Vienna Waits For You

At one point in history, they all lived and composed in Vienna. Beethoven. Brahms. Mozart. Strauss. Haydn. Schonberg. The greatest composers that ever lived all wrote some of their best works right here in Vienna. Maybe it was the water? Who knows. I am sure there are many great things about Vienna. But for me, on this trip, Vienna was all about classical music. Take a listen:

This was my hosts chill red room. And me in a red shirt, doing my blog.




A statue I met whilst walking around the city centre. Sometimes I feel like this.




This church is 1000 years old. Other times, I feel like this.




Continuing upon my walking tour, I stumbled upon Beethoven's house. It was then that I realized that all of the great composers had lived here and composed in their apartments. In this apartment here is where Beethoven wrote his famous 5th symphony.

Here's me jamming in Haydn's place. I'd say about a quarter of my trip is me trying to sneak ridiculous pictures.



So which fahrt is it? Ein or Aus? These are the important questions I'm asking on this trip. Someone has to.





Guess what? In Vienna, you can drink water from a giant flathead screwdriver!




Vienna is one of the cities getting ready to host the huge Euro 2008 Soccer Tournament and Championship. Here's some guys working on a display. I'm sure they were trying to protect themselves from the sun, but it looked liked they were wearing capes.



There is a Grace Kelly exhibit here with over a 100 pictures from here life and a film in German that I didnt understand. Up until now, I hadn't known much about her. I'm still mulling over the decision she made to give it all up. I guess Monaco was just too much to resist.




Some cool breakdancers I saw outside St. Stephan's Cathedral. There are so many little street shows in this tourist zone. A good place to wear your backpack on your front.




These guys all had names for themselves like Ricky Martin and Justin Timberlake. Here's a little taste of the magic.




I was able to capture this little gem right at the end. I can't freakin rob you of this!





There's usually one thing I see in each city where I'm like "what?!?" In Vienna, it was a random statue of Papa Smurf.




In Vienna they have this amazing opera house that has performances 6 nights a week. But it is crazy expensive. So a little tip in my travel book gave me a heads up that loads of people leave at intermission because its so long usually. The one I saw was a total of 5 hours! So at intermission after 3 hours of opera, I was able to snag a ticket from someone leaving and I sat in the orchestra for the 2nd act of a Wagner (Vahg-ner) opera.

Here's what happens at the end of every opera:




The next night, I went back to see a ballet. Let me tell you, Vienna is the place for fine arts. They were amazing. This night, I bought a ticket, and this was the view.

Here's the cast during bows. Check out those sets and costumes! The main ballerina is center wearing the red Spanish dress.




This sign is supposed to tell you how long until the next tram arrives. But this weird symbol was always flashing next to the numbers. Look closely to the right of the "1", "D", and "J": I thought it looked like E.T. in a wheelchair.




Weinerschnitzel! I was so excited to try it. Not as great as had hoped. I guess maybe because of our fast food chain of the same name, I was expecting it to be some sort of sausage. Mine was made of turkey, but basically tasted like chicken fried stake. Go figure.




Here's me mad-dogging Strauss. I think he won.





One song has stuck with me this trip. Not surprisingly, its Billy Joel's "Vienna". What a wonderful song. I must have listened to it 5 or more times in the city. I couldn't find a way to put the video on here, so here are the lyrics. Do yourself a favor and look it up on You Tube or something.

And treat yourself to some classical music this week. See how it makes you feel.

Vienna by Billy Joel

Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me why
Are you still so afraid?
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do and only
So many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight)
Too bad but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself
That you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong
You know you can't always see when you're right(you're right)

You got your passion you got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...
Vienna waits for you.

And you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through

Why don't you realize...Vienna waits for you
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Munchin' in Müchen

Alot of things coming to mind when one thinks of Munich. Perhaps the 1972 Olympics. Maybe the great beer history. Oktoberfest for sure. Also, the birth of the Nazi Party and where Hitler came to power. And that's mostly just the last 100 years right there. Munich has such a rich history, some great and celebratory, some forgettable. So I guess thats why at different times in this city, i have had a glorious time, and others I've felt followed by a stubborn gray cloud. (Monday, literally).

Its hard not to enter Munich and feel the enormous weight of Nazi history. It's everywhere, and yet it isn't. 90% of the city was completely flattened in 1945 at the end of the war. The Allies (mainly us and the Brits, ah-thank you) left the two tallest twin buildings intact, however - so they could spot Munich from the sky. During German reconstruction, most of the country opted to look forward and rebuilt with modern technology - a way to try and forget where they had come from. Not Munich. They took painful care to purposely rebuilt almost every building to look exact has it had before the war. They were proud of the old baroque charm, and chose to not to let a scar upon history forever ruin their culture. So as a result, many young Germans living in Munich have no idea the building they are sipping coffee outside of was once a pile of rubble.

Munich isn't all Nazi history. There's plenty of Bavarian pride when it comes to Ocktoberfest. Its' all here in the pictures. Why don't I just start the slide show...

This is the first picture I took in Munich. Its in a shop in the train station. This picture is for my friend Bob. He loooves Fisherman's Friend cough drops, and even though they could possibly be the worst tasting cough drops ever, they work, and he loves them. Check out that selection, Bob.





This picture, at first glance, is just a building. In fact, most Munichians just know it as where the Apple computer store resides. But here's the facts: in almost all buildings in Munich similar to this one, the the first floor (the second floor in America) is all hollowed out to be one big room. All of the arched windows along the first (second) floor are one big conference room. This is where the Nazi Party was born. Hitler got up at a socialist meeting and gave not one but two speeches here to rouse support for a politcal party. Within two months, he had a huge following, had outgrown this location and moved to a nearby hotel, and was in the process of buying up all the media sources with dirty money. (He eventually got all of them).

Heres my guide explaining a little about it:

This the outside of the famous Haufbrouhaus. Locals and tourists alike come here for huge liter-sized pitchers of beer. In the early 30's Hitler also came here - and met in the rooms above the arches to plan his takeover of Munich.





Here is the very meeting room that his meetings took place. He sat way at the end at the head of a center table. They still use this room today for big luncheons and such.





Like I said, most buildings were flattened. The center part of this one survived, but you can see the dent and craters in the columns from bombs and schrapnle. During reconstruction, the side wings were made very modern to represent an optomistic look to the future out of the wreckage of the past.





A nearby art gallery here. Hitler had all "approved" art in this museum - by Germans - and only art containing colours that occoured in nature were allowed. All "disgraceful art" - done by blacks, gays, and Jews, were displayed at smaller museums nearby. People went to see the "disgraceful" art at a ratio of 4:1 to the "approved" art. Here, looking straight up right outside the entrance, in red tile, is some of the only remaining swastikas left in Munich.





Hitler gave many speeches here in the 30's and 40's. It's great today to see children playing where so much hate and ignorance once held court. Something you can't see here, and i meant to get a picture: the court in front of this stage is made up of perfectly square blocks, about 1 foot square. This is so the Nazi Soldiers had a marked place to stand to be swarn in and they looked perfectly uniform in perfect rows.





Nazi headquarters. All this red marble used to be polished when they owned it. The building was designed to intimidate any vistor with its high ceiling and centrally exposed staircase. It was said they wanted any visitor to be "shaking in their boots" by the time they reached the door they were going to.

Today this building is a well esteemed music school.

My guide again, inside Nazi Headquarters.

Hitler's office. This marble bust of some famous classical composer now blocks the only entrance to the office. Our tour guide said he's never seen anyone go in or out of it. I tried to shake that bust. It's not going anywhere.





On to bigger and brighter things! Munich has been brewing beer for over 3,ooo years, apparently. So I went on a brewery tour. This guy must be in photos across the world.





See, there he is again.



Here's me with some cool future dentists from Dallas. (I asked - they dont floss everyday - ha!) Those steins are sooo heavy.





Back at the Haufbrouhaus - this time for dinner. It's always so loud in here and people just dance and yell on the tables - especially when the band plays!




*** This next one could be one of the best pictures of the trip so far right here.***

The next day I went to a huge museum that had everything from old airplanes to the evolution of cameras to sundials. I took a picture of me at the helm of this big boat deck - and this kid came up behind me right at the last second. I didnt even see him there. The look on his face is priceless. I laughed out loud about this for about 3 mins straight.




Can you find me in this picture?





My "North by Northwest" omage.




This green screen was so awesome. Just a different video image about every five seconds - just like in the movie "Wayne's World" - "Hi, I'm in Delaware." hahahaa





Back at the Haufbrouhaus - again. It's kind of the place everyone goes for good food and good times. I met new friends at the museum, and so we went here, where i ate a pig knuckle and dumplings for dinner. A great delicacy. Its basically just pork from the the shoulder. So good.





Here's that band playing! I love taking picture of tourists taking pictures of stuff. Hey - what if someone was taking a picture of me at this moment? The helix could go on forever!

This is crazzzzy. The Haufbrouhaus got so tired of cleaning up after dudes who puked in the toilets, they installed this special stainless steel funnel just for that. Wow.




I went to see Indiana Jones! It was so great just to sit in a theatre and watch a movie. In English! Lots of Canadians, English, and Americans here. Digital projection too, not bad.






The screen had a curtain in front of it! Crazy cool, huh?




The next day I went out exploring the city. Do you notice anything missing from this picture? Yes, it's call The Sun. This day was a Monday - in every Garfield sense of the word. And day to walk with your hands way down in your pockets. A day for listening to the Counting Crows. A day for sketching with worn pencils. And so I did.

Olympic park was a ghost town. Weeds growing everwhere, minimal signs, a pretzel salesman here or there. It felt exactly like a fairground after the fair had moved on to the next town. Quiet, dejected, and run down. Nothing like the glorious Olympic Park in Atlanta, with kids playing in fountains and centrally located.




This sign was ridiculous. How about just a sign that read this:

"<-- Everything Nothing-->"



One of the few buildings with some life at the Olympic center. It's open to the public - and you basically taste the chlorine in the air.




Ok, the long words here are getting out of hand. Come on Germany, really?




A beauiful gift on a gloomy day. This family of swans were out for a nice little stroll swim. In fact, this particular pool had three different species of birds with babies swimming nearby.




More pig knuckle! The skin on the outside is soo good. Its similar to the skin in fried chicken, but about 5 times as thick. And look at that beer - its the size of my head! This one was made with lemonade.




I just couldn't pass this photo up - this guy was in cutoff jean shorts and rollerblades.

Dachau Concentration Camp. This was the first one set up by the Nazis in 1932. It was chosen because it was only about 10 mins by train away. This was a very somber site, altough it is a museum now, I still see it as a monument to the survivors and a memorial to the ones who perished. So out of respect to those, I will not share the graphic pictures I took of places like the crematorium or areas of punishment. But here are a few images and a video from the ground to give you an idea of Dachau - the only concentration camp to be open throughout the entire regime of the Nazis.

The main gate. Everyone - prisoners and SS guards alike - had to pass through this one gate. And now today, so does everyone who visits Dachau. The words on the gate: "Work makes you free."

Every prisoner was given a triangle patch. The different colours represented different religous or social identies. Red- Polish. Pink- Homosexual. Green - Immigrant. To name a few. Any Jew had a star of some colour too, but the Yellow triangle was also added, making - in mockery- the Star of David. Note - the red circle surrounded by a white ring meant that they were a flight risk, which meant the SS would just find the first opportunity usually to take them out.

A view from a gate and barbed wire. This ditch is a recreation of what it looked like then - the grassy area along the dirt road was the "death zone". No one was allowed to stand there, and if they did, it would be taken as an attempt to escape and the SS would have free reign to open fire. Even if they made it past the gunfire, the electricfied barbed wire would kill them anyway. Toward the end, many prisoners would storm the ditch as a means of suicide.

This is the permant sculpture to the prisoners. The faces of the bodies here are blank, meant to represent how the prisoners were faceless to their captors. The hands and extremities are meant to also look like barbed wire. And the position of the bodies are meant to symbolize the great agony they went through.

Behind this monument is the buildings where the disinfecting, processing, and even flogging of prisoners took place.

Part of the monument. Everything was grey concrete and dirt here. So great to see this beautiful colour. And of course, it now uses the same colourful triangles meant to categorize the prisoners.

This video shows the roll call area of the camp. Prisoners had to meet here and stand motionless each morning and evening for an hour - or more sometimes.

So, a somber note to end on in Munich. But that's what I'm interested in more than anything else on this trip - World War II points of interest. Just got to Vienna. It's supposed to be 35 degrees tomorrow. That's bascially 100 Fareinheit! Yeehaw, Sun!