We've made it here, we're finally set up in our room at the Novotel Suites in Vienna or Wein, as it's spelled here. So far, so good. It's a very stylish and comfy room, large all open concept, with a bathroom (toilet closet) and a nicer bathroom with a shower, sink and tub. In the main , we have a huge desk (fits all 3 computers) and a nice couch/reading nook in the window. We have a flat-screen TV that swings out on a wall mount so we can watch from the living room or bed. The bedroom is nice with bedside tables and lamps. We have a very small kitchen area, just a mini fridge, sink, and a microwave but today I bought a hot plate and a frying pan, so... eggs in the morning!!
It's been a pretty slow week for us here so far. Basically we have been on about 4 long walks (about 4 hours each) trying to figure out where we are and how big Vienna is! It's actually a huge city!! We've discovered that there are more parks in this city than people and nicest one is the longest bikepath I've ever seen. The Donau River runs right through, the north part of the city, our backyard. It has been split into two parallel rivers and on both banks as well as the long peninsula between them, there are bike paths, gardens, shrubs and woods.
Here is a map of our area, the northern part. We live at the X, the "A" is Stephensplatz which is the downtown area. There is a subway here the U and it goes under the entire city. We live above the U1 which goes from here to Stephensplatz and best of all Cirque gave me a free pass for the entire time we're here. Alex bought a week pass for 11 Euros too. So we can go anywhere in the city now. The Cirque tent is somewhere near the bottom of this map in the center.
So after walking, we've really seen a lot of different things but really haven't been anywhere major yet. We've been passed all the major Museums (haven't gone in yet) and we've walked through some very pretty gardens. This is the statue of Johann Strauss in Stadtpark (city park). We found it by accident, just thought the park was really pretty.
We've been having fun learning how to get around this place and, although frustrating sometimes, we've been trying not to get lost too much. One day we actually had no idea where we were going and we were looking at the map, unable to see where we were. I am usually really good with a map, but this was one of those moments. Luckily we came out at this old abandoned railroad station and scrap yard and eventually found our way to the Donau. 
After we watched some swans swim by we found our way back home. Our neighbourhood (neighborhood, for the Americans reading this too) is interesting. It is definitely a lower classed area but it feels safe. There is a huge church right on the corner of the subdivision, which is a great landmark. You can almost see it from downtown. Looks like a castle. Not too much has really happened here yet, just the everyday stuff, buying groceries is 10X harder on account of the primary language being German, not French or English. It is a rather odd situation for me. I realized I have never been anywhere in the world that I didn't understand at least a bit of the language. Here, I am at the mercy of people who wish to speak English, if they don't I have no idea. It is a rather different situation for me. I'm not really scared of this fact, more challenged by the new language. I really want to start to try to at least read and recognize common words.
What I have learned so far is that beer and wine, really good beer and wine, is very cheap! We had to stop and take pictures in the grocery store... Yes, we're tourists...This beer, for instance, an original Budweiser, was 67 cents!!! And yes we bought some wine too. It is much cheaper than water, a bottle of water the same size was 3 Euros.
Continuing on our church visits, we went into the Dominikan Church, Dominikanerkirche, and did some exploring! It took quite a while to see everything, there were paintings on the ceiling, walls, pews, everything. There was a huge organ at the back of the church too. This church was built in the 1630's and from the front looked like a Roman style building with beautiful statues and carvings, much different than the Gothic style in Brussels. Along with the paintings inside there we statues, monuments, and lots of religious "junk" really. It looked like an episode of Hoarders. I'm sure everything was meaningful and important, it just seemed there was so much stuff. It was really fun to look at though and see, from a historical perspective, not necessarily an interior design one however. 
Alex finished her first paper for her class... The Mars Expeditions... One less thing to worry about now. We are planning on going to the Aquarium tomorrow and maybe another long walk somewhere. We're both battling headcolds but hopefully we start feeling better by tomorrow. The weather has been really great here and hopefully this continues, tomorrow could be as warm as 10 degrees C out there!! Let's hope! OH! ...my bird list is getting much better now too with the water so nearby, maybe soon I'll post more of my bird pictures. There are some very cool ones here too!!
'Til next time!!
Aa and Alex
Awesome!! So fun! Thanks for the updates!!!
ReplyDelete