Last weekend

I love Vienna and I'm very happy that I decided to study here

This weekend I had guests (I'd say just like the second weekend, but I realize now that the post about my second week is still sitting as a draft in my blog entry list): a friend from high school who is studying in Valencia for the semester and his roommate from their study abroad program!

Delicious caprese. 

It was AWESOME, for two main reasons: they made me break out of my routine and act like a tourist for a little while (which means fun excursions and cool pictures), and because it was one of my roommate's birthdays! Hurray! They helped us celebrate and even cooked dinner one night as a thank you for letting them stay in our apartment.


At any rate, they arrived on Friday, and we didn't do much other than eat and hang out at my apartment. For dinner we went to an "all-you-can-eat-pay-what-you-want" Pakistani restaurant (which was hip and delicious), and afterwards went out to an Australian bar to begin the celebrations for my roomie's birthday. We didn't stay out too late, because the main party was planned for Saturday. :)

On Saturday I took the boys to the Naschmarkt and the Flohmarkt (the Nasch is a permanent open-air market close to the first district, and the Flohmarkt is a flea market that happens next door every Saturday) and showed them around IES. I don't think I've really showed you (the readership) IES yet either, so... tada!

"Room 10" 

The IES lobby

Our classes are taught at an old palace in the first district, which is (probably somewhat) the same as it was when important Italians lived in it! I believe that Room 10 is where the IES concerts will be held...

I can't wait!

Then I took them to the Stephansdom (St. Steven's catherdral) and we climbed to the top of the south tower. We tramped around more of the inner city until we found people making giant bubbles in the Hofburg (Hapsburg palace complex) and got terribly distracted! 

BUBBLESSSS

Roomie's birthday party was also quite entertaining. We spent most of it in a club in the first district that plays mainly American music.

On Sunday we went to Schoenbrunn (summer palace of the Hapsburgs) and did all of the free things! Like walking around. The squirrels are also very nice at Schoenbrunn, and both boys were able to get them to take treats right from their hand. One squirrel even let them hold his paw!

I then took them around the Ringstrasse, or "Ring Street", that runs where the old city wall used to stand. The State Opera, Parliment, the Hofburg, the Rathaus (city hall), the Hofburg Theater (important German-language theater), and the University of Vienna all stand there. By the time we got there, it was nighttime, but it was still nice. All of the buildings were lit up, and we met a few other tourists wandering around.

We heard music playing while we were by the Rathaus and went to investigate. Now: a few words about Austrian politics. The elections for mayor (and for parliament seats, I believe), happened last Sunday. I pass all of the aforementioned ring street buildings on my way to school, and the Ringstrasse has been lined with political posters for the past few weeks. I'm embarrassed to say that, while paying attention to the political posters, and trying to figure out what they said, that I never really processed the fact that the elections were occurring on 10.10.10. There are many more parties in Austria than there are in the United States, the main ones being two conservative parties, a socialist party, and the "green" party (and as soon as I know more about them and how they compare to the American perceptions of "conservative", "green", etc, I swear I'll tell you). 

The current major was/is socialist. His main opposition in the election was a member of the FPO (with umlauts), which is a highly conservative, nationalistic party in Austria. Many Austrians dislike the party and were fearful of the FPO taking the mayorship, since many of their campaign promises were downright xenophobic. At any rate, the music we heard turned out to be coming from the FPO tent. 

Election results

I had also heard that their representative for mayor liked to party with the youth, and I actually figured that he was throwing a party to get more young people to vote for him (go oblivious me). It wasn't a place we wanted to be seen hanging out at, so after snapping a few photos, we kept on walking around the Ringstrasse, until we came to the tent of the SPO (with umlauts), aka, the socialist party! So now I was definitely cued in to something happening.

"Tent" is a relative concept. This one had floor-to-ceiling glass windows. As we stood outside watching the projection screen, we realized... the election results were streaming in. The current mayor had been re-elected, but the FPO had come in second and almost doubled their representation in the parliament. 

We decided to go in to the tent to better see what was going on, and (somewhat amazingly?) were able to walk right in. About five minutes later, the newly re-elected mayor came in, made a speech, and was (of course) accosted by cameramen and newscasters.

It was a rather casual event (in my mind), considering the relative importance and lack of frequency with which Vienna holds elections for mayor (once every five years). I heard an Austrian ask the mayor what kind of beer he liked to drink (Ottakringer!) before snapping this photo of a newscaster interviewing him with my friend's face over to the far left. 

So that's how we (sort of) met the mayor! We wanted to shake his hand, but the not-so-secret police kept giving us the eye. 

All in all, it was an amazing weekend, and actually the first weekend I've spent in Vienna since my intensive German course ended at the beginning of September (the other weekends were spent in Florence, Barcelona, Munich, and Graz [which is in lower Austria]). 

Viva la Vienna!