Since March, I’ve been playing host to a seemingly constant
stream of visitors coming to Vienna from different European countries, and there are still more to come. First,
there was Steve; then a friend of mine from home, whom I actually met in
Finland, Alex; overlapping with Alex, there was my Finnish friend, Emmi; and a
little while later, another friend from Finland, Henri, came. In between,
Thomas has also been here and helped host Emmi by acting as a superb tour guide
of Vienna. 
Before the arrival of Emmi, way back on Easter Sunday (that’s
how busy I’ve been, only being able to catch up on blog writing now!), Thomas
and I managed to get hold of a couple of cheap tickets from my landlady (only
12€ each) to see the locally famous Strauss II operetta, Die Fledermaus. I had
to ask the difference between an opera and an operetta, this being my first
experience of one, and I was told that an operetta serves as a light-hearted
and funnier version of opera. We revelled in the opportunity to dress up and
feel like part of the elite; me in my purple graduation dress, and Thomas in a
sharp suit. Even if I do say so myself, I think we presented ourselves rather
well! The operetta itself was entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable; despite
the English surtitles provided above the stage, which I found was distracting
from the performance itself more than anything, I was able to understand the
plot and even most of the jokes in German. That’s progress!
Another great language learning experience was the Frauen
Fun Run, held while Emmi was visiting Vienna. I wasn’t feeling particularly
well at that time, but thankfully Emmi was there to help and encourage me and,
luckily, I was only registered for a 3km run. Unexpectedly, I felt fine during
the actual run; it was just before and after that wasn’t so great. Nevertheless,
I’m glad I did it; it was at least worth it for the freebies from the sponsors,
like Kellogg’s and Nivea.
At one point, in that same week, I found myself enjoying a
Hugo spritzer in the sunshine with three girls visiting Vienna! Emmi’s and Alex’s
trips conveniently overlapped, while Laura, another Finn who happened to be the
previous Comenius Assistant last year in the same school I work in, came back
to revisit and relive her time in Vienna. We took advantage of the weather
(despite the unsettled “April weather” forecast , it stayed fine) by sitting
out on the terrace at the Hundertwasserhaus and walking along the Donau canal.
The next stop was Klagenfurt for the weekend! We headed by
train to the southern part of Austria, close to the Italian border, with my two
tandems. Four of us girls, Emmi, Alex, Bartle (my fellow Comenius friend,
Laura) and I, shared a four-person Junior Suite in supposedly the best hotel in
Klagenfurt, which somehow happened to be the cheapest option for us! I was
completely sold by the possibility to have a bath! It’s funny how much more I
appreciate the chance to take a nice, relaxing, hot bath after living for so
long without one.
Klagenfurt itself is
a small city, though the sixth largest in Austria, with its main attraction
being the nearby lake, Wörthersee. The town itself is quaint and
charming with a friendly, amiable atmosphere that oozes summer holiday appeal.
We found ourselves chilling out by the lake; visiting Minimundus that consists
of mini models of famous landmarks from around the world; dancing and rapping
next to the mini- Eiffel Tower (for the purpose of a music video); searching
for peacocks where none existed in the Europa nature park; and treating
ourselves to a steak dinner. 
After indulging in the delicious dinner, our
attention was distracted by a group of ladies out for a hen party. I had seen
hen parties in Vienna and wondered what the tradition is, because, from what
I’d seen, they go around with a box of random things to sell and I was under the
impression that they mostly target men. Emmi’s friend, whom Emmi first met on
Erasmus in Belfast and who is now living in Klagenfurt, could explain to us as
a native Austrian how it works. In fact, we learned through experience as she
decided to purchase a few shot-size bottles of ‘kleiner Klopfer’ from the
hen-party stash. It turns out there is a special custom to how to drink those.
First, you unscrew the cap from the mini-bottle, then lightly squeeze the cap
onto the tip of your nose, while chanting ‘zum, zum, zum, ZUM’ louder and
louder with the others drinking with you, and finally down it straight from the
bottle. It was certainly an interesting, authentic, drinking tradition to
experience!
Emmi’s friend also kindly offered to drive us
to a specially-constructed viewing point, about 20 minutes outside of the main
town. It was a viewing tower, to be exact, that had only been recently
reconstructed in 2013 to include an ‘emergency’ slide. I say that, but after
climbing upwards of 322 steps up (or taking the lazy option of the lift!),
there is the possibility to pay an extra 4€ to take the slide down! Since this
was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, all of us chose to pay for the added
extra. I proudly climbed the steps to the top in record speed, to be rewarded
with a magnificent view over the lake and surrounding towns and villages.
Moreover, we happened to be there during some drama, as a continuous stream of
classic cars drove up the mountain to join some kind of classic car club
meeting at the foot of the tower. Engine trouble and a fire brigade were also
involved! Nevertheless, the real thrill came from the slide ride down which
turned out to be A LOT fast than I had predicted and was prepared for!
Completely worth it though.
Back in Vienna, I had plenty to be getting on with and was
glad for a day’s break over May Day. Usually, Thomas and I have celebrated the
Finnish tradition of Vappu over May Day, but this was the first time in 4 years
that we haven’t spent it in Finland, nor together. Thomas unfortunately had an
obligatory military week to serve, while I sunned myself in 21˚C heat with a
sushi picnic in the city. It’s a hard life for some, really!
In all seriousness, though, between working in two schools,
tutoring and taking German classes, I’ve had work piling up and up with a
never-ending to-do list. In the private school, I had my first insight into one
of the many big events that the school hosts – the Mother’s Day breakfast.
Mother’s Day is celebrated in May in most other countries besides home; we seem
to be the odd ones, having it in March. For the Mother’s Day event, 72 mums
were invited to enjoy a special Mother’s Day breakfast and performances by
their children. Thankfully, it all ran rather smoothly and I was impressed by
how the children and my colleagues pulled off such an event that requires a lot
of hard work and organisation.
Feeling exhausted after a particularly busy week, I still
managed to find some energy from somewhere to host another Finnish friend of
mine. Henri came to visit Vienna and we fulfilled a packed itinerary full of
activities I had wanted to try since I arrived in Vienna, but had not yet had a
chance to experience. Although, I couldn’t resist also sharing some of my
favourite things about Vienna too! Our first destination of choice was
Kahlenberg, which, in my opinion, offers the best view over Vienna (and it’s
free!) We took the bus up the mountain, admired the view and began our descent
with a leisurely stroll through the vineyards. On the way down, we accidently
discovered a summer winery that had just opened that very day. We happened to
be the very first customers to enjoy the local tasty snack board, cake and wine
on a stunningly beautiful and warm day.
Henri came at a suitable time to catch some one-off events
in the Austrian capital. On the Friday evening, we attended a free, televised
classical concert in front of the stunning town hall for the opening of the
Rathaus Festwochen, namely, ‘Europa singt’ = Europe sings, a five week program
full of events and performances from 22 different countries, all held in Vienna. The
event was really something spectacular with amazing performances from the
symphony orchestra of Vienna and amazingly talented choirs from all over
Europe, including from Finland, Lithuania and Croatia. I was also impressed by
the lighting production that illuminated the Rathaus in different colours
during the evening’s program. That was definitely something not to be missed,
even though the rain couldn’t resist an entrance (we appreciated the free rain
ponchos handed out at the beginning from the sponsors!)
The next day, we arranged to meet with the other Comenius
folk for brunch in Himmelblau, a quirky, wee café in the same district that I
live in, the 18th district. Being the same district where I also
work, we bumped into several kids whom I teach. This became quite a common
occurrence! After a yummy brunch, we hired some city bikes (it’s possible to
use them for free for an hour) and cycled to the Donauinsel, a long, thin
island that stretches down the centre of the Danube river. It’s a beautiful,
natural area, great to cycle or walk along and enjoy a sunny day’s picnic or
swimming session in the river (like Thomas and I did, last summer.)
After that, Henri, Scott and I went to check out the Genuss
Festival being held at the Stadtpark (city park) nearby. The festival had
almost 100 stalls offering free samples or selling delicious locally produced
food and wines. We tried a lot of amazing free food, made freshly in front of
us or that we could be involved in making. Later, after having been rightfully
tempted by the scents and aesthetics of the food, we couldn’t resist having,
what constituted as, dinner there. The food was simply delicious and nicely
washed down with a Hugo rosé spritzer, a version of the drink that I’d never
tried before.
Making the most of the weekend, we also took advantage of
the one-night only chance of free entry to the museums in the Museums Quartier
(MQ) of the city. This was the perfect opportunity for me to see these museums,
which has been a mission of mine since I moved to Vienna. We took in the
Leopold Museum that held an interesting exhibition of modern interpretations of
World War I, as well as the MUMOK museum, which is the Museum of Modern Art
(Museum, MU, Modern, MO, Kunst, K – ‘art’ in German.) That, to be quite honest,
displayed some very strange works of art that most of us failed to understand.
Nevertheless, worth a visit, or at least for free!
The Sunday of Henri’s visit was forecast to be a very rainy
day, and that it was. Despite the weather, we ploughed on with our plan and
began our day by visiting the Butterfly House. Henri shared his fascination of
the metamorphosis that takes place in the cocoon, from caterpillar to
butterfly. Having never been to a butterfly farm before, I was a bit wary that
I might not like it as the idea of butterflies flying all around me reminds me
of unpleasant, close encounters I’ve had with pigeons flying very close to me.
However, it turned out to be an insightful and interesting experience with,
what I must admit, are fascinating creatures.
Next on our itinerary was the Apple Strudel Show at the
Palace of Schönbrunn. We made it just in time for the beginning of the 2pm show
(they hold them every hour, on the hour, in German and English.) The lady chef
flawlessly demonstrated their homemade recipe, impressively using the entire
length of her forearm to thin out the pastry. Included in the cost was a
complimentary slice of strudel and a copy of the recipe to try at home, though
I’m not sure if I would be able to repeat her handling of the pastry! Luckily,
they have a strudel hotline which connects directly to the strudel kitchen,
where there is always someone to answer any strudel-related queries.
The last major target during our busy weekend was the Museum
of Technology. This is a huge museum consisting of many floors spanning many
topical exhibitions which include interactive activities. We succeeded in
exploring most of the museum, with my favourite two exhibitions being on everyday
life and space. There was a considerate area of tranquillity created where you
could lie down on amazingly comfortable recliners and stare up into ‘space’
while listening to soothing music. Pure bliss. And perfect for parents there
with young families to enjoy a few minutes of rare relaxation.
Over the course of Henri’s visit to Vienna, two particularly
topical issues arose – the Eurovision Song Contest, and the European Elections.
During our bus journey up to Kahlenberg, we bumped into a girl I teach who
happens to be from the Ukraine. She was on her way home from school and had
picked up a copy of the free city newspaper (which is of very poor quality, by
the way.) On the front cover, spread across the top, was Austria’s entry in the
Eurovision Song Contest - Conchita Wurst, the alter ego of Tom Neuwirth. The
pupil I teach commented on the picture on the front page of the newspaper,
asking, “What is that? A man or a woman?” Her honest and perceptive outlook was
engaging and made our journey a lot shorter! It led to a discussion about
Eurovision because, in fact, she had no idea what it is and we had to explain
about it being a song contest. Somehow, this understandably led to the
involvement of politics – particularly interesting considering the reactions of
the Eurovision audiences to the entries from the Ukraine and Russia, given the
current, delicate circumstances. Our bus journey continued with a heavy
monologue from an eavesdropping Polish man, who offered his interesting views
on the corruptive politics of Poland. Quite an eventful ride, needless-to-say!
The European elections has become a topic of interest for
me, following a public debate I viewed via live streaming online from the UTU
Debating Club, of which I used to be a board member and regular attendant. I
personally don’t have much interest in politics, despite the fact that I
probably should, but I feel that the hypocrisy and preoccupied politics of
Northern Ireland can justify my stance. However, I must admit that the EU has
shaped my life for the better during the past 5 years and I have the strong
urge to contribute something now that I have a chance to.
Without the EU, I probably would never have lived for some
time in Finland, Lithuania, Hungary or Austria, where I’ve experienced some of
the best years of my life, particularly in Finland, which has left lasting
happy memories.
In the spirit of reminiscing over Finland, I used my
initiative to become involved in the most recent Restaurant Day, a concept that
originated in Finland only in 2011 but has become something of an international
sensation. It occurs quarterly throughout the year, when anyone and everyone
can set up their own pop-up restaurant anywhere for the day. So, all of us on
the Comenius project in Vienna pitched in to create a Comenius Café, based on
the idea that for one day only, people can come an experience afternoon tea,
British style instead of the Viennese way. Although it wasn’t quite as
successful as we would have hoped for, probably because the concept is still very new and unheard
of in Austria, it was fun all the same!
I relived some childhood memories by making fifteens and
snowballs – which turned out to be quite a challenge because sweetened
condensed milk, the vital ingredient in both of these recipes, doesn’t seem to
exist in Austria. I asked after searching in three supermarkets and the shop
assistant led me to all they had to offer, which was a glass bottle of plain
condensed milk, situated in the tea and coffee section. It looked like it would
do the job but I later realized it wasn’t sweet nor thick enough to hold my
traybakes together. Thank goodness a fellow Comenius friend, Steffi, came to
the rescue with an idea to thicken the milk after I had sweetened it with
butter and sugar. The recipes were salvaged and they turned out scrumptious in
the end!
After a very busy month, there are still many things coming
up in the next 3 weeks: the Austrian Women’s Run; a visit from Thomas, when we
will try to sort out an apartment to move in to from August; an overnight trip
with the 4th graders from my Comenius school; and a much anticipated
visit from my crazy cousin, Jenny. Bring it on!
