Welcome to Vienna

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I would like to welcome you to Vienna, the city I call home for the next year of my life as I try to improve my German, immerse myself in another history and culture, and study... marine biology. "But Austria is a landlocked country," you say, adding with a chuckle that I "should be studying in AustrALia!"

I like Australia. I aspire to go there one day. And, you do have a valid point - the Austrians think coming here to study without an ocean is pretty hilarious too, but - surprise! - the UniWien has a small and dedicated department of Marine Biology. You can check it out yourself at http://www.univie.ac.at/marine-biology/ if you are interested in seeing the research that they are involved in.

There are other distincly positive aspects to studying in Vienna as well. Like the coffee. And the State Opera, where you can see a world-class production of The Magic Flute or Carmen for 2 Euros. And the art museums. And the concerts and culture and history and parks, and the view of cathedral spires from the subway station, and oh yes the bread products, which are devine. To name a few!

So an introduction - I live in the ninth district of Vienna in an adorable apartment that looks out over a typically grand Viennese street. The ubiquitous red streetcars (which locals call the "bim," because that's the sound that it makes, bim bim when it arrives and leaves the station) make it a very convenient location. The Biology Center of the University, where I go to school, is ten minutes by foot. The German Lit professor I studied with at the University of Maryland, Dr. Riegler, helped me find this place - my roommate, Christine, is a friend of a friend of her brother! Christine is from upper Austria, lived in Portugal, is a fantastic cook, studied music in university and amazing dancer. Really, going dancing with her is the best. Late afternoons we often enjoy a refreshing coffee or relaxing tea, and when we need inspiration to clean the apartment we rock out to Janis Joplin.

I am taking a language course, real University classes begin in October. The weather is lovely. I consider Vienna a very green city, and I have found that between the impressive buildings the city offers plenty of parks and gardens, which aren't too formal (read: you are allowed to sit on the grass!). The grass and trees are perfect setting for hours of reading, a picnick, people-watching, or a mid-afternoon nap.

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Photos

In Full Bloom
The parks in Vienna are spectacular right now

In the Opera
For 2 Euros you have to stand, but it is totally worth it!

Schloss Schoenbrunn
the Hapsburg summer getaway... with Inga, a friend from my language course

The Imperial Palace
This is the view from the back - too bad the Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed before the whole thing could be completed. Now it houses museums.

The Riesenrad
This ferriswheel in the Prater Amusement park was made famous in the movie, The Third Man, as the site of Orson Welles' famous quote of, "in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly."

More then Baroque
One of my favorite buildings is Sessesion, built in 1897 for the exhibitions of Sessesionist artists (led by Gustav Klimt). Today it has Klimt's Beethoven Frieze and continues to exhibit the newest art in line with the motto "To the time her art, and to the art her freedom."