Sunday, November 22, 2009

Vienna

As a disclaimer, I am truly sorry for not having updated everyone in quite a while. The past few weeks have been terribly busy: Vienna with Aunt Jean, family here for two weeks, friends in town the next weekend, London the next weekend. Now that things in my life have calmed down a bit, I am ready to continue writing and sharing all of my truly amazing experiences. Here it goes! After a train ride, two flights, and walking through customs easily without having anything to actually came, I finally arrived in Vienna. I walked out of passport control to see Jean Blake and my friend Tiana kindly waiting for me to arrive. TIana and I were in town for two and a half days, and Jean was nice enough to let us stay with her throughout our stay. My friend Tiana, who is from Texas and goes to the University of Texas, happened to arrive in Vienna before me, but Jean was nice enough to go and pick her up from the airport so she would not have to wait. Picking her up included me sending a picture and a description of what Tiana looked like, which came to haunt me throughout our stay in Vienna. It was classic to hear among the first few sentences of Jean’s greeting, “you told me she had long hair! That’s not long hair.” It was the perfect amount of “Blake” right off the bat! Jean had borrowed her neighbor of twenty years, Theresa’s, car in order to pick me up from the airport. It must be said that she does not drive ever, as Vienna has multiple forms of public transportation. For Tiana and I, it was weird to be in a car also, since we have taken public transportation for four months while living in Nantes. Jean’s driving skills were as adequate as they could have been for not having driven in years, although at the end of our journey, we realized she may have left the parking brake on throughout the ten minute commute. Jean’s apartment is the most beautiful building ever. She may not think so, but it is the perfect building and city apartment that one could ever ask for. There are two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a nice hallway. When all three of the Vienna Blake’s were living under the same roof, I can see how there would be a lot of traffic in and around the house. For Jean alone, it seems like a perfect place. In the apartment, we met her nice old doggie named Shadow, who received tons of attention from her two visitors. It made me miss the boys so very much. Our first night in Vienna was spent reminiscing, laughing, and eating crepes. We went to bed way too late, but we were able to plan out some of the sites we wished to see the next day. Most memorable parts of the night include Jean continuously saying, “You are such a Blake.” Apparently, I laugh just like my Dad, which is great because when my Dad really does laugh, his laugh is amazing! It was fun to hear a member of our family tell me how much I resembled and had characteristics and mannerisms that were like the Blake family. I am sure I would have felt the same way had I been in Scotland with the Peace and Cunningham relatives! (That is next on the life agenda) The next day, Jean, Tiana and I set off fairly early in the morning so we could get our bearings around Vienna. Before leaving, we had a typical Viennese breakfast, brought to us by Jean via the bakery downstairs. Once we arrived in the city, we had to try to understand the idea of “rings” since this is how the different parts of Vienna are situated. We took a street car inside the first ring to get to the center of Vienna. Jean walked with us a ways so we could comprehend where some things were and she left us before lunch time at the Albertina museum. We had decided to visit one museum, mainly because they were having a highly advertised exposition dealing with impressionism. It was something that interested the two of us, so we decided to give it a go. Ultimately, the Albertina was a great museum to spend money on! We saw so many famous works and also how consumerism touches all tourists in a museum gift shop. How do they come up with some of the items they sell? It is insane! After returning to Jean’s for a quick lunch break, we then went back into the first ring. It was nice outside so we decided to walk and get a bit lost in the city. We ended up getting lost in a great way, so we saw St. Stephen’s cathedral, the palaces, and the hotel de ville. It was great to just wander and try to understand the history of the city. The highlight of both of our days was partaking in one of Vienna’s most popular past times: the coffee house. Jean had told us we should try a “sachetorte” which is a sort of chocolate cake with a jelly type filling. We found a cute coffee house to go to, although our choice was mainly based on the combination prices we could see in the window. I ended up ordering a sachetorte and Viennese coffee, which was absolutely amazing. Such a great cultural experience…eating our way through Vienna. That night, we also did a bit of eating when Jean made us a typical Austria dinner. It was a type of goulash-type noodle, meat, and gravy dish. We had such a great time sitting in her tiny kitchen, talking and eating. It was a perfect night! The next day, we were off early again. We went to the Belvedere which is a famous castle turned museum, the market (which I am forgetting the name of right now), Schonbrun, and another coffee house. At the market, we did some scarf shopping, since there were definitely many to purchase, and we also indulged in some Persian flat bread and hummus which had been recommended by Jean. It was amazing to eat on the side of the road, perfectly content. Schonbrun was the most memorable part of the trip, mainly because of the profoundness of its size and its views. We hiked up to the top of the “Gloria” where we saw an amazing view of the entire city of Vienna. Absolutely perfect to see the tops of St. Stephen’s cathedral! After going to another Viennese coffee house (ordering a strudel instead of a sachetorte), Tiana and I went to meet Jean at her work. Jean wanted to show Tiana and I (Tiana is interested in medicine) her work in the pediatric neonatology unit. It was incredibly to see Jean switch fluidly from German to English, speaking to us and her coworkers. She has a very difficult job, but it seems she leaves everyday with a smile on her face, hoping to make the world a better place. That night, after returning home, we had Schnitzel from the Turkish restaurant below Jean’s apartment. We sat up late at night, talking about our families and our lives. It was so easy to chat and have an ongoing conversation that it grew very difficult to cut things off and go to bed. Tiana and I both had incredibly early flights that next morning, so Jean took us to the bus stop where we would be taken directly to the airport. In the cold of the early morning, I was forced to say goodbye to a lovely family member and a wonderful city. The only thing that made it somewhat easy to leave was knowing I was off to meet my “real” family.

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