More greetings, this time from Vienna! In less than an hour, David and I will be heading off to the bus station, where we hope to catch a ride to Venice overnight. We bought the last ticket, and are hoping - praying - that they'll be one more empty seat. I'm not ready to give up David -his companionship, handy backpack, and useful language skills - quite yet ;-)
Vienna feels much more like a city than Prague did; the quaint cobblestone roads we knew there have been replaced by cars and bikes and work-a-day people. Still, the sights of Vienna are nothing if they aren't grand. One of my favorite experiences was walking the Ringstrasse, or Ring Road, around the city's historic center. Around every corner was another towering Baroque structure; some were significant - the Museumquartier, Parliament, the Opera House - while others, equally impressive, did not earn even mention on the map. At one of these unmapped gems, the University of Vienna, David and I found ourselves in the midst of voting day, being encouraged in German to vote Communist. Ever the adventure.
The title of this blog comes from our experience watching Manchester United play Barcelona at a pub near the Naschmarkt. When I asked, in semi-desperation, why the kind old man I was sitting next to was laughing at the failure of the team he had bet on, his friend leaned over and explained, "it's ironic, love." The irony of Vienna to me has been that despite having the best possible accomodations and the grandest of attractions, the city seems to lack some essential spirit, or in the language of LPAP soccer, zhur-zhur.
Friday 29 May 2009
Monday 25 May 2009
...and thank you God for this beer
Greetings from Prague! David and I are spending our last night here with some international students from Czech Technical College before heading on to Vienna tomorrow!
Prague has been amazing. If you haven't been there, go; if you have, go back. Every bit of the city seems beautiful: a huge river, countless bridges, statues and marble galore, all overlooked by a huge castle with sweeping vineyards. Yesterday David and I climbed to the top of Petrin tower, a little minature Eiffel tower that had the most amazing view of the city. There must be a building code that requires all buildings to have orange roofs and flower boxes in their windows ;-)
Tonight, David and I experienced one of the things that has made Prague famous: it's beer. Offfically the "Beer Capitol of the World," Prague is most especially know for being the home of Pilsner; so much so that every restaurace in the city has a Pilsner sign in the window. Sadly, my first beer was not a Pilsner, but rather a teeny tiny glass of "orignial" Budweiser (still, plenty for me ;-)
ps: today's title comes straight from David's prayer for our meal. Priceless.
Prague has been amazing. If you haven't been there, go; if you have, go back. Every bit of the city seems beautiful: a huge river, countless bridges, statues and marble galore, all overlooked by a huge castle with sweeping vineyards. Yesterday David and I climbed to the top of Petrin tower, a little minature Eiffel tower that had the most amazing view of the city. There must be a building code that requires all buildings to have orange roofs and flower boxes in their windows ;-)
Tonight, David and I experienced one of the things that has made Prague famous: it's beer. Offfically the "Beer Capitol of the World," Prague is most especially know for being the home of Pilsner; so much so that every restaurace in the city has a Pilsner sign in the window. Sadly, my first beer was not a Pilsner, but rather a teeny tiny glass of "orignial" Budweiser (still, plenty for me ;-)
ps: today's title comes straight from David's prayer for our meal. Priceless.
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