2005-07-04
amikor Bécsben voltam...
No, that is not the sound of a distant burp. Rather, it is a Hungarian way of saying "in Wien." I quite like Bécs over Wien, but the Austrians have traditionally refused to adopt anything Hungarian -- except for the Becsi Salad as I was informed by a very outspoken waiter one evening -- so Wien it stays for most people. But it remains a Bécs to me.
I left by train at 13:00 on Friday. Intercity trains are a helluva a lot nicer than the standard Hungarian trains. I hadn't remembered just how gargantuan the difference is in quality, comfort, and civility on these sleek new trains. I sat and read a book on Foucault -- not by him but on him -- and an "Economist" I picked up in the train station. I finally listened to my MP3 player for one of the first times since coming to Hungary. Normally I feel stupid listening to headphones in front of people. Moreover, most places in Hungary (e.g., on the tram, street, or in a cafe, are loud already, so I don't really want to blow my eardrums out by cranking my music loud enough to hear it). The train was different. Save for a very loud Italian family that was earning glares from more than a few people in the train car, it was quite quiet on the InterCity. The Italians disappeared to the wine car after about ten minutes anyway, so I just listened to Sigur Ros and chilled. It was very relaxing.
The passport check hopped on -- double-standards for the new members of the EU -- but they didn't give me any grief. Or anyone actually. They just brandished their pistols and walked through, trying to look important. (Their days are numbered, though, as they really aren't needed anymore.) And then we pulled into Vienna. Sissi was there to meet me, as she said she would be. She looks very much the same. She said I do too; though, just in case, I had tipped her off to my orange backpack.
It was great seeing her again. We went back to her apartment, had some croissants and coffee, and then went out to eat some Schnitzel! (Not Schnizzel, although Snoop Dogg comes into play later in the story.) It was delicious, as was the wine. We were in some coffee house in the center of the city. I don't know. I didn't have a clue where I was the whole weekend. I just followed Sissi, like a dog in awe of this incredible city! I love Vienna!!! It's by far the best place I've ever visited, and from the dispositions of the people I've met that live there, I have to assume it is a great place to reside as well. But I digress...
Gerhard, Sissi's ex-boyfriend whom I met the last time I was in Vienna, showed up. We hung out quite a bit throughout the weekend. After several wines, we left the coffee house for a free outdoor concert marking the start of summer in Vienna. We saw an incredible live act from Russia -- Russ-Ska-Ja. As the name implies, they played a Russian version of Ska, and it was far better than any version of Ska I had heard in a long time. Hell, it kicked the shit out of most Jamaican Ska I've heard, and I know that is blasphemy, but it is true. The lead singer was hilarious and spoke German in a heavy Russian accent. He had the whole audience -- probably about 300 of us, as it was raining and therefore not exactly packed -- whipped into a frenzy. He had women taking their clothes off for him. He was this huge, black bear of a man, with probably four days of beard stubble, a huge chest and stomach, and the energy of a horny chicken, hopping around like a fish out of water. He was belting out Russian lyrics while his backup band of a drummer, saxophone, trombone, fiddler (the best fiddle placement in a band since Babet was added to Dionysos!), guitarist, and bassist created a cacophony of sound that noticeably irritated the Becsi police. Incredible... they release their album next month, and I highly recommend buying it to anyone that wants some crazy, warlike party music to blast before getting trashed. It mixed polka, classic Russian waltzes, and ska all into one and spit it out between the teeth of this Jagermeister drinking giant of a lead singer. The police wanted them to stop, but they said they had the right to play until 11 or something, and did one more song anyway due to the chants for an encore, and the two police near us just grinned and let it happen.
After that we went to a posh, "snobby" club called the Kunsthalle. It had a DJ spinning some cool lounge music but since it was raining and over half the seating is outside, it was too crowded to stay. We bumped into several politicians just saying hi to us there, which was creepy. Looking for votes in all the wrong places. (Sissi's dad is hi up in the Green Party there, so she knows some of the people, but she was getting creeped out, because she couldn't remember from where.) We went to another little pub, but by then it was about midnight and I was exhausted, Sissi was too, and Gerhard had to run off for some reason, so we called it a night.
I woke up at 11 a.m. I hadn't slept that late in a long time. In the meantime, Sissi had gone to the market and picked up some bread and cheese. Viennese bread is the best in the world. Hands down. The Germans lose. Not even close. We ate and then just head out walking around Vienna. We walked all afternoon -- every where and no where. We went to a museum exhibit on 1950s, 60s, and 70s Hausfrau marketing. It was brilliant. All these television adverts and print advertisements attempting to teach "women" how to shop wisely and that shopping can be fun. Incredible how well this marketing worked, as now so many people, not just women, shop for entertainment. 50 years ago it was a pain in the ass and spending money was never fun. Now people do it because they are bored. Fucked up world we live in. Great exhibit. I think it was the Wien Museum. Then we went to a cafe/restaurant in the Museum Quartier where Sissi's, and her roommate Lilly's, friend is a chef. We didn't talk to him, just waved, but we sat and had coffee, pastries (I had apple struddel, which was damn good, but I still haven't found any better than in this little dumpy cafe in Miskolc, Hungary), and waited for other friends recovering from various Friday night festivities to wander on in. Lilly came -- the first time I met her, as she wasn't at the apartment this weekend. She has bright red hair (see pictures, you can't miss it, brilliant!) and kills mice for a living. Okay, so she tests their DNA to study cancer, but it is more fun to say she kills mice. She is really fun. Energetic, friendly, and open to doing nothing. Gerhard came as well and brought me a CD of Russian Disco tunes (which is huge in Berlin right now, Russian disco music by Germans) to coincide with Russ-Ska-Ja's performance the evening before.
From there we wandered out and decided to go check out the Rainbow Parade circling the city at the moment. We beat the parade to the party, and watched a lonely DJ spin records and immerse himself in fog to an empty square. Luckily, there was an ice cream stand, so we loaded up on ice cream and helium. We scored some Green Party balloons being blown up a few meters away and Lilly and Sissi went about inhaling the helium because there wasn't anything else much better to do. From there we walked to the Ringstrasse (hmmm... how many times have I read about this) and caught most of the floats going by. The leather fetish float was the one that was most eye-opening for me, although all of them were pretty tacky simply because the music was fucking horrific. As Sissi noted: "I think it is great that these people are protesting and partying, you know, but why do they have to listen to such terrible music?" I guess there were 100,000 people at the parade, but it looked more like 2,000 to me. Perhaps at the party afterwards there were more. I hope so for the DJ's benefit. He looked so pathetic when we were there.
From the Rainbow Parade we headed to the Augarten, which is the place to go if you want to escape the millions of tourists -- even though I was one -- and just sit on huge empty Hapsburgian lawns with tree lined walking boulevards. All of this in the shadow of one of the largest structures I have ever seen -- a WWII, German anti-aircraft monstrosity that rises higher than probably any other building I saw in Vienna. (I guess there are four or five of these left, and they can't do anything to them, as if they attempt to dismantle these solid concrete objects, square blocks will be decimated.) That's what we wanted. Lilly took off to meet up with her boyfriend, I believe. So Gerhard, Sissi, and I just went and smoked and sat around chatting while drinking Indian beverages. Then we ate some food -- Gerhard something that was called Mexican but looked more like cat vomit, Sissi some kebab thing, and I had a Doener Sandwich. They have a huge outdoor movie theatre in this park, but the movie playing was a Japanese one about poking nails into oneself to stay awake while studying, and Sissi and I didn't feel like watching that with German subtitles. So we said goodbye to Gerhard and headed back to her flat.
We planned to watch Shrek, which Sissi is a big fan of, but when we got to her apartment the Live 8 Concert was on the tele, and Green Day was playing it up. They played the exact same set they played at Rock am Ring, and even said thank you the same exact way. I figured. Then REM came on right after them... just like Rock am Ring. They were just as pathetic as at Rock am Ring too, in my mind. Ironically, the only big band that didn't play this concert seemed to be U2, the one always whining about helping Africa. They were too busy playing to a sold out crowd in Vienna (at 200 Euros a ticket) that night to participate in a free concert for Africa. They are such fucking hypocrites! I think it would take the same personality to think Bono is a sincerely good person as it would to think Bush is. But I digress. [These are just the opinions of a lowly shithead wandering Central Europe, so bear that in mind. But come on... where was U2 when every other band in the world was playing for Africa -- even A-Ha! They were playing in Vienna?!?!]
We watched the Live 8 concert while sipping wine slowly. We took a time out to eat tomatoes anmozzarellala with the damn good bread. Then a Sylvester Stallone movie came on, and we knew we had to watch it -- "The Specialist." Though it was dubbed in German, the dialogue was easy enough to follow along. Basically, Sharon Stone wants Sly to kill someone who killed her father. He makes bombs in a secret warehouse in Miami. They have a lot of phone sex while he figures out how to kill the man. Then they have some pretty nasty, vein-popping sex, before blowing up the warehouse district of Miami. Then it ends. Yeah, brilliant!!! One of Sly's best, which isn't saying much, but at least it had violence and sex!!! It was like a mix of Rocky with Sly's movie "Italian Stallion" for those of you in the know.
Again, I was tired. Probably from walking everywhere that day, although I feel like I should be in better shape than that. Perhaps I was just so relaxed it felt okay to fall asleep. At any rate, it was bliss. I passed out on the couch and woke up at 9:30 on Sunday. Sissi was still sleeping, so I checked my email in Lilly's room -- she was at her boyfriend's again. It was a very casual morning. Sissi and I met Lilly and Lilly's cousin, Kristian, at a cafe in the Augarten. Gerhardt showed up too. We sat there for almost four hours just casually discussing life, relationships, people that like sports, crappy summer jobs we had each had, playing board games with your significant others (they are all Settlers of Catan fans, as well as Trivial Pursuit, and the consensus was that sometimes it is best to let one's partner win to make life easier for oneself in the long run), and whatever else came up. Kristian is a children's author and has his first kid arriving in January. He said he is scared shitless and trying to get as much Playstation in now as he can. Lilly was just very chill, and had some hilarious stories to recount from her summer job as a postal delivery person in the ghettos of Vienna. Sissi and I were just chatting casually throughout it all. I had about four espressos during the time, though Lilly and Kristian were drinking a mix of white whine and water. At some point a really sweaty runner came up, kissed Lilly on the cheeks and bummed a smoke off of her. They must have known one another, as they chatted, he finished his cigarette and ran off again. Brilliant!
Sissi and I left for the train station at about 2:30. We had about 15 minutes to kill at the station, so I had my last cigarette of the summer -- I'm officially in the process of quiting before Birgit arrives. I'm giving my self two weeks to get over the nic-fits that are an unavoidable evil during withdrawal. I'm moody and jumpy as hell today, but not as bad as I thought I would be; so I think things are going well. Lots of chocolate and Advil and I'll have this stinky habit kicked in a week. But I'm going to stop writing about it now, as thinking about it is what makes it hard to bear. RRRRRrrrrr...
The train ride home was uneventful. I read "The Economist" and slept a little. I was still beat. I don't know why. I arrived in Budapest a little before seven and walked home in the shadows of tall buildings from Keleti -- a few kilometers. I watched a little CNN and did my Hungarian homework, and then headed out to check my emails at around 11. I was home at midnight and passed out. This is getting so lame, I am going to stop.
Suffice to say, Vienna is even more firmly entrenched as my favorite city in Europe and I can't wait to get back there with Birgit. It was awesome seeing Sissi again. She is one of those people I just feel very comfortable talking about anything with. I'm getting really lucky this summer, as I'm bumping into all of my friends like that. In some ways, I think returning to the U.S. will be a rude awakening on that front. Peace out.
I left by train at 13:00 on Friday. Intercity trains are a helluva a lot nicer than the standard Hungarian trains. I hadn't remembered just how gargantuan the difference is in quality, comfort, and civility on these sleek new trains. I sat and read a book on Foucault -- not by him but on him -- and an "Economist" I picked up in the train station. I finally listened to my MP3 player for one of the first times since coming to Hungary. Normally I feel stupid listening to headphones in front of people. Moreover, most places in Hungary (e.g., on the tram, street, or in a cafe, are loud already, so I don't really want to blow my eardrums out by cranking my music loud enough to hear it). The train was different. Save for a very loud Italian family that was earning glares from more than a few people in the train car, it was quite quiet on the InterCity. The Italians disappeared to the wine car after about ten minutes anyway, so I just listened to Sigur Ros and chilled. It was very relaxing.
The passport check hopped on -- double-standards for the new members of the EU -- but they didn't give me any grief. Or anyone actually. They just brandished their pistols and walked through, trying to look important. (Their days are numbered, though, as they really aren't needed anymore.) And then we pulled into Vienna. Sissi was there to meet me, as she said she would be. She looks very much the same. She said I do too; though, just in case, I had tipped her off to my orange backpack.
It was great seeing her again. We went back to her apartment, had some croissants and coffee, and then went out to eat some Schnitzel! (Not Schnizzel, although Snoop Dogg comes into play later in the story.) It was delicious, as was the wine. We were in some coffee house in the center of the city. I don't know. I didn't have a clue where I was the whole weekend. I just followed Sissi, like a dog in awe of this incredible city! I love Vienna!!! It's by far the best place I've ever visited, and from the dispositions of the people I've met that live there, I have to assume it is a great place to reside as well. But I digress...
Gerhard, Sissi's ex-boyfriend whom I met the last time I was in Vienna, showed up. We hung out quite a bit throughout the weekend. After several wines, we left the coffee house for a free outdoor concert marking the start of summer in Vienna. We saw an incredible live act from Russia -- Russ-Ska-Ja. As the name implies, they played a Russian version of Ska, and it was far better than any version of Ska I had heard in a long time. Hell, it kicked the shit out of most Jamaican Ska I've heard, and I know that is blasphemy, but it is true. The lead singer was hilarious and spoke German in a heavy Russian accent. He had the whole audience -- probably about 300 of us, as it was raining and therefore not exactly packed -- whipped into a frenzy. He had women taking their clothes off for him. He was this huge, black bear of a man, with probably four days of beard stubble, a huge chest and stomach, and the energy of a horny chicken, hopping around like a fish out of water. He was belting out Russian lyrics while his backup band of a drummer, saxophone, trombone, fiddler (the best fiddle placement in a band since Babet was added to Dionysos!), guitarist, and bassist created a cacophony of sound that noticeably irritated the Becsi police. Incredible... they release their album next month, and I highly recommend buying it to anyone that wants some crazy, warlike party music to blast before getting trashed. It mixed polka, classic Russian waltzes, and ska all into one and spit it out between the teeth of this Jagermeister drinking giant of a lead singer. The police wanted them to stop, but they said they had the right to play until 11 or something, and did one more song anyway due to the chants for an encore, and the two police near us just grinned and let it happen.
After that we went to a posh, "snobby" club called the Kunsthalle. It had a DJ spinning some cool lounge music but since it was raining and over half the seating is outside, it was too crowded to stay. We bumped into several politicians just saying hi to us there, which was creepy. Looking for votes in all the wrong places. (Sissi's dad is hi up in the Green Party there, so she knows some of the people, but she was getting creeped out, because she couldn't remember from where.) We went to another little pub, but by then it was about midnight and I was exhausted, Sissi was too, and Gerhard had to run off for some reason, so we called it a night.
I woke up at 11 a.m. I hadn't slept that late in a long time. In the meantime, Sissi had gone to the market and picked up some bread and cheese. Viennese bread is the best in the world. Hands down. The Germans lose. Not even close. We ate and then just head out walking around Vienna. We walked all afternoon -- every where and no where. We went to a museum exhibit on 1950s, 60s, and 70s Hausfrau marketing. It was brilliant. All these television adverts and print advertisements attempting to teach "women" how to shop wisely and that shopping can be fun. Incredible how well this marketing worked, as now so many people, not just women, shop for entertainment. 50 years ago it was a pain in the ass and spending money was never fun. Now people do it because they are bored. Fucked up world we live in. Great exhibit. I think it was the Wien Museum. Then we went to a cafe/restaurant in the Museum Quartier where Sissi's, and her roommate Lilly's, friend is a chef. We didn't talk to him, just waved, but we sat and had coffee, pastries (I had apple struddel, which was damn good, but I still haven't found any better than in this little dumpy cafe in Miskolc, Hungary), and waited for other friends recovering from various Friday night festivities to wander on in. Lilly came -- the first time I met her, as she wasn't at the apartment this weekend. She has bright red hair (see pictures, you can't miss it, brilliant!) and kills mice for a living. Okay, so she tests their DNA to study cancer, but it is more fun to say she kills mice. She is really fun. Energetic, friendly, and open to doing nothing. Gerhard came as well and brought me a CD of Russian Disco tunes (which is huge in Berlin right now, Russian disco music by Germans) to coincide with Russ-Ska-Ja's performance the evening before.
From there we wandered out and decided to go check out the Rainbow Parade circling the city at the moment. We beat the parade to the party, and watched a lonely DJ spin records and immerse himself in fog to an empty square. Luckily, there was an ice cream stand, so we loaded up on ice cream and helium. We scored some Green Party balloons being blown up a few meters away and Lilly and Sissi went about inhaling the helium because there wasn't anything else much better to do. From there we walked to the Ringstrasse (hmmm... how many times have I read about this) and caught most of the floats going by. The leather fetish float was the one that was most eye-opening for me, although all of them were pretty tacky simply because the music was fucking horrific. As Sissi noted: "I think it is great that these people are protesting and partying, you know, but why do they have to listen to such terrible music?" I guess there were 100,000 people at the parade, but it looked more like 2,000 to me. Perhaps at the party afterwards there were more. I hope so for the DJ's benefit. He looked so pathetic when we were there.
From the Rainbow Parade we headed to the Augarten, which is the place to go if you want to escape the millions of tourists -- even though I was one -- and just sit on huge empty Hapsburgian lawns with tree lined walking boulevards. All of this in the shadow of one of the largest structures I have ever seen -- a WWII, German anti-aircraft monstrosity that rises higher than probably any other building I saw in Vienna. (I guess there are four or five of these left, and they can't do anything to them, as if they attempt to dismantle these solid concrete objects, square blocks will be decimated.) That's what we wanted. Lilly took off to meet up with her boyfriend, I believe. So Gerhard, Sissi, and I just went and smoked and sat around chatting while drinking Indian beverages. Then we ate some food -- Gerhard something that was called Mexican but looked more like cat vomit, Sissi some kebab thing, and I had a Doener Sandwich. They have a huge outdoor movie theatre in this park, but the movie playing was a Japanese one about poking nails into oneself to stay awake while studying, and Sissi and I didn't feel like watching that with German subtitles. So we said goodbye to Gerhard and headed back to her flat.
We planned to watch Shrek, which Sissi is a big fan of, but when we got to her apartment the Live 8 Concert was on the tele, and Green Day was playing it up. They played the exact same set they played at Rock am Ring, and even said thank you the same exact way. I figured. Then REM came on right after them... just like Rock am Ring. They were just as pathetic as at Rock am Ring too, in my mind. Ironically, the only big band that didn't play this concert seemed to be U2, the one always whining about helping Africa. They were too busy playing to a sold out crowd in Vienna (at 200 Euros a ticket) that night to participate in a free concert for Africa. They are such fucking hypocrites! I think it would take the same personality to think Bono is a sincerely good person as it would to think Bush is. But I digress. [These are just the opinions of a lowly shithead wandering Central Europe, so bear that in mind. But come on... where was U2 when every other band in the world was playing for Africa -- even A-Ha! They were playing in Vienna?!?!]
We watched the Live 8 concert while sipping wine slowly. We took a time out to eat tomatoes anmozzarellala with the damn good bread. Then a Sylvester Stallone movie came on, and we knew we had to watch it -- "The Specialist." Though it was dubbed in German, the dialogue was easy enough to follow along. Basically, Sharon Stone wants Sly to kill someone who killed her father. He makes bombs in a secret warehouse in Miami. They have a lot of phone sex while he figures out how to kill the man. Then they have some pretty nasty, vein-popping sex, before blowing up the warehouse district of Miami. Then it ends. Yeah, brilliant!!! One of Sly's best, which isn't saying much, but at least it had violence and sex!!! It was like a mix of Rocky with Sly's movie "Italian Stallion" for those of you in the know.
Again, I was tired. Probably from walking everywhere that day, although I feel like I should be in better shape than that. Perhaps I was just so relaxed it felt okay to fall asleep. At any rate, it was bliss. I passed out on the couch and woke up at 9:30 on Sunday. Sissi was still sleeping, so I checked my email in Lilly's room -- she was at her boyfriend's again. It was a very casual morning. Sissi and I met Lilly and Lilly's cousin, Kristian, at a cafe in the Augarten. Gerhardt showed up too. We sat there for almost four hours just casually discussing life, relationships, people that like sports, crappy summer jobs we had each had, playing board games with your significant others (they are all Settlers of Catan fans, as well as Trivial Pursuit, and the consensus was that sometimes it is best to let one's partner win to make life easier for oneself in the long run), and whatever else came up. Kristian is a children's author and has his first kid arriving in January. He said he is scared shitless and trying to get as much Playstation in now as he can. Lilly was just very chill, and had some hilarious stories to recount from her summer job as a postal delivery person in the ghettos of Vienna. Sissi and I were just chatting casually throughout it all. I had about four espressos during the time, though Lilly and Kristian were drinking a mix of white whine and water. At some point a really sweaty runner came up, kissed Lilly on the cheeks and bummed a smoke off of her. They must have known one another, as they chatted, he finished his cigarette and ran off again. Brilliant!
Sissi and I left for the train station at about 2:30. We had about 15 minutes to kill at the station, so I had my last cigarette of the summer -- I'm officially in the process of quiting before Birgit arrives. I'm giving my self two weeks to get over the nic-fits that are an unavoidable evil during withdrawal. I'm moody and jumpy as hell today, but not as bad as I thought I would be; so I think things are going well. Lots of chocolate and Advil and I'll have this stinky habit kicked in a week. But I'm going to stop writing about it now, as thinking about it is what makes it hard to bear. RRRRRrrrrr...
The train ride home was uneventful. I read "The Economist" and slept a little. I was still beat. I don't know why. I arrived in Budapest a little before seven and walked home in the shadows of tall buildings from Keleti -- a few kilometers. I watched a little CNN and did my Hungarian homework, and then headed out to check my emails at around 11. I was home at midnight and passed out. This is getting so lame, I am going to stop.
Suffice to say, Vienna is even more firmly entrenched as my favorite city in Europe and I can't wait to get back there with Birgit. It was awesome seeing Sissi again. She is one of those people I just feel very comfortable talking about anything with. I'm getting really lucky this summer, as I'm bumping into all of my friends like that. In some ways, I think returning to the U.S. will be a rude awakening on that front. Peace out.
