City of Music

Last weekend, Hayley and I discovered Vienna!
And it was beautiful!
Markets and music and palaces!


Okay okay, enough with the exclamations.

We left London early at four on Friday morn. Took a black cab, found the bus, arrived at Stanstead in plenty of time. By nine we had arrived and were greeted by two smiling strangers and a sign in bubble letters, "Kristi Goldade!!!" Our worries were erased; we knew we would be welcomed.

We planned to stay with a friend of my family's former exchange student, Carolina. Her parents picked us up, drove us to Vienna (we had arrived in Slovakia), chatted us up. And then, to our surprise, the mother declared that she would show us her city.

Did she ever. We walked up down all around. Saw the palaces, cathedrals, stunning architecture. The city is built such that baroque buildings neighbor renaissance styles, art nouveau next to classical. Even the cafes feature high painted ceilings, gold decorations, and marble floors. We toured the imperial palace, discovering the myths surrounding the tragic life of Sisi. We crept down wine cellars, strolled the Christmas market, laughed at a sugar sculpture of Bill Clinton. She told us of the history of each place, describing how and why what came to be.

Then we went home to a typical Austrian meal of cabbage with sauce, meat and potato casserole, oranges and wine. Wine is Austrian’s largest and most profitable crop. They are very proud of this fact, and have many stories tall shops with wine on every shelf.

The next morning, Carolina and her twenty-something brother took us around. Went to the street markets with every kind of food and spice from every where, and then the flea markets. Saw a big castle called Schonbrunn. And then we salsa danced the night away.

Sunday was just me and Hayley, so we did what we do best: modern art museums and classical music.

will conclude this later, must work on my resume, Happy Thanksgiving!