The Viennese Diaries

I've got to get better about updating. I've been lazy lately and not had much interest in updating. Although I've got so many things I'd like to write about, I just need to sit down and put them into coherent sentences.

Vienna was nice. The short 90 minute flight to Vienna was a good sign of things to come as the lovely Lufthansa stewardess served me a chilled wine on my flight. Thats the way to start a flight in my opinion. Arriving slightly delayed in Vienna I started my stay there with a view of Vienna at night from a hilltop wine cafe. Seriously, this place was ridiculously hard to find but once we found it in the hills and bushes of Austria, the view was fantastic. The clear night skies afforded a view of the entire city below. The St. Jakob's Church and various other Vienna monuments stuck out into the night air. It was really great.
<--(Kunst Haus Wien)
The next morning Ines had to visit her Oma in her hometown from three hours away. I was given the house key and told to have fun. That I did. I spent hours pursuing the artistic genius of The Albertina and Hundertwasser's Kunst Haus Wien. I learned some interesting facts about class European painters like Monet and was further educated on the Russian impressionist movement. The Albertina had several Monet's on display, I wasn't aware of that until I accidentally stumbled into their impressionist wing. I was also exposed to much of Klee's work, something I had never studied before. Kunst Haus Wien was an alternative to keep me from feeling stuffy in Vienna. Alternative modern art and design was really quite interesting. The floor of KHW is not flat. Several pitches in the floor offer a cascading effect of about six inches. Walking the floor is an experience in and of itself.

However, Vienna is a city of lush green parks and plenty of monuments to their imperial past. It is said that if aliens landed in Vienna, they would think that it is the capital of the world. I can imagine that. My favorite part of Vienna is the Museum Quartier. This hip, alternative section of Vienna is located in the middle of all of the Museums in Vienna. Many cafe's and plenty of sitting area offers a great view of modern architecture and fountains offer the sound of rushing water to slow you down. My trip to Vienna wouldn't have been complete without a visit to The Leopold and the Vienna Museum of Modern Arts. Sadly, I wasn't as impressed with MOMUK (Modern Arts) as I was hoping to be. They did have a nice exhibit on 1970's US university culture (demonstrations, etc).
<---part of Museum Quartier

The Leopold is the home of the largest collection of Scheile paintings. His turn of the century paintings were some of the first examples of modernist art. Much of his early work was denounced as being too provocative and sexual in nature. I can understand why. He was also quite narcissistic. I counted at least five self-portraits, many of them nude. I didn't know that he died at the age of 28 from the Spanish Influenza outbreak.
I enjoyed traditional Wiener Schnitzel and Sacher Torte as well. The cake really is quite good as well as the schnitzel. I had the chance to experience some of Vienna's night life too. I was pleasantly surprised to see Austrian's dancing in a disco. Something the Germans tend to shy away from. Not happy about the insane price of a drink though. Vienna is a pleasant city, one in which I could reside in if necessary. To be quite honest though, Vienna reminds me of so many other major German cities. I think they tend to take after one another. Vienna has its own special flavor to it, but I definitely spotted the similarities between the two countries. I could write so much more about the efficient underground system or their abundance of parks and good weather, however, I don't have the energy to pen it out. So, I leave you with a few pictures of Vienna in its glory.
I was sad though not to see a young Julie Andrews singing in the streets. Hmm, next time.

^Volksgarten Vienna

Lufthansa Strike

If the Germans would demonstrate against ridiculously high taxes the way they strike with their Labor Unions, a lot more would get done in this country.

The Beauty of That Day

Yesterday my Dutch colleague and friend David and I went to the American Cemetery at Margraten, The Netherlands. The cemetery is the final resting place of some 8,302 American Soldiers who died advancing into Nazi Germany to defeat Hitler's Military Machine.

The 65.5 acre site is located a mere twenty minutes from my home in Aachen. The scenery around the cemetery is absolutely beautiful, full of lush green trees, rolling hills and an ever changing landscape. My visit to Margraten doesn't have any particular significance to me other than my common heritage as an American. The single member of my family that I am aware of that fought in World War II served in Normandy and survived the war only to die in his 80's before I had the chance to meet him. The cemetery is very well taken care of and is a moving monument to the sacrifice given by so many. I had to think about what it must have been to be young American during the Second World War, fighting in a land far away from home. I was proud to be a member of a generation made secure because of their efforts. What was extremely moving was seeing how many Dutch families were at the cemetery. I saw several graves with fresh flowers placed on top. Young Dutch children were explained the history of World War II by their parents as they read the information on the walls. The weather was appropriately windy, cold and ever changing.

I'm extremely dissapointed in the fact that although I remembered to bring my camera, I had not remembered to grab the memory card out of my laptop. Of course, I am the Pechvogel after all. I plan to return to take pictures. Afterwards we discovered some of the Dutch countryside. It was absolutely gorgeous.

I really enjoy Limburg, the province of The Netherlands which borders Aachen. The landscape really is breathtaking, the people friendly, the drinks cheap and the mood is somehow different. I wish I was able to spend more time over there. Of course, the moment you cross the border, the language barrier becomes quite heinous. Thankfully, almost all Dutch people speak either English or German.

The weather here is awful. Today the hi was 14 degrees Celsius (58 degrees Fahrenheit) and it rained the entire day. I miss summer. I think tonight my heater might need to be turned on. I hope not. I'm leaving for Vienna on Friday and I'm quite excited about it. I need the time away from Aachen. This time I wont forget my memory card.

Literary Revival

I've decided to incorporate more poetry and classical literature into my literary diet. I figure it is vital to my existence as an alleged member of the educated and cultured classes. I've always been fond of late 19th century and early 20th century American literature and poetry. I have a particular affection for Romanticism but it has been so long since I've actively engaged myself in such literature.

Any suggestions? When I am home for Christmas, I plan on dusting off my Anthology of American Authors collection (a book set consisting of four mini-anthologies, the particular authors except Poe and Frost escape me at the moment) and bringing them back with me to Germany.

You won't feel better alone

Wow.

It's pretty amazing when you think about the changes in peoples lives that have taken place over the past year. People are getting married, divorced, starting new jobs, moving abroad, finishing school. The list goes on.

I turned on my American cell phone today to get a few phone numbers and I realized how about 25% of those phone numbers were no loner up to date. How several of my friends now lived in completely different areas from where I knew them. Almost none of my friends live in Tallahassee anymore. A good percentage live in DC, various parts of Florida or Germany. Its crazy really.

I don't know if its the distance of living abroad or just that we move on in our lives, but I don't talk on a regular basis with half of the people I consider my friends. And that is disappointing.

Vienna in nine days.

This is a problem...

I thought the United State's had the best health care in the world. It's disturbing and disgusting.

Woman dies ignored on hospital floor.

Thats ridiculous.

Two more years

So Germany performed poorly in their shot at the European Championship. Spain was clearly the better team this year and I'm glad they won. Some English footballer once said that "Football is the game where you play for 90 minutes and Germany always wins." Perhaps this will open up their eyes and they'll be better prepared for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. One can only hope.

Enough football, well for two years anyway. Life in Aachen is busy busy busy. Today was pay day (woot!) and the weather has been great lately. At the end of the month I'm going to Vienna to visit my friend Ines and the time is creeping up on me faster than expected. A trip to Switzerland may be in order as well. A student of mine whose wife lives in Zürich has invited me to go with him sometime in the next few months. It looks as though Mom and my brother are going to come and visit in October/November during my little brothers fall break time. They want to go to London. I want to convince them to go somewhere else. Just not Paris. Twice in the past two years is enough for now. However, I don't think she's going to budge away from London.

Tomorrow, Christine is coming from Dresden until Sunday and that is also great. I'm looking forward to spending time with her.

I'm currently reading Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue. I've read several of Bryson's books and I'm always pleased by his wit and humor and the way he manages to pinpoint the traveler and culture vultures woes. Mother Tongue is not a travel related book however, but rather the story of the English language and languages all together. I'm only on the second chapter but I'm enjoying it so far. This is part of my plan to improve my English teaching skills. I figure if I know where the language I speak develops from, I'll be a better instructor. Did you know the human anatomy is capable of producing at least 700,00 'distinct elementary gestures'? Thankfully, I've picked up reading for pleasure again. I've discovered a few new authors and I'm glad to return to literary bliss. This in part to a book club we've started at work. Its great to throw a paperback in my backpack and read a couple pages while I'm waiting for a class to start or what not.

I've been busy and a lot has happened lately but I just don't have the time to update right now. I'm going to bed.