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Vienna
Well, I must say that I have really enjoyed Vienna. I believe it's the largest city I've been to so far, but if it isn't it still feels that way. Vienna is SO beautiful! I mean, every where you go there is something breathtaking. The buildings are really amazing. Even the Burger King was spectacular, which is saying something because Burger Kings are usually the dirtiest and crappiest back home.
All of you parental figures will be happy to note that I have been sufficiently scared and will no longer be going out at night alone. At least I won't be going out again until the fear starts to wear off, but I don't think I will be going out at night at all, especially in the next few cities I am going to.
Also, another note- Europeans are absolutely NUTS for football (also known as soccer)! I knew that Switzerland was hosting the big Euro 2008 tournament, but it wasn't until after I left the country. I did NOT know that Vienna was also a host city...and it's all happening now. Football fans are loud and slightly scary sometimes, lol. I saw two guys
last night (one of the things that made me decide to not go out again late) and one was choking the other. I mean like standing above him trying to kill him...luckily they were both so drunk it wasn't really dangerous; just a little pathetic and comical. The alcohol caused everything they did to be in slow motion, lol. It was slightly amusing.
So, here are the things I've done in Vienna.
I conquered the subway! I can get practically anywhere in the city. I'm quite proud of myself, as subways were not part of my daily routine back home, and when I did ride subways in New York and Boston other people did pretty much everything. I can even go without my map now, lol. I love undergrounds. They make traveling so much easier, ANd it's cheaper than paying for gas 😊.
I went to 2 really cool Museums, The Albertina, and , Haus der Musik (House of Music). The Albertina had a lot of Impressionist paintings and a lot of neoimpressionists. I got to see some more Monet and Renoir. There was one Monet painting that I really loved, it was called "The House Among
the Roses". I bought a bookmark of it, lol. I was really fascinated with the Pointilist paintings (they paint scenes using dots). There were some really cool ones, and they really reminded me of my favorite impressionist painters, in fact, I'm pretty sure they were the ones called neoimpressionists. I really wish I could have taken pictures, but alas, they didn't allow it. I probably enjoyed it more since I wasn't allowed to take pictures. Sometimes I try so hard to capture the moment that I forget to be a part of the moment. The Albertina also had a lot of Picasso, but I've realized that I just don't care for him much. I much prefer Monet, Renoir, Signac, Degas, Van Goh, and Munch.
The House of Music was really cool as well, but I didn't get to spend as much time in it as I should have. It's an interactive museum and has all sorts of things to listen to on these little tv things. I learned about the infinity of the Shepard scale, but don't ask me to tell you anything, because all I know is that it is infinately ascending. They had a floor devoted to
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This is the State Opera House, where I saw the ballets and the Operadifferent composers, like Strauss and Motzart. Did you know that Motzart has more internet searches than the Beatles? I didn't. I also composed my own waltz by rolling a die. Well, me and this other lady composed a waltz. She had the flute die and I had the Cello die. It was actually a very nice waltz. Then a little later I conducted a symphony....turns out I am a really horrible conductor. The musicians kept stopping me to tell me that I was awful, and it was PRE-RECORDED! Lol. They had this conducter stick with a sensor in it (like the wii games) and the players on the screen would play as fast as I conducted them. It was really hard. I did it like 12 times, because it was driving me crazy that I could do it! I finally got to where I had gone on for several minutes without the players revolting, but then gave up because my arm was tired. 😊 I had to leave early though because I wanted to go to the opera, and I needed to buy my ticket.
That leads me to the coolest things I have done in Vienna. My first
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An Elephant for Jess real day in Vienna I went to the State Opera house because I'd heard through the Grapevine I could get a standing ticket for a few Euro's, and I thought even if I left half way through it would still be worth it. I ended up going to see a show on Thursday night and Friday night. My ticket was only 2 Euro's, and it wasn't that bad to be standing. I sat down until the show started, and every time there was a break. The first night it wasn't an Opera, it was a ballet, two ballets, in fact. The first one was about puppets, and it was great. The second one was about dating, I think, and it was great too! I liked the second better because they did more of the typical ballet stuff, and they did lots of lifts and stuff. The second night I saw an Opera. It was longer, so it was a little more annoying to have to stand. Lots of times I sat down and just closed my eyes and listened, instead of watching and reading the translator. There was only one time that I actually missed something, but the really nice
lady next to me (from Insbruck) told me what happened. She'd seen it once before. It was kind of a sad Opera, but also very beautiful. The lady next to me described it best when she said "it's about faith and fate, and what it does to people". The name on the events guide I got was "La Forza del Destino von G. Verdi". I would have gone to another theatre to see another show tonight, but like I said, I'm stayin' in!
I also rode the Vienna Risenrad, a giant Ferris wheel, at night. I waited to ride it at night because I thought it would be more exciting than in the daytime. It was. It was so pretty. My fear of heights only came in to play a little bit. There was a really large woman in the little cabin with me and when she would walk around the cabin it would tilt, which really freaked me out! But it was alright. I'm really glad I did it, even though some not-so-great things happened. This weird guard asked if I had time to have a drink with him (I lied and said I had to meet friends),
I saw the two drunk guys fighting, and this weird kid wouldn't leave me alone and then grabbed me and tried to kiss me, but I shoved him away. I no longer go outside at night alone, lol.
I've spent several hours just wandering around the city. I've found lots of parks, some with fountains and some with statues. I would have seen more parks, but the city built all of these "fanzones" for the Euro 2008, and they built them in Parks 😞
I saw the Hofburg Imperial Palace...well, I saw parts of it, lol. Its REALLY big! I saw some of the Imperial Staterooms before, because hey are part of the Albertina museum. I didn't know it at the time but the Albertina is housed in part of the palace. The Staterooms were absolutely beautiful! A few of them reminded me of Mrs. Lesley because they were so bright and colorful! There was a room the exact pink color of the walls in Mrs. Lesley's kitchen! There was a yellow room too that was really beautiful; it reminded me of my friend Jessica from Tallahassee. I have actually thought about her a lot while I've been
here becuase there are elephant statues everywhere and she likes elephants. I also think of Jasmina everytime I get food, especially when I get something like BB Kings, or McDonalds because I know she would be so ashamed, lol. And I've been thinking of Janell alot because of the big soccer tournament here. And I've been thinking about Kenji a lot because of all the art galleries I've gone too. And I've thought of Peggy and Kim alot because I saw bio students studying together in a park, lol. And I think about Bianca whenever I get a phone number...which has been about twice a day.
And I think about all my GB friends too! For differnt things. Like, this painting that I really liked..I know Kayla and Michelle Burton would really like it too!...so I bought them bookmarks of it, lol. I think of Kiersten...pretty much all the time, especially when I see the cute football fans. I think of Lizzy all the time too, and even more when I saw the "REbecca" the musical poster, lol. Ria, I think of whenever I see someone play the guitar, and all the time.
Really, I just think of
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You wouldn't believe how many Pizza venders there are in Vienna! I thought I left Italy, lol. everyone all the time. I kind of wish I was coming home in July, but I will see everyone in January for sure!
Auf Wiedersien!
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Taylor
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I am so glad everything seems to be going well for you and that you are having such a great time heather! ILY girlie! Taylor