Another Great Day in Vienna
Woke up around 9 so that I could take advantage of the breakfast offered by the hostel. I paid my 3,5EUR expecting something nice, eggs perhaps. Instead, I got a bowl of bad cereal, an orange and a espresso. Kind of a ripoff, but at least tomorrow I know to get something cheaper from one of the bakeries down the street.
After breakfast, Debbie (one of the girls I met in Prague) and I headed down to the centre to talk a walk. And we walked. And we walked. Two hours later, we were near the edge of the city. Everything was very beautiful. Vienna's business is just perfect: there is alot going on, but it is not overpowering like in Prague. We stopped by a local pizzeria and got one of the best pizzas I have ever had. Very thin crust with a great amount of spinach and garlic. It was so cheap that I thought I was buying a slice; turned out I got a whole pizza and ate the leftovers for dinner. We came back to the hostel but went to the centre again and walked around inside Stephan's Church, which was very beautiful. Then we came back to the hostel and just hung around while I got myself a few shots of espresso.
Met up with the Aussie and the two Austrians for the night at the same bar we hung around in last night. After a few drinks, some friends of the Austrians called and told them about a bar a short distance away with great drink specials. So we went and had a great time. The Austrians are from out of town and are Vienna as part of some police conference (apparently they are nationalizing their forces). Because they were police, we got a couple of free drinks. Unfortunately, I still had to pay for quite a bit. And it was such a good time that I missed the last subway ride home and was forced to get a cab, which cost a pretty penny.
Tomorrow is my last full day in Vienna and I'm going to miss the place. Its a great Western town and I'm a little upset to be heading back to Bohemia.
Confirmation: Prague Sucks
The whole time I only kinda-sorta enjoyed Prague, I never knew exactly why I wasn't having the time of my life. Was I too homesick to enjoy an experience outside of the States? Had I gone about my plans all wrong? What was the problem?!
Spending tonight as my first evening in Vienna answered that question: my Prague experience wasn't great because Prague isn't too great of a city. Vienna, on the other hand, is wonderful. Which leads me to conclude that the problem didn't lie with me, it was with Prague itself.
I took the afternoon train here and arrive around 20:00 after a one hour back-up on the track. On the tram ride to the hostel, I knew Vienna was certainly no Prague. It feels like home except with older buildings and a different language. The streets are wider, there is more glass and steel (Americans gotta love that glass and steel) and seems more down with the times. Prague, on the other hand, seems trapped in the past. Vienna is lively and friendly; Prague is dreary and unwelcoming. As an ignorant American, I am going to chalk that up to the fact that Prague gushes Bohemia while Vienna is all Europe.
When I got off the train, I took the tram to the hostel Wombats. It is very modern and large, with a bar and restaurant in the lobby. It certainly isn't as homey as Soloska Youth (my place in Prague), but at least I only share a modern WC and shower with three other people! After checking into the hostel, I realized I didn't know which room Debbie was in so I decided to take a walk around the city. There is a great main street just a block away from my lodgings that reminds me of South Street in Philly. I was walking along there when two Austrians tried to ask me for directions. When they found out I was an American, they decided to practice their English and even bought me a slice of pizza. They were trying to make their way to some bar district and we eventually got directions from someone who actually speaks German. Out of the metro and onto the bar, we ran into an Aussie who approached just because he heard me speaking English. The four of us had a good time in a cozy little bar with live music (imagine Brewer's Art with a guitarist/singer). Unfortunately, I had to leave just after midnight so I could catch the last metro train to my station.
And thus went my first night in Vienna.
Bad Start Gets Better
My first few days in Prague were not the best of my life.
I arrived on Wednesday, May 24 with the intention to move here semi-permanently. Before I left, I told people I may stay as little as four months or as much as one year. Not a week later, my plans have changed drastically.
It didn't take me long to realize I do not want to live semi-permanently in Prague. Homesickness hit me as soon as the plane touched down. Having never been outside of the States, with the exception of one or two daytrips to Canada and Mexico, Prague was a bit of a culture shock (although now I see it for what it is: Western culture with a Bohemian twist). I spent my first day walking around this strange city with Debbie, a girl I met at my hostel. I was dazed as hell and confused because I had left Tuesday afternoon and here it was Wednesday and I hadn't slept at all. I didn't even know whether or not to be tired, so my body settled for dazed. That first night I looked at pictures of Baltimore online and of my girlfriend and family. Quite honestly, I wanted to be home.
Homesickness, as it tends to do, slowly subsided. Nearly a week into the trip, the feeling isn't as intense, but I still wouldn't mind seeing a green street sign (as another Marylander staying here said). But homesickness wasn't the only thing that made me change my mind about moving here. I had absolutely no luck arranging a flat. In five days, I saw nearly seven rooms. Some of them were nice, others not. I was adamant about having internet and only two potential flatmates offered to let me use their computers. But the biggest barrier was that I would not commit to more than a three-month contract; nobody would rent out to me for less than a year.
Facing the homesickness, the difficulty in finding housing, and an utter lack of enthusiasm, I decided not to move to Prague. Why put up so much effort to do something I don't want to do? My life in Baltimore was all I could ask for; there was no reason to leave it behind. Of course, had I stuck it out a few more weeks and found a suitable place, maybe I would have never wanted to leave Prague. But that's not what happened and, for now, I have no regrets.
Moving to Prague has been replaced with another goal: experiencing some of Europe. I bought a train ticket, booked some hostels and am scheduled to arrive in Vienna later today. When I return on Thursday, I will stay with a woman who helped me when I was still planning to move here in her village just outside of the city. After my time there, Alyssa will arrive in Prague and we plan to spend ten days in the city. And then to the bulk of the trip: Moldova, where we will volunteer at a senior center a short bus ride out of the capital Chişinău. I'm pleased that we will spend a month at this center. I dreamed of moving to Prague because I didn't just want to passively witness the sights of Europe, I wanted to
experience it. I wanted to wake up day after day in the same place, get into a routine and simply live life in another location. The volunteer portion of my travels will give me the chance to do just that and share the experience with Alyssa, without having to worry about finding decent housing. After that, we have some time to travel. Perhaps to my grandfather's down in Greece, but I'll see what the financial situation looks like.
When I settled on this plan, a burden lifted from me. Finally, I could sit back, relax and enjoy Prague. I had already been having quite a good time walking around the city, going out to restaurants and pubs with people I met at the hostel. One of the best aspects of hosteling is the people you meet. I stayed up late into the night having conversations with Americans, Israelis, Aussies, Chinese, Canadians, and what I think was a drunk French person. Last night, I even went out with Tory (who lived in Mount Vernon and other parts of Baltimore for a few years) and Erin (an Aussie) to the movies and saw The Da Vinci Code - in English! Sitting in front of a huge screen in a modern theatre with a beer and some popcorn, I was very much content.
And now off to Vienna...
I will use this blog as my travel log. It serves as a journal for me but others are welcome to read it.
