Day Two 8/3: Riding the not-so-short bus

Another information-filled day in Vienna. Before we got started with the day’s activities, I went to my first Viennese café with some of my friends from the program. This was an experience in culture for me because the Austrians, and most Europeans, have vastly different ideas about what going out should be like. In America we are used to going to a restaurant, ordering right away, eating, and leaving once the meal is concluded. This is not the case here. I thought that the waitresses forgot our order because it took them forever to bring the food and drinks and even longer to bring us the bill once we were done. We had two hours before we had to be somewhere, and we spent the entire time relaxing at this café. Spending that much time at a restaurant just does not happen in The States because people are so rushed in our hectic lives, but here it’s an every-day occurrence. The experience highlighted for me the difference in mind-frame between the two cultures. The Europeans are very concerned with the quality of life and having a good time whereas we are almost trained to be stressed about something. Between school, job, extra-curricular activities, and general running around I don’t have time to blow two hours sitting down and doing nothing. It’s a practice that I plan on making a habit of once I get back to Davis.

At 2:00 pm we met up with a woman named Dr. O (her name is too hard to pronounce for us Americans), a friend of Dr. Stuart who is a teacher in Vienna so that we could go on a bus tour all around Vienna. We piled onto the bus and went off on what would be a long and intense journey of sights and history. All along the bus ride we were listening to Dr. O giving commentary on the historical significance of many of the buildings that we were passing. The little piece of information that struck me the most was the fact that some of the streets along the Ringstrasse were built wide so that troops would have an easier time firing upon crowds who might be revolting. This planning is very indicative of monarchical governments, as Parsons says in his book on Viennese cultural history. I agree with this observation, governments who consolidate power frequently have to take steps to guard themselves against their subjects, as there have been (and continue to be) revolts all throughout history.
We stopped at one of the most amazing places I have ever been: The Belvedere. This is the Baroque palace commissioned by Prince Eugene of Savoy in the early 1700s as his summer retreat. The palace complex consists of two large buildings, upper Belvedere which is by far the larger and more opulent building situated on top of the hill, and lower Belvedere. Prince Eugene was a brilliant military strategist who helped the Habsurgs defend their territory against the Turks. What I find ironic is the fact that Prince Eugene was not an Austrian, but a French native who wanted to fight for Louis XIV. It was only after Louis rejected his service did Prince Eugene move to Austria. His is one of the most beautiful and revered palaces in Vienna. I also find it surprising that Prince Eugene did not live in upper Belvedere, but let his friends and guests live in it. He preferred the intimacy of lower Belvedere, among his art collections. To me, this trait is an admirable one. Most military heroes of the time period demanded as much pomp and circumstance as they could, whereas Prince Eugene selected a relatively relaxed life-style. I also admire the passion with which he collected art. His collection has largely lived on today and is available for the future generations to enjoy. The history of the palace, however, was hard to focus on when I beheld the view. The sheer size of the complex has few equals in the United States!
After our tour of the grounds, we tried to head back on the bus tour. Silly us. The front of the bus had been hit by another bus, creating a giant crack in the windshield and breaking one of the side mirrors off. We had to wait for about 30 minutes to get another bus. While we passed the time by getting in some shopping, our bus driver smoked a few cigarettes to relax. Funny stuff.
My favorite part of the entire tour was our visit to the scenic Vienna Woods. This area is on the foothills of the Alps that overlooks the city. The view from the top is absolutely breath-taking! Also at the top is a church that Pope John Paul II himself visited (Austria being his native country). Dr. O explained to us that since many Viennese live in apartments or in urban areas, they don’t have much in the way of nature to call their own. So they go to the Vienna woods to hike, picnic, and take in all that nature has to offer. I am an avid backpacker and a lover of the outdoors, so I can honestly say with some authority that the beauty of the Vienna woods rivals some of the most celebrated outdoor destinations in the US. I plan on taking bread, cheese, a nice bottle of wine, and some friends there again for a long day hike.
By far the weirdest stop on our journey was Hundertwasserhaus, an apartment complex built by Friedensreich Hunderwtwasser between 1983 and 1986. He was an Austrian artist-turned-architect who is famous for his use of free-flowing, almost stream of consciousness techniques that made his buildings look like they were designed by a child with a colorful imagination. He hated straight lines, on occasion going to far as to call them ‘evil.’ The apartment complex itself reminded me of something that I might find at Disney Land with the wandering lines and the uneven windows. He allowed his tenants to draw anything they wanted within arms’ reach of the windows, so it has all sorts of different colors. It’s quite amazing.
Hundertwasser became my favorite architect for two reasons. The first is that he was a brilliant artist who had original ideas. He rejected conventional wisdom and refused to create anything that was not his own, all the while feeling comfortable inviting criticism because of it. The second reason is that he wanted to be an agent of the people in service to Vienna. His apartment complex was built with the idea of being for public housing, giving a cheap and attractive option for those who can’t afford to live in other places. As a student, I can appreciate this sentiment. He also transformed the city’s factory into an attractive and imaginative structure, believing that even a factory can be fun to look at. Anyone who can be that brilliant by allowing the child within to live and not be crushed by society is a man worthy of high praise in my book. Basically, I love this guy. Too bad he’s dead. I ended the day thinking about his legacy and how I can apply it to my life.
Today's blog post was brought to you by the German word meistens, which means mostly!