I´m back! I promised I would catch up on my trip by the end of the weekend and I will try my best to do so... I have so much to talk about so I will start at the beginning!
 |
| The front of my apartment! |
We moved in to our apartment at night on Sunday. Our landlady Natalia was there to greet us; she is really nice and was enthusiastic about us living in her apartment. She showed us all the important things in our apartment: our laundry machine (washer only, and in Celsius), our tiny kitchen, bedrooms etc. Our apartment is really nice. We have a kitchen, toilet room, bathroom, living area/dining room, and 2 bedrooms. The toilet room is exactly what it sounds like, a toilet... in a room. It´s apparently a really customary thing for Austrians to have a toilet room and a bathroom (sink, shower, etc.). Definitely a change I have had to get used to. My roommates and I agreed on the living situation before we arrived at the apartment based on sleep-type. Since Gabby and Kristen are both light sleepers, they got the far room and Ellison and I got the walk-through bedroom (you have to walk through our room to get to their´s). I won a coin toss and was rewarded with the only Queen size bed in the apartment. After Natalia left our RA Freitis came over. Our RA isn´t like regular college RAs. She lives in the district over from us (18), and will check up on us once a week to make sure we´re all doing okay. Freitis has a couple of IES students living with her, so we will eventually all have dinners together. She´s really nice and has lived in the city for 4 years, and we will probably go out with her and her friends as she´s a student at Universität Wien.
Monday morning I had to register as a Viennese resident with the police, so we had to get up extra early to get over to the police station. Freitis came over and gave us a little walking tour of our area. We saw our Straßenbahn stop, Augasse, the Billa grocery store closed to our house, and the nearest bank (right next door!!). The Straßenbahn is the street-car/tram system in Vienna that run all over the city. I´m on the D line (easy to remember since that´s Fordham´s Subway line). After registering, we bought our week-long U-bahn/public transportation passes for 14 euro... not bad since its unlimited use of transportation in the entire city!!
 |
| The Oper at night |
The first week of school was filled with lots of meetings and LOTS of German. I am in the afternoon Elementary German I session that runs from 12:30 to 3:30. The first three weeks of the program is called German Intensive, where we are basically slammed with as much German as physically possible. I am very impressed with how far my class has come in a week. There are 15 of us, and all of us can introduce ourselves, ask tons of questions, make a sentence, and order food in German. My teacher´s name is Frau Summesberger, and she is very patient with us (which is definitely appreciated) and makes learning a new language a lot of fun. Wir lieben Frau S!
 |
| The Oper during the day! |
 |
| My friend Erik told me that everytime the letters `K.U.K.´ are on a sign it means the place once hired by the Habsburg Dynasty. |
Today I met up with two of my friends at Stephansdom, a huge Catholic cathedral about 5 minutes from my school. We wandered around the area, and saw a window display of chocolate that was unbelievable. We went inside, and got lunch (my first Wienerschnitzel in Wien!) and dessert (apfelstrudel). It may have been the most delicious meal I´ve ever had. The place was called Demel, and reminded me a lot of a cafe I went to with my Dad and Michele in Paris (Cafe Angelina) - amazing hot chocolate and incredible food. Demel opened in 1786, and supplied chocolate to Hofburg Palace, which takes about 2 seconds to walk to. If you´re ever in Vienna definitely go to this place. After filling ourselves with deliciousness, we walked over to the Hofburg, which was magnificent. It kept going and going, I could not believe people actually lived in there. I don´t know if people are usually allowed to tour the Hofburg, but I will be going inside it on Thursday for my ball! That should be amazing. We walked through the gardens of the Hofburg and ended up in front of the Rathaus (City Hall). I pass by this building everyday on the way to school and it still takes my breath away. It is hands down the most incredible building I have ever seen. The city set up a huge skating rink in front of the Rathaus, which runs through the gardens and in the main plaza. It will be open until March 6, so I have plenty of time to figure out when/if I can muster up the courage to go skating!
 |
| In front of the Hofburg! |
One of the things I find most incredible about this city is that it is a city: tons of cars, subways, street cars, a few skyscrapers, and lots of modern looking buildings. But right next to all of these cars, etc. are enormous palaces, buildings that have been around for hundreds of years. You can walk through the gardens at the Hofburg and make one turn and you´re on the main straße of Vienna. It´s weird and awesome at the same time.
 |
| Rathaus |
 |
| St. Stephen´s Cathedral |
Grüß Gott (pronounced Grooss Got) is a common greeting heard all around Vienna. People say it pretty much everywhere; walking into a store, sitting next to someone on a straßenbahn, being addressed by a waiter. I feel it is a very appropriate title for my first real post about Vienna. The city has been so welcoming, and I can´t imagine not being here. I feel so lucky and happy. All. The. Time. It´s pretty incredible.
 |
| Some friends in front of Stephansdom. This photo was taken using a self-timed camera leaning on Kent´s shoe! |
 |
| The roof of the Parliament building - the sky always looks like a painting in this city. |
 |
| A statue from the Hofburg garden with part of the MuseumsQuartier in the background |
i love that picture taken from the ground. it looks like soooo much fun!!!!!! keep bloggin girlfran
ReplyDelete