an e-mail to Tamara on Vienna

Gruss Gott!

Its good to hear from you, Tamara! I'm glad to hear things are going well at Wagner!

We arrived safely in Vienna yesterday afternoon, after a long long flight. Our first explorations of the city were on foot around the oldest part of the town--the central ringstrasse district. There we found the Hofburg palace complex, museums, Universitat Wien, Karntnerstrasse shopping, the Rathaus (city hall) and St. Stephan's Cathedral. It was too late in the day to really do any touring (most things close at 5 or 6 PM) so we grabbed a quick treat at Cafe Demel-- a shop known for its sachertorte (chocolate cake with chocolate frosting) and the marzipan creations that grace its windows. Inside was a sweet shop out of a fairytale! Around the corner from there I stumbled upon a building by Adolf Loos (a favorite architect of mine) that I had read and read about (and only ever seen pictures of). I was so happy. So happy. SO HAPPY!! Last night we came back to the hotel pretty early and collapsed into bed. We weren't really able to sleep well on the plane, so we were quite tired. Unfortunately body-clock confusion woke us all up around 3AM, and it was tricky getting back to sleep (as I'm sure you've experienced). I'm really convinced that they should drug the airplane food to make it easier to sleep during the flight.

Needless to say, this morning we were off to a bit of a slow start. We breakfasted on the street in front of our hotel--the Best Western Hotel Harmonie on Harmoniegasse. Its on a quiet little out-of-the way street about a mile north (and a little west) of the Ring, and the front of the building is just beautiful! It isn't very tall (like all of the buildings here, only about 6 or 7 stories high) and is made of stone or some kind of molded stucco. All of the windows have flower boxes, and the entire edifice is covered in ivy that has even crawled its way out over the street along the power lines. Our room is small, but the walls are painted a lovely periwinkle. The bathroom is the same, only tiled. It is quite cozy. (Perhaps a little too cozy, as it isn't air-conditioned, and we're in a bit of a heat wave!) After breakfast—or fruhstuck, as the Viennese have it—we took the U-Bahn (subway) out to Schonbrunn. Originally a hunting lodge, Schonbrunn was converted into a summer palace by the Empress Maria Theresa, and now claims to rival Versailles. We toured the imperial apartments, and a small museum on the premise housing the royal carriages (think Cinderella). Schonbrunn is also home to the world's first (and oldest) zoo, which was created by the Empress to entertain her 16 children. We didn't have the time or ambition to tour the zoo today, but I plan on visiting again. There are also extensive gardens that we explored only a little. We stumbled upon a lily pond, a rose garden, and some hedge mazes in our brief wandering. There is also a hill at Schonbrunn which we climbed for a wonderful view of the city of Vienna. Once we were exhuasted from walking for hours on already sleepy feet, we caught the U back into the ring, and dined at a little place called Zwolf Apostekeller. Although it was quite near to the crowds at the center of the city, we were the only diners who were not natives. The entrance is in a small alleyway, and the restaurant itself is in a cellar down a long flight of stairs. The coolness of the cellar was a nice change from the baking street above. The cellars date from the 12^th century, and carried a wonderful atmosphere of the tradition of rustic hunting lodges. But it felt completely authentic. The food was wonderful! (I ordered vegetable strudel, which was veggies in a pastry crust and drizzled in a white sauce.) You can mention to Beth W. that I ordered apfelsaft, but unfortunately it lacked any hint of sparkle. After dinner we found the street where my school program is centered, and took the U to a park near our hotel where we people-watched for a while, before heading in for the night. We're all doing well, although quite exhausted from the jet-lag and walking. Hopefully we'll all sleep better tonight and be ready for a big day tomorrow.

We're hoping to tour St. Stephan's Cathedral tomorrow morning, as well as the Hofburg Palace (which houses imperial apartments and the treasury, among other goodies). Tomorrow night we have tickets to a Mozart concert, and then Thursday morning my parents are off to Switzerland and I am to meet up with one of my roommates until we head to our program orientation in the afternoon. I've had a surprisingly easy time keeping track of where we are in the city, and how to get around using the U-Bahn. (Map-reading isn't my strongest skill.) The people are fairly private at first, but once the ice is broken they are quite friendly and helpful. I am thrilled to be spending the rest of the semester here, although it still really feels just like a vacation at this point.

Sorry for the long essay, but this is the first chance I've had to really write things out! I hope you enjoy it, and share it with anyone at the farm who is interested! I'll post photos by the end of the week, hopefully, but the best things I see are the ones that people aren't permitted to photograph, and small photos simply don't do justice to the big things (like Schonbrunn)--so don't expect too much!

Let me know if anything exciting happens at Wagner! How is Crookes doing? Hope to hear from you soon--

Tschuss!
Danielle