Zac in Vienna: Schönbrunn Picnic, Stadtpark, Rathaus 2

Sunday 15.8.2010

Monica, Marielle, Daryl and I went to Schönbrunn for a picnic lunch. I made some delicious freaking sandwiches, if I say so myself. So we had sandwiches and beers and watched the squirrels and what have you in the Schönbrunn gardens. The gardens are definitely more extensive and lovelier than those of the Belvedere. They have a labyrinth of hedges. So it was very nice. After lunch we walked around the grounds. They have a few fountains decorating the grounds. One is this obelisk supported by four golden turtles, topped by a golden eagle (Habsburg eagle, most likely, though it had but a single head). There was also this fountain with these weird sort of mer-people. We found this steep hill and Daryl and I, in our infinite wisdom, though it would be a good idea to roll down it. It was pretty steep and we reached the bottom dizzy and slightly bruised, with grass-stained clothing. I had a long scratch on my leg. We were feeling a little tired, so we decided not to go take the tour; we’re saving it for another day when we have more energy. We realized then that I hadn’t brought out all the cookies during lunch, and we were craving ice cream, so we took the U-Bahn to the Stadtpark (city park/gardens), photographed the golden statue of Johann Strauss, got ice cream, and had cookies and ice cream on a lawn by a pond. There Me’Lisa joined us; she was fortuitously in the area and noticed us. Pretty cool. After lots of talk, we were feeling tired, so we went home and napped for an hour or so, then headed off to the Rathaus for the nightly film screening, stopping at a food stand on the way. I got a pizza (quarter of a pizza! they have huge portions in Vienna) which the guy put in the oven so it was very hot, and a Wieselbier in a glass bottle. Very good. Tonight the film was a performance of Handel’s Messiah, but a sort of modern version, at least in terms of costumes. I actually liken it to the version of Die Fledermaus we saw at the Theatre an der Wien. The music and lyrics were all the original stuff drawn up by the composer, but the costumes were modern. Parts of it though made us laugh, I guess the way the actors were acting. They did some pretty bizarre stuff. The songs were in English but there were German subtitles. In any case opera singing is difficult to understand so we couldn’t really follow it, and spent most of the time either laughing at the antics of the actors or trying to guess who all the characters were. During the screening this guy that looked like a gnome was walking around. He had this white short beard and this sort of beanie gnome-cap thing, and he had a pack on his pack. We were unsure whether he was homeless. In any case he’s like my favorite Viennese guy ever. He reminded me of a gnome in appearance (he was even smoking a legit-as-hell tobacco pipe!) and he clearly had an appreciation for the arts, as he appeared to be at the film screening simply to enjoy some Handel. He wasn’t doing much else; not begging or anything. A true Viennese, Also this little old lady in a little old lady dress with a little old lady dog sat by us for a few minutes. Concerning architecture, the neo-Classical Parliament, with its giant golden statue of Athena, and the neo-Gothic Rathaus with its tall clock tower look magnificent lit up at night. After the film (we didn’t stay until the end because it was getting late and the Messiah was kind of dragging on) we met some of our American friends outside the apartment building. They were on their way to the nearby strip club. They beseeched me to join them, but for one I’m kind of uncomfortable with the idea of women who strip for money, and two I have to get up early tomorrow because there’s no freaking Internet and I need to check my email because I’m supposed to be meeting Dom Ambros (mentioned previously for dinner tomorrow). I think I’ll get up early tomorrow and go to a café for the Internet.