Well, it's been a month since my last post, which was a short reflection on my then-upcoming trip. Now, I find myself sitting in my Viennese apartment at 12:47 AM, trying to assemble my first "real" blog post. The past few days have been completely mad, and my bruised legs and tired feet say it all: I've treaded all over this city, yet I haven't even scratched the surface. Last summer, I spent a little over a month in Chicago, and I bring this up because it reminds me of how I prefer to get to know cities, which is by getting lost in them. Today, as my roommate and I ventured out in search of the world-famous Cafe Central, we got a little lost (yet not nearly as lost as the previous night when we were trying to find a bar called "Stylez" with a "z"). We went a block or two in the wrong direction, which was my mistake, but we found ourselves in front of what I believe was the Spanish Riding School, or as the German-speakers call it, Spanische Hofreitschule. The horse poop smell was in the air, possibly worsened by the numerous horse carriages around the riding school.
 |
| Surprise! It's the Spanish Riding School! |
 |
| Our sweet compensation for getting lost. |
What's so remarkable about my inability to read google maps correctly is that now I know where the Spanish Riding School is, and I discovered this as a result of my mistake. Walking and getting lost in a city are the best ways to familiarize yourself with it, and I fully intend on continuing to misinterpret maps. We eventually found Cafe Central, quickly devouring what I decided was the best macaroon I've ever had.
I also just completed the first reading in the Beller book, which I consider a success due to the density of dates and names. Since I am (or was, considering my graduate status....eek) an English major, I'm used to heavy amounts of reading, but perhaps not as much the heaviness/density of the reading. This will take some adjusting to, as I need to go much slower than I am used to in order to absorb the concrete information better. However, what I did take away is the immense diversity in Austria and the difficulty in establishing a solid nation (especially post World War II) due to this diversity. I know very little about this period, with my knowledge mostly coming from an AP European History class I took in high school. What I do recall is that a lot of our focus in that class was western Europe, except of course when we discussed the influence of the Hapsburg monarchy. However, there is a difference between the general idea of the Hapsburg monarchy and the independent creation and development of Austria as a nation. Beller states that Austria still struggles to establish a national identity, partially because of its affiliation with the Nazis during World War II. I am very excited to be honing in on Austria, discovering its immense influence on the development of Europe as a whole.
No comments:
Post a Comment