Vienna
Vienna was wonderful, overall. A pleasant city with lots of culture and great food – you really can't go wrong there. Some highlights for me were:
The Art. If you're not a fan of some Austrian artists, then you probably don't realize they're Austrian. Austria, and Vienna especially, have produced some great artists and I was able to see work of the two of the best while in Vienna. The Leopold Museum is a wonderful gallery that I found to be just my size when it comes to museums – small enough to be able to appreciate everything without rushing through, and large enough to see a great selection of work and feel satisfied. Julie, Kait, Steph and I were able to see first-hand the beauty of Gustav Klimt's work, who Julie and Kait especially liked. I was very impressed with the work of Egon Schiele, an artist I recognized in name but knew little about. There are a lot of other fantastic museums in Vienna, so if that's your bag I would advise a visit. We didn't even make it to the art gallery that holds Klimt's most famous works because it was on the other side of the city, and I was disappointed that I didn't have time to see the natural history museum that is home to the Venus of Willendorf among other things.
The Blue Chairs. These are possibly the most ingenious invention ever developed by man. In fact, they're so clever I'm not convinced that they weren't planted here by aliens as some sort of trick to completely demobilize the human race.
I'm talking about those blue things there. Here is a closer look to give you a better idea. Photos courtesy of Anne Langford. |
Mountains! On our way out of Austria to Venice we passed through the Alps of southern Austria and Northern Italy. I haven't been fortunate enough to see a lot of mountains in my lifetime so it was pretty breathtaking. We stopped at a little gas station/restaurant and some the group walked down to the river that ran right beneath the mountain. It was gorgeous and it felt really freeing to be there even though we were only a short walk from some civilization. I finally get what Maria was singing about. You can check out the pictures below.
Venice
It's a floating city... what's so great about that? Well, a lot actually. Sure, upon our arrival I might have been a little less than impressed with Venice. I was tired from the drive. It was crowded with obnoxious tourists. But after some sleep, and with a little better weather, I was able to see Venice in all its glory. It's really a beautiful place, but it's obviously not the shining pearl of Italy that it was very long ago. It's definitely aged and gotten a bit drabby, but it still maintains a sort of magical quality and what I could only describe as "moldy elegance."
An Unexpected Ride. On our arrival in Venice, Julie said the only way she would ride a gondola was if the driver's name was Fabio. We really weren't expecting to take a gondola ride during our stay. We were in the camp that it was too expensive (80€ during the day and 100€ after dark) and probably overrated. Well, often we are proven wrong. Walking through the city, we were stopped by a strapping older man standing near a bridge: "A ride for 10€ a piece?" he proposed. There were 5 of us, and we all stopped in our tracks. I had heard that you can oftentimes barter with gondoliers, but I was a little dumbfounded. There was very little debate among us. "We'll take it!" And we hopped on into his gondola. As we began to take off down the canal I asked him his name, "My name is Fabio," he said, and then he began to whistle a tune. I guess some things are just meant to be.
Reunion. My fellow traveler and friend, Steph, decided to take an Italian adventure for spring break with Weekend Student Adventures. Students within Europe can sign-up and go on a guided trip with the company founder, Andy Steves, the son of the Rick Steves (yes, that one). Well it just so happened that my good friend, Brandon Drozd, currently studying in Ireland, signed up for the same trip! He was in Venice to meet up with the WSA group, so we had a little haphazard reunion in Venice (coordinating meetings using only the unreliable wifi I can find is rather difficult) but we were able to meet and catch up for a little bit before parting ways in Italy.
Well that's all for now, but there will be more from my spring break trip soon! Enjoy the photos!
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