Last Night...

I went to see Fiddler On the Roof. On the way home, we passed a small, typically Austrian tavern advertising Sturm, the fresh wine from the countryside. I told everyone I wanted to go try it, so we went inside. The Sturm was delicious (tastes like fizzy grape juice), the bartender was very friendly and spoke English, and we joined the rest of the patrons in watching the futball match on the TV.
Everyone in Vienna seemed to be wearing green and white for the match (with a few brave opposing fans in purple).
When we left the tavern, I had to connect to a different U-Bahn line than everyone else, so we split up. I transferred at a stop that I had never been to before. The signs were confusing, because of construction on the station. I followed them, looking for stairs, and ended up outside. I looked to my left and a homeless man was urinating right next to the door, so I turned to go back inside and a huge rat ran in front of me. I freaked out and ran inside. I eventually got to Westbahnhof, to transfer again, only to find that the train going in my direction had ceased to run for the night. The sign was flashing something in German, so I asked the older lady next to me what it said. She spoke a little English, and I a very little German, so we eventually figured out where I needed to go.
That was the first time I haven't felt very safe in Vienna. On my ten-minute walk from my U-Bahn stop to my apartment, I put my keys between my fingers, just on case. However, it was only midnight, so there were still enough people out.
I'm not going to be staying out past midnight I think, because then the confusing night buses start and the U-Bahn stops running some of its trains.

However, today I'm going to the library with Frauke, and then on a hike, and then maybe to a free concert tonight.

We didn't make it to the Kunsthistorisches yesterday, on our excursion, but Svetlana promised that we would make it one of these days. Instead, we had a great tour of the Burgtheater. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgtheater) I found some pictures of it at the bottom of this page: http://www.andreas-praefcke.de/carthalia/austria/a_wien_burgtheater.htm
The staircase entrances are amazingly ornate. During Franz Josef's reign, neither were open to the public. One was for Franz Josef, and the other for his family and Archdukes and the like. Some of the paintings on the ceiling are early works by Gustav Klimt, and the theater was burned during WWII. However, because some people put sandbags to block the two side entrance staircases, the priceless paintings on the ceilings were not too damaged by smoke.

We also had coffee at Cafe Central, the most famous coffeehouse in Vienna. Freud and other notables used to hang out there. It was nice, but expensive. I got a cappuccino and it was over US$5. I guess you have to pay for the atmosphere too.

Afterwards, I went back to school and had German and Holocaust Lit. classes.