Fifteenth Day, DEC 30 - Vienna

When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

It would seem that, once again, my perceptions about a place didn't meet reality at all.

When I left for Europe, I thought that I wouldn't like Paris, but it actually has been my favorite city so far.

Vienna is a close second, even though I came to Austria thinking that Vienna was just a cold winter wasteland (haha, sorry Katie!).

I was so wrong though - Vienna is amazing. I had forgotten that it used to be the pinnacle of the European world, back when the Holy Roman Empire found it's seat in Austria, with Vienna as its capitol, a land full of golden palaces and gothic cathedrals.

Vienna stands as a epicenter of culture in the mostly Catholic country of Austria, with some of the world's most famous Operas, ballroom dances and palaces.

The decadence and splendor of old Habsburg nobility radiates from the city, so that while the streets aren't paved in gold, many of the buildings are.





Slow down, you crazy child
you're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart, tell me
Why are you still so afraid?

I arrived in Vienna around 1:00 at the central train station in Vienna, the HBF station. There I met up with my friend and host for the next four days, Katie Esarey, whose family lives in Vienna. In fact, she was the one who gave me the idea to finally go to Europe, because it was in a conversation with her that I realized I actually did have the money and time to finally make this trip. Needless to say, it ended up being a great decision even if it was kind of last-minute.

We stepped out of the train station into the chilly air of a typical winter day in Vienna. Katie insisted that I try this sandwich from one of the stalls, a kind of sandwich with meat that tasted a little bit like a salted-hot dog, if that makes sense? Anyway, from there we took the U-bahn to her family's city apartment.

Her family was really nice, her Mom actually used to work as a journalist for Reuters, so we talked about journalism and reporting a little bit before me and Katie decided to head out and check out the city, with Katie acting as an excellent tour guide, telling me about all the districts within the city and pointing out her favorite parts along the way.



Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You'd better cool it off before you burn it out
You've got so much to do and
Only so many hours in a day


One of the first stops was one of the main cathedrals in Vienna, Saint Stephen's. Named after the first martyr of the Catholic church, the cathedral has been the scene of many important events in Austrian history and has taken on the role of a national symbol with its multi-colored roof and it's gothic architecture.

We took a good look inside before heading up top to the North Tower, where a tiny, claustrophobic elevator takes you to the top where you get a great view of the city and the townspeople below.






But you know that when the truth is told..
That you can get what you want or you get old
You're gonna kick off before you even
Get halfway through
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

There were too many places that we saw and it was difficult to remember the names of them all, but some of the highlights were the Museum Square, where many of the most significant art/other museums in Vienna are, and also the University of Vienna, which was a beautiful academic institution that Katie says enrolls 100,000 students.





Slow down, you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight
Tonight,...
Too bad but it's the life you lead
you're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong, you know
You can't always see when you're right. you're right


Tired after seeing many of the big sights of the city in only a few short hours, we headed back on the Tram to the apartment, where we were served up an excellent Austrian dinner by Katie's parents. After Katie took a quick nap and I got my sports-fix by checking scores on ESPN, we headed back out into the night to meet some of Katie's friends for a small get-together.

Let's see...I'm terrible with names but basically it was just a bunch of Katie's friends who went to school with her, most of them at the bilingual English-German school. While they spoke English, they usually stuck to German, which gave me a really good chance to have some quality people-watching as I tried to pretend like I knew what was going on around me. We drank mulled wine - red and white - which was cooked up by our hostess, while we talked for an hour or two and just listened to a music in their college apartment.

Afterwards, Katie and I went to meet her friend, Ana, at a Karoake bar nearby. The place was literally called "Karaoke Bar" and after descending a flight of steps, we were in a cozy, pub-atmosphere headlined by a karaoke machine and two big-tv's that projected the lyrics for everyone to sing along.

We ordered a couple of beers and toasted, being careful to look into each other's eyes as we did - Ana informed me that Austrian tradition says you will have seven years of bad sex if you don't (not that it's a problem now, but no use breaking tradition now, right?).




You've got your passion, you've got your pride
but don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?


Of course, as a Fouriezos I was determined to at least sing one song for my Austrian neighbors, so I signed up to sing "Play that funky music" while Ana roped me into doing a duet of "Summer Days" from Grease with her.

I barely know the song, to be honest, having only seen Grease a couple of times...so yeah, I was in trouble lol.

It was fine though. Ana is a really good singer - she sings for an a Austrian cover band.



As I got more comfortable (and more inebriated) I felt a little better about the Karaoke and did an OK version of "Play that funky music" before leading what I felt was a decent rendition of "Where the Streets have no Name" by U2. Great song and I was feeling good by then, so I let loose and belted it out.

In fact, we got a video of it!

VIDEO (I'll post later when I figure it out)

And then me and Ana finished the night off at around 2:15 in the morning with a stirring duet of "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Haha...it was really fun. No video of that one though.

Me and Katie got home fine, taking the U-bahn back to the apartment. Today we are going ice skating, then will get ready to see Ana's band in "concert" (it's supposed to be a small, private gathering or something like that) before meeting Katie's friends for a New Year's Eve Party.

But until then, Cheers!

Slow down, you crazy child
and take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile
it's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize,..Vienna waits for you?
And you know that when the truth is told
that you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get half through
Why don't you realize,. Vienna waits for you
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?