The Details of Stephansdom

August 5th, 2009

In Vienna it is very difficult to encompass the entire history of a “monuments” history in a given day. Because of this I have decided to forgo the days scheduled events and go back to Stephansdom with Melodhie and Natalie in order to learn why it has become a symbol of art and history for the Viennese people.


I’m going to proceed with this blog in the same fashion that the audio guide gave to me. According to the audio tour, St Stephens has been the central place for protection, inspiration and reflection for the Viennese people the last 830 years. It is named after St Stephens, a proto-martyr of the Christian church who was stoned to death at the gates of Jerusalem forty years after the birth of Christ. An image of this can be seen in the high alter of the church, shown below. The original site of Stephansdom housed a small parish church that was built in the Romanesque style in 1137AD. In the 13th century parts of the church were redesigned in the late Romanesque style, and in the 14th century there was a gothic expansion. There were more expansions in the Baroque style (17th-18th centuries) and a renaissance expansion in the 19th century. The church survived onslaughts by the Ottoman Empire, but it was during WWII that the most damage was done to the monument of Vienna. After a fire erupted in the ceiling it collapsed, and the bell of St. Stephens came tumbling into the church. The symbol of the bell in Vienna encompasses all living things, and restoration of the church after the war became an act of independence in Austria as a free and independent country. The bell today stands at 21 metric tons and there are 230,000 glazed tiles on the roof, which are rumored to be in the pattern of a carpet. Services now run in the church one time a day, except on Sundays, when there are 10 then commence. Currently there are 3 dozen individuals that work in and around the church.

The Pummerin and Devotional Figures
In September of 1683, Vienna was besieged by the Ottoman Empire. In response the Polish king, Jan Sobieski III, rushed the city to save it from the Turkish forces. On September 13th of the same year the city of Vienna was liberated. The old Pummerin bell, which hung in Stephensdom, was actually forged out of Turkish cannons that were recovered after the countries defeat. The original Pumemerin met its fate on April 13-14, 1945 (during WWII) when fire from war looters burned through its wooden cradle and the bell crashed down through the church. The bell destroyed key parts of the church and happened to land on a particular statue with devotional figures. Three pieces that did survive were of the Madonna and Child, Emperor Leopold I and Pope Innocent XI. The Viennese felt that it was a sign, or a miracle, that these figures survived; and today they are adorned on the wall inside the cathedral at the base of the south tower.


St Catherine’s Chapel
St Catherine’s Chapel, directly across from the survived icons mentioned above, is a gothic baptismal chapel at the base of the south tower. When you look into the chapel to the left there is a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, which is the Blessed Virgin Mary in relation to the sorrows in her life. To the right there is another statue of St John the Evangelist. At the front of the vault is a depiction of Saint Catherine depicted with the sword and wheel. Legend says that St Catherine, who is the patron saint of students, scholars and the universities, was tortured to death in 306AD. She was broken on the wheel, which is why she is depicted with both the wheel and the sword. The chapel is still used today and the baptismal fountain is extremely ornate. The marble base originates out of Salzburg and shows the four Evangelists, 12 apostles, Christ and St Stephen. The font that outlines the baptismal fountain is from The Gospel According to Mark and reads: “Go yee into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned.” A randomly cool fact is that Mozart was baptized and married in the chapel, and he later died in Stephansdom.


Madonna and Child
On the next stage of the tour I was able to see a gothic sculpture of the Madonna and Son by an unknown artist. In 1300 it was one of the most superb Madonnas of the time period. Because of the devotional candles around the base of the sculpture it is very difficult to make out what the original color was since it is now black with smoke. I do, however, see hints of red at different angles. Legend has it that a mistress who falsely accused one of her servants of stealing a chain gave the Madonna to Stephansdom as a patron.


Organs
The next stop on the tour was at the “new-new” organ, built in 1991. After the fire in 1945 there was a new organ that was commissioned by Michael Kauffman, which has 125 voices, 4 manuals and 9000 pipes. According to my tour guide from the day before this organ “basically sucked” acoustically and the Viennese people complained. They were also angry because the organ had been financed with public donations. The Austrian firm Rieger built the “new-new” organ, which was designed to fit in with the baroque architecture of the church. The picture below is the newest organ at St Stephens. Due to the positioning of the original organ at the top of the cathedral, as well as problems with light, it was very difficult to get a quality picture.


Tomb of Emperor Frederick III
Emperor Frederick III established bishoprics in both Vienna and Wiener Neustadt, making him the founder of the diocese. It took a total of 45 years to create the king’s sarcophagus, and after he died in 1513 it took eight years to complete before the body could be in its final resting place. The tomb is made of marble and weighs 8 metric tons, which is absolutely insane. There are 240 statues on the body of the tombs and the lid shows the king in his courtly regalia with the coats of arms of all of the territories he ruled over. The tomb is considered one of the greatest surviving sculptures of medieval art today.


The High Altar and Choir Glasswork
The high altar was finished in 1647 and is the first early Baroque altar in Vienna. Is purposely has the shape of a house door and is designed to lead the eye up towards “the doors of Heaven.” The altar depicts St Stephen being stoned before Jerusalem with Heaven awaiting him above. Christ is waiting above to receive St Stephen, who is the first martyr to ascend from earth. Below is a picture of the High Altar. The stained glass behind the altar has parts that are remaining from the 13th century.


The Wiener Neustädter Altar
The Wiener Neustädter Altar is also once of the largest and most complex medieval artworks that is located in Vienna today. The altar is dated from 1447 and was an order made by Emperor Frederik III for the Cistercian Viktring Abbey. After Joseph II closed down numerous abbeys due to his church reforms, the altar was shipped to the town of Wiener Neustadt in 1786. In 1885 it was purchased by St Stephens and displayed until the Great War broke out. It has been in its current position in the chapel since 1952. The altar is a four-panel polyptic that open up to show biblical scenes. It is only opened on holy days and depicts the life of the Virgin Mary.


The Cathedral Pulpit
The pulpit in Stephansdom is a modern wonder of gothic architecture. It was thought to be built by Anton Pilgram but is now largely attributed to Niclaes Gerhaert van Leyden. It is built towards the back of the cathedral near the entrance so that the parishioners of the church could not only hear the sermon but not be distracted to the most important feature of the church, the high altar. Carved into the pulpit are reliefs of the Doctors of the Church: St Augustine, St Jerome, St Gregory and St Ambrose. The base of the pulpit has the six pillars of saints as well as the twelve apostils. The handrail leading up to the pulpit has carvings of wheels with three spokes leading up and four leading down, signifying that the preacher would only bring up what is holy and leave the worldly problems/endeavors “at the door.” There are toads and lizards that represent the fight between good and evil, and the tour guide made sure to point out the carved puppy that would protect the preacher from intruders. Another interesting aspect is underneath the pulpit, referred to as the Window Gazer. This is thought to be the likeness of the person who built the pulpit. The reason that people believe this is that the man has a chisel in one hand and is wearing a hat that signifies that he is working for that class. The guide says that this is one of the most famous aspects of the cathedral.


I feel that the second tour of Stephansdom definitely gave me a better understanding of the history behind Vienna’s treasured cathedral. After the audio tours the girls and I took are all-inclusive tickets and tried to check out the church’s treasury and catacombs. Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures of the treasury, although I tried (with the flash off!) and was caught (bummer!). We also missed the last tour of the catacombs for the day, of which house the remains of important people to the church and the Hapsburg monarchy. It wasn’t an issue, however, because we could use the ticket to come back again the next day. Instead we decided to climb the north tower of the cathedral and overlook Vienna.


It is very fortunate that I am not afraid of heights because as it turns out Natalie is! I’m proud of her for going up though and let her steal of all my pictures! I was the one that was of course hanging my camera off to the side trying to get a picture that was not blocked by safety bars. The view from the tower was beautiful and gave us a clear shot of the entire city. I was also able to get some good pictures of the roof with the insignia of the two eagles. The “new-new” Pummerin is also located in the north tower, so I got some good shots. By the time we took the elevator down to the ground it was already 5:30PM and we had been at the church since 11!



After taking the elevator down Melodhie and I naively wanted to climb up the south tower as well. We did not know what we had in store for us. After we showed the woman at the counter our ticket she told us that we would have to “run up the stairs” because we only had fifteen minutes left until the place closed for the day. We of course thought this wouldn’t be a problem and proceeded to run up the stairs. Something to keep in mind (which we didn’t) is that the south tower is the highest point in all of Vienna at 445 feet. There is actually an ordinance in the southern part of the city that nothing can be built higher than “Steffl”, as it is lovingly called. We soon realized one fourth of the way up that it was going to take a while to get there. Everyone coming down was sweat drenched and telling us that we weren’t even close to the top. We did, however, battle through all 447 winding stairs to make it to the top with about five minutes to spare. We were both exhausted, sweat drenched and trying to catch our breath. It must have looked pretty pathetic! The gentleman who was taking care of the gift shop at the top (of course there’s a gift shop!) took pity on us and ended up letting us stay up an extra ten minutes. To commemorate the occasion I bought a cheap tote bag to prove that I climbed to the top of Stephansdom! Below are pictures of me immediately when I reached the top (nasty!) and the stairs that we had to climb up!


Even with my all day excursion I still have not seen all of Stephansdom, so I will have to come back again! More to come soon!!

Stephansdom

Have you ever had the feeling when you are visiting a place that there is a far greater force present than yourself? I believe this force can be many different things for different people. For some it might be the presence of God in the church, that He is controlling ones destiny of “seeing” an object. For some it might be the history of a place, an example being that the church or imperial ground you are stepping foot on is 900 years older than yourself. And for many it is the knowledge that wherever you go (especially in a city like Vienna) you are entering a place where a myriad of both good and horrible events have taken place that have shaped the surrounding city and, on a much larger scale, the world we live in today. This is the feeling that overcomes me everyday that I am in Vienna. It might not make a lot of sense written down, but then again does it have too?

As many can see I have taken a couple of days off from posting my blog online. This is for a couple of reasons. First is my Internet connection to the bloging site, which is sporadic. Second is the fact that there is so much going on throughout the day that by the time I get back to my room all I want to do is sleep! I wanted to try and catch everyone up with what has been going on in my life, especially since I will be MIA the next couple of days while I’m in the Austrian Alps. An upfront warning is that this is going to be a rather large post since there are many amazing events and places that I have seen and experienced that I would like to share with you.

August 4th, 2009

The German word of the day is Wahrscheinlich, which translates to probably.

It’s raining! It’s pouring! And that makes me SO happy! It is finally sweater and jean weather in Vienna and as you can tell I am overly excited. It has, as of late, been extremely hot and humid in the city and I am very fond of this overcast and wet day. Of course I bought an umbrella at H&M for three euro yesterday (just in time!) so I am prepared.

Breakfast at Bier & Co. below our apartment complex today and NO I did not have bier. For some reason I am addicted too their ham and cheese plates with sourdough bread, which if put together correctly gives you enough for both breakfast and a snack later. This comes with hot tea and orange juice for three euro, so good deal! I take off with my group to school on the metro and I guess there was some kind of incident today. While Kathy was giving an overview to some students a woman looked over at the group and told us to “be quiet”. The professor, of course, told her she was being rude (in German) and at class taught us the German equivalent of “what the hell”, which is “was si das”. Once I get back into the States that will be my new catchphrase.

Today’s class was on the Protestant Reformation and the major differences between Catholics and sects of Protestants. These links will give you a more focused idea of the evolution of Martin Luther’s ideas and how they spread into the Protestant Reformation. Some aspects of Lutheranism are the minimalist aspect in churches and that with predestination there is no need to worry about who is going to Heaven. According to lecture by Professor Stuart, John Calvin brought about the second phase of the Protestant Reformation by preaching “total depravity, unconditional election (salvation by grace alone, not merit), limited atonement (Christ did not die for everyone, only the elect), irresistible grace and perseverance of grace.” Catholicism was the religion of the Hapsburg Empire and focuses on commitment to the sacraments, the relationship between a person and God and communion. The “order” of this belief is: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Unction, Holy Orders and Holy Matrimony. We briefly touched on the Counter Reformation, which is the Catholic revival after Pope Pius IV until the end of the Thirty Years War. This was, according to the professor, a return to the theological and spiritual tradition of the church and the relationship with Christ. (I don’t want to loose you with details, but these movements have directly affected the religious imagery and churches that I have visited in present day Vienna.)

Enough with school.

Today I visited St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the symbol of Vienna’s religious central and a monument to the Viennese determination in the many internal conflicts that have wrought the city. The tour guide who led us through the church says that the tower is the equivalent to 445 feet tall (136 meters) and the tallest point in all of Austria. There is an ordinance that no “high rise” can be taller than the south tower, named “Steffl” by the locals. The north tower is 68 meters tall and holds the Pummerin, the largest bell in Austria at a little over 44,000 pounds. The roof, which is one of the most recognizable in Vienna, is covered with 230,000 glazed tiles that form a mosaic of the double-headed eagle. This double-headed eagle is the symbol of the Habsburg dynasty and gets set off against the Neo-gothic building of the church itself.

The inside of the church was amazing, for lack of a better word. The first time I walked in my breath was taken away at both the interior of the church and the feeling that, like I said before, I was walking into something that was “bigger than myself.” To my immediate right I saw a Byzantine style icon with what I recognized as a saint (by the halo) and the baby Jesus. Out of the alter there were what looked like rays of light illuminated by the candles that people purchased for prayer. To the front of me I saw an ornate pulpit that was outlined with carvings and numerous altars that were spread across the church (apparently there are 18). The high alter, like at any church, immediately caught my attention as well as the one to the left of it which I now know is called the Wiener Neustädt. I took a tour of the church with fellow classmates, but to tell you the truth, I couldn’t make out the Austrian guides English. This was not anyone’s fault; he just has a heavy accent. I followed him around at the beginning, which is where all of the other information came from, but then decided to walk around on my own.

The biggest problem that I had at the church was the feeling I got while taking pictures. Internally I questioned whether it was acceptable for me to be taking pictures of the altars and icons while people were visibly praying to them. It made me feel out of place and like a tourist in their home, or “God’s Home.” It made me think about how I would feel if so many people (and there were hundreds of people!) came perusing in and out of my church at any given time or during Mass. I personally don’t think that I would like it! I also quickly realized that I would have to return to the church at a later date to pick up the valuable information I was missing by wondering around by myself. I didn’t mind this, however, because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to take everything in on one shot.

After visiting Stephansdom I decided to take the train back to Simmering and call it an early night. With so much walking and information being thrown my way it is making me visibly exhausted. And after visiting places like St. Stephen’s I feel like I need to sit for about an hour and digest what I have seen in order to take it all in. Sleep is good…

More to come soon! I’m going to post this now so you can all read something new!

Coffee and a Tour of the City

August 3, 2009

The day is once again young. I wake up early again (5-5:30ish) to meet fellow students Tyler and Melodhie for traditional Viennese coffee and a light breakfast before class. Coffee is an important staple in Vienna’s culture and, according to professor Kathy Stewart, is rumored to date back to the second Turkish siege if 1683. The Habsburg army found a stash of strange beans left by the retreating Ottoman Turks and originally tried to use the discovery as horse feed. The Polish king John III Sobieski apparently gave the beans to one of his soldiers, Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, and Kulczycki is now credited with (after much experimentation with milk and sugar) opening the first café. Germans refer to Kulczycki as “Georg Franz Kolschitzky” and of course, like any important figure in European history (or folklore), there is a statue dedicated to him.

Lucky for us that two doors down from the Amerika-Institut is Julius Meinl, a Vienna-based coffee house with an interesting history. The company has diversified since its origins under the original Julius Meinl over 145 years ago. It is a manufacturer and producer of coffee, gourmet foods and I believe at one time the company in banking. The company has passed through the generations and, according to the New York Times, Julius Meinl V is a really ostentatious and extravagant person. The paper reports that Meinl's “claim to fame” is that he has never had to walk more than 300 meters because anything longer than that he can use his Bentley or private jet. (Good for him.) Meinl V recently got in some trouble for insider trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange, so maybe acting like a pompous ass doesn't always make you a winner in life.

Anyways, the coffee itself was very good so I can’t really complain. I asked the German woman behind the counter if she spoke English (Entschuldigen, spretchen ze English?), which she did, and then asked her what she suggested for both breakfast and coffee. Somehow we all ended up with three different coffees and three different cakes, all of which were tasty! Melodhie had the Mélange (coffee and milk) with a Truffeltorte (dry chocolate cake), Tyler had the latte with Sachertorte (rich chocolate cake, frosting and cream) and I had the Brauner Klein (mocca) with Esterhaszytorte. That cake was my favorite because it was a sweet white cake with that had an almond taste to it. We did not have to pay up front and the coffee was served to us at the table with a glass of tap water. In another blog I am going to go over the etiquette and importance of a Viennese coffee house because it is very different than in the states. For now I will just say that it would be very easy to spend all day relaxing in a coffee house and nobody would look at you any different for it! I will also be writing a small blog on the water situation in Austria and the fascination with prickled vasser vs. tap water. Below are pictures of my Esterhaszytorte and coffee with the Meinl logo imprinted on the cup. If you are able to see the logo than you will notice that the man has a Turkish hat on which is in reference to their involvement with the coffee bean and its origins.

Class was (of course) interesting and we learned about the rise of the Babenberg and Hapsburg Empires in Austria and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Not to cop out of telling you the origins, but there will also be another blog that is going to explain these origins to everyone. We are still at the beginning of class and I am trying to make sense of all of the marriages that were arranged by Maximillian I to form the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It took careful planning and consideration to set up the alliances within the empire and the phrase that comes out of this is: "Let others wage wars. You, fortunate Austria, marry."

After a lunch of Frankfurter, the rest of the class and I went on a tour of Vienna with Dr. O. I have to warn the reader of this blog that we went to multiple places as an overview of what we will experience in the coming months. Therefore I will not go into each place in detail (yet!) but share a little about my reactions to places. I had a couple of favorite places that I am definitely going to be returning to multiple times during my stay in Wien. I thought the Belvedere summer home of Prince Eugene of Savoy way amazing! We are going back in a week to look through the museum, but the outside is full of baroque gardens, sculptures and one GIANT guesthouse. The picture below is the prince’s gust house, which shows the amount of money and prestige the man had after defeating the Turks. The pond that is in front of the guesthouse was meant to be a reflection point of the grandiose house, and it must have been amazing to see the home lit up while riding up to it in a horse-drawn carriage. The gate that encloses the home has the seal of the Savoy family as well as angels with the “Golden Fleece”, which was a chivalric society meant for the Hapsburgs and societies elite. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you want to look at it that way) while we were on the Belvedere grounds another tour bus backed into out bus and shattered our windshield and mirror. We had to wait for another bus to come and the policie to arrive and take a report. Below is a picture of the guest house of the Belvedere as well as a close up of an angel ornament on the front gate of the palace holding the "Golden Fleece".

After the unexpected adventure we took a new bus through the sites of Wien to point out museums and monuments that would be interesting to visit. I want to see the statue of the Russian soldier that helped “liberate” Austria after WWII as well as the Secession Building with its gold dome. We took the bus into the forest of Wien, up to the church that was used to give last mass before the Poles helped narrowly save Veinna during siege in 1683. From that church you can see the entire countryside of Wien and one must use their imagination to picture two armies advancing down the hill to stop the Turks nearly successful invasion. The other really impressive site that we visited was the eclectic housing project by the artist Friendensreich Hundertwasser. His focuses in art were on bright colors, organic forms, and incontinuity in shapes, colors and sizes. The Hundertwasserhaus has an uneven walkway with numerous types of bricks and stones (including headstones!), a roof and windows that have trees and shrubs growing out of it, and a multi-colored façade that he encouraged tenants to help paint. Hundertwasser is also known for his work on Wien’s incinerator, which he decorated with various colored tile and bright materials. The artist died in New Zealand in 2000, which was a great loss for Wien, but his architecture and ideas have remained a popular part of the country’s cultural heritage.

All of theses places and more will be visited in the near future. After the tour I decided to go back to my room because I was not feeling well after eating torte and drinking coffee for both breakfast and my “dessert” after lunch. There is saying that one can have to much of a good thing, and that is definitely the case for torte and espresso. I will write again soon and hope that all is well!

Arrival and Initial Observations

Today is the first day that I have set up my blogging account but is not my first posting for the trip. I am going to first post my journal from yesterday (so you don't miss out on anything!) and will continue with today, day three on my trip.

August 2nd, 2009

The German word of the day is Meistens, which translates to mostly.

I arrived into Frankfurt, Germany yesterday (August 1st) to catch a connecting flight into Vienna, Austria. I’m a little taken aback from my travels thus far because I feel educationally “behind” Europeans that I have come into contact with. Most of the plane stewards/stewardesses were fluent in multiple languages, and from one steward alone I heard German, English, French and Spanish! I knew this would happen, but most everyone that is not from the United States has been able to understand what I am saying and talk back to me in either broken or perfect English. I, on the other hand, have had to rely on the fact that locals can speak my home language. When I outright talk to locals in English it makes me feel rude, although no one as outwardly judged me as of yet.

Shopping for groceries yesterday was an adventure considering I could not understand the labeling on certain foods. One of the other students and I walked around the store for half an hour before even deciding what to buy. I ended up with bagged corn, green beans, spaghetti with tomato sauce and a Märzen. The Märzen was one label I actually didn’t have issues understanding! I also picked up my month pass for the Vienna subway, which I will take for 30 minutes Monday through Thursday to get to my classes in downtown Vienna. I have not yet been on the Wiener Linien (subway), but the process of buying the ticket (and the sights and smells!) reminded me of the rail system in Washington D.C. The pass cost 50 euro, which is worth it considering I can now take the train in and out of the city at my will.

I was a bit jet lagged after coming off of the plane yesterday, so I did the one thing that everyone told me not to do which was go to sleep early. It actually worked out for me though because this morning I woke up around 5:30AM wide awake and ready to get the day started. I decided to take an early walk down the main stretch of street in front of my building on Simmeringer Hauptstrasse. It is already bright out and warm, but nothing was going on because of the time and the fact that it is Sunday. I did see one bakery and coffeehouse that was open, and I will probably go too later today to try the local delicacies. This part of the city reminds me of any metropolis city in the states. I passed numerous stores with American trinkets and toys, shoes, bags, watches and “electronik” equipment. The only people on the streets were street cleaners and men changing out hanging newspaper stands. The only difference that I noticed being on the street was that (like I mentioned earlier) there were signs I could not read. However, by looking into the stores and studying the German phrasing it is easy to replace it with the American advertisements that I am sue are quite similar.

As the group began to arise our instructor, Kathy Stewart, informed us that we would be taking the Wiener Linien into town to check out the classroom. Our ride begins on the orange line at Simmering where we travel for eight stops to Landstraße (Wien Mitte). We than transfer to the redline and travel to Karlsplatz, our destination. Traveling the rail is quick and efficient. The infrastructure reminds me a lot of the subway in Washington D.C. because the color-coded trams are easy to distinguish. The group is warned that foreigners are often the targets of pick pocketing on trains because we tend to "let our guard down" and "converge into tight groups" rather than pay attention to the other people around us. I feel safe when I'm on the rail system and I don't know whether that is naivety or me just being really jealous that the entire United States doesn't have such an efficient rail system of our own. (Sorry Amtrak, I still love you!)

Stepping out of the rail system is an entirely different world than that of the United States. Buildings are grand, ornate and very old. When I say old I am not referring to Downtown Sacramento old, where 100-year-old buildings are considered antiques. I’m talking classical Roman palaces, Baroque churches and Gothic style cathedrals. The sight is truly astonishing. Our classroom is right next to the Theater an der Wien with its ornate fountains and grand arches that will later be the sight of a class excursion to the world-famous opera Don Giovanni. There are just not buildings like this anywhere that I can think of on the west coast.

After a brief introduction to class, a large number of students decided to eat at a cafeteria-style restaurant near the school. Don’t let the word cafeteria fool you. Both the food and white wine were delicious (Riesling!), and the restaurant had fruit, salads, pastries, meat and an extensive bier/wine selection. I had goulash over potatoes, which is basically a stew of beef, onions, vegetables and spices. I was full the rest of the day!

Unfortunately for me the heavy food and wine did not mix with the weather, which was inevitably both hot and humid. Once again I was reminded of east coast weather, where you take a shower only to be drenched by sweat as soon as you step out. (On a side note about the heat, our apartment building does not have air conditioning. I have learned that many Europeans see air conditioning as a wasteful luxury that is harmful to the environment and unnecessary. The only time that they actually “need” the air conditioning is during August, which is when this trip is taking place. So I am sucking it up and dealing.) Kathy took us on a walking to

ur of the immediate city, including a memorial for fallen Austrians during a bombing raid in WWII. Walking by the memorial many tourists would probably just see art rather than the site of more than 600 deaths, but I was told that the site actually became a sort of "tomb" because the fallen building was not excavated from the site. A bomb hit the building directly, which was seen at the time as a sort of "safe-haven" for people to run to during the bombing campaigns. The cobbled rocks that line the road have paved over the site.

After the information Kathy gave us a brief tour of the Hofburg Imperial Palace, the former residence of the defunct Austrian monarchy. The tour didn’t even scratch the surface of this palace, which takes up nine city blocks (according to my map). I am planning multiple trips back to try and take in each individual aspect of the dwelling, including the Schatzkammer (treasury), Hofkapelle (chapel), Prunksaal (imperial library) and Burgtheatre (national theater) to name a few. The style of the complex is ever changing with the popular style of the period since the Hofburgs reigned for over 600 years. There will be an ongoing blog about the palace as soon as I visit it again.


After the tour of the palace, Kathy let us cool off from the sun at the Museumplatz. This area is known as a trendy or hip place for young adults and had a featured DJ playing music in a bier and wine garden. We cooled are feet in the large fountain and relaxed. Some students tried a “margarita”, which I put into quotes because it was basically a very tall shout of tequila with ice and lemon juice. The drinking culture in Vienna is quite different than in the United States. The garden was full of young adults (the drinking age is 16) who were chatting and enjoying their white wine, bier or mixed drink. It is a surprise as an American who works at a bar to see that many people drinking together and no one visibly drunk. One of the American students was impaired by his margarita (not sloppy, just noticeably drunker) and I am curious if it is a tolerance level, a mind-state of European vs. American culture towards drinking, or a little bit of both. I noticed this again at a micro-brewery the group visited called 7 Stern Brau. While there I was able to try the Rauchbier (dark and smoky), the Hempbier (hoppy lager) and some people unfortunately tried a chili bier (no thank you). Of course these biers come in different sized liters, so by the end of the excursion there were a few students that drank more than others. I felt strange while at the bar and dealing with the employees and the drunker students because I felt like we were feeding into the existing “typical American” stereotype that many Europeans have about us. It was also Sunday and after ten o’clock which meant that in many ways we were being taboo and not being observant of an Austrian custom. Sundays are generally known as quiet days in Vienna, where the general population has the day off and spends time with ones family. People do drink on these days but they restrain themselves from being too loud or pushy, which I believe is an ongoing stereotype of drunk Americans. However, the pub and waitress were extremely nice, gracious and understanding about the splitting up of checks! She even let me practice my german, which I think she either appreciated or thought was comedic.

Well there is a lot more to come as far as the blog is concerned. All-in-all I am very happy being in this amazing city and there is a really great group of students that are involved as well. I am busy now thinking up what I am going to write for all of the events that happened today! I will post it shortly and wish everyone well.