The table

I finally got an Erasmus Student Network card which offers discount on drinks in certain bars and allows entry to ESN events in night clubs. Until now I had been running with the “I left it at home, but I really am a student, and I’m poor” plea, but I hadn’t realised just how easy it would be to get one; assuming I would need a student card from a universities here, I was waiting until I had enrolled at the Technical University. Speaking to my flatmate Marco, however, assured me that the “I’m registering tomorrow, but I want to go to an ESN event tonight” tactic would work. As it happens, I just walked into the Freihaus at Karlsplatz, went to the ESN office, asked for a card, and they gave me one without asking any questions or checking any identification! It just costs €5 and one passport size photo.

Last Wednesday Loïc, Guillaume, Federico and I went to the Travel Shack, an Australian bar near Westbahnhof, to shoot some pool. It wasn’t the best example of a pool table – very odd proportioned pockets and pool balls for the size of the table – but Guillaume making up rules as we played was definitely more frustrating! The bar served Cider though, so overall I was a happy man. I’m still searching for the Viennese equivalent to the Honest Politician back in Portsmouth, but I’m starting to think it may be a forlorn hope! After Travel Shack, we headed to Dick Mack’s in Schwedenplatz to meet up with some of the French girls.

Thursday saw the usual pre-party at Molkereistraβe followed by Prater Dome, and then on Friday the Business University (Fachhochschule des BFI Wien) launched an ‘International Dinner’ event where each guest was encouraged to contribute some food to represent their country of origin. All day my mind was plagued with the question of what food I would take (which actually wasn't that long, as I woke at 2pm). The decision was made extremely difficult by the limited facilities in our halls; our kitchen has a microwave and hobs, but no oven – the principle tool for English cuisine! My mind eventually slow walked me to an epiphany, and I remembered the 4^th Earl of Sandwich! Although credit for the invention of the sandwich may be disputed, it was good enough for me!

At the dinner we were each given sticky tags on which to write our name and nationality - some had opted to draw their country’s national flag, so I followed suit and drew St. George’s Cross instead of simply writing ‘England’ – surely people know that, right? Wrong; apparently nobody realises England has its own flag aside from Britain’s Union Flag. My patriotic pride took a bit of a dent, but was soon restored by a Balkan girl fawning over my accent.

On Saturday a large group of us got together to visit a vineyard on the outskirts of the city, and taste some of the wine. On the way there, my passion for climbing overwhelmed me, and I did my first bit of Viennese urban climbing at the train station – I really need to find a local climbing hall! That night a girl in the Gästehaus Molkereistraße booked the basement party room (€150 deposit), for her birthday celebrations – needless to say I got absolutely trolleyed! Unfortunately for the birthday girl, the party got out of control, some people wrote on the walls, and she lost her deposit. Then on Sunday we visited the Belvedere Museum for the Klimt and Hoffmann exhibition. The exhibition also included pieces by other artists and designers, but I was particularly interested in the work of Austrian Architect Josef Hoffmann which included hand drawn plans, sections and elevations of his projects.

On Monday we went to see Carmen at the Wiener Staatsoper (State Opera). We bought standing places for €3 per person but the performance went on for four hours – fortunately however, some people with seats left halfway through and we sneaked into their places. Then on Tuesday I enrolled at the Technische Universität Wien, and collected my student identification the following day – basically a piece of coloured card with your passport photo stapled on, and stamped… very professional indeed!