Austria

I've spent the last 4 days in and around Vienna. I'm visiting an Austrian fellow whom I met last November in Sevilla. Together we invited me to visit him this weekend - me playing a greater part in that invitation than him. He starts his university classes tomorrow and so he gave up his last four days of freedom to show me around Vienna. His name is Phil and he's tall with blonde hair. If you see him please tell him what a nice guy he is for having me. I was able to make the trip without taking too many days from work off because I had Thursday and Friday off already - Spanish holiday.

My flight here was perfect. The only thing I'll tell about the transit is that I had a Big Mac, fries and a beer in the Madrid airport. McDs serves beer. I was looking for something more healthy to eat, but the offerings at all the places I found were too smart and fashionable so I went for the simple McDs. It was perfect.

Arriving in Vienna I felt WAY out of my element - I don't speak German and until I found Phil I was helpless. Phil was waiting for me outside the gate, though, so things became fine. He drove me back to his city, Wiener Neuerstadt, and introduced me to wienerschnitzel.

Thursday was our day for walking all around Vienna, but on the way I went with Phil and his mother to the airport to pick up his sister who was returning from the States. Continuing on into Vienna, we eventually arrived at our first stop - the Wiener Riesenrad (Vienna Ferris Wheel). I met an American in my ferris wheel cabin. The idea is to ride around and admire the city of Vienna. I instead talked to him and missed the view. There are pics of me in a ferris wheel cabin on sale online for 9 euros if you want one. (www.wienerriesenrad.com foto number 1825431519). Anyway, I had more Austrian food for lunch - a kaseleberkase sandwich - and drank a beer, all outside in a plaza because drinking outside is legal in Austria. For dinner we ate in a country-style restaurant. I had fried chicken, sauerkraut-stuffed peppers and good bread. Phil and I met Phil's friend Cornelius for a beer that night. We would be staying at Cornelius's apartment the next two nights. Regressing a bit, the sites I saw that day were the Hundertwasserhaus, the Danube Riverfront, Phil's university campus, the city hall(Rathaus), the
parliament building, the art and science museums plaza(Museums Quartier), the Heroes Plaza(Heldenplatze) and Royal Palace(Hofburg), the Schonbrunn and
I can't remember what else. Vienna's a beautiful city! Phil's university campus has a courtyard with the busts of all the geniuses who've studied there. I would be scared into studying my brain out if I were surrouned by their likenesses at my university.

Friday it rained, but Phil took me to a couple of inner districts of Vienna - Vienna's divided into 23 districts. We first dumped our stuff in Phil's friends Cornelius and Lisi's (Cornelius's girlfriend) apartment before heading out for some sight seeing. We were around the 3rd and 4th districts and saw lots of embassies and a monument for the Russian soldiers who died fighting against the Nazis in WWII.

That night we went out for a suprise party for Lisi's sister Julia who just returned from a year working in Oakland as an au pair. This was awkward at first because I didn't know many people and I did't speak their language...luckily they speak mine. Thank you, Austrians. I had more than enough people to talk to for the night. The group was very pleasant. Phil, Cornelius and I slipped out for kasekrainer (sausage) toward the end of the night.

Saturday it rained again, but we went to Stephensplatz (Stephen's Plaza) to see the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), which was IMMENSE, reaching, I'd say...500 miles high. It's Gothic and Romanesque and looks unreal, sitting surrounded by buildings of more or less modern design that look NOTHING like it. Stephansdom dates back to between 500 and 850 years. We walked around this innercity area, hitting some book, souvenir and chocolate shops. I met some folks from New York. Saturday night we went out for Lisi's birthday party at a brewery/restaurant called Medl Brau. I was told the owner won the lottery and put the money into founding the brewery. You could order beer in a 1-liter mug, which of course all the men did. I had more conversations with pleasant, willing-to-speak-English Austrians. They again were very welcoming toward me. We, the birthday party, threw birthday candles and ate cupcakes and got kicked out when the place closed down. I met a young lady
that night who'd spent a year abroad. She told me that you lose your sense of home when you spend so much time abroad. I don't know what to make of that, but if when I return I can't quite find my home and I end up on someone who's reading this's doorstep, I live at 209 Llandovery Drive in Exton, PA 19341 - USA. Please either call my parents at 610 363 8469 and tell them you've found me or write my address on the back of my hand and kick me out your door in the direction of my house, if you will. Remind me to walk straight, please. Thank you.

Today, Phil took me to his folks' house in Gloggnitz. The town looks like a town in upstate PA. The house was new and beautiful. The family served me an excellent dinner, gave me house tour, gave me Austrian wafers and a bottle of the family's own wine. Can you believe how nice these people are? I'm now back at Phil's apartment and tomorrow I fly back to Jerez at 12:30 PM. Thank you for reading, if you still are. Please leave me a comment, if you will, so I know if anyone actually reads this far.

Here is the cast of characters who made my weekend here in Austria:

Phil, Andrea and Herbert, Melanie, Cornelius, Lisi, Lucas and Simon, Bernie, Sly, Christian, Wolfgang (Bruner), Martina, Kity and everyone else I forgot.

I recommend going to Austria. I was drawn here because it's from where came Arnold Schwarzenegger and I really like him. I tried to promote him to his people, who have mixed feelings about him. I was drawn there because of him, but I look back now on almost 5 fantastic days and I'm sure that's a common experience.