Thursday May 18th, 2004
at 11:15 p.m.
The first entry from Europe is here.
Well the Sound of Music Tour was predictably hyper-touristy, with about 100 retired Americans packed into a charter bus, and the 4 of us represented about 90% of the under-45 demographic. That was fine though! We had a time getting to know the older people, three fourths of whom hailed from Texas, and they were actually a lot of fun. . .as was the insane tour leader, who took all the camp possibly found in the film and infused it into himself a thousand fold. However it was quite entertaining.
Our hostel provided a viewing the morning of the tour, and so we were fersh from the film when we saw all the locations, which actually really helped considering I've seen the film once, when I was 12, and otherwise would have most likely had little to no understanding of what was going on!
We saw the famed gazebo, as well as other sites such as the church, the mansion, the gardens, etc. However the true highlight of the 4 hour tour was when we went up into the alps to small Austrian villages situated right on the most beautiful steppe lakes, which were clear pristine turquoise, and in the mist looked almost south pacific with the rising green mountains behind them. The towns were very charming, and not completely touristy despire our presence there. I can imagine that later in the summer this all changes, and they're flooded with Austrian vacationers. Apparently these lakes are THE places to go in August and July.
The following day we moved on to Vienna which commenced the 3-hostels-in-as-many-days portion of this vacation! Our first evening in the city was spent just walking the entire stretch of the main road, Maria Thereisa, and making notes on what to do that day. Then: bed, EARLY. Who knew walking was so tiring? (We have learned after these days). The next day we rose early and spent another day trsipsing all over Vienna, and I was able to get to know it better in this time than I did 5 years ago when I first saw it. For once thing, the city is hopping right now. . .
We started off at a huge flea market reccommended to us by a Let's Go Travel writer we met in our first hostel, right off of Maria Thereisa Strasse. It was fun trying to find a cheap gold-colored band to masquerade as a wedding one in Turkey. Also, Mindy got some coool spacey sunglasses. By cool I mean insane. We wandered from there downt the street in search of the main museum, which was our ultimate destination. However we didn't actually make it that day; we were diverted; there was just so much to see in the city. In addition to the massive flea market there was the annual marathon going on the next day being set up, plus a huge outdoor event about aids, with strange soctumed men and women wearing all sorts of things. Indeed, the circus was in town. Literally. Cirque de Soleil's "Dralion" was being set up within this vicinity as well.
We found ourself amongst all this in the old part, near St. Stephens, which I most remember. When we arrived there we went inside the church then descended below for a tour of the cypts, where we saw the newest addition: a bishop interred there last week (!!!) as well as the oldest, a massive put of bones from plague victims. Added bonus: the giant pewter pots filled with all the Hapbergs internal organs, including those of aforementioned Maria Thereisa, who was one of the most liked empresses.
After this, we were walking down the street, thinking about getting some gelato, when our (first?) guest star appearred. Sarah was thinking about something right next to me and she mindless bumped into someone coming towards us, and she did a double take. "You guys!" she exclaimed, "that was Elton John!" We just nodded skeptically and kept walking (she is notoriously "girl who cried wolf" with these things). But she turned us around and we saw a entourage of men and a shorter figure going into a Crystal shop, which was then locked off. Elton John sure enough! Next thing we know he was out again and directly behind us, and though Sarah wanted to snap a picture, we didn't allow her. I think she's still a little mad about this, lol.
We finally made it to the museum, but it was closing within 2 hours, so we went the following day.
That night however, though our hostel originally told us that we had beds, when we arrive there they didn't, so we had to scramble to find another one, which only had beds for that one night. The following night we made reservations for yet another, Wombats. So the next day, after dragging our luggage once more, we headed back to the museum, traveling the same path as thousands upon thousands of marathon runners. Once at the place we spent a long time there, seeing some really good painting and Egyptian exhibits. Out of all the audio tours we've had so far, this one had the best commentary, definitely, hehe.
Our last morning was spent in the Hapsberg's Palce, Shonnbrunn, which is truly amazing if you like Rococo excess. It reminded me much of Versaille, though the inner apartments of the emperor's showed that some of them were true working civil servants, and the ornate decoration was just a facade.
Now we're in Slovakia, which is my second time in the country within 5 years, how strange! It's very familiar in ways, and we've been to the castle and all throughout the old town. It's really interseting though; there is such a constrast between the old and new. The old is very beautiful with its baroque and rococo styles, and everything is very well made and pristine. However, ironically, the newer parts are much more run down and unattractive, since most of them were built up during the time of communism. In fact, the castle was rebuilt by them, so it was not nearly as impressive as the town hall, which we thought was funny.
Our hostel is nice and we're in a coed room so we're meeting all sorts of interesting characters, but I expected nothing less!
Tomorrow we're going to Prague, which we've been looking forward to for a long time. I've never been to the Czek Republic but I've heard all about it. I'll let you know how it goes. . .
What song is playing on my iTunes right now: What I'm reading: What I'm Wearing: Back to anecdotal journalism again! - Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
Plan? - Monday, Jun. 19, 2006
FINALLY things are going better!
(This month redefined my understanding of stress and 'hell') - Monday, April 24th, 2006
Just a few more days! - Monday, February 27th, 2006
Another one to chalk up to College Experiences - Sunday, February 12th, 2006