Hello, goodbye

Having arrived at the beginning of February, I’m amazed that we are towards the end of April already. The past months have gone by rapidly, ever reinforcing the idiom ‘time flies when you’re having fun’. Today two incredible people, Raffaele and Solvita, left Vienna. I’ve known them for such a short time but they were two of the most instantly likeable people I’ve met.

On Thursday Susan, one of the Americans we met in Budapest, came to visit. In exchange for free accommodation for a few days, I can take up a return offer for Copenhagen where she currently studies – along with the promised guided architectural tour. Thursday was Solvita’s Birthday so on Friday she invited us all around Raffaele’s flat to celebrate and also say farewell. It transpired that most of the music Raffaele had on his computer was of a romantic nature which, combined with the candle-lit setting, produced a fairly uncomfortable but amusing atmosphere (I made plenty of jokes anyway).

At least Raffaele didn’t play Jeremih’s “birthday sex”!

Albanian Guy, Susan, Me, Cindy, Tiphaine, Stéphanie

 

On Saturday Susan and I walked around the city centre, and then met up with Şefkat and Pelin in Prater park to relax in the sunny weather. We then took a ride on the Wiener Riesenrad (€8 student), a c.65m tall Ferris wheel in the amusement park in Leopoldstadt which looks out over the rooftops of Vienna.

The Riesenrad was erected in 1897

Originally supporting 30 gondolas, only 15 were replaced with post WWII restoration

On Sunday morning Susan left to visit Prague and in the evening I met with Raffaele and Solvita in Travel Shack to enjoy a few games of pool and table football. On Monday morning I gave a presentation on Peter Behrens and his factory designs for the AEG as part of my history of architecture course. Then Tuesday night was the final farewell for Raffaele and Solvita at a bar in the MuseumsQuartier complex. At the end of the night we all said our farewells (albeit interrupted by a drunk local) at Praterstern Station and left Raffaele and Solvita to return to their lives in Italy and Latvia. 

Everywhere you go, you always take the weather

For the last few weeks the weather here has been brilliant – not too hot but something comparable to an average summer day in England. On the morning of Thursday 12^th April my parents and grandmother came to visit me in Vienna. I don’t know how they did it, but they seemed to have brought the rainy weather with them! Knowing my way around the city, I walked them from sight to sight with little regard for their fatigue after their early start and long flight; after dropping off their luggage at the Nh Belvedere Hotel, I marched them down Kärntner Straße to Sephansdom and from here to the Hofburg Palace, the Parliament, and the Rathaus. At Rathausplatz there was a festival celebration with plenty of beer huts and people dressed in their finest lederhosen. On our journey back towards the hotel we passed Museumsquartier, and decided to take a detour along Mariahilfer Straße to find a restaurant. With more shops than eateries (which were chain restaurants), we took a small side street and settled for ‘Gelateria Frascati’, an Italian Restaurant (not just an ice cream store as you might expect from the name).

Rathausplatz

The weather the next day had improved, so we seized the opportunity to walk around the Belvedere Gardens before heading to the Schloß Schönbrunn and taking a tour around the palace. The tour concentrated on the lives of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth (known as ‘Sisi’) of Austria. Of all the information taken in that day I remember most clearly two things; that Franz Joseph had some impressive mutton chops; and that Sisi suffered a tragic assassination by Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni (with a three sided file).

Inside the Schloß Schönbrunn

Parents at the Schloß Schönbrunn gardens

That evening we went to an orchestra performance accompanied by opera singers and ballet at the Palais Auersperg. The orchestra played music by Mozart and Johann Strauss. After we went to the Zwölf Apostelkeller, a traditional Austrian restaurant.

The oval performance room in the Palais Auersperg

The following day the drizzle came back so we took a tour inside the Hofburg palace and saw some impressive, but rapidly very boring, collections of ornate gold, silver and porcelain tableware and furnishings. We saw more of the royal rooms and amusingly the audio guide made many references to the Emperor’s “frugal” lifestyle – by this it meant, an elaborately furnished room with paintings and all, but with a single bed in place of a double (the tour certainly wouldn't have made his subjects more comfortable about paying taxes). In the afternoon I had to depart to attend Şefkat’s birthday celebration at Centimeter Restaurant.


On Sunday we met up again in a café near Stephansplatz and I taught them Briscola with a pack of Italian cards specially brought back for me from Trento by Federico. With my parents and grandmother needing to catch a flight in the afternoon I said cheerio and went home (where I then cried for days on end…. honestly).

We no speak Americano

For a couple of weeks Chloe, Zharah, Anne, Federico and I had planned to visit Budapest for a long weekend, so on Friday 30^th March Federico and the girls took an afternoon Eurolines bus to Budapest (costing around £14 including return). Due to lectures I took a later train and arrived at 10:30. I hadn’t thought to bring a map so I approached a guy and girl whom I had heard talking with American accents to discover where they would be travelling. Luckily our hostels were in the same area, so we all took the metro and I soon arrived at the street for the Ginkgo Hostel. Checking in, I discovered that the others had gone out for a drink and unfortunately my Vectone SIM card decided not to work in Hungary, so I ventured out, found a public telephone, and arranged to meet them back at the hostel.

The girls decided to call it a night, whilst Federico and I went to Lámpás, an underground bar they had visited earlier. Although the bar looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for some months, it had a fantastic grunge atmosphere, served cider, and had a DJ playing some great tunes – the Hungarian equivalent to Portsmouth’s Honest Politician! The next day we ascended Gellért Hill to see the Szabadság Szobar (Liberty Statue, 1947) and a superb panorama over the city. Our next destination was the Budavári Palota (Buda Castle) and the Castle District on its northern side. The district streets are lined by colourful houses which lead onto fantastic historical public buildings including the late Gothic Matthias Church (14^th century).

Liberty Statue

  

Statue of the Hortobágy horseherd by György Vastagh, 1901

The Széchenyi Chain Bridge - suspension bridge across the Danube opened in 1849

  

Halászbástya (Fisherman's Bastion) - neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style terrace

  

The Castle District

Arriving back at hostel I struck up a conversation with some American students (Ben, Lauren and Susan), studying in Copenhagen, and Federico and I were soon showing them the art of Briscola (Italian card game). Playing in teams Federico and I managed to confer in Italian to gain advantage. Lauren, Susan, Federico and I later went back to Lámpás but to our disappointment there was no DJ and the atmosphere had changed completely. We stayed for a drink and then followed Susan and the directions on her iPhone to another bar called ‘Instant’. The club featured a central covered courtyard overlooked by a gallery which adjoined a labyrinth of smaller rooms; some with chairs and sofas, others dancing area – all with psychotic Alice in Wonderland themed décor. Going to the bar to get a drink Federico discovered his wallet was missing, but assuming he had left it at the hostel we continued the night. Back at the hostel Federico couldn’t find his wallet, so we both returned to Lámpás to see if it could be found. With no luck at Lámpás, and not knowing the directions to Instant - or even wanting to travel that far at such a late hour - we went back to the hostel.

  

Covered courtyard inside Instant

  

The following day we visited the Dohány Street Synagogue. Built between 1854 and 1859 it is the largest in Europe. Later Federico and I walked to the police station to report his missing wallet. Frustratingly none of the policemen spoke English or German. We then met up with the girls in the city centre to go sight-seeing and visit Hősök tere (Heroes Square) and the Városliget (City Park). At the hostel we saw the Americans again and decided to all go out to a restaurant along Károlyi Mihály utca. On the way back to the hostel Susan and I split off for a pleasant walk along the river bank and visited the Parliament building which was transformed by lighting in the night.

Heroes Square

Moat at Vajdahunyad Castle

The next day I accompanied Federico to the Italian Embassy to get his emergency identity card whilst the girls went shopping. After returning to the hostel to get our swimming gear, and towels, and to meet up with Susan, we all went to the Gellért Thermal Baths near to the Liberty Bridge. Back at the hostel we collected our bags, said cheerio to Susan and set off towards the bus terminal and the end of our trip to Budapest.

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!

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!