Vienna, Austria Part II

I found while in Vienna I was always wearing my hoods, a heavy scarf and mittens. The region felt plunged in winter yet was so gorgeous. We continued to take the trams, subways and buses to our destinations.

The following day we explored the Imperial Palace. The palace is a bit outside the city and was once used as the main hunting palace for the Hapsburgs (the royal family that ruled Austria for over three hundred years) but today is the main palace and open to tourists. I think we were there and on the grounds for over five hours. A large Easter Market was taking place outside the Palace, and it was so, so central/Eastern European. Vendors with crafts and handmade toys came from Austria, Germany, Poland, Italy and Romania and the diversity of available goods and locally made foods was wide.

myself and Lydia.

 

 

After a pretzel lunch (I chose the pizzabretzel…) we walked around the grounds where we found beautiful views of the city.

The palace itself was wonderful. It was enormous and at one time housed roughly fifteen hundred people. I didn’t know too much about the Austrian Royal Family, and was struck again at the realization that the U.K. is one of the last remaining nations to have a sitting monarchy. As much as I may love and respect the Queen, I also fully understand and somewhat agree with those who argue that the U.K. has an unnecessary royal family as official matters of state and governance are dealt with by Parliament.

Austria's monarchy ended around the time of the First World War and all rulers descended from one family. I was surprised to hear France's Marie Antoinette and Mexico's Maximillian descended from the Habsburgs. The lives of many of the rulers were fascinating to me, one emperor reigned for 68 years and worked sixteen-hour days everyday to ensure the best Austria possible, while another's wife gave birth to sixteen children (in the eighteenth century) to provide the strongest ascension. From her eleven daughters, (one of which was Marie Antoinette) only one was allowed to marry for love while the other ten were married to various European monarchs to solidify political ties to Austria. The setting of the palace too, for modern history was fascinating. The enormous 'Great Gallery' which was a large ballroom with crystal mirrors, golden chandeliers, gold-plated and ruby encrusted walls overlooking the expansive gardens and bath house provided the setting for the historic meeting of Kennedy and Khruschev in 1961. Additionally, Mozart's first performance was for the Empress in the Imperial Palace. He was six years old. The paintings too, depicting Royal weddings, court life and celebration were enormous, taking decades to complete, and were showcased around the palace.

I took this photo for my friend Casey. We both loved the song 'Vienna' by Matt Costa. The song begins, 'Vienna can you hear me? Lazing in the afternoon. Cathedral bells are ringing, ringing, ringing...ringing in the sound...'

The Imperial Palace.

That evening, we attended the opera. We had packed simple dresses and appropriate shoes in bags that we brought with us that day as we toured the palace and around 5:30pm, lined up outside the opera house in the center of Vienna for the standing-room only tickets. After about an hour (in which I mostly read my book and moved along with the line) we bought each of our tickets for 3 euros a piece. We found a bathroom where we peeled off our jackets and layers of clothing. We had a bit of difficulty locating our section and were turned away at several coat checks where we tried to deposit our jackets. Later, after climbing six flights of stairs and Lydia and Kristin asking various opera workers, we had located our area. The three euros was a seriously good price, but we were at the back of the back of the back.

We had a bit more difficulty finding standing room, and when Lydia and Kristin found a nice area with scarves tied around the railings, we never thought the scarves might mean a reservation until an aging male usher physically grabbed us, pushed us out and yelled a few phrases in German at us. The area we did soon find though, was sufficient and the Viennese man we stood next to - who was around our age - spoke of working for the operas and taking advantage of the three euro tickets to attend the Viennese opera whenever possible. The opera was Aida and it was sung in Italian. We couldn’t see much of the stage, but the singing was beautiful and so, so impressive. I tired a bit and struggled standing throughout the three and a half hour opera, and found myself doing some serious leaning, but the surrounding and performance was gorgeous and so worth it. Once it ended, we were out on the chilly streets and into the subway station.

 

 

 

 

Vienna, Austria Part I

Hello again.

In Vienna, Lydia, Kristin and I stayed in a nice hostel right outside the city. We were able to take the bus to and from the hostel and took the subway and tram each day throughout the city. I often just followed Lydia and Kristin, feeling a bit dependent as I was unable to read the maps or understand the language, but they were wonderful guides. :)

When we first exited the subway our first morning in Vienna, we found ourselves in the center of the city. The height and beauty of our surroundings was shocking. A large cathedral cast a shadow over much of the historic area we were in and Mozart merchandise, tourist shops and varying forms of chocolate were everywhere. It was windy and very cold (somewhere in the mid-twenties) but we circled the exterior and interior of the large Cathedral and enjoyed walking among the baroque marble and gold statues.

Kristin, Lydia and myself.

There were also dozens of horse drawn (or is it horse-drawn?) carriages in the city center. We were initially approached several times by carriage drivers and opera ticket sellers who spoke in German. Lydia or Kristin often kindly refused, but anytime the sellers were at all in the vicinity and heard me say anything to Lydia or Kristin, they would immediately come back and ask again in seemingly perfect and accent-free English.

It was evident in both eastern Germany and Vienna that the European Union (EU) is crucially important to Germany and Austria. It wasn’t until six months into my stay in the UK that I realized the nation was apart of the EU. This might be due to the UK currently trying to remove itself from the organization. Something about being on the pound, being an island, having a monarchy (in addition to a Parliament) and just seeming incredibly western in comparison to central Europe seem to be the main reasons. The EU flag flew everywhere in Vienna and Eastern Germany. Often above the Austrian or German flag, and always on official state buildings, museums, and sometimes, hotels.

Later that day we took a tour of the opera house after trying the infamous ‘sachertorte’ at a café. The sachertorte is the official desert of Vienna, a chocolate cake slice often with a gold enamel on top. At the risk of sounding terrible, the sachertorte wasn’t too good. The three of us agreed it was just a simple, dry chocolate cake slice.

The opera house though, was gorgeous. We took a tour in English (which I was grateful for) and our tour group was  large and filled with tourists from all over the world.

Being backstage during the opera house tour and seeing the crew move and set up the props and scenery reminded me of my ballet days. The opera house is used for both ballets and operas and our tour guide shocked us all when she mentioned 800,000 costumes were available and stored at the opera house for performances.

Later that evening, we stood outside a Turkish grocery store as Lydia and Kristin deciphered various maps.  A man walked by and tied the leashes of his two large huskies outside the Turkish grocery store before heading inside. The dogs looked quite thin and larger than most huskies I had seen, but one fixed his or her eyes on me while the other watched the owner in the store the whole time. It was cold out and Lydia and Kristin continued their deliberations in German and I began to talk to the dog staring me in the eyes as I jumped up and down for warmth. When the dog’s owner exited the store minutes later, I was feeling particularly friendly and not too embarrassed about my lack of German and said clearly in English, ‘I like your dogs’ when our eyes met. Untying the leashes, he responded slowly, ‘Wolves’ before walking away.

For dinner, we ate a traditional Viennese meal at a nearby café. Kristin and Lydia introduced an herb lemonade to me which was delicious. Almost a bit like a lemon ginger ale. I ordered some type of boiled beef with vegetables and potatoes which came with a delicious apple horseradish and ‘yoghurt’ herb dip.

 

 

 

Dresden, Germany

Greetings! I returned earlier today from seven days spent in Dresden, Germany and Vienna, Austria. I'm a bit swamped with emails, messages, laundry, cleaning, organizing, essay work and leaving for York, England for a couple days this Wednesday but have enjoyed writing about the travel and looking through my pictures. I imagine I might cover Dresden and Vienna here in three or four posts.

I planned the trip with my German friend, Lydia who has been featured here before when she visited me in St. Andrews last October.

Lydia and I in St. Andrews in October 2012. :)

Lydia and I met five and half years ago when she was a German exchange student at my high school in Concord, New Hampshire. We were close friends throughout the year, and her year in the U.S. contributed to my decision to spend a full year abroad at St. Andrews. She visited New Hampshire again the following year (2009) and in 2011 visited me at Saint Michael's. This was the first opportunity I had to visit her in Germany and we hoped to spend a couple days there before heading to Vienna along with Lydia's friend Kristin. Lydia is from very far eastern Germany where Poland and the Czech Replublic merge with Germany and she's attending university in Griefswald on the northern Baltic coast. I flew into Berlin Tuesday evening after flying Edinburgh to London. While touching down at London Heathrow, it was a beautifully clear day, and as I tend to get overly excited about aerial views of cities, I was beyond pumped to find we flew directly above Windsor Castle right before touching down. Thinking back to my Tudors course and seeing the Union Jack flag was flying (meaning the Queen was present) I was pretty excited. Also seeing the gardens surrounding the castle from above was quite beautiful.

 When I prepared to board my flight for Berlin in London I began to feel the language barrier. At our airport gate in London, the flight to Berlin was a bit delayed and we all were quite silent as a loud television broadcast the evening BBC news. Many of the passengers spoke in German, and we all had our passports available. EU passports were held by most of the passengers. BBC News focused on the crisis in Cyprus, and a crowd of us gathered around the television. Most passengers laughed as news was given that Great Britain was flying $1 million euros to British travelers unable to access ATM's in the crisis zone. The news then turned to the tenth anniversary of "the U.S. led invasion of Iraq".  Groans and sighs were heard and I readjusted my hands to somewhat shield my U.S. passport. I've spoken with several British friends about their views of the Iraq war, and I've found just as it's an unpopular war in the U.S., it is even more unpopular in Great Britain. Former prime minister Tony Blair continues to defend his decision to involve Britain.

The flight was a couple hours to Berlin where the weather was snowy. We touched down around 7pm, where it was dark and cloudy but a dusting of snow was visible throughout the city. Once off the plane, I was met with a German airport that was much smaller and easier to navigate than I had expected. Directly from the plane, the Polizei cleared and stamped my passport with a 'Berlin' stamp and I found (and hugged!) Lydia once we spotted each other. From there, we headed outside where it was much colder than the sea air of St. Andrews and temperate weather of the United Kingdom I had become used to. It continued to snow and we searched outside the airport for our bus to Dresden, a city two hours south of Berlin, also in East Germany, in the state of Saxony.

Since I've known her, Lydia's english has always been nearly perfect, and I soon noticed in Berlin that we were the only ones on the bus speaking English. I tried to speak quietly, but my accent was definitely picked up on by the older bus riders and Lydia explained that only in the last twenty years have German students learned English, previously the assigned language for students was Russian.

The bus ride was so peaceful and smooth. It was snowy all along the German 'Autobahn' (the highway) and I was able to sleep a bit before we arrived in Dresden. Lydia's aunt met us at the train staion in Dresden shortly after 11pm. As we exited the bus, other riders who lived in Dresden approached Lydia and after hearing us speak English, spoke to her in German recommending to her various attractions we should see in Dresden. Lydia's aunt originally planned to host us for two nights but was having her kitchen renovated and was very kind to pay for us to stay in a bed and breakfast in her neighborhood. It was so wonderful of her, and every attempt I made (in English) to thank her was a bit awkward, but Lydia was a great translator and I was happy I had brought along a few Scottish gifts. Before falling asleep that evening, Lydia and I laughed far too much and ate Belarusian cookies.

Dresden was beautiful. It has a city population of about 500,000 and like Berlin, still has a definite East Germany influence. It's a bit older, more traditional, eastern and more old-fashioned than West Germany, and was very damaged during the allied bombing in World War II (90% of the inner city was destroyed) but is beautifully baroque and also one of Europe's greenest cities as nature and trees are blended into the city. A distinct old town and new town exists and the cathedrals, architecture, river running through the city and abundance of trees (although bare as Dresden is far deeper in winter than the UK is) was gorgeous.

                                                                       
                                    

Lydia continued to help me with the language that first day, translating menus and conversations. She mentioned the Dresden accent being much different from other German accents but just as the Germans we interacted with were unsure if I was speaking in an American or British English accent, I never noticed the varying German accents. As Lydia continued to translate conversations and help me with the language, the individuals we interacted with often asked her in German if I was British or American. Lydia would explain in rapid German and then mention that I was studying in Schottland. Often too, the individuals chose to practice their English with me, and it often became a confusing situation for all jumping between the two languages. While I did pick up a few German words that first day, it was more the pronunciations and intonations of German that stayed in my head much of the evening. The -icht -aicht -dreicht -nei -aucht endings of words stayed and absent-mindedly worked their way incorrectly into my English words.

Early in the afternoon, we attended a Protestant service in a beautiful church (entirely in German which Lydia was so kind to translate in full!) but with my travel the day before, I struggled to stay awake.

                                 
                                        The church where I drifted in and out of sleep...

                                               
                               It was a bit snowy and chilly, but Luther was always looking good.

Later that day, we enjoyed traditional German döner, a wrap-like sandwich with meat, cabbage, sauces and a small bit of cheese that reminded me of a burrito. :) We also enjoyed German chocolate, and later that evening, visited a grocery store to stock up for our seven-hour train ride to Vienna the following morning and I bought a soft pretzel (or bretzel) and a pint of beer.

The staircase in the Bed and Breakfast in Dresden.

 

Along a city wall in Dresden depicting the rulers of Saxony.

 

 

 

A bit frightening.

 

 

Lydia among the cherubs.

Near the Dresden Opera House.

A large cathedral in Dresden.

 

Meeting up with Kristin was also nice, she was so friendly and sweet and she traveled with us the following day to Vienna. Kristin's English was quite basic, and while the three of us were able to converse, in slow English, it was often Lydia and Kristin speaking in German or Lydia and I speaking in English with Lydia as the common translator.

The following morning, we boarded our train for Vienna. The train station was beautifully modern and reminded me of being at King's Cross rail station in London in December. We boarded our train and found a compartment. The train was headed for Budapest, Hungary with stops in Prague and Vienna among other small towns in Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria. The distance to the Czech Republic was only about an hour, and immediately before we crossed the border, a small group of polizei came through the train cars looking for anything suspicious and the German train operators changed to Czech operators.