9-July | Wibbly Wobbly
Oh boy, I said I was going to update this blog more regularly. I lied!! Let’s see, where were we last…
Wednesday - departed from the Christa’s grandparents’ gorgeous farmhouse, stocked up with homemade Dirndl products, and headed back to Vienna. That evening Lisa and Sarah had some people round for a small house party. We ate yummy pseudo-Mexican food, chatted, played Cards Against Humanity, and I went to bed waay earlier than anyone else!
Thursday - Lisa left for Madrid. I spent virtually the whole day in the Natural History museum (highlights: dino bones and Venus von Willendorf!), had some classical Austrian food for dinner at the Rathausplatz, and had a lazy Twin Peaks-watching night in. Lisa and Sarah were both away for the weekend so I had the flat to myself!
Friday - Time Travel Vienna with new friend Tina! Time Travel Vienna is an “interactive history experience” - think “5D Cinema”, talking wax figures of Sisi etc, and a weird slightly creepy ghost monk host. I loved it! Learnt a lot too. Tina and I got lunch and hung out in Rathauspark afterwards, and she then invited me out to Prater with some of her friends. Prater is Vienna’s famous amusement park and I have no idea why this was only my first visit! I had more fun than I can remember having in a long time - probably because it’s the first time in my life that I’ve been able to go on Ferris wheels, rollercoasters etc without suffering from a fear of heights (thank God I’ve finally outgrown that)! (We didn’t go on the famous Riesenrad, the oldest running Ferris wheel in the world, because it was too expensive and slow. But we went on a new one.) Possibly my favourite ride was a water-based one which left us all soaked and giggling! Tina’s friends were great too, I instantly felt right at home with them (special shout-out to Markus and his hair-fixing, bubblegum-removing skills). Excellent excellent evening.
Saturday - went to an ice cream festival in Augarten with Felicity, a friend from the USYD German Klub, and her boyfriend. It was so dang hot that the ice cream was immensely welcome! I got Sacher-Torte flavour - what else, when in Vienna - and sleepily enjoyed my first experience of Augarten. Afterwards I went home and, to be totally honest, spent most of the rest of the day feeling incredibly homesick. All holidays have such ups and downs. I cheered myself up somewhat by treating myself to a restaurant dinner date with my book; the waiter was so lovely, I think he could tell that I was feeling down, and went out of his way to be nice to me without making me feel pressured to actually make conversation. My soup and salad was also lovely. Good end to the day.
Sunday (today) - this morning was spent catching up with old exchange dorm-mates! Met Gulnara and Sarah at a lovely lovely hipster-ish cafe, Josef Brot, where we all had delicious food and chatted and gossiped into the afternoon. From there I met up with Stephanie, who I also knew from exchange (ESN friend), for drinks on the Badeschiff - a boat-ish structure on the Danube Canal with multiple stories including sunbathing decks, bars, cafe, a swimming pool, and an indoor football cage… super cool! A summer storm hit while we were there, and it was lovely watching the rain pelt down into the Danube as I nursed my Pimm’s. I’d like to go back there again on a hot day with my swimmers! Stephanie invited me round to her place this evening, where we watched Tatort (German crime show) with her friend and partner, and I enjoyed all the crystal-clear German-accented Hochdeutsch with nary an Austrian vowel in sight :’) …sorry Austrian friends!! Came home to find Lisa back from Madrid, woohoo.
Tomorrow another friend of Lisa’s from Sydney is arriving, and the three of us will set out to do touristy fun Vienna things. Can’t wait!
