to see, but as always there's never enough time.

I wanted to go to a museum finally, and decided on the Leopold in the Museum Quarter. Just my luck, it was closed. It was my own fault of course, if I had looked into it sooner I would have known and I could have planned accordingly, but oh well. Another day another dollar.

I settled on the Belevedere, which wasn't such a bad alternative. It housed the famous Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. I had seen this painting several times in my youth and was excited to finally see it in person, and thankfully it did not disappoint. I must say, this painting is amongst my favorites, but the greatness of it does not lie in its technique or even elegance, but in its message. The simplicity of a kiss and the pure energy it exudes from a true love, gives this painting its greatness. The gold plated etchings on the painting reflect off its surface and the intricacy and cohesive flow Klimt was able to execute, makes this painting one to last the ages. The Kiss was the highlight of my museum venture and I was determined to be content with that.

After wandering aimlessly around the city, I wandered over to Cafe Sacher, a novelty of the city. It bared its famous Sacher torte - a chocolate cake with two layers, separated by apricot jam and topped with whipped cream. I had to try it. It was sweet and somewhat filling, but after three bites, you may have had enough. It was definitely very good, but a bit too rich for my taste. However, any one and everyone visiting Vienna should try it, just to have its filling taste last in your mouth for a while.

At eight-thirty, I had to meet Lena and Guggi at the Schonbrunn Palace. There was a free classical concert being held on its massive garden and we were all set to attend. I had no clue it would be as crowded as it was and I was quite afraid I wouldn't find them. But, luck was again on my side and I found them at our meeting place in front of the subway station.

Lena and Guggi invited some friends and we all proceeded to the garden area, along with hundreds of other people. I had bought some wine for all of us to share, minus a wine opener of course, but I knew we would find a way. After settling down against the side gate, we sat and tried to listen to the music, but there were just too many people to hear anything. The best thing we could make out was the Star Wars theme playing. Apparently there was a special Star Wars tribute and it came complete with a dressed up Darth Vader.

We talked and listened and sat under the stars. It was relaxing and nice, just like a night with my friends back home. I wanted to share the wine, so I started on my mission to find a bottle opener. We eyed several people and tried to see if they were "candidates," but we mostly ran into duds. I didn't know the word for wine opener, so I used the universal language of hand gestures. I would bring the bottle with me and do the cork screw motions to ask. There was no use in hiding my lack of German knowledge, my image was already enough to make it apparent. Finally, after several fail attempts, I found a woman who had a Swiss army knife and was willing to help me. I came back with the opened bottle feeling triumphant and excited that I had completed the task with little help.
We drank the wine like merry folk from the Renaissance ages and formed a circle to play hacky sack. We each got a bit tipsy and I could tell the mood was lightening up. We joked about the people around us and they joked about how hard it was for them to speak English, even though it sounded fine to me. The venue was stunning and the joy in the air magical.

After the concert we waited for the hundreds of people to disperse, so we continued to play hacky sack in the mean time. Being a bit tipsy, I attempted to hit the ball with my foot and fell flat on my ass. My second clumsy fall in Europe. I'm already collecting a few battle scars to prove it. That might have been a cue for them because shortly after, we called it a night. We walked to the subway station and said our goodbyes.

Couch surfing experience no. 3 was once again awesome. The best time with the best people, showing me around and giving me a truthful look at the world through the eyes of two Austrians. Each "couch" I sleep on, gives me a better understanding of the world through other cultures. I would never get these experiences merely as a tourist staying with other tourists. I felt like an Austrian for three days and I'm so grateful to Lena and Guggi for showing me the way!

On to my next adventure in Munich!