Some of My Favorite Things

Forgive me for the Austrian cliché title, but that’s basically what this post is: descriptions and photos of some of my favorite things from my first month in Vienna.

1. Naschmarkt-The Naschmarkt is a bit expensive but delicious market of food stands that’s open every day. In particular, the selection of dried fruit is extensive and delicious. There’s also a flea market on Saturday, where I’ve found some great items, including a pair of 10 Euro rollerblades.

2. Parks-There are so many gorgeous parks in Vienna and I’ve only visited a small minority of them so far. Beginning with picnicking in the Stadtpark my first weekend in Vienna (the park has a significant number of statues of famous musicians), I’ve enjoyed every park I’ve seen so far. One of my favorites is Volksgarten (I really love the line of trees lining the park):

3. Danube Canal-As mentioned in my previous post, I LOVE the Danube canal. I live pretty close to the canal and really enjoy walking along the canal, either on the way to class or just for fun. Since I bought my rollerblades, I also really enjoy rollerblading along the canal as well. All the walls along the canal are covered with cool street art and graffiti and from the number of times I've seen people actively spray painting the wall in broad daylight, it’s accepted as well, which I think is pretty awesome. 

They also light up the bridges over the canal in different colors at night!

4. Architecture: Vienna has lots of wonderfully gorgeous buildings, especially in the city center. Some examples are the Opera building (which I walk by almost every day on my way to class):

and the Town Hall (which is really a state parliament since Vienna is its own state):

There is also the Hundertwasser House, which is about the exact opposite of these buildings architecturally. Designed by Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, it's one of the more unique buildings I've ever seen:

He also designed a heating plant pretty close to my dorm. Probably the most visually attractive municipal building I've seen: 

5. Visiting Museums for Class: As I mentioned earlier, my Austrian history class goes to different museums or other sites in Vienna every week, which is great because I get to see really cool sites in Vienna and go to class simultaneously. So far, we've visited the Romer Museum, a small museum that explains life in Vienna during the time of the Romans (here’s a photo of some of Roman ruins elsewhere in Vienna):

the Crown Jewels of Austria (The sheer amount of items, between crowns, scepters, and clothing, as well as their extravagance, was impressive. I did not take any photos that day, but here’s one from the Internet of the  Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. If nothing else, the fact that this crown was probably made in during either the 10th or 11th century is impressive.)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Weltliche_Schatzkammer_Wien_(169)pano2.jpg

the main art history museum (although we were mostly there to see Baroque art, here's a photo of the wall paintings at the museum done by Gustav Klimt-the bridge in front of the paintings along with an exhibit about his life are at the museum to celebrate his 150th birthday this year):

Stephansdom, the main cathedral:

and Karl’s Church, a major Baroque church: 

(and yes, the man on the right in the above fresco is Martin Luther-got to love Counter-Reformation art).


6. Food: In addition to the deliciousness of the Naschmarkt, there’s the plethora of gelato restaurants along the Donau Canal, Wiener Schnitzel (although I’ve admittedly only eaten it once in Vienna so far, it remains one of my favorite German dishes and can be found everywhere), and der Wiener Deewan, a wonderful pay what you want Pakistani buffet where pretty much everything in the buffet is absolutely delicious (I also really like their sign-all the "stations" are different Pakistani foods):

 Here are a few more random Vienna photos:

This is part of the memorial commemorating the Gestapo headquarters in Vienna. The text says Zu Spät, which translates as too late.

Although my life in Vienna certainly has its challenges (for starters, school is hard in ways that it’s never been before), as the above list shows, it’s also pretty fantastic. And so I’m trying to keep in mind the message of this adorable art piece that’s down the street from my dance class:  

“Lachen bringt mehr als weinen.” Laughing brings more than crying. And I’m happy to say my life in Vienna has far more laughter than tears.