Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Turfted-Ear Squirrels, the Pearly Gates and Other Musings

It has been a bit since I’ve updated. I could offer up the excuse that I stepped on my card reader (I did) or that Beata’s dog, Max, ate my homework or that the aliens temporarily abducted me; giant red squirrels with tufted ears (Jenna's favorite) invaded our flat and held us hostage while we fed them nuts and fanned them w/ leaves; the European cup finals could not be held without Odette, Jenna and I blessing the soccer ball (that is the secret reason we were in Vienna); I am really a fembot (from the old Bionic Woman tv show) and I didn’t recharge my batteries for a few days, etc (all true). Much has happened since the last post, Jenna and I missed our train back to Budapest (this means, that I misunderstood the guy who sold us the tickets and we were actually just chilling out completely unaware that our train had already left) and had to scramble to find quite possibly the last available room in Vienna. The Euro Cup was being held the weekend we were there and the town was overrun w/ wild drunken Spaniards and Germans. We stayed at a Pension (pen see eyon), these are supposed to be just a cut above the hostel dorm-like environment, but my theory is that people who don’t get much of a pension open up their scary houses and let you stay there while charging you. It’s just a theory. We did enjoy our hostel though, quite a bit. When we arrived back in Budapest on Sunday, everything was different. Perhaps leaving was the best way for me to appreciate the visual beauty of this city, because when I came back, aside from the overwhelming smell of cigarette smoke, I was awestruck yet again with how beautiful the city of Budapest actually is.

Going to Vienna is like walking into heaven and seeing what one imagines the pearly gates to look like. The city is white, touched with gold. Although both Budapest and Vienna were built around the same time, they are very different experiences and because of their proximity (a 3 hr train ride), I recommend seeing both. The streets of Budapest proudly ache with history, on every building you can see ornate details and sculptures contemplatively looking to the sky and the earth. The ornamental works are weighty in aesthetic and mood and the buildings are covered with their age. Many of these sculptures tell of the city’s history and remind you of the political past that the country has had to endure in the 20th century. Old structures are occasionally abutted against newer ones, aging and beautifying them even more. In Vienna, the visual candy is much more spread out and I cannot say that every street is an interesting one to go down and photograph (but in Budapest, I have found something I’d like to photograph down every street). There are times in Vienna when a feeling of artifice overwhelms and you wonder if behind the façade of the building there are sticks holding it up (something akin to the feeling one gets when walking down Disneyland’s “Mainstreet USA” – a bit too perfect). The streets, the buildings, the town looks as though it has been washed with bleach and toothbrushes and then delicately covered with gold accents to let it sparkle as you walk by. Vienna is also fresh and airy like freshly washed white linens hung to dry in the cool summer evening air. After a few hours, the questions of artifice pass and one feels at home and relaxed, like you’ve strolled these streets all your life and can continue for all the rest. Perhaps it was the phenomenal food or the plethora of exceptional cafés that we sat in, but Jenna and I were a bit tempted by the city’s pheromones as well. And if I didn’t mention this – the art is great. For me personally, Vienna was more interesting because I was walking the same streets and going to the same places that my grandparents and aunts and uncles had been 60+ years ago. It is interesting to think about making a slight bend in time and space via the portal of place and walking in their same footsteps if only for a moment.

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