When Will You Realize, Vienna Waits for You

I know I'm pretty late in updating the blog about last weekend, but this past week has been pretty crazy and I have a feeling next week will be worse, what with 5 projects/papers due on Wednesday, Mama coming in on Tuesday, and leaving for Easter Break on Thursday...
Regardless, I took the overnight train to Vienna last Thursday night which was brutal. I decided not to get a couchette because the last time I had one I didn't sleep at all. This time I was in a compartment with the sleeping man who had been on the train since Amsterdam and then the giant Swiss man wearing leggings. It was a little cramped until Amsterdam man exited the train around 5 in the morning and then I had a few more seats to spread out and get a little bit of sleep.
Daniela picked me up at the subway stop near her family's compound, it's an interesting setup where her husband's brothers all live in houses conjoined to theirs. Daniela explained that it makes it easier for the children to play with kids their own ages, I can only imagine how much I would have been picked on had my childhood been like that! I took a shower and ate breakfast with Daniela before took me around the Ringestrasse on her way to work. I spent the day walking around the Inner City half awake but taking it all it nonetheless. I saw St. Stephen's, the Rathaus, Judenplatz and the Holocaust Memorial, a few houses related to Mozart and Beethoven and the Opera House. It was pretty chilly and colder than anticipated so I bought a light jacket to wear on top of my North Face. After roaming for a while I stopped in a restaurant and ordered a sacher torte and cappucino. Sacher torte is a famous Viennese dessert that's made up of chocolate cake with a light frosting and a raspberry jam on the inside. It was pretty good and I felt incredibly chic chillin in the Viennese restaurant cafe. That night Daniela and I had dinner at her friend's house for a typical Shabbat meal. It was absolutely delicious and I had to stop myself from eating more and more so that I didn't look like a pig. I discovered that Jews are Jews the world over, where they were brought up makes no difference. I don't know if I can verbalize exactly how it felt but it was definitely refreshing to be around a group whose culture I understood yet didn't fully grasp all aspects at the same time. Conversation at dinner was half German and half English and I suspect that the three year old little girl understood more of the conversation that I did but it was still a great experience. When we got back to the house I met Emily and Friedi and I sat talking to Friedi for a while before going to bed. Funny side note, when I sat on the bed to take off my shoes, I fell backwards onto a half filled water bed!
On Saturday morning after breakfast, Daniela's brother-in-law showed me around the compound and we hung out with some chickens before Daniela, Emily, and I drove into the city to go to synagogue. This was definitely a cool experience because it is the only synagogue in Vienna, thus it would have been the one that Grandma Esther and the rest of the family attended. It was rather full on Saturday because there was a Bar Mitzvah, which we stayed for, and because it was an orthodox temple, the women were on a higher level than the men watching the service from above. We went to the food market after services and it was the coolest food market ever, there were loads of different countries represented and Emily and I bother got some free falafel with hummos from the Greek stall. It was without a doubt the best hummos I have ever had, and that's saying a lot because I am a huge fan of hummos. We had gelato and Japanese food afterwards and watched this old clock strike at noon before driving up into the Vienna Hills to get a view of the city from above. Afterwards Daniela took me to the Schonbrunn which is the Austrian version of Versailles. It was gorgeous and we hiked up the hill to get the full view of the palace and the city that served as a glorious backdrop. Once at the top we stopped in the cafe and had a drink before climbing down and heading home. We relaxed at home for about an hour before Daniela, Friedi, his girlfriend, and I went back into the city to see Slumdog Millionaire. On the way though, Daniela showed me Grandma Esther's high school and Friedi, his gf, and I went into a restaurant where we got some salads before the movie, which I hadn't seen yet and was amazing!
On Sunday I had to catch an early train out of the city but on the way to the train station Daniela dropped me at the Belvedere for a few minutes. The train ride home took thirteen hours and was a little brutal but I did homework for a few classes, studied for a midterm, and watched the Dark Knight.
The pictures from the most Jewish weekend I have had in a long time are viewable here!