Become impatient when people don’t stand on the right side
of the escalator to let others pass them by. Check.
Spend an entire day surrounded by hundreds of people but
talk to no one. Check.
Ignore beggars and leaflet givers while swiftly passing by
in a rush somewhere. Check.
Ride the underground with headphones in, head down, no
smile, while browsing Facebook. Check.
Spend what feels like half the week commuting. Check.
Accidently steal a bunch of bananas by simply forgetting to
pay for them. OK, that’s probably not typical to city life but yes, check.
There are clearly advantages and disadvantages to big city
life but, luckily for us, human beings have the incredible ability to adapt. I
feel I’m adapting to life in the city more and more, but I’m not sure if that
means I’m becoming a city zombie, or if the touch of tourist inside me, who
still appreciates the surroundings more so than the average resident, has just
been somewhat suppressed. Sometimes it seems that I’m a bit of both.
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| Picture: The Alps surrounding the city of Innsbruck. |
Nevertheless, I’ve recently had a kind of small tour of a
few cities and it has opened my eyes to the great differences there can be
between them. I started preparing this blog post a while ago, but after
travelling over Christmas and the New Year I’ve decided to expand it to include
reflections upon the cities I spent some time in. First, my current place of
residence, Vienna; then, a weekend trip to Innsbruck; followed by holidays at
home in Belfast; and lastly, the first city visit of 2014, Paris.
Vienna
I have the impression that Vienna is a rather unique city.
It has all the features and commodities of a big city but the charm and
atmosphere of a smaller place. If you’re a fan of people-watching you can avail
of the tourist crowds around Stephansplatz. If you’d rather mingle among the
locals, there are also many places to choose from. There are of course student
crowds, places buzzing of nightlife or culture, daily commuters and Viennese café-goers
as well.
However, there are quiet, secluded areas of the city for
those who cannot handle crowds and the inevitable noise that comes with them.
The district where I live, for example, is a very peaceful one and the longer I
live here the more I appreciate it. It’s easy to live in this district as if it
is a little town of its own, rather than a part of a bigger city. Nevertheless,
the option is always there to commute or travel around the city as you please,
with great public transport connections both day and night. The more I use the
network of transport, the more accustomed I have become. I have found myself
specifically choosing which section of the tram, underground or train to board
based on where I will get out, mainly with the purpose to speed up the journey.
Of course, there are several faces to Vienna too. The
district where I had my first German course is directly on the opposite side of
the city from where I live and there are evident differences between the two.
It is apparent that people have money in the 18th district, where I
live; the district is well-kept, there are expensive private schools nearby,
and there are more Spar-Gourmet shops than the cheaper Billa, Lidl or Hofer
alternatives. In contrast, the 10th district, where I had my German
course, displays a more rugged feel from the grubby streets, the groups of
drunkards in the local park, the many dishevelled bars and kebab shops, and the
much higher proportion of immigrants. These are only my observations, but as a
foreigner myself, I’m not sure in which district I would feel more at home.
Nevertheless, I’m rather content with my current living situation and its close
proximity to the school where I work means it easily wins as my personal
preference.
It’s interesting also to compare Vienna to other parts of
Austria, and as we recently experienced, it differs quite dramatically. In a
way, it seems rather foreseeable for the capital city of a country to stand
alone with its own atmosphere, culture and people, in contrast to other smaller
cities. This is probably true of most capital cities but in Austria, at least
so far, it has taken a 4-5 hour train journey across the country to Innsbruck to
find something distinctly different, but still Austrian.
Innsbruck
This beautiful, compact, skiing city amidst the Austrian
Alps will question whether you are a city person or a mountain person.
Personally, I’m a water person, preferring lakes, the sea or the ocean to
capture my amazement, but I can understand how mountains, especially those such
as the Alpine mountains, would entice people from all over the world. It’s
impossible not to be charmed by the stunning backdrop of the Alps in Innsbruck,
along with its Tyrolean cuisine and Swarovski shine.
We had the whole weekend to explore Innsbruck so we decided
to invest in an ‘Innsbruck Card’ to
There was also plenty to do even within the city centre,
with interesting museums to visit (free with the Innsbruck Card) and festive Christmas
markets that are too adorable to ignore. Don’t be fooled by the picturesque
buildings – they can be deceivingly alike in their scenic charm but some of
them offer more than others, such as the building with the Golden Roof, and the
‘Stadtturm’, the city tower, that offers a wonderful view over Innsbruck.
As enchanting as the city itself is, it was really the
surrounding Alps that made it, especially the chance to experience real snow
again after what feels like a long time without it. The winter in Austria has
been surprisingly easy to cope with from how I expected it to be. I think
that’s mainly because I had come to associate winter with endless hours of
darkness that only the snow could improve (thank you, Finland.) However, the
winter days here have more hours of daylight, meaning that it’s not necessarily
dark when I’m walking to the school for 8 o’clock in the morning. It’s amazing
how much of a difference that can make.
Belfast
It’s always wonderful to experience the capital of your home
country through the eyes of a tourist, or even better, through your own eyes as
an indigenous individual with a new perspective of appreciation for what your
country has to offer. At the same time, it’s lovely just to revisit some
familiar places while also discovering new ones with old friends.
I had to make a point of visiting the annual Continental
Christmas Market in Belfast, inspired by (mostly) “continental” German, French,
Austrian and Polish festive markets. Representatives from continental countries
such as these, and even some further afield, travel to the capital of Northern
Ireland to set up their market stalls in the gardens of the impressive city
hall. It has to be said that this year was a huge improvement upon last year in
terms of the overall atmosphere and ambiance. Unfortunately, last year the
market felt like a ghost town due to riots repelling crowds of visitors.
Nevertheless, even rioters take a Christmas holiday and we took advantage of
the opportunity to chat directly with the traders and spot a bargain (since
trade was low, many stalls were selling things even cheaper than normal.)
However, this year the buzz was back and clearly visible – and great to see!
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By playing host to Thomas and his parents, I spent much of
my Christmas holiday exploring Northern Ireland again by driving up the
beautiful Antrim coast (through the crazy, unpredictable, ever-changing, stormy
weather); indulging in Afternoon Tea in Maryville Tearooms; climbing on and off
old buses and trains at the Transport Museum; enjoying a leisurely stroll while
throwing sticks into the lake for Sandy to swim for at Hillsborough Park; and,
finally, attempting to understand our complicated, local politics and history
during a unique tour of Crumlin Road Gaol*. This tiny country has a lot more to
offer but that has not been my first time playing the tourist at home and will
hopefully not be the last.
*The irony being that two former
inmates are now the current First Minister and Deputy First Minister of the
Northern Ireland Executive (part of the NI Assembly with legislative power over
issues not reserved to the British Parliament – confusing? That’s Northern
Irish politics!) Our two leading politicians who both spent time locked up
there, officially reopened Crumlin Road Gaol as a visitor attraction in 2012,
as the only remaining Victorian era prison in NI.
It closed its doors as a working
prison in 1996, with the last executions (by hanging – they go into great
detail about that during the guided tour of the gaol) held in 1961. I would
highly recommend the tour, especially for anyone interested in how they handled
the overcrowded prison during the Troubles. Paranormal tours are also available. I didn't have the nerve to try one myself though.
Paris
My first impression of Paris after spending a couple of days
there during an interrailing trip in summer 2009 was that it’s expensive,
dirty, overrated and the people are rude and snobby. However, after spending
six nights there in the first week of 2014, I can say that it’s certainly not
wise to base your entire judgement upon a first impression. Mine was proven
wrong.
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| Pic: A gift from Paris: free transport saving us 20€! |
While it’s easy to find parts of Paris that are expensive,
dirty, overrated and full of unfriendly people, it is also just as easy to find
the more affordable, clean, alluring and friendly Paris. Thomas and I found
many ways to explore Paris on the cheap. We took a free, unconventional walking
tour with a local Parisian through the Latin Quarter where we discovered quirks
of the local architecture, as well as insights into the development of
education and tips on how to survive the city. For example, one lady asked how
it’s possible to cross the street safely without attempting to dodge through
the crazy traffic. Alexander, our guide (we were a group of less than 10),
answered with his survival tip, “Find someone who looks like a Parisian and
follow them!” I wish now that I had have asked about something I only noticed
later – the many self-service laundrettes, indicating that some apartment
buildings come without any laundry facilities. Perhaps there's a more interesting, historical answer to my wonderment.
Thomas and I even managed to thoroughly enjoy the premiere
of ‘Lost Illusions’ by the Russian ballet and orchestra from the Bolshoi
Theatre, by queuing two hours before the performance and bagging tickets at
just 10€ each for this magnificent, sell-out event in the grand Palais Garnier
opera house in central Paris. 
Furthermore, we took advantage of having free entrance to
the Louvre, probably the most famous museum in the world. It’s free on the
first Sunday of every month and considering it was the first of the year 2014,
the queue was not that long and it was not at all overcrowded inside (perhaps
with the slight exception of the room housing the infamous Mona Lisa, though it
was still easily visible and approachable, despite being smaller than I
originally thought it was.) It was an amazing experience and was aided
surprisingly well by an impressive Nintendo 3DS audio guide with interactive
map – you can easily get lost without one! We easily spent almost 5 hours there
and my recommendation is to wear comfortable shoes – the place is huge but it’s
worth all the walking!
To continue the stingy way to explore Paris, as well as a
way to avoid the subway stench, we had so much fun cycling the streets of the
city, and it wasn’t even as scary as it sounds! The cycle lanes are
surprisingly well structured with signs in places for cyclists that are
probably more
It seems like we did some real, hard-core sightseeing of
Paris but actually it didn’t feel like it at all. We basically didn’t plan
anything and just went with the flow depending on our mood and the weather
(which was sunny and dry the majority of the time and great cycling weather!)
The only idea I had in mind came from a recommendation from an Aer Lingus
in-flight magazine (yes, sometimes those are worth reading) which was a great
choice – a cool, quirky, chemistry-themed café with superb carrot cake that I
ordered based on the recommendation. We also treated ourselves of course to
some renowned French cuisine, some very popular Basque food and wine, and, just
for a change, some delicious Vietnamese food found in the ‘Chinatown’ of Paris.
In conclusion, in every month of 2013 I have travelled
somewhere, most of the time to a different country. I didn’t know at the
beginning of the year that I would travel so much and take in more of Finland,
Lapland, Switzerland, Ireland, Estonia, Åland, Portugal, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Slovakia and Austria. This year, 2014 has already kicked off in Paris, now I’m
back in Vienna with plans to return to Paris and Finland later this month. What
lies ahead is beyond me, but I hope it involves more travelling and less of the
city zombie!
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