Aug 1 - Day 1 in Vienna

I checked into our housing in Vienna today at Simmering. It is located right next to the Simmering stop, making it extremely convenient for my arrival from the Westbanhof, as well as future trips into the city for class and various excursions.

I had been in Munich for the past week visiting a friend who lives in a small town, Disenhofen, just outside the city. It was a wonderful experience to stay with a German family and live a bit like a local would for a few days. As the family had an extra bike, I was able to see their town as the residents most often do. Transportation in Austria and Germany is fantastic to me with the abundance of bikes and ease of the U-Bahn.

I left by Deutsche Bahn (a train) in the morning. It was my first experience traveling by train in Europe, and it certainly fulfilled my expectations. I watched the beautiful scenery go by – from the hills of Salzburg, made so famous by The Sound of Music, fields dotted with plants and cows, and the mountains towering in the background – and enjoyed the four hour train ride to Vienna. Additionally, I used the time to re-read some of Vienna: The Past in the Present, since it has been a few weeks since I read the beginning passages. I am pleased to say that I have nearly completed all of the readings and I simply have Still Alive and some Internet printouts left to finish.

After unpacking, several of us in the program went to grab some dinner and explore a bit. I have become such a German food enthusiast over the past week in Munich, so I enjoyed what I hope to be one of countless bratwurst. Among the many things I’m excited for on this trip is the opportunity to experience Austrian cuisine – the schnitzels, apfelstrudel, Sacher torte, and the wines in the heurigen (wine gardens/restaurants).

Even just being in the city center – Stephansplatz – for an hour or so proved to me the absolute difference it makes to be in a place where you know the history. It truly changed the experience for me. Thanks to the course reading, I immediately set out to find the “O5” near the door of the Stephansdom Cathedral, which was a sign by the Austrian Underground in WWII. It was set aside with a glass covering and it was strangely funny to see how many people passed it by without a glance or ounce of curiosity. I would have done the same had I not had the opportunity to read about it.

While I speak no German, I have found it somewhat easy to pick out certain key words, either on the U-Bahn or on menus. I hope that in a month’s time I will have amassed a decent vocabulary of German words, not to mention a very detailed and expansive view of Viennese history.