We'll Always Have Vienna
I have a very belated story to tell- but now i can illustrate it with photos! try to contain your excitement and read on. :)
I left Brno two days after i arrived because the hostel situation wasn't the best and my SERVAS contacts weren't working out. Deciding that i'd have plenty of time to see the city once i came back to study, i looked up bus schedules to Mikulov, hostel information in Vienna, and left the next morning. it was exciting at the time because it was the first time i left a city without a plan for lodging set in stone and without much information about my next destination other than the fact that there were hotels and pensions to be had.
As usual, the bus dropped me (and about three other people) off in the middle of nowhere. while adjusting the weight of my bag on my back (which made me want to find a place to stay all the more merely so i could get rid of my burden), i glanced around the dusty road only to see a large hill with a castle on top. my rule of thumb was, when in doubt and without a map, head towards the castle- there's bound to be something.
eventually i wound my way uphill to the town square and found the tourist info. point. say what you want about czech cities, but on the whole, they're user friendly. Locate a castle-like building, and there will be a town square with a plague column. somewhere within that square you'll find tourist information where people either a)speak english or b) are usually pretty patient with your bad czech. With their help i found a reasonably priced pension, which meant a room with two twin beds and a bathroom to myself. imagine! after the hostel it was like heaven. my guidebook had told me that because the city had no hostels, the lodging would be more expensive. in the end it was 15 u.s. dollars a night for a room to myself, which i was more than willing to pay for a clean, private room nestled by the hills.
The city itself was beautiful, with some especially notable sites:
View from the lookout tower
The city's lookout tower/fort
The castle gardens
"Holy Hill"- on top of which is a chapel that the townspeople make a pilgrimage up to each year, though it looked to be a pretty steep climb.
The Jewish Cemetery
After two days, i felt i had gotten a good feel for the city and it was time to move on. i was also motivated by the sudden heat wave that made sightseeing quite a trial. in the heat of the afternoon, i was finding myself wholed up in my room, chugging water and hoping for a breeze to come through the window. It was time to move on to a hostel and find good company to be lazy with.
i left the pension early the next morning, saying goodbye to the resident boxer that followed me around the halls with a squeak toy. To my surprise, i had quite a time finding the train station. You would think it wouldn't be difficult, as it would have tracks and trains, and probably some people. Yes, it had all these things, but was rather hard to find because it was hidden among various winding roads and was no bigger than a modest two story house. But at long last i boarded a train for Breclav, where i would get out and buy my international ticket for Vienna.
The problem that i usually had with czech trains is this: they're hardly ever labeled, and if they are, it's one dusty sign stuck to the front of the train that flashes by so quickly that there's no chance in hell you'll be able to read it. So at Breclav, when my train was running late and they didn't bother to announce it, i got into a train that was at the correct platform at the correct time. I quickly sat down, and luckily, a woman struck up conversation with me. Lucky because she asked me where i was going, and when i replied Vienna, she said, "um... we just came from Vienna." I looked at her stupidly for a moment before replying, "Ah, then i'm on the wrong train."
I was fortunate enough for that to be my only train mishap throughout the whole trip, and at that, i still got off the train with some time to spare before it took off. After consulting with some clueless station officials and checking the boards, i finally got onto the correct train and arrived in Vienna without any more problems.
The station of course was huge, and i ran around with a guy who turned out to be a fellow UT Longhorn (small world) looking for an information desk. I had bought a map of vienna in mikulov, but it wasn't exactly preferable to use as it was huge, and i wanted to get some directions to the hostel i had found on the internet. the man at the desk efficiently grabbed a tourist map, circled the area i had asked for, and handed me a slip of paper that the hostel had helpfully left at the station to direct backpackers to their door.
I got off the bus at the stop written on the slip of paper and began to look at my map for the correct street. almost immediately after i had taken out the map, an old woman got off her bench and hobbled over. she asked me something in german, and i replied "myrthengasse 10?" hoping that she was asking me where i was going. she pointed me in the right direction with a smile, and i thanked her before continuing on. when i had walked awhile, i brought out my map to check it again. a woman walking her dog stopped and asked me what i was looking for in german (though i can only assume.) she pointed me in the right direction and i continued on, amazed at how friendly the people were. When i came to an intersection and was checking my progress on a map, a girl asked me in english where i needed to go. Simply amazed at the generousity that the people of vienna had showed me in the first fifteen minutes i was there, i told her my destination and she gave me detailed instructions and wished me luck.
I found the hostel and checked in, but was disappointed to find that i'd only be able to stay for one night because they were booked up. After i threw my bag down on my bed, i began the process of orienting myself to the city: first priority- i needed a guidebook. i had come to vienna on the spur of the moment and knew absolutely nothing about it, other than people had told me it was beautiful. of course it's true- the city must put so much money into simply maintaining the old, beautiful buildings. Exhibit A:
the Naturhistorisches Museum (museum of natural history)
After i had located a handy lonely planet guidebook, i started calling other hostels nearby to make a reservation for a couple of nights, as i wasn't sure whether or not i'd be moving on to a SERVAS host. Luckily, there was another on that street, which meant i wouldn't have to haul my bag around town. That's how i ended up at Believe It or Not hostel- as in, believe it or not, this small apartment is a hostel. There was a kitchen, common room, private room with two twin beds and a bunk, and then the large "dorm"- which was just a regular bedroom with this interesting, three-story bunk structure:
The first couple of nights i was in the "loft," which meant climbing that rickety ladder and crawling to a pallet.
Though it was a weird situation, it was by far my favorite hostel on my trip. Everyone was in such cramped quarters that we all knew each other, and more often than not, went out as a group at night, or on a few occasions, sat around in the common room eating dinner and sharing stories. i met more people there than any where on my trip, and definetly intend to stay in touch with them.
I'm not going to try and list every little event that i did in Vienna, as i was there for awhile and it would bore you to tears- but i'll try to go over the highlights. One of them would definetly be the Kunsthistisches museum which housed some of the most beautiful paintings by the old masters- rubens, raphael, klimt, and so on. Then i moved on to the MUMOK- the modern art museum which was interesting to say the least. After some enlightening as well as mildly disturbing pieces, i called it a day for intellectual pursuits and did some badly needed laundry. when i returned to the hostel with my clean clothes, i found some new residents sitting around in the common room. i joined their conversation and we went on to dinner together. We came back to grab our sweaters and invited the rest of the hostel out for a drink. This pretty much explains how i spent most of my nights in Vienna- wandering around in good company.
I basically took a break from traveling there and just decided to enjoy the city and rest. I'd trade books with the other residents, and when i got tired of sight seeing and museums, I'd and go read and take naps in parks. and as the parks were so beautiful, i was still seeing something pretty amazing.
Another sight that i particularly loved was shonbrunn, the hapsburg's summer palace. Because it was so vast, i wouldn't be able to get it all into one picture without the help of a helicopter- so here's a nice view of the gardens.
view of the gardens with the Gloriette in the background.
view from the top of the hill- the palace shonbrunn and gardens.
Ooh! and the Gloriette
After standing around in the heat, Krista (a friend from the hostel, o' course) and i went down to a popular swimming area on the river and enjoyed the icy cold water and oppurtunity for sunbathing (as by that time i had a golden brown farmers tan that i was keen to get rid of.)
Also, two canadians convinced me to go to Kunst Haus Wien, and i'm so glad they did as the building alone is worth seeing:
They turned out to be two of my favorite canadians, and we ended up hanging out quite a bit. Here we are finding creative ways to pass the time while our laundry gets done.
I figured i would eventually title this "how i broke my neck in vienna," but luckily it's not the case.
Matt invents a new artform.
Brad the Canadian is the blond one with his mouth hanging open, and here's a glimpse at the rest of the hostel crew, including three parisians and two physicists from oxford.
I went to mass in Stephansdom, Vienna's premiere cathedral, saw Orson Welles' The Third Man, got lost with an englishman and a bumpkin from Florida (we preferred to call it 'the extended tour'), heard amusing stories from one of the most talkative scottish barmen i had ever met (but how many have i met?), hung out with a cute australian couple and an extremely energetic frenchman, made friends with the cute old german lady who owned the convenience store across the street from the hostel, ate my first Döner kebab, walked into a bar with 2 aussies and said frenchman where they were, oddly enough, playing the theme from "Dallas," and went to Prater (Vienna's amusement park) with three parisians.
A view from the famous Prater ferris wheel
Constance was determined to find cotton candy
Jean had never ridden a roller coaster before, but once he got on one, he wanted to do them all.
And that's all for now- Brno and the summer school get another entry entirely. :)
I left Brno two days after i arrived because the hostel situation wasn't the best and my SERVAS contacts weren't working out. Deciding that i'd have plenty of time to see the city once i came back to study, i looked up bus schedules to Mikulov, hostel information in Vienna, and left the next morning. it was exciting at the time because it was the first time i left a city without a plan for lodging set in stone and without much information about my next destination other than the fact that there were hotels and pensions to be had.
As usual, the bus dropped me (and about three other people) off in the middle of nowhere. while adjusting the weight of my bag on my back (which made me want to find a place to stay all the more merely so i could get rid of my burden), i glanced around the dusty road only to see a large hill with a castle on top. my rule of thumb was, when in doubt and without a map, head towards the castle- there's bound to be something.
eventually i wound my way uphill to the town square and found the tourist info. point. say what you want about czech cities, but on the whole, they're user friendly. Locate a castle-like building, and there will be a town square with a plague column. somewhere within that square you'll find tourist information where people either a)speak english or b) are usually pretty patient with your bad czech. With their help i found a reasonably priced pension, which meant a room with two twin beds and a bathroom to myself. imagine! after the hostel it was like heaven. my guidebook had told me that because the city had no hostels, the lodging would be more expensive. in the end it was 15 u.s. dollars a night for a room to myself, which i was more than willing to pay for a clean, private room nestled by the hills.
The city itself was beautiful, with some especially notable sites:
View from the lookout tower
The city's lookout tower/fort
The castle gardens
"Holy Hill"- on top of which is a chapel that the townspeople make a pilgrimage up to each year, though it looked to be a pretty steep climb.
The Jewish Cemetery
After two days, i felt i had gotten a good feel for the city and it was time to move on. i was also motivated by the sudden heat wave that made sightseeing quite a trial. in the heat of the afternoon, i was finding myself wholed up in my room, chugging water and hoping for a breeze to come through the window. It was time to move on to a hostel and find good company to be lazy with.
i left the pension early the next morning, saying goodbye to the resident boxer that followed me around the halls with a squeak toy. To my surprise, i had quite a time finding the train station. You would think it wouldn't be difficult, as it would have tracks and trains, and probably some people. Yes, it had all these things, but was rather hard to find because it was hidden among various winding roads and was no bigger than a modest two story house. But at long last i boarded a train for Breclav, where i would get out and buy my international ticket for Vienna.
The problem that i usually had with czech trains is this: they're hardly ever labeled, and if they are, it's one dusty sign stuck to the front of the train that flashes by so quickly that there's no chance in hell you'll be able to read it. So at Breclav, when my train was running late and they didn't bother to announce it, i got into a train that was at the correct platform at the correct time. I quickly sat down, and luckily, a woman struck up conversation with me. Lucky because she asked me where i was going, and when i replied Vienna, she said, "um... we just came from Vienna." I looked at her stupidly for a moment before replying, "Ah, then i'm on the wrong train."
I was fortunate enough for that to be my only train mishap throughout the whole trip, and at that, i still got off the train with some time to spare before it took off. After consulting with some clueless station officials and checking the boards, i finally got onto the correct train and arrived in Vienna without any more problems.
The station of course was huge, and i ran around with a guy who turned out to be a fellow UT Longhorn (small world) looking for an information desk. I had bought a map of vienna in mikulov, but it wasn't exactly preferable to use as it was huge, and i wanted to get some directions to the hostel i had found on the internet. the man at the desk efficiently grabbed a tourist map, circled the area i had asked for, and handed me a slip of paper that the hostel had helpfully left at the station to direct backpackers to their door.
I got off the bus at the stop written on the slip of paper and began to look at my map for the correct street. almost immediately after i had taken out the map, an old woman got off her bench and hobbled over. she asked me something in german, and i replied "myrthengasse 10?" hoping that she was asking me where i was going. she pointed me in the right direction with a smile, and i thanked her before continuing on. when i had walked awhile, i brought out my map to check it again. a woman walking her dog stopped and asked me what i was looking for in german (though i can only assume.) she pointed me in the right direction and i continued on, amazed at how friendly the people were. When i came to an intersection and was checking my progress on a map, a girl asked me in english where i needed to go. Simply amazed at the generousity that the people of vienna had showed me in the first fifteen minutes i was there, i told her my destination and she gave me detailed instructions and wished me luck.
I found the hostel and checked in, but was disappointed to find that i'd only be able to stay for one night because they were booked up. After i threw my bag down on my bed, i began the process of orienting myself to the city: first priority- i needed a guidebook. i had come to vienna on the spur of the moment and knew absolutely nothing about it, other than people had told me it was beautiful. of course it's true- the city must put so much money into simply maintaining the old, beautiful buildings. Exhibit A:
the Naturhistorisches Museum (museum of natural history)
After i had located a handy lonely planet guidebook, i started calling other hostels nearby to make a reservation for a couple of nights, as i wasn't sure whether or not i'd be moving on to a SERVAS host. Luckily, there was another on that street, which meant i wouldn't have to haul my bag around town. That's how i ended up at Believe It or Not hostel- as in, believe it or not, this small apartment is a hostel. There was a kitchen, common room, private room with two twin beds and a bunk, and then the large "dorm"- which was just a regular bedroom with this interesting, three-story bunk structure:
The first couple of nights i was in the "loft," which meant climbing that rickety ladder and crawling to a pallet.
Though it was a weird situation, it was by far my favorite hostel on my trip. Everyone was in such cramped quarters that we all knew each other, and more often than not, went out as a group at night, or on a few occasions, sat around in the common room eating dinner and sharing stories. i met more people there than any where on my trip, and definetly intend to stay in touch with them.
I'm not going to try and list every little event that i did in Vienna, as i was there for awhile and it would bore you to tears- but i'll try to go over the highlights. One of them would definetly be the Kunsthistisches museum which housed some of the most beautiful paintings by the old masters- rubens, raphael, klimt, and so on. Then i moved on to the MUMOK- the modern art museum which was interesting to say the least. After some enlightening as well as mildly disturbing pieces, i called it a day for intellectual pursuits and did some badly needed laundry. when i returned to the hostel with my clean clothes, i found some new residents sitting around in the common room. i joined their conversation and we went on to dinner together. We came back to grab our sweaters and invited the rest of the hostel out for a drink. This pretty much explains how i spent most of my nights in Vienna- wandering around in good company.
I basically took a break from traveling there and just decided to enjoy the city and rest. I'd trade books with the other residents, and when i got tired of sight seeing and museums, I'd and go read and take naps in parks. and as the parks were so beautiful, i was still seeing something pretty amazing.
Another sight that i particularly loved was shonbrunn, the hapsburg's summer palace. Because it was so vast, i wouldn't be able to get it all into one picture without the help of a helicopter- so here's a nice view of the gardens.
view of the gardens with the Gloriette in the background.
view from the top of the hill- the palace shonbrunn and gardens.
Ooh! and the Gloriette
After standing around in the heat, Krista (a friend from the hostel, o' course) and i went down to a popular swimming area on the river and enjoyed the icy cold water and oppurtunity for sunbathing (as by that time i had a golden brown farmers tan that i was keen to get rid of.)
Also, two canadians convinced me to go to Kunst Haus Wien, and i'm so glad they did as the building alone is worth seeing:
They turned out to be two of my favorite canadians, and we ended up hanging out quite a bit. Here we are finding creative ways to pass the time while our laundry gets done.
I figured i would eventually title this "how i broke my neck in vienna," but luckily it's not the case.
Matt invents a new artform.
Brad the Canadian is the blond one with his mouth hanging open, and here's a glimpse at the rest of the hostel crew, including three parisians and two physicists from oxford.
I went to mass in Stephansdom, Vienna's premiere cathedral, saw Orson Welles' The Third Man, got lost with an englishman and a bumpkin from Florida (we preferred to call it 'the extended tour'), heard amusing stories from one of the most talkative scottish barmen i had ever met (but how many have i met?), hung out with a cute australian couple and an extremely energetic frenchman, made friends with the cute old german lady who owned the convenience store across the street from the hostel, ate my first Döner kebab, walked into a bar with 2 aussies and said frenchman where they were, oddly enough, playing the theme from "Dallas," and went to Prater (Vienna's amusement park) with three parisians.
A view from the famous Prater ferris wheel
Constance was determined to find cotton candy
Jean had never ridden a roller coaster before, but once he got on one, he wanted to do them all.
And that's all for now- Brno and the summer school get another entry entirely. :)
posted by Liz at 3:54 PM
3 Comments:
So, I'm still very jealous.
I'm glad that you got to meet some amazing people, now to convince them to come to texas and we can ALL meet them- that would be cool.
You're an amazing person liz. see ya later.
Hi Liz, this is a wonderful extension of the stories you told us before flying back home. Hope to meet Michelle one day! only joking. Have a restful time at home before your next trip, Konrad
Lizzy, good batch of pictures this time! Not that the others were bad... Anywho, I am in awe of all of the neat buildings and architexture but really I like seeing the hostels and the "normal" places! They are much more realistic. (all of the other places are fake, you see) So one day we need to sit down and go through all of your pictures! I'm sure Grayson would just drool at the thought!
-Dez
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