Berlin

The biggest adventure to date was definitely last weekend when I ventured to Berlin. I left on Friday the 13th and arrived in Berlin in the morning so I could benefit from a whole day. My friend who is living in Berlin right now, Tara, gave me fantastic directions into Berlin, where she met me at the one café I could understand, Starbucks. We had only met in November after we got in touch through SWAP. We set out on our touristic journey of Berlin, which is very different from Vienna. The people are much more apt to speak English, but they still walk around like they are miserable. Apparently the Germans and Austrians have a love / hate relationship like Canada and the U.S. I haven't experienced the culture long enough to know which one is Canada in this relationship.

Our first sight was the Brandenburger Tor, which is like 'the' landmark of Berlin. It weird to have seen all these places in school textbooks and to see them in real life is pretty cool. Around the corner from there is the parliament building, the Reichstag. According to Tara, I am not taking the blame if this fact is wrong, Hilter organized the fire that burned it down some decades ago. He did this in an attempt to have a reason to go to war, inevitably leading to WWII. This is how a lot of the conspiracy started about September 11th and the involvement of the U.S. government. The building does have a certain presence, and knowing that it was Hilter's old stomping grounds made it a little eerie. Conveniently all of the touristy sights are close to each other, so we just kept walking. Walking up to the Holocaust Mahnmal was a little confusing. There is no real identification describing what it is, but enough books tell you. The ground slopes up and down, and most of the pillars were higher than me. The weird thing is that they are in perfect lines, so you can always see a way out, but the sloping ground and monstrous pillars leave you with a sense of disorientation. The architect never really explained why he did it, and wanted people to derive their own meaning of it. Continuing down the street, there were big pieces of the Berlin Wall in random places. To see the Wall is one thing, but seeing it out of place doesn't seem right. I think it is good to preserve and remember it, but displacing it from the original site makes it lose some of its meaning.

As we were walking, I noticed that all of the sewer tops are actually nice, and have major buildings on it. One of the building on sewer top was the Berliner Dom, which was pretty impressive. It was probably one of the only buildings that resembled the architecture in Vienna. In the photo, you can see the Berlin TV Tower in the background. It resembled a mix of the CN Tower and the tower in Calgary. After that, we made our way to another church that had been bombed during the war. The bomb ruined most of the church by burning it down, but half of the steeple is still standing, making it a very, I will say interesting, but it isn't the word I am looking for. From there we made our way to the Tiergarten, and saw the Siegessäule, the Golden Angel. It was moved in 1939 as part of Hilter's plans to turn Berlin into the capital of the world. Tara and I climbed it, all 285 steps. It was like climbing the Statue of Liberty because of the spiral staircase.

The same time I was in Berlin, the Berlin film festival was taking place. Tara bought tickets for us so I was able to experience something that is internationally recognized. Unfortunately I was a few days late to see Kate Winslet. After that we went to a little cafe / bar and I met some of Tara's past roommates. I was talking to one girl who had gone to Concordia. I asked where she was from in Montreal, and she said that she was actually from the Eastern Townships. I told her about Knowlton, and of course she knew the Knowlton Pub. And she went to Massey Vanier. We decided that we obviously knew mutual people. Sitting in a little bar in Berlin, this complete stranger lists two people we both might know. The names were Nick Cogger and Ryan Stowe. My old sailing coach/I wish my old brother and my first cousin. Yeah Right. It is a seriously small world.

The next day we visited the inevitable, the East Side Gallery. It is a stretch of the Berlin Wall that stands exactly as it was. It was so hard

to vision that this wall split the city of Berlin in two. Years ago, Berlin invited artists to come and paint the Wall, so it is covered in what used to be, unique art. Unfortunately it is now covered in tags and visitors names. I guess it does add to the significance of the Wall but at the same time, it ruins it. I am glad that the government chose to leave this section of the Wall, as it was, instead of doing something creative with it. As a tourist, it makes the experience much more real and gave me the opportunity to understand. After the Berlin Wall we went to the Jewish Museum. The architect built the new part of the museum with a lot of angles and random empty space. Supposedly, the empty areas symbolize the lack of Jews in German society. The museum woke me up and really made me realize, that yes, the Holocaust happened. Not at all to reference that I am a 'Holocaust Denier' but learning german history in school is one thing, but to come to the place that it all started, was a reality check. After that, Tara and I headed to Checkpoint Charlie, where the United States opened a section of the wall in the 1960's. It was made famous by a standoff between the Soviets and the Americans, where some believed WWIII would start.

The next day we hopped on a Tour Bus and were able to hear a little bit of the history of what we were looking at. As touristy as the double buses are, you are given the opportunity to know what is what. After a busy weekend, I was ready to come home.

Tara is coming here in March, so I can return the favor of being tour guide. I have bought us tickets (Me, Hannah and Tara) to go and see the Spanish Riding School, I just felt compelled, at least one of us in the family had to see it, so why not make it the one person who loves horses most?!

I am heading to Salzburg next weekend with another Swapper, Simon. He is in my German classes, so we are turning into little buddies. German is terrifically hard. I am starting to learn the basics and understand what our teacher is talking about. The weeks are very quickly starting to add up, the past week was my sixth week of work. That means I have 10 left, which also means only 10 weekends. Upcoming trips that I am planning are to Krems and Melk, Bratislava, my fingers are crossed for another ski trip, Graz, Linz... I am still unsure about Easter, but my friend who is in Germany wants to go somewhere hot, I wouldn't mind...

Conor bought his ticket 2 days ago, so he is actually coming. Since our flight is out of Prague, we will start there, and our Italian plan is Venice - Florence - Rome - Naples - Pompeii - Capri or Amalfi. Everything is starting to be pretty busy here, I just hope I can fit everything in that I want!

Sch-tuhleck

Apparently there is some interest in my blog, and I therefore apologize for not being on my A game. Since my last post, a whole lot of stuff has happened. These entries are going to start getting exciting...

Last week Hannah and I went to see a ballet in the Staatsoper, the famous Vienna opera house. The outside of the building does not give an hint about what it like on the inside. The pictures I took don't even do it justice... Check out my album on facebook. The ballet was fantastic, and probably much more entertaining than the Nutcracker. This is also where the Opera Ball is hosted. A huge debutante event with the social elite of Vienna. There is a man who became a rich rich business mogul somehow, who pays a female celebrity to accompany him to this ball. Past dates have been Paris Hilton, Carmen Electra, Pamela Anderson and this year Nicolette Sheridan will be gracing Vienna with her presence. Due to the obnoxious nature of this man, all women apparently leave within the first half hour, or lock themselves in a bathroom. I think the Opera Ball is next week.

On Saturday we went skiing in Semmering, at a mountain named Stuhleck. It is in the 'entrance' to the alps, so it was not incredibly high, but pretty cool. We took the train and the ride was about an hour and a half. We were there with the rest of the world, and from a country that produced Hermann Maier, you would expect everyone to be equipped with the latest and highest tech stuff. I'll just say... I saw someone going down the mountain on CROSS COUNTRY SKIS. Not those telemarket skis, cross country skis. This was the first time I am glad Jodi wasn't here, she would have died. She also would have found it interesting that you can take the chair lift up with a toboggan because there is a 5km long toboggan hill. On the ski hill. Check facebook.

It was pouring rain on Sunday, but I did not want to waste another Sunday, so with the support of Hannah I decided to go discover more of the Ringstrasse. The picture to the left shows the discontent of my journey. My umbrella broke, like really bad, my jeans died my white shoes blue and I was freezing cold - but I persevered. Since that picture worked, I will try to add more... On my journey I saw the Town Hall, the Votivkirche, Sigmund Freud's house and practice, which has been converted into a museum, the police station, which used to be a barrack so it is HUGE and the Börse, which is the home to the stock exchange. After my adventure we met at Charlie P's Irish Pub to watch a rugby match between Wales and Scotland. Hannah is from Wales, so I clearly cheered for Scotland.

I started German last night. Oh. Boy. It is a tough tough language. We learned how to count and say the alphabet, very elementary but useful. We learned that when there is a word that starts with St it is pronounced Sch-t, hence the name of this entry... My course is 6 hours a week for 5 weeks... There are 5 other people in my class. One of them is named Simon who I met through SWAP, so that is pretty cool. There is one from Turkey (who doesn't even speak English), Finland, Romania and India.... And 2 Quebecers. Pretty diverse group, we'll see how it goes. I actually have homework - not fun.

On Thursday there are 4 of us getting together from SWAP. The office has a list of all of the SWAPPERS and it turns out there at least 5 in Vienna so it may make for some good travel buddies.

I am heading to Berlin on Friday morning for the weekend. I am staying with my friend Tara, who I met through SWAP as well. I have also made plans to go to Salzburg at the end of February for the weekend. I am staying at Yoho Hostel, which is apparently world renowned.

So Posh

3 weeks done already, I can hardly believe it. The weekdays seem to all blended together but the weekends are starting to fill up. This week was the last 'tame' weekend if you will, I actually went to museums. By myself. Oh yeah. Museums are definitely places that have to be visited here, since Vienna is so centered around their culture. I went back to the Museums-Quartier and visited the Leopold Museum and Museum Moderner Kunst. The Leopold was not necessarily my style or preferred genre of art, I am actually developing one, but I did find some pieces fairly interesting and striking. It seems though that the ones I preferred never became very famous, I guess that hints something about my artistic style... The top 2 floors of the MUMOK were very interesting, and fit my taste better. Very abstract and allowed me to develop my own meaning for them. I don't know how to describe what kind of art I find tasteful, but it seems to be the more abstract and give the viewer the option to form their own visions about what it says. I thoroughly enjoyed Gustav Klimt and Wolfgang Paalen.

Well that was a paragraph I never thought I would write...

Through work there are various promotions given to employees that allow us to take advantage of discounted cultural events. The first one that I am being subjected to is the ballet. Hannah and I are going tomorrow night to the Staatsoper and are sitting in the sixth row... for 100 Euros cheaper a seat than normal. I don't know how and I don't know why, but I believe that this new culture side of me is going to appreciate this ballet more than I appreciated the Nutcracker that I was dragged to as a child. There will be a definite update about this performance tomorrow night. The bank that I work for sponsors an Art Gallery and is called BAWAG Contemporary. The first Wednesday of every month is somewhat of a Vernissage (thanks for teaching me that one Dad) and welcomes the new artist to the gallery. That is on the agenda for the Wednesday.

We just came back from buying tickets to go skiing next weekend. There are 4 of us who are taking a little day trip to Semmering and then coming back. For 51 Euros, the train service offers round trip plus your ski ticket, a deal I am thinking of taking serious advantage of.

Although May is far away, I have already taken advantage of yet another European deal for my travel plans through Europe. Sky Europe was offering a buy one get one free plane ticket deal under the condition that they are one-way flights. I had to take advantage of this and made an emergency skype call to Conor. He is scheduled to come here at the end of April... I say scheduled only because there has been no plane ticket purchased yet so therefore I am still apprehensive.

We were thinking about where we wanted to go and had to start ruling out places that were unreasonable. To Conor's dismay Istanbol and Barcelona were crossed off the list and to my dismay, Croatia has been ruled out. We agreed on touring Italy for 10 days. Our schedule will look a little something like this...Beginning May 4th - Prague-Venice-Pisa-Florence-Rome-Pompeii-Naples. If there are any suggestions about Must Sees in Italy, please let me know!!

Becoming Culturized

The weeks are starting to go by relatively quickly, I have already worked 2 of my 16 weeks. I know that is going to turn into 14 and then be over. In order to take full advantage of being here, I started planning my weekends. I decided that this weekend was going to be a culture weekend. It was a balmy 10 degrees yesterday and absolutely perfect for a day of sightseeing. I had it all planned out and all the right pages were turned down in my guide book (I am one of those people). The first stop was to see the Museum-Quartier. In order to arrive there I had to take the metro to a certain station and transfer. When I arrived at the first station, I couldn't find the other metro so I just took the escalator up. The problem is, every time I emerge from the undergound, I am lost. I never know which way to exit from, so it is a surprise every time. In order to find my bearings I just start walking. (I am trying to add pictures to this blog because it would be much more interesting, but I think I will just create an album on Facebook because it just isn't letting me.)

The first building that I passed, unintentionally, was the Parliament building. Definitely a good surprise, but it took a little bit of time to place it on my map, as I had no real clue where I was. I then realized that the Parliament building is directly across from the Volksgarten, which is right in front of the Hofburg, my intended destination. I made my way through and came out facing the Hofburg, the Imperial Palace. The Hofburg serves as many different purposes, including the National Library, the Spanish Riding School, the State Apartments and the Imperial Treasury. After passing under the Burgtor, a triumphal arch commemorating the 11th anniversary of the victory of Lepzig in 1813, you are greeted by the cultural complex of the Museum-Quartier. There are two massive and impressive identical buildings that serve as the Natuhistorisches Museum and the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Further down is the actual Museum-Quartier that is home to the Leopold Museum and the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien. I didn't go in because I was not going to waste this day inside an art museum...

Other highlights of my day included a street called Kohlmarkt -which has stores such as Bulgari, Tiffany's, Gucci, Louis Vitton - pretty much a playground for the rich- the Am Hof, which was originally the courtyard that they used to for public executions. Continuing on through alleyways I came across a big memorial that had candles and flowers all over it. There was fortunately an english engraving on that explained this was a Holocaust memorial. The guide book took me, evidently to Stephansplatz, the famous gothic church of Vienna. There are the tombs of the Habsburgs in the imperial crypt. I took a few worthy pictures and will include them in the Facebook album. I took another look inside and was once again harassed by Mozart looking men. I did not fall into their trap again...

The tour was nearly finished but I really wanted to check out the Albertina, which houses a gothic art collection, and the Wiener Staatsoper (the Opera house). I followed my little map down Neuer Markt and came out in front of the Albertina, The whole time I was memorized by the building across the street from the Albertina. Anyways, I continued on to find the Staatsoper. When I found it, I walked around it just to take in its architecture and beauty. Then I came to the back side of the building, and I was facing the Albertina. Little did I know before is that the building I was admiring before was always the Staatsoper. Oh well, no one was with me to laugh, so I laughed at myself. The Staatsoper has a student deal and if you show up an hour before a performance you can buy a standing place for something like 9 Euros, and enjoy the opera or ballet. (Something I am actually coming around to. Some would say I need to get away from Vienna, but I am starting to appreciate classical music)

It was still early in the afternoon so I decided to go back to the Schönbrunn, which I saw with Jodi and dad, and check out the gardens and the Gloriette. I need to go back to make my way up to the Gloriette and learn a little more about it, and to see the extensive gardens in the back. Jodi and dad - We saw nothing of the gardens, like, absolutely nothing.

After that I was culturally drained. Next Saturday we are going ice-skating... They flood a park so you can skate in trees and stuff. I am thinking I should wear a helmet and bring a 'shovel'. I would also like to take a day to just walk around the Ringstrasse, the ring that was used to protect the inner city. Apparently the buildings are pretty cool.

The weirdest thing that i can say so far about Vienna is that their fresh air smells different. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it is true. I spent all day outside yesterday and my coat and scarf smell like a different kind of fresh air, not a bad kind, just different. Kinda like when you go to a friends house and their house smells different than yours, but not in a bad way. Anyways.

I have signed up for a basic intro, never spoken before, German class. It starts in February and runs for 5 weeks twice a week. I need to learn something because the more time I spend here, the more German is staring to sound like Chinese. I am guessing we may learn numbers and colors, but maybe then I will understand waiters instead of giving them money and hoping it is enough...

I will add pictures to Facebook, so harass your kids or neighbors to take a look!!!

City Gardens

I forgot to add that I did see a little bit of my surroundings this weekend. I ventured out to see the neighbourhood. Right behind our apartment is something called the City Gardens. Because so many people live in apartments in Vienna, there is little space for people to have green spaces. Basically, there are semi-cottages crammed together with a small piece of grass. People even had above-ground pools. I am not sure if anyone lives in them permanently, but it is kinda like a jail for houses because they are all fenced in, with barbed wire on some of them. I tried to take some pictures but all the fencing and mesh on the fences made it somewhat difficult. The cool thing is that it is an area less than 5 acres in the middle of apartment buildings. Really cool. As soon as I can get my act together I will take pictures of my apartment and add them. Afterall, I am here for another 3 1/2 months...

As a side note, could someone please let Granny know that the map she gave me works wonders!

Only ban is on the U-Bahn

Due to popular demand, I figure that I should do a short write up about the company I am working for and what exactly I am doing. I am working for a bank called BAWAG P.S.K. Within the bank there are two separate entities, the BAWAG and P.S.K. A few years ago the two banks merged and are now considered to be one. The differences are that BAWAG is, and markets itself, as the bank for a richer customer. There is no difference in interest rates or loan policies, it just has a reputation of being that way. P.S.K. bank is not only a bank, but doubles as a post office. So basically you can go to any post office in Austria (I'm pretty sure) to buy a stamp or to take out a loan. P.S.K tries to market to a more 'Mr. and Mrs. Austria". Recently (about 3 years ago) a scandal happened involving the upper management of the bank and ruined its reputation. There is now an entire new management who have turned the bank around. They are trying to re-gain customer trust and attract new ones. This is where I come in.

I am working with the strategic marketing team, specifically in youth development. It has become my job to come up with new concepts for the integration of the youth website (www.b4-19.at) into BAWAG's. So far, I have been translating the articles and research (Google translate is my best friend) in order to understand what they have going on right now. The only thing that is worrying me is my North American perceptions and cultural norms. I am not used to having 'Flirting tips' on a bank website...

Now to more exciting things...

The biggest thing that I am having to adapt to is the non-existent smoking ban in Austria. Restaurants and bars have certain rules about where you can and can't smoke, but we all know that it just doesn't change anything. I came home last night smelling like an ashtray, something I haven't been used to since I was 18. The metro, or "underground", and office are two of the only places you are not allowed to light up a cigarette. Except for the lunch room at my office. They have these floor to ceiling glass walls that separate the two, extremely weird to see.

I am starting to plan my weekends a little bit more carefully. I am thinking of a trip to Berlin in mid-February to stay with a friend and then a ski trip to Innsbruck the next weekend, or possibly in March. Living with Hannah has made it so much easier to find out about things and deals. There is a card I can buy for 20 Euros and it gives me a 50% discount on all train travels. Not too bad, considering a round trip to Innsbruck would be 108 Euros.

I know this post isn't quite exciting... That's because I haven't seen too much yet. This is my tentative weekend travel schedule...

January 24 -- Vienna Sightseeing

January 31 -- Vienna

February 7 -- Bratislava, Slovakia

February 13-15 -- Berlin, Germany

I'll try to do monthly updates!!!

I hope to post related pictures with every entry. I don't have a picture worthy enough of St. Stephens yet... It will come.


The firework on top of my dessert. Dad and the waiters loving this whole thing.