Enjoying Vienna! August 23, 2012

            I couldn’t even begin to tell you how busy I have felt in the past few days. My intermediate 1 German intensive class started on Monday. Tomorrow we are taking an excursion to a Kaffeehaus to practice our German skills. I’ll continue with the class for about three weeks until we have a ten-day break, then our classes officially start on September 17^th. So far, a typical morning in my life begins around 7 am. I wake up, take a shower, eat my banana and peanut butter toast, and then head for the U-Bahn (think of the NYC subway). It takes us about 20 to 30 minutes to actually get to our school building, called Palais Corbelli. Corbelli built the palace as a place to have royal balls in when he vacationed in Vienna. It’s pretty neat. I get to walk up three flights of red-carpet-lined stairs to get to class.

IES has had so many activities planned for us that it took Molly and me almost two days to make it to the grocery store (which is conveniently located within a 5 minute walking distance from our apartment). One night we got to go to the Vienna Film Festival. That night they were showing the opera, “La Forza del Destino.” We could only guess what was happening, but we still had a lot of fun. The festival had so many booths set up for food and drinks right in front of the Rathaus (City hall). I got to try the famous “Kaiserschmarrn,” which are fluffy, chopped-up, raisin-filled pancakes served with a berry jam. They are so good that I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

The big screen in front of the Rathaus

Me, Elizabeth & Molly at the Vienna Film Festival

Yesterday, I went with a small group to the Kunsthistorisches (Art history) Museum where an IES professor told us a little bit about some of the paintings there. To any Klimt fans out there, Austrians are not so sure “what the big deal is.” The tour was a little rushed, so I’ll probably be going back on my own at some point. Last night the RAs showed us one of their favorite bars to go to in Vienna. It was a great night. I got to get a little dressed up and tried a few different 50 cent cocktails during happy hour. Don’t worry. I didn’t go crazy. That’s not the lifestyle here, and I’m enjoying that. The Austrians are a very quiet people. They know how to sit back and enjoy life.

Living in the apartment is going well. All of us roommates have been getting along fine. I still need time to get used to the quiet of the house, where I can hear everything from the neighbors outside to the doors creaking at night. It’s been so hot here too. I was not expecting 90-degree weather plus a non-air-conditioned apartment. It’s tough, but next week is forecasted to be in the 70s, so you can imagine how excited I am. I just got done doing my first load of laundry. Our little washer takes about an hour and a half to finish a load and then we must hang it all up on the drying rack. I’m currently enjoying my new favorite sweet: chocolate coconut cookies! 

Ciao!