Das Ende.
If you're here, it means we're back.
By the final days of the trip, I mentioned that exhaustion and a looming illness had set in and I lost quite a bit of steam - final plans, unfortunately gone to the wayside. I'd intended to visit the Prater amusement park once more, and perhaps the Sigmund Freud museum, but both these things became distant goals as I sat in bed sick during one of the brutal 90 degree days. Sipping water and imitation gatorade was imperative before getting ready for our goodbye dinner.
Yet, I feel no regret for lost time, as I had come to feel at home in my dorm room. The heavy double windows which I left open for most of the humid summer allowed for a slight breeze to waft through the apartment, sounds of the street heard below. The chatter of students in other apartments, dogs barking and children laughing, the streetcar ding-ding-dinging down an adjacent street. The sounds of a city, alive and vibrant, where Viennese natives were beginning to return to the city after their August holidays. Before our final day, I wandered down to Mariahilfer Strasse to shop for a dress to wear to dinner, and noticed that the crowds of tourists that occupied the street earlier in the month were sparse. Vacation, for us and them, was winding down. And so I sat in my room, enjoying the afternoon, dreading the looming goodbye.
Final thoughts:
As a woman, traveling alone is always a liability. Walking alone at night, taking the subway home after a long day, one expects to confront a variety of hurdles: cat-calling, street harassment, and other dangerous and unwanted attention. Yet, here in Vienna, women walking alone at night was an blessedly uneventful occurrence. Plenty of times I wandered a quiet and dark alley after midnight, only to spot others like me: older women with shopping bags, younger women coming home from bars, groups of female friends giggling and smoking. The feeling of being able to traverse the city after midnight, where being a woman wasn't a hinderance: this was a truly liberating feeling. As a night owl, I will miss this freedom most of all.
Public transportation was effortless, accessible to all, and nearly perfect - all trains, subways, and buses were reliable and reached to all corners of the city. Plenty of times I hopped onto a random streetcar and traveled to the outskirts of a district, walking through industrial corridors and away from the crowds of tourists. Cars were prevalent but not necessary, gas prices about 1.20 euro a liter. Translating this to gallons, it's a tad more expensive than the price of gas in California per gallon. But honestly, with public transportation so easy and accessible, why would one even choose to deal with a cumbersome car? I certainly wouldn't commit to the hassle.
While no nation is perfect, I echo my earlier statements that the stress level of the average Austrian seems far lower than that of the average American. Our infrastructure has serious, serious issues, our current political leaders have little interest in fixing. Our bridges crumble, our freeways full of potholes, our wild and forest areas constantly threatened. In California, the housing crisis leaves many without affordable or long-term housing. To see public housing in Vienna, adjacent to beautiful parks and gardens, was an alluring sight. I return to America with an ambivalence. I do not know what the next 4 years holds, our politics seem to steer us in a direction far away from the American Dream. Mass shootings, limited healthcare, rising costs of housing and food, wealth inequality....this is what I come home to. I have not missed any of them. Obviously, Austria is not a perfect nation, and it certainly has its own share of political scandals and infrastructure problems. Yet, I can't shake the feeling that I am coming home to a nation of ghosts, phantoms of a lost society. I do not know where I fit into it anymore.
A apologize for leaving this blog on such a melancholic note, as it does not paint a wholly accurate picture of the emotions I felt during the journey. Nearly every moment in Vienna was felt with such an enjoyable intensity that even the bad days were fun in most places. The people I met were unforgettable, I smile at remembering any number of jokes and conversations we had. The sheer history, sights and sounds, art, food, culture - this has been an unforgettable experience. I come back home with a determination to be more assertive, to pursue what I know is right in my heart. And for this, I give thanks and devotion to Vienna, my European home.
By the final days of the trip, I mentioned that exhaustion and a looming illness had set in and I lost quite a bit of steam - final plans, unfortunately gone to the wayside. I'd intended to visit the Prater amusement park once more, and perhaps the Sigmund Freud museum, but both these things became distant goals as I sat in bed sick during one of the brutal 90 degree days. Sipping water and imitation gatorade was imperative before getting ready for our goodbye dinner.
Yet, I feel no regret for lost time, as I had come to feel at home in my dorm room. The heavy double windows which I left open for most of the humid summer allowed for a slight breeze to waft through the apartment, sounds of the street heard below. The chatter of students in other apartments, dogs barking and children laughing, the streetcar ding-ding-dinging down an adjacent street. The sounds of a city, alive and vibrant, where Viennese natives were beginning to return to the city after their August holidays. Before our final day, I wandered down to Mariahilfer Strasse to shop for a dress to wear to dinner, and noticed that the crowds of tourists that occupied the street earlier in the month were sparse. Vacation, for us and them, was winding down. And so I sat in my room, enjoying the afternoon, dreading the looming goodbye.
Final thoughts:
As a woman, traveling alone is always a liability. Walking alone at night, taking the subway home after a long day, one expects to confront a variety of hurdles: cat-calling, street harassment, and other dangerous and unwanted attention. Yet, here in Vienna, women walking alone at night was an blessedly uneventful occurrence. Plenty of times I wandered a quiet and dark alley after midnight, only to spot others like me: older women with shopping bags, younger women coming home from bars, groups of female friends giggling and smoking. The feeling of being able to traverse the city after midnight, where being a woman wasn't a hinderance: this was a truly liberating feeling. As a night owl, I will miss this freedom most of all.
Public transportation was effortless, accessible to all, and nearly perfect - all trains, subways, and buses were reliable and reached to all corners of the city. Plenty of times I hopped onto a random streetcar and traveled to the outskirts of a district, walking through industrial corridors and away from the crowds of tourists. Cars were prevalent but not necessary, gas prices about 1.20 euro a liter. Translating this to gallons, it's a tad more expensive than the price of gas in California per gallon. But honestly, with public transportation so easy and accessible, why would one even choose to deal with a cumbersome car? I certainly wouldn't commit to the hassle.
While no nation is perfect, I echo my earlier statements that the stress level of the average Austrian seems far lower than that of the average American. Our infrastructure has serious, serious issues, our current political leaders have little interest in fixing. Our bridges crumble, our freeways full of potholes, our wild and forest areas constantly threatened. In California, the housing crisis leaves many without affordable or long-term housing. To see public housing in Vienna, adjacent to beautiful parks and gardens, was an alluring sight. I return to America with an ambivalence. I do not know what the next 4 years holds, our politics seem to steer us in a direction far away from the American Dream. Mass shootings, limited healthcare, rising costs of housing and food, wealth inequality....this is what I come home to. I have not missed any of them. Obviously, Austria is not a perfect nation, and it certainly has its own share of political scandals and infrastructure problems. Yet, I can't shake the feeling that I am coming home to a nation of ghosts, phantoms of a lost society. I do not know where I fit into it anymore.
A apologize for leaving this blog on such a melancholic note, as it does not paint a wholly accurate picture of the emotions I felt during the journey. Nearly every moment in Vienna was felt with such an enjoyable intensity that even the bad days were fun in most places. The people I met were unforgettable, I smile at remembering any number of jokes and conversations we had. The sheer history, sights and sounds, art, food, culture - this has been an unforgettable experience. I come back home with a determination to be more assertive, to pursue what I know is right in my heart. And for this, I give thanks and devotion to Vienna, my European home.
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