Daytrip to Bratislava

I took a daytrip to Bratislava yesterday to do some shopping and give the city another chance (long story which I'll share privately). Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy, but I did get a chance to walk around a bit and take in the city. The first pictures of a billboard for the movie, Die Hard 4.0, which I found interesting. I saw it last week in Vienna on the largest movie screen in Austria. For anyone interested, it's called "Stirb langsam" in German (die slowly). The next picture is of the castle in Bratislava, up on a hill above the Danube, and the last picture if of the Danube as it runs through the city. Last night was Ted's last night in Vienna, and I'm sure he had mixed emotions about going back to the US. He's lived in Vienna for 2 years and 3 of the past 4 years, and has been a good friend and huge help to me during my time here. We met at an Irish pub last night with my roommate Tobi, a couple friends, and a group of Russian girls we had met the night before at a club (not pictured). We were playing teams, and the last game ended with me making a full-table bank shot on the eight ball. A good way to end the night!

Donauinselfest

I'll answer the questions from Rene's comment first I guess. Yes, I have lost weight while here, but I am eating plenty and drinking plenty as well. The lifestyle is a lot more active, I don't have a car, the food seems to be more natural, and I have also had a lot more time to cook for myself. I needed to lose weight anyway! Johanna is a musicology student at the University in Würzburg. I met her a couple years ago on Dr. Heidlberger's trip, as did the others on his trips, and we have kept in touch and visited a few times since then. We both share a common interest in not doing touristy type things and drinking cocktails!

This weekend I am planning on going to at least part of the Donauinselfest, a huge weekend festival on the Donau Insel in Vienna. The Donau Insel is an island about 20km long in the Danube and is a huge recreational are for the city. It's pretty much a huge park that also has night clubs, bars, and restaurants as well. More than 300 groups will be playing on the various stages throughout the weekend, and there are also going to be fireworks. You can see where it's located on the map and get an idea of what the island is like from the picture (not mine).

A Visitor From Germany

Johanna, a friend of mine from Germany, came to visit this past weekend, and we spent the weekend touring the city and catching up. She sends her greetings to those of you she knows at UNT. On Saturday night, we went to Poncho, a Mexican restaurant in the 2nd district. They have a very short happy hour, from 6-7 PM, but the cocktails are half price. The two glasses on the table are from their "Very Long Island Iced Teas," and they mix them correctly. I'll just leave it at that! I've taken quite a few pictures from Schönbrunn, but here's one more anyway! It's taken from the back of a fountain looking at the rear of the palace. I tried to talk Johanna into actually getting in the fountain to take the picture, but she didn't seem to think it was a good idea. On Sunday there was an incredibly strong thunderstorm that lasted about 1.5 hours, and we had just come on the train from Schönbrunn and were headed to the 1st district when it hit. The rain came down so quickly that some of the Strassenbahn lines were not running. We sat on the number 2 for about an hour waiting for the rain to stop and the train to continue, but even after it finished raining the train was not able to move because of flooding at the next station. We ended up getting out and walking to Cafe Landtmann for a coffee and some sweets. The next picture is me with the Burgtheater in the background, one of the oldest and most important theaters in Europe and also the former imperial court theater. The last picture is Johanna sitting by a fountain in front of the Parliament building. The fountain in front depicts Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. Cafe Landtmann, the Burgtheater, and Parliament are all located on the Ring in the 1st district.

The Life Ball

As I mentioned in my previous post, the Life Ball is the largest AIDS charity event in the world. It's held at the Rathaus every year, and there is a huge parade of attendees dressed in all sorts of wild costumes. There are 2 types of tickets: the expensive ticket where you wear normal evening attire, and the "less expensive" (still very costly) ticket where you are required to dress in some sort of costume. There are apparently regulations for the costumes, but I think these regulations have to do with not being too conservative, not the other way around! People line the Ring by the Rathaus to watch the parade of costumed people into the Ball. The pictures here are just an example of some of the types of costumes that people wear to this event.

The Europe Concert at Schönbrunn

Every year there is a free concert (Europa-Konzert) at Schönbrunn Palace to kick off the weekend for the Life Ball, the largest single AIDS charity event in the world. The concert is held in the rear of the palace, and the Vienna Philharmonic plays on an outdoor stage. There were supposed to be an estimated 50-70,000 people attending, but I didn't bother to lookup the final count. I met Tobi there late in the afternoon, and he had been camped out there with some of his friends for several hours. Like the Times Square New Year's celebration, the actual concert is much better if you watch it on television, although it was still fun to be there. The first picture is taken from the top of the hill behind the palace, where we started the concert. They had a live ballet for some of the music, which was in that area (2nd picture). For the end of the concert though, we moved down towards the palace so we could hear a bit better. The program can be found HERE, although they did not list the many Johann Strauss encores that were performed at the end. Unfortunately and surprisingly, they did not end with the Blue Danube Waltz. I almost forgot to mention that Bill Clinton was attending the concert to receive a $1 million check for some AIDS charity work he is doing, although I didn't get to see him myself.