I can't believe that it is almost already Friday! I've been in Rust for a whole week now. This past Monday, I went to Vienna to check out the roses in the Volksgarten. It isn't until the third week of May that they really start to bloom. For some reason, the flowers were exceptional this spring. My favorite varieties were Pristine and Nostalgia (will post photos later, but you can view them on Facebook already). Read Ulysses for an hour in the lower garden at Schloss Belvedere. Walked along the Ringstrasse, taking photos of Europa Meisterschaft (Euro Soccer Cup) ads and feverish construction. Austria and Switzerland are co-hosting the EM, and so many things are trying to be put in place in Vienna. Other stadiums include Graz, Innsbruck, and (I think) Salzburg. Maybe Linz? I'll have to double-check. Grabbed a Kebab at Schwedenplatz, but it didn't taste right. Probably because I was eating a Kebab at a decent hour and not at 12 in the morning.
Tuesday I went to the lakeshore in Rust. Read some Ulysses and caught up on some writing. It was pretty hot, so I stopped for an Eiscaffe. It was more strong coffee than an ice cream-coffee mix. Wasn't what my tastebuds were expecting, but it was a nice pick-me-up to the morning. Later in the afternoon, I went to Eisenstadt with D. While she was in class, I spent a lot of time in the Schloss Esterhazy park. I spent some time writing along the pond there at a picnic table. Later, I hiked up to the top of the lookout Obelisk. I'm sure the view of the city is better in winter when the trees aren't so full, but it was nice to look over the cityscape. On my way up the hill, I discovered the abandoned Lindenstadion. Eisenstadt used to have a Fussball club that competed there, but it is no long (since the 80s). Nature has overcome the turnstiles a little, and the metal parts have rusted, but there was a nice mysteriousness to it all that I can't quite articulate. On my way down the hill, I went to the Gloriette and reflected on a.c. for a while. We had spent some time at the Gloriette two years ago. He was telling me about the wild people and relationships in the Studentheim.
Wednesday I spent the whole day in Vienna again. This time, I reserved my train tickets for Trieste. With the EM taking place when I get back to Vienna, it was imperative that I get reserved seats on the train, otherwise it would be a long 8 hours from Trieste to Wien standing next to my backpack. Spent some time at the ÖBV Buchhandlung. Picked up two Reclam books (Fliedermaus and a Schnityler novel). Was also able to score an Italian-German travel phrase book. Went to Naschmarkt near the Technisches Universität, but nothing really appealed to me, so I hit up the Billa for lunch. Ate in the Karlsplatz park, read some more Ulysses. It has been really hot in Austria for the past few days, and so I went to the Wien Musuem am Karlsplatz for three hours. There was a nice exhibit on the history of Viennese soccer. I hadn't realized there were so many ethnic and political differences between the Viennese neigborhoods throughout the nineteenth /early twentieth-centuries and now. The Socialists had their own pitch and club while the Jews had their own, the middle class their own, a coffeehouse club, eastern European immigrant club, etc. Also fawned over the Stefansdom sandstone sculptures that were saved from war and other disasters. Ate 1 Euro slice pizza at Rennweg station -- Yes! Thunfisch pizza! Rode the 2 Strassenbahn around the city, read Ulysses in the Stadtpark. Took the 566 bus to Eisenstadt, but was overconfident about the Eisenstadt-Rust bus connection, so I had to phone d. to come get me from the Domplatz. Very embarrassing...
Today, I took the bus from Rust to Neusiedl to visit m.s. (my former landlady). She was working at the Buchhandlung, so we didn't have much time to catch up. Hopefully, after I visit d. on 09 Juni I can visit m. for a little bit. Picked Carcassonne (on sale for 16 Euro) at Heinz game/toy shop. Also picked up Die Siedler von Catan (die Kartenspiel) for r.m. and a. I absolutely can't wait to play games with them on Saturday evening. Hopefully, I can spend the night with them; otherwise, we'll only be able to play for an hour, which is not much time at all! Hiked up to Burgruine and browsed the Friedhof in Neusiedl. I now understand how the bodies are laid in the ground -- a new grave was in the process of being dug.
Am now in Rust with d. and her family. Chester is laying on the floor next to d.'s bed. D. is using the net on her computer. We're watching Germany's Next Top Model on TV. In a few minutes, Das Model und der Freak is showing. Ashton Kutcher has nothing on this geek v. beauty show!
1 comment:
Hello, Monique. A few things:
1.) Why am I just now finding out about this? Now I have to go back and read all of your unnecessarily long posts in one sitting.
2.) Did you really join Greenpeace? If you keep this up you're never going to be allowed back into the U.S. You're probably on some sort of list as it is.
And 3.) I watched this documentary about wild parrots that live in the Telegraph Hill area a few months ago. I believe it is called The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. It was good.
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