We arrived late in Vienna, Austria. The German dialect was very different, much more slurred and mixed like Bavarian (southern Germany). We greeted a Hungarian woman at the hostel reception office around midnight. She offered us a complimentary glass of wine and showed us our room. The hostel was incredibly nice and super cozy. We only stayed for 1 night, so we didn't get to use the kitchen but it looked incredible!
The next morning we met with Chris, a friend that Paz also met in Berkeley who lives close to Vienna. He was hesitant to open up (a German characteristic) but by then end of our trip we could laugh and talk about anything. I quickly missed the prices in Madrid as a small breakfast and an all day train ticket pit me back 15 Euros. He showed us historical sites and important buildings in Vienna such as:
Schönbrunn Palace: The palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs
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| View from top of a hill in the Palace gardens |
Palmenhaus: a large greenhouse featuring plants from around the world. It is the most prominent of the four greenhouses in Schönbrunn Palace Park, and is also among the largest botanical exhibits of its kind in the world, with around 4,500 plant species.
St Charles's Church: we went to the top if the dome but it was under construction and kinda scary walking on unstable scaffolding
The Belvedere: a historical building complex consisting of two Baroque palaces the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. It houses the Belvedere museum. The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates.
Museum Quarter: Didn't go to any of the museums but there are many in what used to be the Imperial Stalls.
United Nation Building
University of Vienna and Technic University-we got to explore inside because Chris is a student at both!
Rathouse- government building with big Christmas market in the front.
Parliament headquarters where we got to sit in a lounge and learn a little bit about Austrian history.
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| super ritzy cafe we lounged at while it poured rain |
After a very long day, Chris, Paz, and I took the train to Chris's home in the countryside, a small town called Kirnberg. I learn more about Chris and his family. He lives with his parents and 1 set of grandparents. After some hesitation, he also confessed that his sister had passed away just a few years prior.
Upon entering his home I was in awe. The house very large and newly remodeled. It was extremely
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| Chris's house. One segment contains the stables for cows |
The house is big enough to become a travel lodge during the summer. It is 2 stories and included 3 kitchens, 4 "free bedrooms" not including his and his parents' bedrooms, and multiple offices/dining areas. We were also finally able to wash our clothes! His mother was quiet but an absolute sweetheart. His father very witty and outgoing. The grandmother was very active in the kitchen and very talkative. The grandfather was the epitome of a southern German who wore his "lederhosen" when out in the stables. Our time in Kirnberg consisted of lounging and eating lots and lots of home-cooked food. Chris showed us around his small village, the church and neighbors who trade eggs for his family's milk. Talking to his family was great practice for my German, although it was difficult for me to understand them. Chris was trying to explain to us the differences between German and Austrian German. "Ich habe dich gesehen" in Austrian is "I hob di gshn". They literally chop their words in half !
Austria is littered with small mountain ranges and villages nestled in the valleys. Chris drove us around and we hiked up several peaks to see the gorgeous view. It was freezing but barely any snow had fallen. Chris explained it was more similar to November weather (we were there in mid-December) and that usually there is a ton of snow by December.
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Most of Chris's family lived in Kirnberg or in a nearby village. During our weekend there we visited his other set of grandparents, 2 uncles (one who owned a bee farm; we actually bought home-made honey and saw the bee hives!), and several cousins. At night, we cozyed up by the fireplace and drank Austrian beer, ate homemade Christmas cookies, and played German board games such as Dix it, Genial, and Crazy monkeys. Since Chris lived on a dairy farm, and I couldn't fulfill my wish of skiing in the Alps (since there was no snow), I demanded that I milk a cow before I left! His parents suited us up and happily let us help out. They had about 40 cows, 10 or so calves. The calves were adorable and chewed on your clothing. When I first touched the utter it felt like rubber. Chris's mom was trying to explain how to do it but I couldn't understand her. I basically just squeezed and pulled. I am sure I was doing this wrong because the cow turned toward me and starts nibbling on my hat (as seen in the picture). I am lucky she didn't kick me! After a few tries I was able to finally squeeze milk out. You can feel the milk pulsing through the utter..so gross! They then showed me how to put on the "milking machine" which sends the milk to another machine to be pasteurized. Of course all the barn cats hung around waiting for fresh milk. Having interactions with so many animals was great and defiantly something I had missed terribly.
Our last day we visited a small town called Melk, which has a very famous church/boarding school. We met one of Chris's cousins there and attended Sunday church choir that was being held by the nearby elementary school children. They all wore their traditional "dirndls" and "lederhosen". I don't think my stay in Austria could have been anymore culturally authentic and I am incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity.
Inside Jokes
Alidog express
Wiener Wald
pushing a car up the hill
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