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There is only a handful of songs that consistently make me tear up a bit when I hear them: Billy Joel’s Vienna is one of them. If you a) know me well and b) listen to the lyrics, it should be pretty self-evident as to why it affects me so strongly. That said, it’s still on my list of karaoke songs to master, and hopefully when I actually grab a mic and go for it someday, I won’t lose my cool! Apologies for being late here yet again— I was going to write this up on Saturday evening after I got into Prague, but it turns out I forgot my laptop charger in Vienna. And then I made some logistical blunders that prevented me from having time to get it done when I got back last night. So, without further ado…. Hallo aus Wien! I knew I’d love this city the day I got here. It’s so clean, and beautiful, and not crowded, not to mention unbelievably historic. Last week, the weather was clear, sunny, a balmy day 60 degrees (Fahrenheit). I’m staying in a hipster part of town in the seventh district called Neubau, within spitting distance of myriad farm-t0-table cafes, vintage stores, and record shops. I think I lucked into the perfect part of town for me! On my first full day here (last Sunday), I visited the Albertina, which is a world-class art museum in the Hofburg palace complex. I got a deep-dive education into the life and work of Amadeo Modigliani, as well as his contemporaries (not the least of whom was Pablo Picasso). I saw many works of impressionism, mostly Monet but a few Renoirs and many other contemporaries whose work I was much less familiar with. Part of the museum was also preserved as it was when it was a imperial residence, so I was able to walk through rooms that the Habsburgs lived in themselves with the original furnishings and artworks (including a few watercolors by the famous German realist of the Renaissance, Albrecht Dürer). Later that evening, I took a tram to the north side of town to have dinner with some friends of a friend, who were kind enough not only to take me to an Austrian wine garden (I’m not sure what it’s called, but it’s like a beer garden but instead they serve house-made wine), but also to lend me a few winter accessories that I neglected to bring from home. We had a lovely time, and made tentative plans to hang out again while I’m still in town. On Monday, I did some light grocery shopping and explored my own local area. I wandered through the Naschmarkt, tried to go to a church but neglected to bring cash for the entrance fee, and eventually headed home to do a bit more in-depth planning and also to sit down to work for the day. Tuesday was National Austria Day, and apparently most things close on holidays around here, but I was advised to go to the Hofburg/Parliament area to check out the happenings around there. I later found out that this year’s celebration was scaled back for health reasons, but I did manage to catch some skydivers gliding down right over the MuseumsQuartier, which was cool. I also went to Aerial Silk Vienna for my first open studio there— it’s very cool, two floors below ground in a building right across the street from the Mozart haus. It was so good to be back in the cloth again! For Wednesday, I booked (through Airbnb) a walking tour of Vienna and an Austrian food tasting, both of which were thoroughly enjoyable. I tasted all kinds of cold cuts and cheeses from various regions of Austria, including beef tongue (which I was apprehensive about but did not, in fact, dislike at all). On Thursday, I planned to go to Schönbrunn palace to view the gardens while the weather was still so lovely, but I ended up staying in bed too long because I slept so poorly the night before. Around midday, I had another open studio at ASV, this time led by one of my fellow aerial cruisers earlier this year. We got lunch afterwards and made plans to go to the palace together and check out a kung fu class at a local Shao Lin temple (so excited for that!). Friday, I met up with one of the friends-of-a-friend mentioned above (I’m just going to start calling them my friends, we’ve clicked enough to merit that label) to check out the Sisi Museum and go for lunch. Sisi, also known as Queen Elisabeth of Austria, was one of the Austrian Empire’s last empresses in the late 19th century. She was a beloved non-conformist queen who despised the constraints of court life, loved to travel, and was an avid health junkie. Her life was unfortunately beset by a string of tragedies, but she was definitely ahead of her time and is a cult favorite among the Viennese to this day. I went down quite a rabbit hole of reading about her life, and I’m surprised her story hasn’t picked up more global traction because it’s really quite fascinating. That’s all for my first week here— saving Prague for the next writeup.
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