Kultur, Kaffee, Kuchen und Scheiße auf die Straße

…is one way of summing up my weekend in Vienna. Vienna was different to what I remember – I had thought of it as somewhat sterile, but I got a different feel for the place this time. Eindankfest was on, the weather was good, people were out and about enjoying themselves, it was a really good place to be.

I headed over on Friday, going via Edinburgh and Birmingham. Thanks to Scott for letting me stop with him on Thursday night. I can’t say that my hour at Birmingham airport was the highlight of my life, but it could have been worse. When I got to Vienna, I thought I should try and make my way from the CAT train station to the hotel without the aid of a map. Turned out to be slightly more difficult than I planned, but it was a good walk around the town, and I had a lot of fun with the Germanic tourists who were also lost, trying to work out where we were. Everyone seemed to think I spoke German – I don’t know, I’m pretty sure I didn’t look like I belonged, but maybe I did.

Later I was speaking to some Austrians, and they were just effortlessly switching between English and German – it always makes me feel so inadequate, when people do that. I will be doing some work on refreshing my German. I think I need to spend a few months there. Perhaps get a contract, but I don’t know how it would work out visas-wise.

Nic and Dave arrived early Saturday, and came and woke me at 7. I think they were just happy to be able to use my shower at that point though. We then had two great days touring the city. I didn’t bother carrying my camera much, since Dave had his with him, so I don’t have any photos to upload yet – will get some when they get back.

The crypt under St Stephens was a bit different to many other church crypts – there is an old part out under the square, where thousands of ordinary people were buried during the plague – rooms with thousands of bones, all neatly stacked. Not exactly a fun job that. The Imperial crypt was also pretty interesting to visit later that morning – you can get so close to the sarcophagi. The medieval use of skulls and cross-bones on coffins is something I find quite interesting – people had a quite different attitude to death then. I don’t think it would go down all that well in a modern graveyard if you said you wanted a skull wearing a crown mounted on top of your headstone.

Went to the Kunsthistorisches (Art History) and Naturhistorisches (Natural History) museums on the Sunday – the buildings by themselves are just stunning works, even before you start to look at the assorted treasures within. Just a huge collection. You do wonder about the historical provenance of many of the items within though – how many were basically stolen?

Also visited MUMOK (Museum of Modern Art) – can’t say that I was all that impressed with ‘Realism’, but the modern/pop art was pretty cool – particularly the paintings that were trying to outdo photography.

Throughout the weekend, more people were assuming I was Germanic – particularly since I wasn’t wearing a bag, I didn’t look so touristy. I guess it’s a good thing – it forces me to try and understand more German.

All up, a very nice weekend, great to catch up with Nic and Dave. The only thing missing was I didn’t find a place where old men were playing chess in the park. Oh well, it’ll have to wait for another trip to a classic European city.