Parks and Cafes

Okay, so I have now been in Austria for over three weeks! One fourth of the time that I’m here is already gone! Wow! So, here is what I have been up to this week…
PARKS
Monday was a holiday so no class, but I did not have anything planned and I did not do much. My roommate and I did sit in the Rathaus Park for about an hour in the afternoon. Our professor said that lots of Wienerisch people go to parks so we thought we would also try it out. It turned out to be a very relaxing place to be, much better than being inside my room all day, and I began reading the book, “The Secret Life of Bees” It was turned into a movie, but I have not yet seen it, and I only got thirty pages into it but so far I have enjoyed it. On Friday, I went to a park for a couple hours where I talked with Russell, and wrote a letter to Jacob (it will be mailed soon!) P really enjoy relaxing in the parks; Vienna is a very large city but sometimes that is easy to forget because the people here like to relax and are not always rushing to and fro.
The picture of the guy walking on the rope is one of the things that I saw while I was in Sigmund Freud Park across the street from the Votiv Kirche. I was sitting in the park long enough to watch him set up his strap (similar to some of the ones dad uses at work I believe) and then he just started walking across. He was really good! He tried to make it across and back, but I left before I could see him succeed. It was funny because most people acted like that was a normal thing to do in a park, like they were used to people walking across ropes in parks… maybe so?! Anyway, I really enjoy the relaxation that Viennese people enjoy and I am excited to enjoy it of for the next two and a half months!

CAFÉS
Another one of the highlights of things that people do here is go to cafés and restaurants to sit and relax and chat, and just enjoy time as it passes by. On Wednesday, our professor took us to a “swank” high-class café called, “Café Central” located in a ritzy part of town where ‘anyone who is proper, and has class must visit’ Our professor said we had to experience at least once the ‘high-class life’ of Vienna. Our class discussion that day included a tour of the Rathaus which was built in the neo-gothic style, trying to look back to the past of Austria before Napoleon had taken over and the Holy Roman Empire was destroyed. (Sorry, I am not super sure on my historical facts.) But, it was interesting to hear our professor talk about how with the changes that were occurring in Vienna, the high-class became swanker and along with that, the middle-class continued to try and copy everything that high-class society called ‘proper’. Anyway, so I did feel sophisticated as our professor treated us to expensive cake and yummy, yet pricy hot chocolate, and I enjoyed the enchanting environment of the ‘swankest café in Vienna.’ I realized that I had never been to any sort of café before here in Vienna (although they are everywhere), but soon I want to go to a not so ritzy café and again enjoy the pleasant atmosphere. Saturday, I did go to a Konditerei, which is just cakes and pastries, and Sandy, Leah, and I ate yumminess!