Back in BP

We came back from Vienna early yesterday evening. It was a really short trip, the train went a lost faster on the way back. I watched two episodes of John Adams. In the 6 person section where my mother and I had situated ourselves on the train, no one else had come. The train started moving and we were relieved that it was highly probably that would we left alone in the cabin. An American-Hungarian business woman was almost out of breath and she plumped herself in our cabin. That was no big deal because there was still more than enough room to be comfortable. Then, about a minute later, much to everyone in our cabin's dismay, a 5'3'' beer-bellied meaty heavy set man of ample proportions decided to park himself next to me. Why not in the other empty seats bro? He was drunk and smelled as if he had smoked eight packs of cigarettes prior to setting foot on the train. Smelling him was like second hand smoke pretty much. I was pretty fucked up just from a whiff. Well enough of my bitching, everything went smoothly pretty much.

(Photo from flickr)

Karlskirche
In 1713, the Black Plague swept Vienna, and Emperor Charles VI made a vow: if the plague abated, he would build a church dedicated to his namesake, St. Charles Borromeo. St. Charles was a 16th-century Italian bishop famous for ministering to Milanese plague victims. The emperor's prayer was answered, and construction on the church began in 1715.
The Karlskirche is a church situated on the south side of Karlsplatz, Vienna. It is one of the most outstanding baroque church structures north of the Alps and boasts a dome in the form of an elongated ellipsoid. It is amazing on the inside. We got to go up on this contraption, into the dome and it was quite frightening let me tell you. We got a nice view of the city though, and of the iconography painted on the inside of the dome.
There are photos from inside the dome. As I just mentioned, we had the opportunity to go up inside. It is 45 meters tall from the ground to the top of the dome. I am terrified of heights but couldn't pass up an occasion like this.

The iconographical program of the church originated from the imperial official Carl Heraeus and connects St. Charles Borromeo with his imperial benefactor. The relief on the pediment above the entrance with the cardinal virtues and the figure of the patron on its apex point to the motivation of the donation. This sculpture group continues onto the attic story as well. The attic is also one of the elements which the younger Fischer introduced. The columns display scenes from the life of Charles Borromeo in a spinal relief, however they also recall the Pillars of Hercules and act as symbols of imperial power. The entrance is flanked by angles from the Old and New Testaments.This program continues in the interior as well, above all in the dome fresco by Johann Michael Rottmyr of Salzburg and Gaetano Fanti which displays an intercession of Charles Borromeo, supported by the Virgin Mart. Surrounding this scene are the cardinal virtues.


The baroque is evident in the ornate bold decor best exemplified by the heavy application of gold on the columns such as the ones in this photo. Yay! Aren't you glad you read this, look at all the stuff you have just learned!

I saw some friends late last night. I also tried this Zwack Unicum concoction. I had heard so many things about it, good and bad, that I decided it was time to form my own opinion. The liqueur is today produced by Zwack according to a secret formula including more than 40 herbs and aged in oak casks. The flavor of Unicum closely resembles that of Jägermeister, but it is considerably earthier and less sweet with a very bitter aftertaste. Unicum is regarded as the national drink of Hungary.

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Today I am supposed to visit family but I really don't want to go. My grandmother's cousin's family...an 89 year old lady, a 73 year old lady and her 74 year old husband. Normally it would be totally fine because my sister would be here too but...now...its just my mother, grandmother and I. Tomorrow I think we are going to our lake house for two or three days and I am really excited. I haven't been in so long and going always brings back good memories. One of my friends has a lake house about 8 minutes away, so last night we agreed that we would hang out. This is a photo of some Hungarian amigos:

Brokeback: anything of questionable masculinity. -UD

So, the day has come when I begin the storytelling. Since I don't really recall what we did on which day, I will slowly but surely explain all of the things we did, and hopefully include pictures to better explain everything. I will have a separate section on dining and foods for two reasons: I have gained a few kilos which demonstrates the importance of fine dining in Europe and because...we all love food damnit.

So here we go:
These pictures are at Kärtner Ring/surrounding areas. It is a famous site/street in Vienna. There are a bunch of stores, and the buildings on the street rich in history. There are also several restaurants and pastry shops that sell Mozart chocolate and Sacher tortes. Yumm. There is also the Ringstraße which is a circular road surrounding Vienna. The Ringstraße and the planned buildings were intended to be a showcase for imperial grandeur and the glory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These streets are all majestic with the architecture and history of the buildings dating back to several centuries. The first records of the street date back to the late 1200s so you can imagine...All of these areas connect and looking at the pictures, it is hard to discern one street from the other since they are all so close and similar in appearance.
And Starbucks puts another city over the edge and onto the dark side. Yepp, there were several Starbucks locations in Vienna. We went there once and only once. 1. The service sucks and I should have complained but decided to let it go and 2. after paying 7 Euros for our two drinks we decided local coffee was the way to go. A good call for sure... the value of the USD sucks right now. It was pretty bad in terms of exchanging money...and buying Euros.

Historical/Religious things on the wall of Stephanskirche.

The Stephansplatz is a square at the geographical centre of Vienna. It is named after its most prominent building, the Stephanskirche, Vienna's cathedral and one of the tallest churches in the world which are in the pictures above. The pictures below are of the general area of Stephansplatz.


I found this building particularly interesting. Overall the building seems rather modern, and then there is this winged-looking creature on a corner. I never really found out what it was...And finally, this is a photo of a school. Aren't those students just lucky. I wish my school had magnificent and glorious statues at the entrance, above not even just doors, but gates. GATES. I bet they don't even think about these kinds of things. To them its probably just 4 stupid dudes staring down at you telling you to do your homework, and stay drug-free.

The weather has been really nice. Perfect almost. Vienna is clean and it is beautiful needless to say. Similar to Budapest except there is a lot less graffiti, and dust and what not. In a nutshell, it is CLEAN. People are generally nice too.

I started watching John Adams and I already love it. I also started listening to more Royksopp and its good musack.

Wien...

Traveling has been great. I will find time/energy to post a few pictures and explain briefly what we have been up to in Vienna tomorrow. Brace yourself, there will be lots of information, and possibly even history lessons.

Viennna

It is 5:17 a.m. We are going to Vienna today, and I have to pack up my computer. E-mails will subside until I return. :)

I'm Still Staring At A Clear White Page

I just got my 3 day pass for ACL. It was kind of an impulsive purchase, but Robert Plant is playing. I have to go, right? Some other cool bands are going too. Who am I going to go with? Did anyone get a 3 day pass? You can see what bands are playing here.

Just got back from walking around with my mom and grandmother. It was uneventful but I did get some really good ice cream eating in, as well as a pogácsa. What is a pogácsa? In the picture, duh. It's like a little puff of dough, and you can have various flavors. The one I had today was tepertös flavored. I can't describe it but its like some type of smoked meat. It probably sounds disgusting. It's not. It is good.

Yours Is The First Face That I Saw

Wow. What a day. Woke up. Ate breakfast. Blogged. Read...all of a sudden it was 3 p.m. I decided to go running around Margitsziget again, although I didn't have much motivation. I just knew I needed to go again. It was time. I invited mom and we went. Since I ran (jogged really, I am too slow to be classified as a runner...maybe a jogger, at best) and mom walked, I finished sooner, so I ran back to where she was, and walked back with her. Hope that makes sense.

We sat and talked about moving back to BP. I could never do it. I never felt like I fit in. Life here just seems so...unsatisfying. Everyone works to live it seems like. Except for the rich. They don't have to work. Oh, and the politicians who just steal all the money from the people.

As I was running, I saw many interesting things. First, I saw this man searching the ground for cigarette butts that possibly had enough tobacco that they were worth the risk to even possible waste fuel in the lighter. Sad. Margitsziget also has a zoo which I think is really cool to see when one is running/exercising. Also the track is really narrow. I had just finished blowing my nose and this man with a dog was really close apparently. I had my headphones on and couldn't hear shit. I accidentally hit him as I stretched and he turned back around and gave me the dirtiest look anyone has given me in like a week or two. I'm just thinking to myself...dude walk the fuck around me. You're the one with a dog, get over yourself, you can see me from behind bro, quit making faces and walk on the cement for 10 seconds. Geeez. I know I said the weather was nice earlier, but, to make things easy, it was the perfect day to lay on the grass and listen to the Bright Eyes song called "First Day Of My Life." Not the biggest Bright Eyes fan but I like that song.

I met up with some friends today. We were all supposed to meet at 8 p.m. I was going to be like ten minutes early which never happens. So, get this. I get off the tram a stop early, wait for two trams to pass by, and get back on the tram again, to make me ten minutes late. Balla!! About ten people from my 5th grade class were there. They were all together in the same school until 8th grade, and then all dispersed to different schools, kind of like us but after high school. It was crazy. And it was also awkward until they each drank 2 beers and smoked just about a pack of cigarettes. Each. I waited to take the tram back, but realized it wasn't coming because the last one leaves at 11 p.m. and it was already midnight. So, I took the bus back home, which was similar to any e-bus you will take on any given Thursday night from downtown (It's a UT thing..). Drunk people. Everywhere. This one disgusting man was standing in front of me and started sayin stuff about a cute brunette chick sitting in front of him because I had smiled at him earlier. I wanted to hit him so bad, or at least cut him or something. With my attack knife. You know what I'm talking aboot.

The weirdest part of my entire day was where we actually went. When we all met up, we convened at a place close to our old school. When I asked the friend who organized the entire thing where we were going, he said "our school, duh." So, I shrugged thinking he was joking. Well, we went to our old school indeed. It has been turned into a pub. A PUB! What the hell! So, after everyone had a couple drinks, we all went up to our old classrooms. It was phantasmagorical. Later on, some of the literally went up there to get high (and smoked a joint they had actually rolled out in the open at the pub). They went in the teacher's lounge to be specific. I went in there to check it out before all the activities and the sign still remains that reads: "STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN HERE. IF CAUGHT, YOU WILL GET DEMERITS." Ha. Not anymore, suckas!

Shoess..

So, I am going running soon, but I wanted to post this beforehand. I saw this the other day when walking around on a random street. It is a sign for a store that sells shoes for women with small feet. Word for word it translates as "small footed woman's shoe store." I thought it was cute, and hope that you appreciate it too. The weather is pleasant outside today. Perfect for running and aimlessly walking around. As usual my mom is dressed in all black clothes to go work out with white socks. Go figure. I hope you did well at your interviews and that you get your jobs Colleen and Cody!

MMMmmmm. This is called a Mignon. They are so delicious. My mom and I were discussing today that we really miss not having delicatessens. It is nice to just sit down outside at a cafe and eat a small pastry as people walk by. We ate at this place called Szamos Marcipán. We have been going there for a while now. This is what it looks like. It is quite small in size but there is a large variety.

Oh my. It is already May 22nd. Time flies yo. Today was only productive to the extent that it was a day where a lot of "money out of the bank" transactions occured. Ok. I mean to say I spent $ today and it was pretty much all conspicuous consumption. Yes. That is my favorite word(s). Ok, favorite two words combined where the first letter of both words is a "c." Rambling much? This here is a picture of a standard transportation ticket. I took some pretty nice pictures today, weather was not cloudy.

Yes. These three pictures above are of the Parliament. It is the largest building in Hungary and the second largest Parliament in Europe. Wow. That is large. It is only a few short of having 700 rooms, and over 200 offices. Some parts are accessible to the public. As you can tell, it is built in the Gothic Revival style. The building is symmetrical. Ever since I can remember there has always been construction on the Parliament. Apparently this is because 1. It is so large and 2. the limestone it is made out of easily deteriorates. My grandmother said that they have started coating the entire building with a solution that is supposed to protect and preserve the limestone for a longer period of time. Whatever. This is a day time picture of the Chain Bridge. It is the oldest bridge to cross the Danube in Budapest, and was opened in the late 1840s. Below are photos by night.
The photos below are at Vörösmarty tér (square). This white majestic building above is called Gerbaud Ház (House). It is a famous café where one can buy ice cream, and various other little pastries and creations.

This is the Vígado. Usually, there are concerts here as well as plays, and other events of cultural importance. This building is called the Dunakorzó. The bottom level is a restaurant and the rest of the floors are condos.

This is a pretty distant photo of the Buda Castle, or the Royal Palace as it used to be called. It is pretty much visible from almost any part of Budapest provided that you can see the Danube. It looks really pretty when it is lit up at night.

Picture from Wikipedia since I don't have the skills to take this picture, especially not from that angle. The communists used to conside the Castle a symbol of the old regime, thus, once they seized power, the communists destroyed many parts of the castle including the ornate interior and some exterior parts. The dome was also destroyed.