The sky was all purple

Vienna is becoming very familiar now; I know my way around the important parts of the city; my courses are all sorted; and I’ve built up a great collection of friends. In fact the first seven weeks here have been tremendous; constantly meeting new faces; visiting interesting sights and museums; learning about cultures and languages; and of course finding new places to sit back and have a drink! On Monday 19^th I attended the first lecture of a course entitled ‘Theory of Film’. The main theme is a debate about whether a certain character of feature film can be associated with the Baroque (characterised by illusion, complexity and movement). In each lecture we will be analysing different movies, the first was ‘Gun Crazy’ (1950). I originally intended it to be a bit of a ‘social class’ but have become quite interested in the subject and theories presented.

Wednesday night was spent in Bricks Bar on Taborstraße – a small, underground pub with vaulted ceilings - where they were giving away free beer between 8 and 9pm as part of an opening anniversary celebration. The next day was the most stressful experience I’ve had during my time in Vienna; it was the first day of British architect, Will Alsop’s course ‘The Mediterranean City’. As a student not registered on the course, I was extremely anxious to find out whether I would be allowed to stay. Already the online system showed 23/20 students registered (oversubscribed). Around 40 students turned up to the course and Alsop explained his dilemma; with so many, he would be unable to give adequate guidance to all of us – stating that his ideal number of students would actually be 15.

Alsop began by asking which native and non-Erasmus students weren't registered and then asked them to leave immediately. I was now one of the four students not registered remaining in the room, all of us on the Erasmus program. He asked us each where we were from and how many semesters we had been in Vienna. Everyone was on edge; the tension in the room was stifling, even I suspect, for those who were registered. Telling him that I was from England he asked ‘where is that?’ – nervous laughter ensued. His face relaxed a bit, he pointed at me and said ‘you can stay’ …and breathe!

Alsop eventually let the other three Erasmus students stay as well. The celebration that night was in Prater-Dome and I even managed to convince Kathryn (also from Portsmouth Uni.) to join us - showing up with a few French girls at her door and employing a little peer pressure did the trick. Staying awake in the lecture the next morning (Friday 23^rd) was definitely a losing battle. It was ‘Spatial and Environmental Planning’ so already something of a challenge to keep attention. Fortunately I had an hour before ‘Current Issues in Architectural Theory’ and it was an excellent day so I found a patch of grass in Resselpark, set my alarm, and went to sleep.

That evening I joined a group of friends at Raffaele’s flat for a dinner party. Federico, a “polentone” from Trento made polenta, I made some chilli con carne, and others brought drinks and snacks. It was a fantastic evening, and I especially enjoyed improving my Italian (albeit mostly inappropriate sentences). We met up again on Saturday to join a larger group of students enjoying the weather with a picnic on the banks of the Donauinsel.

Raffaele, Dariusz, Xavi, Solvita, Andrea, Me, Federico, Stéphanie, Tiphaine

Picnic on the Donauinsel

Later a small group of us we split off to visit the Schloß Schönbrunn, a Rococo palace used as a summer residence by successive Habsburg monarchs. As we ascended the hill in the garden toward the Gloriette structure the sky coloured into a superb pale purple. From the Gloriette there is a terrific panorama across the rooftops of Vienna with Stephansdom rising prominently above its neighbouring buildings. From this vantage point we soon realised that a storm was headed our way and made our journeys back home.

Schloß Schönbrunn

View over Vienna (Stephansdon centre)

The Gloriette

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

On Thursday 8^th, after speaking to Kathryn and going through the University course website (TISS), I realised I had missed numerous introductory lectures throughout the week. Assuming courses would start after their registration periods had ended, I hadn’t noticed that they in fact start during. Presumably students turn up, regardless of whether they are registered or on a ‘waiting list’, and hope to get a place. I resolved to get up early the next morning, go into the TU and sort everything out. I warned everyone that I wouldn’t be going to Prater-Dome that night but Marco and Federico practically dragged me out (okay it didn’t take much convincing!). Still keeping to my plan, I managed to get into university early and speak with Will Alsop’s secretary in an attempt to register on his ‘Mediterranean City’ design programme.

Prater Dome - our local haunt

Students must register for design programmes via the TUWEL system (separate to TISS). Unfortunately my account does not work, so I felt fairly cheated when the secretary told me the course was full. I continued to appeal, but ultimately all I achieved was the advice to turn up on the day and see if Alsop would accept me. Not yet securely registered on a design programme, I spoke to the secretary of Prof. Kari Jormakka who signed me on the ‘Urban Ontology’ design course. Until I know whether I can attend Alsop’s course I have to attend a bulky number of subsidiary units to ensure I achieve 30 ECTS credits (my learning agreement with Portsmouth University). Consequently, that morning I attended a lecture for a course entitled ‘Spatial and Environmental Planning in CEE Countries’ – and it’s just as exciting as it sounds!

Technische Universität Wien, known as the TU

Up close, the TU façade reveals its age

On Saturday I decided to go for my first run in Vienna. I took a route through the ‘Wiener Prater’ – a large park in the local area historically used as a hunting reserve – but after only a short while I gave in. It seems one month of limited cardio exercise combined with excessive drinking has drastically affected my fitness! Unfortunately the endeavour had me lost in the middle of the park and I had to use the Ferris Wheels of the amusement park as a point of reference to find my way back home. That night we faced a decision between two parties; one organised at the Gasometer dormitory, the other at Molkereistraße. We decided to go to both!

The Wurstelprater Amusement Park

Weiner Riesenrad (backgroud) one of Vienna's tourist attractions

Sunday was terrific, purely because of the Six Nations Rugby game. Throughout the whole tournament Loïc had been boasting that France would easily defeat England – needless to say, when England won, my victory dance felt all the more satisfying! On Monday morning, I found myself wondering the corridors of the TU, trying to find the seminar room for a course on the work of Peter Behrens (20^th century German Architect). I bumped into a similarly lost group of girls also in search of the room, and with a stroke of luck, the person we asked for directions turned out to be the lecturer of the course. We followed him through an unmarked door into the seminar room - frustratingly none of the rooms at the TU have numbers on the doors – little did I know this was just the start of a stressful process for locating all future lectures.

The course was very nearly held in German; the lecturer explained that, had there been any native German-speaking people in the class (which fortunately there wasn’t), he would have held it in German. Asking us where we were all from, he seemed even more reluctant to speak English when he found out I was from England – he explained that he would be more conscious about making mistakes – that night, whilst drinking far too much wine, I found out from Şefkat that many of the students I know here actually feel the same way (damn my impeccable English!).

One thing to be prepared for as an Englishman going on Erasmus, is the word guessing game which appears to be a favourite of the professors here; when faltering on a word, they will point at you with the expectation that you will read their mind and give them the correct word in English – usually I have to desperately shout out random words until one meets their satisfaction. Aside from these occurrences the lecturers actually speak brilliant English, and it’s rather embarrassing that they can speak so well in my language, whilst I cannot hold a conversion in theirs – especially since we are in Austria!

The rest of the week went well and the Urban Ontology course, which focuses on the potentials of Malta, seems really interesting. Surprisingly when someone asked if we should read any literature, the lecturer replied that we should just watch a few films set in Malta – so far, so good!

Chou, cheri! Dis-moi oui

Thursday night started at Eugenie’s house-warming party and ended up in Prater Dome. On entrance to the club (free for students on Thursdays) you are given a card on which to buy drinks; the card records everything you order and at the end of the night you pay off the balance – you can’t leave the club without handing in your card and there is a heavy fee if you lose it. If you arrive before midnight however, the card is pre-loaded with €10 (enough to buy two whisky-cokes) and Enrico likes to joke that it’s like a job where we get paid in drink – pretty good way to look at it I think!

 Sign in the Prater Dome cloak room

On Friday Serge, a Congolese student, invited us for pre-drinks at his dormitory. He originally intended to hold the party in his room, but there were so many people we were like sardines in a crushed tin box. We took the drinks downstairs to the party room – a large space with a home bar, leather sofas, and a pool table, overlooked by a gallery. The whole dormitory was like a rich kid’s version of the Molkereistraße – the hallways were furnished with paintings and display cases containing antique uniforms and historical items – a bizarre clash between residence and museum! Serge played an excellent host, walking around chatting to everyone with a bottle of whiskey in one hand, piña colada in the other.

Angelika and I played against two guys at pool, but again I encountered some odd variations to the rules – does nobody play just normal pool? Afterward, we all went to the ESN Welcome Party at the Palais Eschenbach. If I had thought Serge’s dormitories were strange, this place was something else. In a place specifically hired for an event where nearly everyone is drunk, it was very odd to see antique furniture and majestic oil paintings on the walls. The party was brilliant and it seemed that everywhere I walked I would be greeted by a familiar face – it’s crazy just how many people you meet in just a month. I did intend to leave fairly early in order to wake up in time for the train to Salzburg the next morning, but I was guilted into staying far later and drinking a fair amount more than planned!

No, i do not know why i'm pulling this face

Before I came to Vienna, Witek said to me “just take as many opportunities as you can, and you won’t regret it” – a little like the movie ‘Yes Man’ – so far this has been my approach to life here, and so when  Loïc asked me if I wanted to go to Salzburg, my answer without hesitation was a resounding yes. We woke up extremely early on Saturday to get the train to Salzburg for the weekend. As part of a special offer, one of the railway companies in Austria has reduced tickets during March, so our 3 hour journey cost us only €9 each way. We checked-in at the Yoho hostel and set off to explore the town. We went to many churches and Mozart related places, and later decided to play a few drinking games back at the hostel.

Xavier,  Loïc and Michel with Statue of Mozart in Salzburg

The next day we visited the Hohensalzburg Castle which is situated on a small mountain looking over the town. Xavier convinced the man at the entrance booth that we were all under the age of 18 so we only paid €4 each. Once back down in the town, we decided to grab some food and continue exploring the tourist attractions. With eleven of us we could not decide on where to all eat so we decided to split up. Unfortunately Jaana and I went into a shop and came out to find everyone had disappeared. We found Xavier and Michel in McDonalds and ate with them but they soon left to take an early train home. Jaana and I contemplated trying to find the others but after such a long day (with a bit of a hangover), we decided to call it a day and take the next train back to Vienna.

At Hohensalzburg Castle

On Monday I had my first lecture at the Technical University – an introduction to design courses (starting at 9am!). The lecture was all in German, but I was initially quite confident; I was able to understand the majority of what was said by piecing together words I understood and filling in the gaps. By the start of the second introduction however, my mind shut down and for the most part I did not attempt to listen. At around 15:00 I decided to leave the lecture and meet with the others to visit the Upper Belvedere Museum. On our last visit to the Belvedere we had bought tickets for both Upper and Lower Museum (€12.50 for a student) but decided to come back and see the Upper Belvedere another day (the tickets are valid for a year). 

Scale model of the Upper Belvedere Palace

 View from the Upper Belvedere Palace

That night we arrived at Ride club just after 7 to knock back as many 50 cent drinks as we could (fairly easy when the Belgium guys are challenging you to down them!) and thereafter we went to a flat party at Sechshauser Halls. Later some of us split off from the main group (who were going back to ride club) and went to Travel Shack to play pool – only this time I insisted we play in the normal fashion!