Vienna
Just realized I haven't posted about Vienna yet. And I've basically got nothing to do at work today, so here we go.
I got into Vienna proper around 4:30 and met Rayco in the train station. We took a short metro ride to his house, which he shares with his girlfriend Annika. Rayco, if you will remember, is Cassie's son from the Canary Islands. Annika is German. Both of thier English was excellent, although they don't think so.
Their apartment is apparently not in a good part of town, but you could have fooled me. The building isn't impressive, but the apartment itself was awesome. It's pre-WWII, so the doors are almost as high as most ceilings in London. The doors must be 8 feet tall, and the ceilings 10. Big rooms, hardwood floors, decent kitchen.
I'll have pictures soon, by the way. I'm at work, and they are all at home.
Rayco, Annika, and I got along famously, almost from the get-go. They're both very easy going and laid back, and we really hit it off. I think I connected with Rayco best out of all the family I've met. He's extremely good natured and quick with a laugh and a smile. Apparently it's a Spanish thing that he doens't like to let silences sit, so he's always ready with a word or a funny story.
Annkia was shy about her "bad English" at first, but once she relaxed a little and warmed up, she didn't have any problems. She had me edit a technical paper she had written for proper grammar and English usage, which was fun. Took me back to editing articles for The Badger, my high school newspaper.
We had dinner there, drank a couple of bottles of wine, and then went out to a little club that was near their house. Drank some more and danced to good Drum and Bass music. Came home, slept until noon the next day.
When I got up I assumed they would already be up and about, but my moving around was what got them out of bed. Sleepers after my own heart.
We went out in the early afternoon, and spent a good chunk of the day just walking around. We had done some walking the night before, seeing the big cathedral and some of the Royal-type buildings at night. This time we went during the day, viewing the incredible Austrian archetecture. They had a number of monarchs who loved to build opulent, enourmous buildings, so the cityscape is great.
We went to the big city market, which is half flea market and half permanent booths with people selling food and foodstuffs. From there we toured more and had dinner in a Chinese place.
At this point I have a little trouble remember what happend on which day, so I'm going to drop the chronological order for a bit.
We went to the oldest coffee shop Vienna, which had excellent coffee. We smoked sheesa, a flavored tobacco, out of thier hookah. We went out and played pool at a trendy bar, then went to another bar that Annika had been to once many years ago (it was ok).
The best part of the trip was on Sunday. It was a beautiful day, unseasonably warm. Vienna has a marvelous system called City Bikes, whereby you can rent a bike for about one Euro an hour. It's totally automated, and there are pick up/drop off spots for the bikes all over the city. Rayco and Annika both own their own bikes, so I rented one and we rode to the Royal Palace. It was clear on the other side of the city, so I got to see quite a lot of it. It was a perfect day for riding, and I couldn't have been better pleased.
The Palace was what you would expect, huge and opulent. It was expensive to go inside, so we just walked the gardens instead. I've found that most palaces are more or less the same inside, anyway. Four poster beds, gold filligrie, etc.
Behind the Palace is the gardens, and we hiked up to the top of the hill. There is another large structure at the top of the hill, which apparently was the princess' playhouse or something. From the top of the hill, you could see an incredible vista of Vienna.
We had sushi that night, and a quiet evening in trading music and watching Goodfellas. Then I had to get up at 5 the next day to catch my flight back to London.
Vienna, while a beautiful city, was just that: another Euorpean city. They tend to blend together after a while. Rayco and Annika I am going to miss. We really hit it off, and I felt like family from the beginning. I hope they can come to the States some time, or I get the chance to visit them again.
Right. Pictures soon. Hopefully tonight.
I got into Vienna proper around 4:30 and met Rayco in the train station. We took a short metro ride to his house, which he shares with his girlfriend Annika. Rayco, if you will remember, is Cassie's son from the Canary Islands. Annika is German. Both of thier English was excellent, although they don't think so.
Their apartment is apparently not in a good part of town, but you could have fooled me. The building isn't impressive, but the apartment itself was awesome. It's pre-WWII, so the doors are almost as high as most ceilings in London. The doors must be 8 feet tall, and the ceilings 10. Big rooms, hardwood floors, decent kitchen.
I'll have pictures soon, by the way. I'm at work, and they are all at home.
Rayco, Annika, and I got along famously, almost from the get-go. They're both very easy going and laid back, and we really hit it off. I think I connected with Rayco best out of all the family I've met. He's extremely good natured and quick with a laugh and a smile. Apparently it's a Spanish thing that he doens't like to let silences sit, so he's always ready with a word or a funny story.
Annkia was shy about her "bad English" at first, but once she relaxed a little and warmed up, she didn't have any problems. She had me edit a technical paper she had written for proper grammar and English usage, which was fun. Took me back to editing articles for The Badger, my high school newspaper.
We had dinner there, drank a couple of bottles of wine, and then went out to a little club that was near their house. Drank some more and danced to good Drum and Bass music. Came home, slept until noon the next day.
When I got up I assumed they would already be up and about, but my moving around was what got them out of bed. Sleepers after my own heart.
We went out in the early afternoon, and spent a good chunk of the day just walking around. We had done some walking the night before, seeing the big cathedral and some of the Royal-type buildings at night. This time we went during the day, viewing the incredible Austrian archetecture. They had a number of monarchs who loved to build opulent, enourmous buildings, so the cityscape is great.
We went to the big city market, which is half flea market and half permanent booths with people selling food and foodstuffs. From there we toured more and had dinner in a Chinese place.
At this point I have a little trouble remember what happend on which day, so I'm going to drop the chronological order for a bit.
We went to the oldest coffee shop Vienna, which had excellent coffee. We smoked sheesa, a flavored tobacco, out of thier hookah. We went out and played pool at a trendy bar, then went to another bar that Annika had been to once many years ago (it was ok).
The best part of the trip was on Sunday. It was a beautiful day, unseasonably warm. Vienna has a marvelous system called City Bikes, whereby you can rent a bike for about one Euro an hour. It's totally automated, and there are pick up/drop off spots for the bikes all over the city. Rayco and Annika both own their own bikes, so I rented one and we rode to the Royal Palace. It was clear on the other side of the city, so I got to see quite a lot of it. It was a perfect day for riding, and I couldn't have been better pleased.
The Palace was what you would expect, huge and opulent. It was expensive to go inside, so we just walked the gardens instead. I've found that most palaces are more or less the same inside, anyway. Four poster beds, gold filligrie, etc.
Behind the Palace is the gardens, and we hiked up to the top of the hill. There is another large structure at the top of the hill, which apparently was the princess' playhouse or something. From the top of the hill, you could see an incredible vista of Vienna.
We had sushi that night, and a quiet evening in trading music and watching Goodfellas. Then I had to get up at 5 the next day to catch my flight back to London.
Vienna, while a beautiful city, was just that: another Euorpean city. They tend to blend together after a while. Rayco and Annika I am going to miss. We really hit it off, and I felt like family from the beginning. I hope they can come to the States some time, or I get the chance to visit them again.
Right. Pictures soon. Hopefully tonight.
posted by BAA at 6:36 AM
1 Comments:
My heart is full... :)
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