Aug 28 - Day 28 in Vienna

German Word of the Day: Wein - Wine

With only one day of class left and only two days in Vienna, the reality that the program is ending is becoming quite clear. I definitely enjoyed the day and the variety within it that can only be had in Vienna.

I started the day by eating my breakfast in my favorite park, the Burggarten, which is right by Oper. It’s a lovely garden, and in fact, was designed as the private garden of the Habsburgs. It has many benches and nice lawns to sit on. It was a great way to start the morning.

We settled in for a rather intense class discussing our visit to Mauthausen. I’m still not done or even ready to begin processing the visit, or even the Kluger memoir. It was interesting to hear that my classmates were struggling with the experience as well. I wish I could say the discussion helped to resolve my feelings, but it did provide new questions for me, if not any answers.

After class, we headed to Café Sperl, a classic Viennese café and according the guidebook, a favorite of Adolf Hitler during his years in Vienna. I enjoyed the café, with its comfortable couch-like chairs, the abundance of newspapers, and the delicious coffee, but being in a place favored by Hitler after such a conversation in class was a bit strange. But, it is so classically Viennese that my initial misgivings were immediately put to rest.

We left the café and headed to one of my absolute favorite places in Vienna – the Naschmarkt. We grabbed some lunch and some radler before heading out for Karlsplatz and Karlskirche. The amazing baroque church, built after the plague by the commission of Charles VI in honor of the saint, Charles Borromeo, who is supposed to help plague victims. It is a great example of the baroque style, and especially, the Counter-Reformation, with its emphasis on the saints, the Virgin Mary, and the abundance of religious iconography.

Currently, the church is being restored, which provided me with the opportunity of a lifetime – to be in the dome of the church, face to face with the dome fresco. I took an elevator into the dome, which was amazing. To be surrounded by art that usually you can only stare up at felt incredible. I could not believe how the frescos were painted – to be up that high and see the vision that the artist needs to have to accomplish something so massive and stunning. For once, I’m so glad to have been in a place during the process of restoration because it allowed me the opportunity to be within the dome and to walk even further up into the very top of the Church. The stairs to the very top were absolutely terrifying, but the reward was a great view of Vienna and a surprise fresco featuring a dove at the very top – something so few ever get to witness.

Sometimes in Europe you can go on church overload, but then every once in a while a church can actually have an impact in the midst of hundreds of them. For me, Karlskirche was that church thanks to the remarkable experience of being within the dome.

That night, we went in search of the Communist Café, but we sadly could not find it. However, thanks to a local hotel owner, we were pointed to a very hip bar in Neubaugasse called Stylez (http://www.stylez.at). It had the most comfortable couches to sit on and just had a fun atmosphere. It was great to just hang out and enjoy Vienna’s nightlife!