Trip to Vienna!

Vienna 27/1/12

Sightings of silvery snow dipped and rose above the hedges en route to Vienna. Three films later we arrived in the Austrian capital and what a beautiful capital it was! We took the U-bahn into central town, towards the Westbanhof. Few minutes of wandering later we checked in at Hostel Ruthensteiner, a warm and welcoming hostel with a colorful interior greeting every bagpacker from to China to Australia. My excitement grew when I noticed the games press, scrabble caught my eye immediately and wondered could anyone beat the scrabble champ. Our hostel room was plain and simple with three lots of bunk beds. Hungry after all the travelling we headed to a cheap and cheerful Italian restaurant ‘Mafiosi’  which was located a few streets away from us. Just over 5 euro one can’t go wrong, the only down side was that the crust was as thick as a matress from a master bedroom! I would need teeth like drills to gnaw through the doughy levels! Vienna by night time is beautiful, intimidating buildings emerge from the shadows of the night, lights illuminate the every angle of the architecture. The windows of the Konditorei’s were a feast for the eyes,one boasted a chocolate covered replica of St Stephan’s Cathedral! I wanted to eat every steeple of the cathedral destroying the architecture with every bite! One of the first things to greet me in Vienna was the troublesome dynamic duo Jedward! The eccentric pair gracing the front cover of a German magazine, they are taking over the world I thought! Pinky and the Brain springs to mind..” So what are we going to do tomorrow?” ” The same thing we do everyday Pinky to try and take over the world!”

We arrived back to a lively hostel,the common room was packed with backpackers siniging and knocking back the beer. We opted to catch a few winks instead as we had an early morning ahead of us tomorrow. A new day greeted us and I wandered around the corner to a local backery for breakfast. Pastries paraded behind the counter, the cherry jam pastry swirl with nuts took my fancy. The flee markets were on in Vienna and no better way to kick start the day. I seperated myself from the group to go exploring every stall from old antique porcelain dolls to dried fruits and chocolate covered nuts. I love the hustle and bustle of markets, I gorged on samples walking from stall to stall. The fruit stalls were like a rainbow of colour, sunkissed  golden oranges, plump strawberries red and purple passion fruit fought for my attention. The old antique teddy bears unleashed the inner child in me, how I longed to cuddle the battered bear with a missing eye. I adored how the loose stitches  contributed to his constanting nodding, his sullen face and faded colouring urged me to take home this neglected bear. For someone who doesn’t like hugs, I longed to cuddle the battered bear and rescue him from this noisy market. I would mend his loose stitches and give him some tlbc (tender loving bear care.) Random fact did you know that the American president Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt is behind giving the teddy bear it’s name! Story has it, that Teddy used to attend bear hunts in his spare time and on one particular occasion he came upon a wounded bear and ordered the  mercy killing of the young bear.Not long after this event a famous cartoonist illustrated a cartoon based on Roosevelt’s rescue of the young bear. When a store owner saw this picture he asked the president for permission to sell his bears under the name ‘Teddy Bears.’ Now so everytime you see a a ‘Teddy bear’ you can think of the origins of the name before you embrace the stuffed cuddly creature.I  tried to bargain with the salesman but failed. I turned my back on the sullen faced bear and walked away admitting defeat.Teddy’s beady black buttoned eyes glared at me as a final reminder of my abandonment.I couldn’t BEAR to look at him, the orphan bear alone in Vienna holding on to life by a stitch.  However I did manage to buy a so called antique ring for four euro but it wouldn’t surprise me if this ring was the product of a choclate covered kinder surprise egg! Old fashioned puppets reminded me of my childhood and I adopted a German police man and Heidi/Gretl.  The colourful pashmina scarves somehow managed to unleash the impulse shopper in me!

All shopped out we trodded on to Belvedere Palace. Even though it was January I somehow expected to see  the palace grounds blessed with bunches of flowers nodding their heads gently in the breeze. The grounds were baren and bare with out a bloom in sight, gutted! The huge entrance before the palace was so dramatic, groomed cone shaped trees with soldier like posture lined the paths.What a picture perfect opportunity to all pose  behind a different cone shaped tree. After telling a little porky at the ticket office we blagged our way in for free as under 19′s! The interior of the palace is a museum with different genres ranging from medevial to contemporary art.The amount of work that goes into one masterpiece is beyond comprehension, artists must have so much patience.  A quick stop off Mc Donalds for energy levels and back into town. A blind Austrian opera singer outside a department store urged us to stop, a beautiful soulful tune  reaped the awards as coin by coin his bucket began to fill. St Stephan’s cathedral dominated the skyline in Stephan’s platz, the gothic architecture looked liked melting chocolate dripping from the steeples.It reminded me of ‘La Sagrada de Familla’ in Barcelona.  The interior was beautiful and we waited until mass was over before intruded with our cameras like a bunch of Japenese tourists. The altar was fascinating watched over by hoards of golden angels.Silence and stillness. Embracing the silence it was time for a quick prayer.

We arrived back to a boisterous hostel, a sing song had just begun. A long haired man belted out the lyrics of Jason Mraz ‘ I’m Yours’ while two Chinese guys in the corner practiced ‘Let it be’. One would of thought the two Chinese guys were about to walk on stage for the X Factor, the look of concentration on their faces was beyond comical! Line by line, the reached for notes like they were reaching for the stars. Being such hard core party animals we grabbed the scrabble before a beer/beers. As myself and Higgins were the only scrabble players the game lacked a good pace and a competitive level. We turned to beer after a frustrating game of scrabble.Some dutch courage latter we joined in on the sing song with some Brazilians, Czechs and Aussies. An agitated receptionist surfaced on every high note reminding us that it was quiet time now. We drank and sang everthing from Bob Marley, The Beatles and Ben E King till three in the morning. The Brazilians demonstrated Samba dancing but we blew them out of the water with our sexy Irish dancing, a pin could be heard every time our tootsies landed on the floor like a bag of rooster potatoes.  Hoarse and tired one by one we retreated to our bedrooms. Guten Nacht meine freunde!

Schönbrunn Palace was on the agenda for the next day. We explored the huge grounds of the palace as the cold air sliced through the air like a sharp cold blade. A few squirrels distracted our train of thought as we watched them fly through the air like furry missiles. I stalked the furry tailed creature in hope of capturing a great picture. No kangaroos in Austria but plenty of squirrels! I really want to return here when the weather improves, I want to see the orangery with trees bending over blessed with a full load, I want to see flowers decorating the bare branched arches, I want to see the blue skies reflected in the crystal clear fountains. I will return.

And then there was two. Due to work commitments the three others had to head home early. So Ciara and I were left to explore Vienna. We spent hours screaming at a computer trying to book our return tickets, but it wouldn’t work. 6 euro later we admitted defeat and decided to risk turning up without prepaid tickets. Vienna at night time is beautiful, the moon lit up the Danube river and the neon city lights danced delicately on the water’s surface. A large building over looking the Danube hypnotised us as the neon lights changed pattern and colours every few minutes. We headed back towards the city centre and stumbled upon a beautiful church called ‘St.Peter’s Church.’ This church is one of Vienna’s most impressive places of it interest, it boasts fascinating artistic and acrchitectural qualities. As you look up towards the ceiling you can see an outstanding richly decorated oval shaped fresco which was painted by J.M Rottmayr. The depiction in the fresco of the cupola is of the crowning of Our Lady, the fresco is framed and ornated with gold . At the back of the church you can see one of the most beautiful Baroque organs in Austria. St. Peter’s church was completed and consecrated in 1973. The dome shaped roof of St.Peter’s church was a light shade of emerald and it reminded me of the palace from the Wizard of Oz.

We followed the yellow brick road back to Prague.Enough adventures for a while as the Wicked Witch of the West has emptied our pockets.The fearless flying monkeys have pooed on our faces , hovering above they laugh at the poor students left with out a koruna.

A final word of wisdom from the Wizard of Oz ,

“A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others. “

Sarah XXx

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