The Lonely Traveller

So coming out of an eventful week, I'm quieting down a bit.

One luxury of travelling alone is not worrying about anyone else's timeline. I can wake up whenever I want, see whatever I want, eat when I want, it's all in my hands. I'm finding it interesting to really have so much time alone. Even in a crowd, I'm isolated. I can't understand anyone when they speak, I have trouble communicating to people, and I have nobody to communicate to in my own language. This time has really been me learning to rely on me again. I've always been self-sufficient more or less, but now it's really telling of how important that is in a situation like this.

I've done some sight seeing and now I'm just trying to be accustomed to my routes to and from the dance studios, and prepare myself for the 26 days straight that I will be dancing... Daunting? Absolutely.

I've found the route I need to take to the dance studios and timed it roughly, and I've been double and triple checking my schedule of classes and shows to see so that once it starts, I'm ready to give it my all. I must admit I've been feeling pretty lazy with the amount of down time I have, but I'm doing my best to get out everyday and get something done, even if it's just a walk to the park.

While it has been pretty lonely, I did get to meet up with old high school buds on their own Euro-trip! Sarah, Cameron, Shane and I all went through high school in Halifax together and when I found out their next stop was Vienna, I had to make plans with them to get out of the lonely traveller blues. Yesterday the four of us went for lunch at an Italian restaurant by Stephansplatz station, a very crowded and beautiful area with Stephansdom (gothic church) right in the center. The reunion was really nice to catch up with them, we had an excellent conversation about art history and today's contemporary art and ate some excellent and well

priced food. They were going to the Kunsthistoriches Museum and since I had already been, I decided to head home. The brief encounter was enough to make me feel a little social for the first time in a week and a half.


I have had some good opportunities to get lost as well! Sometimes I might forget my life-saving map booklet and it somewhat liberates me to wander and find things I wouldn't be looking for. It is the perfect way to see Vienna's streets that are so full of life, coffee and gelato! I have become an avid gelato lover and I don't think I've seen a regular ice cream bar yet, so gelato is the dessert of the month for me. I think my favorite so far is haselnuss.

The ImPlusTanz festivities will be starting on Tuesday so this should be my last non-dance related post, so get ready for some weird contemporary coming at ya!

Happy Travels,
G

Explorations

What an eventful/uneventful week!

The first few days got off to a rough start. The jet lag hit me pretty hard because I was in bed for probably a full 24hrs after arriving with an awesome headache, a sinus infection, and intense fatigue. In 30degree heat on top of that, I just need to crawl into a hole for a while.

In order to stop feeling so lame I commanded myself to get outside, no matter how hot. So I went to discover my new neighbourhood. I found a health food store, a Hofer (grocery store), MANY cafes, the closest U-Bahn (underground) station, and the best way to get to the famous Danaukanal (Danube River). The neighbourhood is A. Beautiful and B. well connected so I feel pretty lucky to be here. After a few days of nothing in particular, I should probably get going on experiencing tourist life.

First was the Kunsthistorisches (Art History) Museum... Woah, That's a real museum. The building itself is across from the Naturhistoriches (Natural History) Museum and are almost identical buildings. They were both built around 1890 by Emperor Franz Joseph, the Art History Museum for the housing for emperors' and archdukes' personal art collections to be shown to the public.

As I walked through, I felt lucky that I could at least speak English if I didn't understand German because everything in the exhibits were written in both. I walked through the many rooms full of paintings dating back to as early as the 15th century and admired the immense detail and skill these artists have. It was also interesting for me to read how people analyse paintings and what people can get out of them; the process was very similar to how you can analyse dance and I felt very connected to the artists in that way.

Much of the museum was also dedicated to trinkets and valuable collections. I found it almost comical to walk through some of these rooms to find priceless statues and trinkets belonging to past royalty. Some of the items were understandably desirable: beautiful clocks, jewelry boxes, model ships etc. There was one item that just made me laugh at the expense someone paid to have this hilarious piece of art, Bear as a Hunter.



I'm fairly confident that there aren't many museums that can compare to this one.


Tuesday I decided Shönnbrunn Palace and estate gardens was my next destination. To say the least, this place is massive, so you will read that word frequently in this description. You first approach the gate that looks like something from the Never Ending Story and you enter the courtyard that leads up to the mansion. The courtyard is basically a football field and the palace has about 1500 rooms... I took a shortened audio tour of a few rooms to get a feel for the baroque style. Then I went to the gardens behind the palace... It must be multiple football fields in size because it's just massive. Included in the gardens is a labyrinth (which you pay extra to enter so I didn't bother), a massive fountain statue of the god Neptune and his entourage, and a massive hill behind the fountain leading to another monument. Yes, it was massive. Before I got to the hill, I got distracted by the entrance to the Vienna Zoo!

I felt conflicted about being in the zoo. I love that we get to see and learn and study them, but I'm not sure about if they should really be stuck in cages and then never be able to be released into the wild. I got over my internal moral battle though and walked among the animals. The zoo had basically everything including an awesome polar bear exhibit! The bears had become accustomed to the warm environment, but it seems like they preferred the cooler water they swam around much of the time. There was also a seal show where I got soaked by this guy jumping for fish.



That is where I met a fellow traveller who was from the States. He had a poor pronunciation of the word "danke" by my low standards, but he was cool to talk to.

When we parted ways, I decided to go to the Donau Zentrum and do some shopping. I treated myself to a few dresses from stores I didn't know, and then headed home for a much deserved cold shower.

Yesterday it thankfully rained. In the cool rainy weather it was the perfect day for revisiting Museums Quatrier and hitting up the Naturhistoriches Museum. While the building was as beautiful as the Kunsthistoriches, it was not highlighted because of the difference in subject. The best part was the dinosaurs! As a kid I really liked the idea of being a paleontologist, so I think that kid is still in me. There were incredible skeleton models, mechanical moving dinosaurs, real bones and fossils, a kids dream. They also had thousands of taxidermy animals on display, which I really enjoyed browsing around. There was also a great exhibit on human evolution. They have a great collection of skulls...



After I left, I grabbed some lunch in Museums Quartier, and then headed out to walk around the city aimlessly. I forgot my map that day so it was decently easy to get lost. It was really nice walking around the old cobblestone sidewalks and really taking in the city's character. Bakeries and cafes everywhere, beautiful fashion shops with fur coats worth thousands, and monuments and old buildings to admire everywhere. Every time I felt nervous about being lost, I walked onto a new street where there were plenty of cafes and streetcars, so I never felt too worried about it. I ended up stopping for a drink at The English Café! I had read about it online, and it was a pretty hippie with lots of books to read. Strange place, but really nice to have a beer and watch Wimbledon tennis on the big projector. Upon leaving I felt it time to find my way home. I found a street with streetcars and figured out where I needed to go pretty easily. I got home safely and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

The U-Bahn system is pretty intense, then when you add the S-Bahn and the streetcars and busses, it can be pretty complicated. I've been taking it one day at a time, and since I'm here for 5 more weeks I feel like I have that luxury. This is why I feel it was slightly uneventful also, because I've had a lot of down time and I enjoy that a lot. I do look forward to dancing and doing more festival related things. It feels a bit lonely sometimes when you don't know anyone and you don't speak the language, but I'm glad I've been able to go at my own pace. It will definitely pick up when ImPulsTanz starts.

Happy Travels,
G



Nesting

I've never been very good at the whole "nesting" portion of a trip. I've always just dropped my bags wherever I was staying and left ASAP to go see and do what deserves to be seen and done. This time my trip is a little different since I have SO MUCH TIME to really adjust and see it all. These first few days of settling in I've really had the opportunity to arrange my things how I want them, buy the things I forgot (clearly not the things from my first post), and slowly ease my way into the environment where I don't know the language well, I don't know the area at all, and I don't know anybody.

This cute flat I'm staying in has really helped me find my nest also. I found Andrea through AirBnB and was reasonably nervous about not really knowing who with and where I was living. It was a good price for the entire 6 weeks and was right downtown, so I went out on a limb and took the opportunity.

I was amazingly surprised to find so much personality in one place. I arrived with nobody home and I felt like I just know who these girls were. Photographs of themselves and past trips all over the walls, mantras of good fortune and love at every corner, longboards, paper lanterns, yoga gear. They seem like my kind of people! The only roommate I met so far is Kathi and what a sweetheart. I'm loving every part of this place so far and I'm sure I'll love and appreciate it even more as time goes. Here are a few pics and next time we'll actually talk about Vienna :P

"Welcome Home"

Dining Room Area

Bedroom!!!!!

Kitchen with a window to the hallway...

And the toilette closet... The rest of the bathroom (including the sinks) are through the kitchen...

Happy Travels!

G

Arrivals

Kay, so love and miss you TO, but here we go AUSTRIA!

Firstly, my last few days in TO were magic. So lucky to have such beautiful friends that came out to party this week. Lovely Marco, Andrew, and Sebastian were next on the must see list. And just like old times me and Lea spent some valuable time catching up. I fell in love with my friends again and there are no greater people to wish me well on my adventures... Except maybe J.R. (the boyfriend), but friends you made my days so thank you!

Wednesday morning/Canada Day I wake up bright and early to Skype the BF and wish him Happy Birthday Day!

PS sorry for leaving the continent on your BDay...

First order of the day is coffee with the bro, sis-in-law, and nephew. Got a cappuccino to get into the Vienna mindset and feeling good. Go to the park and play around with the little nephew William and head home to tackle the job that is packing...

Laundry, organizing, folding, packing, calling credit card company, call my bank, get my phone unlocked, etc. For sure a stressful morning. This is the first trip I've organized entirely by myself, so getting nervous. Thankfully I've got my whole family cheering me on. My brother generously gives me a lift to Toronto Pearson International Airport and drops me off like this:

And then I took off at sunset:

8hrs of being in the air and going forward in time did a number on my sleep schedule, and having a cold and/or allergies didn't help. Anyhow, I made it to Frankfurt on time so I can catch the connecting flight to Vienna. This flight, being only 1.5hrs, and me being dog tired, lead to me passing out in a deep sleep for the whole hour and a half. I feel waaaaaay better.

So in the heat of 28degrees that is Europe, I caught a very pleasant cab from the airport to the beautiful flat I'm staying in. Using AirBnB I found the lovely Andrea who gave me her bedroom for the 6 weeks I'm here. The keys left out for me, I let myself in to find a flat full of character and personality. Decorated eccentricly, and with a kind note left on the table, the apartment welcomes me to take a much needed nap. Zźzzzz.

Happy travels!
G