... that we should write down the little impressions that we have of places we experience so as not to lose them. I forgot that I used to do this when I traveled. I don't know how I forgot this. 'Tis important.
On Cemetery Island in Venice, we walked through a section of graves that were stacked on top of each other. I'm not sure what they're called, but there are some in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indpls. I always thought they were for cremated remains, but no one has been able to verify whether it's cremation or regular burial. Anyway, there was a little old lady decorating one. She was standing on a ladder, wearing a lot of purple. If I remember correctly, she had a purple hat, as well as a jacket and skirt in a similar shade. She had decorated much of her relative's placard with a predominately blue mosaic. Seriously, there were blue and gold tiles all over the placard. There were so many that they were encroaching on other dead people's placards. I liked it a lot.
Also, today we went to Frauke's apt for dinner. It was amazing. Any good feelings I had about Frauke were simply deepened and verified tonight. She made us amazing pizza, played her harp and sang for us, made Turkish coffee for Matt and I, brought out hats to wear, told my fortune from the grounds of coffee left in my cup (apparently I'm going to climb a mountain with a smiling girl with long blond hair sometime in the not so distant future), and she talked with me about predestination and listened to my newly discovered knowledge about bedbug mating rituals. Oh, she also played Amy Winehouse and danced and sang along.
It was all in all an excellent time. I stayed later than most everyone, because it was so nice there.
I also decided that I want to start having dinners (preferably weekly) for people at Ruthy and my house. We'll make food and eat it and maybe have deep discussions or share music or something of this nature.
Together with our excursion to the Central Cemetery earlier this morning and our afternoon excursion to the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), both of which were very interesting, I feel that this day was a success.
I also realized that I feel at home in Wien. I didn't think it would happen, and certainly not this quickly, but I would love to live here. If I could move the people I love the most here, then I would be happy. Wien is an amazing city and it makes me sad that I only have a little more than a month here. Although I do miss people back home. A lot.
These are some mostly undirected reflections. It's almost 1:30am but I'm not particularly sleepy. I guess I'll work on homework and see if that puts me to sleep. :)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Venice~Venezia~Venedig...
I won't lie, Venice is not my favorite city or even on the top 10. However, I'm glad to have been and the 3 days we had there provided ample time to see all that we wanted to see.
Of course, we went to Piazza San Marco and the Ponte Rialto. We also went to the Cemetery Island, which doesn't get as many tourists (probably because photography is not allowed), and Murano, island of the Venetian glass-blowing workshops, which caters exclusively to tourists.
Venice is pretty, but disintegrating and deteriorating. The city was almost palpably crumbling before my eyes (The bricks of one building actually did start falling into chips when I touched them).
Little kiosks selling the same glass objects, masquerade masks, and Italia t-shirts are everywhere. All the stores sell the same things. Gondoliers stood by the bridges, smoking and calling out "Gondola" whenever a group of tourists would walk by. Whenever I sat down at a restaurant, I heard at least 4 different languages being spoken. A can of soda that I could buy at the grocery near our hotel for 50 centimes was 4 or 5 euros at the restaurants.
I don't really know what I was expecting from Venice. Magic, maybe. Or an old-Europe atmosphere.
Some parts of Venezia were enjoyable. My favorite parts were usually when I separated from our group of 6 and walked alone down dark, narrow passages. These places were ignored by tourists. There were no over-priced shops here or expensive restaurants selling pizza, pasta, and salad. Only the occasional Venetian signora, hanging her laundry on the line. Or a pile of trash, abandoned by all except the seagulls, pigeons and sparrows fighting over any remnants of food they could find. Here I could stop and admire the green water of the canals, and the sunlight which somehow found its way into these alleys.
My other favorite part of Venice was seeing the old Jewish Ghetto. We've learned a something of European ghettos in our Holocaust Lit. course, and I looked for Jewish images and designated areas in Zagreb and now Venice.
The Jewish Ghetto was a little hard to find. I found a placard with Hebrew and followed the arrow. It led me to a passageway and eventually through some more narrow streets, to the actual ghetto. It's mostly gone, by now, of course. All that's left is the old synagogue, as well as a wall with the barbed wire left intact. There were a few placards with images of the ghetto and Jews in WWII. There was also part of a poem, if I remember correctly (I took pictures, but on my friend's camera, since it takes much better pictures). The Ghetto was a quiet memorial, not many tourists were there, and the people there were mostly observant Jews (as evident by the yarmulkes).
After the ghetto, we walked by a guildhall with a Lithuanian exhibit and decided to go inside because it was free to enter. A large section of the guildhall (which was a brick cathedral-like room with large columns) had been covered with sheets of metal. Even the walls and columns were covered. When we walked in, the room was quiet, except for a guide giving a tour (in German) to a group of elderly people. However, in English signs on the ground it said: Touch Me, Hear Me, and (some other sensory phrase that I can't remember). So, we did. At first, it was tentative, one at a time. Soon, the room became noisy with our metallic stomping. We walked (played might be a better word, it felt childish and amazing) all around in the room full of aluminum sheets. The docents came to watch us, and smiled because I think we were interacting the way the artist(s) had envisioned. The elderly people saw how much fun we were having and started to step onto the metal as well. I'm glad we stopped there.
Overall, I was glad to see Venice, especially if it one day decides to slip back into the Adriatic Sea. [Re: Mom: According to Wikipedia, the city started sinking due to artesian wells, but since these were outlawed in the 1960s, studies have shown that Venice might not be sinking any more. It was still mostly un-submerged as of last weekend :)] I can check it off my list of famous European cities. It was beautiful, and the weather was gorgeous. It was a nice break from Vienna, but I'm glad to be back in Austria, hearing the now-familiar German all around me, instead of Italian.
Speaking of Italian, I was happily surprised to hear that often parodied or exaggerated Italian cadence. I thought maybe it wasn't accurate, or had been exaggerated out of recognition. But no, some Italians really do speak like that. It's just something that caught my attention.
However, I still much prefer (Austrian) German: Tchuss!
Of course, we went to Piazza San Marco and the Ponte Rialto. We also went to the Cemetery Island, which doesn't get as many tourists (probably because photography is not allowed), and Murano, island of the Venetian glass-blowing workshops, which caters exclusively to tourists.
Venice is pretty, but disintegrating and deteriorating. The city was almost palpably crumbling before my eyes (The bricks of one building actually did start falling into chips when I touched them).
Little kiosks selling the same glass objects, masquerade masks, and Italia t-shirts are everywhere. All the stores sell the same things. Gondoliers stood by the bridges, smoking and calling out "Gondola" whenever a group of tourists would walk by. Whenever I sat down at a restaurant, I heard at least 4 different languages being spoken. A can of soda that I could buy at the grocery near our hotel for 50 centimes was 4 or 5 euros at the restaurants.
I don't really know what I was expecting from Venice. Magic, maybe. Or an old-Europe atmosphere.
Some parts of Venezia were enjoyable. My favorite parts were usually when I separated from our group of 6 and walked alone down dark, narrow passages. These places were ignored by tourists. There were no over-priced shops here or expensive restaurants selling pizza, pasta, and salad. Only the occasional Venetian signora, hanging her laundry on the line. Or a pile of trash, abandoned by all except the seagulls, pigeons and sparrows fighting over any remnants of food they could find. Here I could stop and admire the green water of the canals, and the sunlight which somehow found its way into these alleys.
My other favorite part of Venice was seeing the old Jewish Ghetto. We've learned a something of European ghettos in our Holocaust Lit. course, and I looked for Jewish images and designated areas in Zagreb and now Venice.
The Jewish Ghetto was a little hard to find. I found a placard with Hebrew and followed the arrow. It led me to a passageway and eventually through some more narrow streets, to the actual ghetto. It's mostly gone, by now, of course. All that's left is the old synagogue, as well as a wall with the barbed wire left intact. There were a few placards with images of the ghetto and Jews in WWII. There was also part of a poem, if I remember correctly (I took pictures, but on my friend's camera, since it takes much better pictures). The Ghetto was a quiet memorial, not many tourists were there, and the people there were mostly observant Jews (as evident by the yarmulkes).
After the ghetto, we walked by a guildhall with a Lithuanian exhibit and decided to go inside because it was free to enter. A large section of the guildhall (which was a brick cathedral-like room with large columns) had been covered with sheets of metal. Even the walls and columns were covered. When we walked in, the room was quiet, except for a guide giving a tour (in German) to a group of elderly people. However, in English signs on the ground it said: Touch Me, Hear Me, and (some other sensory phrase that I can't remember). So, we did. At first, it was tentative, one at a time. Soon, the room became noisy with our metallic stomping. We walked (played might be a better word, it felt childish and amazing) all around in the room full of aluminum sheets. The docents came to watch us, and smiled because I think we were interacting the way the artist(s) had envisioned. The elderly people saw how much fun we were having and started to step onto the metal as well. I'm glad we stopped there.
Overall, I was glad to see Venice, especially if it one day decides to slip back into the Adriatic Sea. [Re: Mom: According to Wikipedia, the city started sinking due to artesian wells, but since these were outlawed in the 1960s, studies have shown that Venice might not be sinking any more. It was still mostly un-submerged as of last weekend :)] I can check it off my list of famous European cities. It was beautiful, and the weather was gorgeous. It was a nice break from Vienna, but I'm glad to be back in Austria, hearing the now-familiar German all around me, instead of Italian.
Speaking of Italian, I was happily surprised to hear that often parodied or exaggerated Italian cadence. I thought maybe it wasn't accurate, or had been exaggerated out of recognition. But no, some Italians really do speak like that. It's just something that caught my attention.
However, I still much prefer (Austrian) German: Tchuss!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Canals and Piazza San Marco
Tomorrow, or in roughly 6 hours, I leave for Venice.
Everyone is asking me what I'm going to do there, and I honestly don't have a clue. Venice is one of those places that I've read about and thought about, but never dreamed of going to.
The only things I know about Venice are that it's sinking and only a huge engineering feet will keep it from returning to the sea. Also, there are these small sea-worthy vessels called gondolas, and maybe I should ride in one. The last thing is the famous Piazza San Marco, which I hear is filled with pigeons and tourists.
The trip will be interesting. I'm not looking forward to the train ride, but it's not much longer than the one to Zagreb, so I think I can handle it.
If anyone has suggestions of what to do in Venice, please let me know. I think I'll be able to check up on this at our hostel.
Ciao!
Everyone is asking me what I'm going to do there, and I honestly don't have a clue. Venice is one of those places that I've read about and thought about, but never dreamed of going to.
The only things I know about Venice are that it's sinking and only a huge engineering feet will keep it from returning to the sea. Also, there are these small sea-worthy vessels called gondolas, and maybe I should ride in one. The last thing is the famous Piazza San Marco, which I hear is filled with pigeons and tourists.
The trip will be interesting. I'm not looking forward to the train ride, but it's not much longer than the one to Zagreb, so I think I can handle it.
If anyone has suggestions of what to do in Venice, please let me know. I think I'll be able to check up on this at our hostel.
Ciao!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Zagreb Recap
The trip to Zagreb was exciting. I've never traveled that far by train (about 12 hours roundtrip), but it was fun to travel with friends.
We stayed in a hostel that was pretty central, so we were close to most things in the city. Zagreb is not as large as I thought it would be, but I loved it.
We got there on Thursday and left Sunday afternoon. Our guide was not able to make it at all, so Frauke and Ann had to improvise and come up with a schedule.
We went to a restaurant the first evening and had traditional Croatian cuisine. If you've never looked at a map of Croatia, please do. (Here, I'll make it easy: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/croatia/)
The country shape is somewhat unusual. Croatia is not only close to the rest of Eastern Europe, it's also close to Italy. Therefore, much of the Croatian culture has Eastern European and Italian influences. The food we ate was good. I had veal (would not have been my first choice, but they had a set menu) and mashed potatoes, with chocolate and cherry crepes for dessert.
The Croatians use kuna as their currency, with 5 kuna approximating 1 USD.
The next day, we had a guided tour of the upper city, ending with the traditional cannon being fired at exactly 12 noon.
That night, we explored some of Zagreb's nightlife, including a trip to the Tolkien pub (filled with memorabilia from the movies and other Tolkienish objects) as well as another place, where we heard a not-so-great cover band alternating between pop songs from Croatia as well as the States. It was fun to sing along, even though I was only pretending to know the Croatian words.
The next day, Saturday, we went to a large cemetery. That was probably my favorite part of the trip. I like cemeteries, normally, but this one was huge and very nice.
There were people everywhere, cleaning the elaborate tombstones of their dearly departed. It's pretty traditional for Europeans, or so I was told. I liked it. I could have stayed all day and walked around. I'll have to get my friend to post the pictures that I took on her camera of all the cool tombstones, because they were pretty special.
I also got a chance to go to the city market, and certain people can be expecting a present from Croatia when I get back... :)
Other than that, the train ride home was extremely long and boring and I was driven almost crazy by the other people on our trip. Not that it was their problem, I just needed some alone time, and there was none to be had. We were in compartments, and the train was pretty filthy, and I couldn't fall asleep.
Also, I have an equally long train ride to look forward to next weekend, when I go to Venice!
I'm very excited about Venice, but it's going to be a lot more expensive than we estimated at first, so that's not so exciting.
However, Venice is the setting of one of my favorite young adult books, The Thief Lord, so I can't help but be excited that I'm going there.
Tchüss!! *kiss on both cheeks* (typical Austrian farewell)
We stayed in a hostel that was pretty central, so we were close to most things in the city. Zagreb is not as large as I thought it would be, but I loved it.
We got there on Thursday and left Sunday afternoon. Our guide was not able to make it at all, so Frauke and Ann had to improvise and come up with a schedule.
We went to a restaurant the first evening and had traditional Croatian cuisine. If you've never looked at a map of Croatia, please do. (Here, I'll make it easy: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/croatia/)
The country shape is somewhat unusual. Croatia is not only close to the rest of Eastern Europe, it's also close to Italy. Therefore, much of the Croatian culture has Eastern European and Italian influences. The food we ate was good. I had veal (would not have been my first choice, but they had a set menu) and mashed potatoes, with chocolate and cherry crepes for dessert.
The Croatians use kuna as their currency, with 5 kuna approximating 1 USD.
The next day, we had a guided tour of the upper city, ending with the traditional cannon being fired at exactly 12 noon.
That night, we explored some of Zagreb's nightlife, including a trip to the Tolkien pub (filled with memorabilia from the movies and other Tolkienish objects) as well as another place, where we heard a not-so-great cover band alternating between pop songs from Croatia as well as the States. It was fun to sing along, even though I was only pretending to know the Croatian words.
The next day, Saturday, we went to a large cemetery. That was probably my favorite part of the trip. I like cemeteries, normally, but this one was huge and very nice.
There were people everywhere, cleaning the elaborate tombstones of their dearly departed. It's pretty traditional for Europeans, or so I was told. I liked it. I could have stayed all day and walked around. I'll have to get my friend to post the pictures that I took on her camera of all the cool tombstones, because they were pretty special.
I also got a chance to go to the city market, and certain people can be expecting a present from Croatia when I get back... :)
Other than that, the train ride home was extremely long and boring and I was driven almost crazy by the other people on our trip. Not that it was their problem, I just needed some alone time, and there was none to be had. We were in compartments, and the train was pretty filthy, and I couldn't fall asleep.
Also, I have an equally long train ride to look forward to next weekend, when I go to Venice!
I'm very excited about Venice, but it's going to be a lot more expensive than we estimated at first, so that's not so exciting.
However, Venice is the setting of one of my favorite young adult books, The Thief Lord, so I can't help but be excited that I'm going there.
Tchüss!! *kiss on both cheeks* (typical Austrian farewell)
Monday, October 12, 2009
{This is a [Title]}
This weekend we are going to Zagreb. I am excited for this trip. It should be fun and I've wanted to go to further east ever since I got here. A lot of the people in our group travel to Italy and France and other places like that, but I just want to go to Eastern Europe. If it were easier, I'd go to Russia in a flash.
On another subject, I'm finding it difficult to focus on my school or get into a good studying routine. I've talked to some of the other kids and they said they feel the same way. I hope I get better at this, because I really do want to do well, I just can't seem to find the time or energy.
Tonight I made dinner at my friend Mellissa's. It was only pasta, but it tasted delicious. I also found some Milka cookies which were wheat and chocolate. They were grainy and delectable. I might become addicted... I've not eaten Milka since I've been here. Milka's slogan includes a purple cow, and I was told that some Austrians think that cows are purple, because they've never seen a real cow.
Today was the first day that it's been really cold here. I'm a little sad, but it will be nice not to ride on the smelly U-Bahns, like when it's warm. Apparently it might snow on Thursday or Friday, but maybe we'll be fine in Zagreb weatherwise.
Also, I'm going to Venice next weekend! I can't believe it and I felt a little rushed into it, but I guess I should take this opportunity.
On another subject, I'm finding it difficult to focus on my school or get into a good studying routine. I've talked to some of the other kids and they said they feel the same way. I hope I get better at this, because I really do want to do well, I just can't seem to find the time or energy.
Tonight I made dinner at my friend Mellissa's. It was only pasta, but it tasted delicious. I also found some Milka cookies which were wheat and chocolate. They were grainy and delectable. I might become addicted... I've not eaten Milka since I've been here. Milka's slogan includes a purple cow, and I was told that some Austrians think that cows are purple, because they've never seen a real cow.
Today was the first day that it's been really cold here. I'm a little sad, but it will be nice not to ride on the smelly U-Bahns, like when it's warm. Apparently it might snow on Thursday or Friday, but maybe we'll be fine in Zagreb weatherwise.
Also, I'm going to Venice next weekend! I can't believe it and I felt a little rushed into it, but I guess I should take this opportunity.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Post-Script
I forgot to mention that on my way to a friend's house, an old man stopped me and said, "Excuse me, miss, I need directions" (He was british) "I'm looking for a Kentucky Fried Chicken or a MacDonald's" Me: "Um, well, I don't really know. But there's a Burger King a little ways from here"
I told him how to get there, but I wasn't really sure because I'd only seen it in the distance. He asked me if I was a tourist like him, but I told him that I was a student.
As I walked in the direction he had come from, I saw a sign clearly saying "McDonald's in 400 meters."
So sad. Not only could he not see the obvious sign, he was looking for a fast food restaurant in Vienna. In fact, if he went the way I told him to go, he passed 6 different Indian restaurants, even more Asian restaurants, and several typical Austrian cafes. Oh well. His loss.
I told him how to get there, but I wasn't really sure because I'd only seen it in the distance. He asked me if I was a tourist like him, but I told him that I was a student.
As I walked in the direction he had come from, I saw a sign clearly saying "McDonald's in 400 meters."
So sad. Not only could he not see the obvious sign, he was looking for a fast food restaurant in Vienna. In fact, if he went the way I told him to go, he passed 6 different Indian restaurants, even more Asian restaurants, and several typical Austrian cafes. Oh well. His loss.
Not-so-castley-castles, long nights at museums and "achtundvierzig"
I haven't done too much exciting since my last post. This week of classes was a little taxing. I had presentations on the current economical and political climate of Slovenia and Belgium, a paper due tomorrow for my Holocaust/Literature class, and several excursions. One is tomorrow and a small group of us are going to a local youth center to meet with young Austrians. It will be very interesting, especially since none of us going have any real German language experience. However, the kids here learn some English, so hopefully none of us will be too shy about trying out the others' language.
We went on an excursion last Friday to the Gozzoburg in Kremz. "Burg" means castle in German, so I was expecting a castle. However, the Gozzoburg is a medieval palace of sorts. It's more like a manor, actually. It was a little disappointing, but I like old buildings of all sorts. Also, this building was divided into apartments as recently as 30 years ago, so the renovation is still coming along.
The "Lange Nacht Der Museen" was fun. For the price of one entrance ticket, you could keep the stub and get into any of Vienna's other participating museums (There were about 90 or 100). I went to the Kunsthistoriches Musuem, which is a huge Art History museum. There were plenty of famous painters represented, and I only walked through a few of the galleries. There was Botticelli, Brueghel, and Durer, to name a few. I forget the other ones. Anyway, afterwards, I went to the Leopold Museum and saw the Egon Schiele exhibit. I've come to really like Schiele. His work is disturbing at times, but always very potent and emotional. He acts as an excellent foil to Gustav Klimt, who is dominating our class art discussion right now. The last museum I went to was the Haus der Muzik, which is a music museum. It has interactive exhibits about Austrian composers, such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Strauss. There are also exhibits about how we hear sounds, how music is created, etc. I'd like to go back, when it's not so crowded.
This weekend, my roommate and some others are going to Budapest, but I'm going to stay here and explore some more. I'm super excited because Meg, my friend who's in GB right now, might come visit in November.
Also, next weekend is our 4-day long trip to Zagreb, Croatia. I'm really looking forward to it! I've wanted to explore Eastern Europe for a while now.
I'm still hoping to make it to some other parts of the continent, like Budapest or maybe Venice (some people are planning a trip there).
Other than that, I'm just focusing on school and learning German. I can count and I do it all the time. German's a really fun language to count in. Eins zwei drei vier funf sechs sieben acht neun zehn. The larger numbers are even more fun. For instance, every day, I take the 48A bus to school. In Deutsch, that's "Achtundvierzig A." 565 would be "funfhundertfunfundsechzig." 777 is "siebenhundertsiebeundsiebzig."
To a thousand is about as high as I can count in German, but I think that'll suffice for now. :)
We went on an excursion last Friday to the Gozzoburg in Kremz. "Burg" means castle in German, so I was expecting a castle. However, the Gozzoburg is a medieval palace of sorts. It's more like a manor, actually. It was a little disappointing, but I like old buildings of all sorts. Also, this building was divided into apartments as recently as 30 years ago, so the renovation is still coming along.
The "Lange Nacht Der Museen" was fun. For the price of one entrance ticket, you could keep the stub and get into any of Vienna's other participating museums (There were about 90 or 100). I went to the Kunsthistoriches Musuem, which is a huge Art History museum. There were plenty of famous painters represented, and I only walked through a few of the galleries. There was Botticelli, Brueghel, and Durer, to name a few. I forget the other ones. Anyway, afterwards, I went to the Leopold Museum and saw the Egon Schiele exhibit. I've come to really like Schiele. His work is disturbing at times, but always very potent and emotional. He acts as an excellent foil to Gustav Klimt, who is dominating our class art discussion right now. The last museum I went to was the Haus der Muzik, which is a music museum. It has interactive exhibits about Austrian composers, such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Strauss. There are also exhibits about how we hear sounds, how music is created, etc. I'd like to go back, when it's not so crowded.
This weekend, my roommate and some others are going to Budapest, but I'm going to stay here and explore some more. I'm super excited because Meg, my friend who's in GB right now, might come visit in November.
Also, next weekend is our 4-day long trip to Zagreb, Croatia. I'm really looking forward to it! I've wanted to explore Eastern Europe for a while now.
I'm still hoping to make it to some other parts of the continent, like Budapest or maybe Venice (some people are planning a trip there).
Other than that, I'm just focusing on school and learning German. I can count and I do it all the time. German's a really fun language to count in. Eins zwei drei vier funf sechs sieben acht neun zehn. The larger numbers are even more fun. For instance, every day, I take the 48A bus to school. In Deutsch, that's "Achtundvierzig A." 565 would be "funfhundertfunfundsechzig." 777 is "siebenhundertsiebeundsiebzig."
To a thousand is about as high as I can count in German, but I think that'll suffice for now. :)
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