Willkommen in Österreich!

Allow me to introduce my travel buddy,  Friedrich the Bavarian Duck.  He's very happy to once again be in the land of Wienerschnitzel, Bier, and Lederhosen.

Welcome to beautiful Vienna, Austria!  After a long day, my cohort and I were ready to finally be settled in one place (at least for a whole two months).  We all collected our baggage without any problems and made our way to the arrival area, where some employees of a transport service were waiting to take us to our apartment building.

We had two cars to transport us - one a smaller station wagon, the other a large van.  You'd think that with only ten people there wouldn't be any problems loading luggage into two spacious vehicles, right?  No.  There was apparently more luggage than there was room in the van, but we were able to fit it in the front and stick some extra luggage in the station wagon as well.  That took a good 10-15 minutes, while my cohort stood in a very hot, sticky parking garage just praying we wouldn't have to make two trips.  But, it all worked out and we were on our way!

We didn't see anything of particular beauty along the drive there.  When we got to our apartment building, unloaded our luggage, and watched the transport service people drive off, we realized that no one was there to meet us yet.  There we were, a group of American tourists, stranded on some random sidewalk in Vienna with very few means of contact.  It was a little unnerving.... Luckily, the R.A., Frederick, hadn't heard us as we waited outside and came out to check about 5-10 minutes later.  We happily lugged our baggage into the building (which I do not yet have a picture of because my camera battery is dead and I'm trying various creative ways of trying to recharge it).  Inside, it looked rather, er.....ghetto, for lack of a better word.  Paint was peeling off the walls, there were holes in some places, wires sticking out, etc.  And then we transported all our luggage upstairs via the elevator.

PSYCH.  No elevator, only this monster:

I really think it should count as my workout for the week....

Luckily, Jenny's and my apartment was only up one flight of stairs; everyone else had to go one or two flights higher.  Sorry guys!  In any case, the apartments are really, really nice!  I already like it here a lot.

My bedroom.

View from the far wall of my room.

It's so nice to have everything unpacked!

The view from my window.

The area with the red doors is Wienerschnitz'l Land =)

Our bathroom.  It's really nice to have our own washer!

The view into the apartment from my door.

Our fully stocked kitchen.  It has an oven/stove, coffeemaker, fridge/freezer, microwave,  dishwasher, and dishes and pans.  I love it!

View from the entryway: the WC and the dining area.

The entryway from the inside.

Our door from the hallway.  I love the old-fashioned look.

Once Frederick gave us our keys and went over some information with us, we decided to take some time to unpack and get settled and then meet up later for dinner.  By the time we met up, I had everything unpacked, and it felt soooo good.  We were all really hungry, and we thought Frederick was going to take us someplace close for food.  Apparently, we were mistaken.  We walked a few blocks down Schüttaustraße to the International Center, where a lot of world headquarters of companies/organizations are located, including the UN center and UNIDO.  We caught a tram further into the city, where we were on a mission to find the Australian pub recommended by Frederick.  We were in the very heart of Vienna, right next to the Opera House and in the midst of a very swanky shopping district.  After walking around a while, we finally found the Australian pub.  And boy, was it Australian: kangaroo burgers, grilled crickets, crocodile steak, etc.  I decided on a plain ol' hamburger and a Paulaner.  After a very stressful day, it was mm mm good!  The conversation at dinner revolved a lot around careers after the MAIR program.  I'm still pretty new at this field, so it was very interesting to hear the sorts of things one can do with an I.R. degree that I hadn't ever thought of.

After dinner, we managed to find our own way back to our building without Frederick's assistance (I think there's hope for us yet).  We called it a night and retired joyfully to our own chambers.  

I did not sleep so joyfully, however.  After a night of tossing and turning, I ended up with a mere four hours of sleep (later on in the day I was able to take a lovely, rejuvenating two hour nap, though).  Around 11, Carly and I decided to go for a stroll and get to know our area a little better.  After purchasing some rather overpriced coffee (welcome to Europe), we walked a block away and were greeted by the beautiful Danube River.  I would have loved to take a picture, but sadly my camera battery was completely dead at that point =/  

We followed the walk/run/bike trail that led along the river.  It goes on for miles and miles, and there's a ton of open green space, playgrounds, even beaches along the river where people swim and play volleyball.  Basically, it's AWESOME, and it's only a block away!!  I will be doing a lot of running there (but I'll get more to that later).

We found a footbridge that led across the Danube.  On the other side was another walk/run/bike path, more beaches, a small waterpark for children, ice cream stands, and other glorious things.  After walking more along that trail, we came to the Reichsbrücke, which stretches across the main part of the Danube (the part we had previously crossed was more akin to a channel of the Danube; technically, parts of Vienna are on islands, similar to New York City).   One thing that makes Europe so distinct from America is this simple fact:  there is an entire lower section of this major bridge solely for pedestrians/cyclists to cross the river; the upper part of the bridge is for cars.  It's incredible how much more pedestrian friendly it is here.  After a breathtaking trip across the Danube, we walked around a gorgeous cathedral (which I still can't figure out the name of) and found a Turkish grocery store which, unlike every other European grocery store, is open on Sunday.  I didn't purchase any groceries since we had such a long walk back, but Carly purchased a few fruits and vegetables.  We retraced our steps and made it back, walking a good 2 hours altogether.  It was really an amazing experience.

I then met up with my roommate, Jenny, and her fiance, Matt W.  We headed to a local corner pub for some lunch.  After that, I decided to try my hand at taking a nap, which I eventually succeeded in.  When I woke up, I felt extremely rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.  Matt G. (the other Matt in the group) wanted to go for a jog, so we set out for the path by the river.  It really is an amazing running path; I'm actually thinking about waking up to run again tomorrow!

A bit later a few of us met up and went over to Wienerschnitz'l Land (finally!) where my German-speaking skills were put into use trying to explain to people what things on the menu were.  The waiter figured out that we were American, though, and spoke English to us after that.  I still spoke only German to him, however, and later on a different worker came over to our table with lots of coupons for us, which I imagine we will all put to very good use.  Despite the wonderfully tasty Huhnschnitzelsemmel I had for dinner, I was craving some good ol' European ice cream, the kind my old Holzkirchen pals and I always ate.  There's an ice cream shop right around the corner, so I figured it was a sign that I just had to stop in and try my old favorites ("Zwei Kugeln, Nutella und Joghurt, bitte!").  From there, it was time to call it a night.  Tomorrow will be a very busy day: grocery shopping, getting my textbooks, registering with the Viennese police (if you're visiting, you have 72 hours to do so, or else), buying a SIM card, and then starting class in the evening!  Bis Morgen!

P.S.  My wonderful roommate let me borrow her camera battery charger!  It's not the same type, but the battery appears to fit in it and the charge light is blinking, so cross your fingers that it works!  Can't wait to show you guys lots more wonderful pictures 8-)