vienna (6/17/11, 6/18/11)

We're in Vienna! It is such a beautiful city in its own ways--much different from Salzburg, I'll admit--kind of like the Rome of Austria (if Salzburg was the Florence of Austria), in my opinion. I still can't get over how much Vienna reminds me of Buenos Aires... :)
So yesterday morning, we left for Vienna in the morning and got here around 1:30 p.m. After some complications buying our tickets back for tomorrow, we found our hostel, dropped off our things, and then headed for a restaurant recommended by the hostelkeeper. It turns out that it was pretty far away (we walked almost 30 minutes to get there, lol), but I personally really enjoyed the walk, hungry as I was. We got to walk down the main shopping street of Vienna, called Mariahilfer Strasse, and it reminded me so, so much of Calle Florida in Buenos Aires. A lot of the architecture, combined with the different shops underneath, was just like the types I saw as I wandered the streets of Buenos Aires. Crazy, right? But it was really neat. We also saw repeats of a lot of stores as we walked...H&M, Paolo Bortolotti (a gelato place I wanted to try but didn't end up getting to), and some other ones that are escaping me. Finally, we reached the restaurant (called Centimeter), and it was pretty empty, although it was around 3 p.m., to be fair. We found out just how HUMONGOUS the portions were when our food arrived...way too big. I mean, they served some of their dishes in frying pans! (way more than one serving) Grace and I ended up with just pasta with ham and cheese, which was good at first but got tasteless and too salty very quickly. It's the only meal thus far that I haven't been able to finish in Europe (and that's saying something)...boo.
Anyway, we headed back out down Mariahilfer Strasse towards the House of the Secession, an art museum that Jason really wanted to see. (We got free coffee on the way! Whoot.) It turned out to be a really neat museum, and I really enjoyed everything we saw there (it wasn't even that big). We first saw Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze, which was stunning. His style is so interesting, and interpretations of the artwork were provided, and it made it a lot more meaningful for me. Another exhibit that was there showcased some works done by Saskia Olde Wolbers, and they were basically very intriguing stories (based on true stories) set to a visual. It's hard to describe, but the storylines were very...captivating? for lack of a better word.
The last exhibit that we saw there was a collection of furniture by Stephen Prina ("As He Remembered It"), all painted pink, and the question that was posed was: "If a piece of furniture designed for a specific use is taken out of that context and transferred to another location, how much of its original setting does it still bear with it?" Very interesting, and it got me thinking. As I walked around the room, most of the furniture I could still distinguish from certain features (ie. bathroom sink), but it did make me wonder--not just about the furniture, but also about us as humans and how much of our "original setting" (whatever that may be) we retain when we are taken out of our "context" and transferred elsewhere. Hmmmm...
After we left the Secession, we just kept wandering around the old city center and looking at the different palaces, which are all so grand and beautiful and old! We also went down another shopping street and saw some cool street performers. We finally turned around and went back to the hostel to check in (since we were too early when we first got there), and then we headed out. By then, night was falling, and we ended up chilling at a bar for a while and then wandering down Mariahilfer Strasse again. It was very well-lit, and there were a lot of people out and about, so again, it felt very safe and comfortable. We were kinda trying to find a club, but that was unsuccessful, so we finally went back and slept.

This morning, I got the surprise of my life when we walked out of our room to check out (a process we'll have to repeat tomorrow morning, due to some complications about getting a room for an additional night, haha). As soon as I stepped outside, guess who I saw?? Jeremy Yang!! Ahh, I was so excited and surprised and overwhelmed, all at once. I haven't seen him in so long, for one, and then to see him in Vienna was just so amazing. It was crazy, because they (he was with his choir) were literally just about to go to the airport and head back to the U.S. Serendipity at its best :) That was pretty awesome.
Afterwards, we set out for the Belvedere, the other art museum at the top of Jason's list. Once again, we took Mariahilfer, but we made some detours to the Museum Quartier (with more free coffee, hehe), where we also got to see a small outdoor exhibit on UN refugees for the past six decades. Man, the hardships people have to go through...=\ all because of politics and war. Sigh.
We also saw this big fountain in another plaza, where there was also a really neat temporary exhibit called "The Morning Line", which was a bunch of metal shapes and speakers blasting different transportation sounds, like the subway, airplanes, buses, etc...it was really neat. Vienna is so exciting like that, haha :) We finally made it to the Belvedere and spent a few hours there. I really loved Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" (and so did Jason, haha), and I can see why it's famous. Like Michelangelo's David, I could just sit there for a while and look at it. And the Belvedere Museum itself was actually really big! It reminded me of the Louvre, just with fewer pieces (and all paintings).
By the time we left, it was getting to the afternoon (we had the weirdest eating schedule today, haha...just an orange and a pastry each for breakfast around noon), so we headed back and stumbled upon NachtMarket (I think that's the name?), which is just a super long strip of restaurants, many of which are Asian, surprisingly, next to the Secession. We settled on an Austrian place and got real, legitimate Wienerschnitzel from its source, Vienna (Wien)! :) I love doing things like that; I think the novelty really appeals to me, haha.
On our way back, it started to rain again, and it got pretty hard, actually. We tried going out for a bit just now to a cafe down the street, but it was dead...so now we're getting ready for bed relatively early, except Jason, who will lull us to sleep with his sansula. :)