,,When In Wien"

I've been in Wien, Österreich (Vienna, Austria) since Tuesday visiting my dear friend Christy Henderson who has been studying here since January. Tuesday was an interesting day for me-I very reluctantly left my flat in London, mainly because at some point during the day they would have actually forcibly removed me from the premises, made my way to Gatwick Airport and flew to a country where I spoke not a word of the language. (I still haven't really gotten over London--one of Christy's roommates has a large collection of DVDs, out of which I've chosen to watch pretty much only movies that are set in or have to do with England in some way, or the characters have british accents.)
Still, I'm very glad I'm here. I'm fairly certain that had Christy not studied here I would not have come to Vienna--I've never felt any particular curiosity or interest in Vienna or Austria, and of all the places in Europe I could visit, it was not high on my list--but since coming here I have realized what a wonderful city it is. It is still a little strange for me to be in a city where everyone is not speaking my language (thankfully it appears that EVERYONE speaks at least some English), and I have definitely almost been hit by at least 5 cars (they drive here on the wrong? right? American? side of the road), but I have found my way around pretty well. Austria, like so many cities in Europe, has a very long and interesting History, several palace, huge cathedrals, and a lot of Austrian pride. The Viennese are particularly proud of Mozart, despite the fact he was actually born in Salzburg, and in front of every music establishment, several museums, and many special candy stores (specializing in candy with Mozart on it) there are men dressed up as Mozart trying to sell you things. The best is to see these men when they are on their breaks, eating lunch and riding the Strassenbahn (part of Vienna public transport) in full Mozart gear.
So far of the main Vienna sights to see I have viewed St. Stephen's Cathedral, Karlskirche, the Opera, Naschmarkt, the Parliament, several Museums, historic U-Bahn (subway) stations, and Schönbrunn. On Wednesday I wen to Karlskirche, a baroque cathedral with a beautifully painted dome, which, due to renovations from a few years ago, has huge scaffolding inside going all the way up into the dome that tourists can ascend. Apparently the church continually says that they are about to take the scaffolding down since it sort of ruins the effect of the church, but the money it makes from tourists paying to have this fairly unique experience has convinced them to keep it there for the time being. It was amazing to see the painting, the architecture and the view from that height in a church, a sight that in most churches only those painting the fresco would ever see. It was also slightly terrifying to be so very high on years old scaffolding, swaying slightly as 20-30 tourists wandered up and down.
Though we did other things on Thursday, the most important part was going to get Sachertorte and Melange at the Sacher Cafe, Sachertorte is a kind of chocolate cake which was the center of a lawsuit for many years as to who had invented the original recipe, and melange is delicious, milky coffee. Both are wonderful, though perhaps not worth a lawsuit...
Yesterday I met Christy after her German class. We got lunch at the outdoor market, the Naschmarkt, and then went to Schönbrunn, the former summer palace of the Hapsburg family, now a public park and museum. Christy tells me that part of the idea behind Schönbrunn was to make it the Versailles of the East, and they seem to have done a pretty good job of it. I especially liked the fake roman statues and ruins, and the enormous fountains dotting the grounds. From the top of the hill behind the palace, where sits a building called the Gloriette, you can see a view of all of Vienna and the surrounding forests. After Schönbrunn, Christy took me back into town and we got in line for standing room tickets to the Opera. It was Wagner's Siegfried, the third of four opera's in Wagner's Ring Cycle. Not everyone knows quite how much I like the Rings Cycle (in fact, probably only Katie Davis knows how excited I was to see this performance) but even without this added Wagner excitement, the Opera and the performances where unbelievable. I happily stood for hours in a hot and sometimes smelly crowd watching this amazing production for 4 euro. Lovely.
I think the rest of my trip in Vienna is going to be filled with Christy trying to get me to eat as much traditional Viennese food and drink as much Viennese wine as possible, and on Monday I begin the epic train journey through Italy, France, Belgium and The Netherlands.
I don't have a way of uploading pictures until I get back to London on the 28th, but eventually i will have proof of some of these amazing sights.
Aufwiederzehn!