First day in Austria and I could tell so many differences between the previous two countries. Michael and Emilio had checked out, so left only Alessandro and I in our dorm. He asked If I wanted to join him in touring the Vienna today so I quickly got dressed and headed out the door.
We made it about a block down the street and I think my teeth chattering gave it away. The weather in Croatia and Hungary was in the 90's, today it was overcast and in the high 60's so I shivered in my shorts. Alessandro suggested we turn around and I change into some warmer clothes.
Now much warmer, we crossed the bridge and headed into the city. The roads were much wider in Vienna, the buildings much classier and formal. Alessandro was fascinated with architecture and I was just beginning to understand all the different types of architecture in Europe. I would say at this point the architecture in Vienna was my favorite. The stones buildings were brighter, more formal, tall pillars held the buildings elegant structures.
As we walked, the sky grew dark and we headed into a cafe just before the rain came down. Alessandro and I ordered cappuccinos and croissants. I've never met someone so interested in our culture. Alessandro asked so many questions about Americans. He was such a curious person eager to learn about our culture, education and the way we operate. It turned out that he was from Italy but then at twenty eight he was tired of living in his home town. He never had traveled much or lived in any city other than the town he grew up in. A friend of his had a job in Ecuador so told him if he wanted to move, now was his chance. He took a leap of faith and moved to Ecuador. It was the best decision he had ever made. Since then he has moved around quite a bit and was even living in San Diego studying English this past fall. He lived right in Pacific Beach where I currently live. It was such a small world. We talked about his favorite spots in San Diego and he was so excited to have someone to relate to his favorite city.
Throughout breakfast he apologized for his poor English, or told me I had to slow down when I spoke. He said I spoke very fast. I thought his English was excellent, I found most Europeans would say that they don't speak good English but were forming sentences quite well. They're just hard on themselves. All I can say in my second language is Como te llamas.
After the rain stopped, we walked around the city and took pictures of all the beautiful elegant buildings. He taught me tricks on my iPhone to capture the building from a different angle. We reached a park and heard a live violinist. We followed the music until we reached a bridge where underneath a quartet was filming a music video. We propped ourselves on the edge of the balcony overlooking the video shoot. Beneath us we watched as they played. Vienna was a romantic city, it reminded me of Paris in a way. Alessandro pointed to the lock on the iron balcony and noted how romantic it was. "A lock? Romantic?" I asked. He asked if I had not heard of love padlocks in Paris. I shook my head no and he explained that when you're in love you engrave a padlock with your names and lock it on the Pont Des Arts bridge in Paris. After your lock your love to the bridge, you have "locked your love" to this person forever. You then throw the key in the body of water below. Love Locks became so popular that its done in many countries all over the world now. He pulled up images on his phone and showed me the pictures. I looked back at the one padlock on the bridge and read the couples name with a heart engraved. This was new to me but found it very romantic. I wondered if I would notice them more now next time I walked over a random bridge.
We carried on through the city and took pictures of all the famous monuments in Vienna. After we toured the St. Stephan's Cathedral, we headed to grab a bite to eat. We found a restaurant tucked away between beautiful back alleys in the city. We both ordered unique Austrian dishes. Over lunch I asked Alessandro who his most favorite person he met on his Europe trip before arriving to Vienna. He said, the first few hostels he stayed at the people were not very friendly. He said I was the first person to want to explore. I thought back to every person I had met so far on my trip. Pero, Mia, the Canadians, the Dinks, The Scottish boys and Sebastian, the Amelia's- the list went on. I didn't realize just how lucky I was to connect with all of these people. Here he had been traveling with the same mindset and didn't have the same experience. I was hoping today would be a day for him to remember and was determined to have some fun. We discussed what we would do for the remainder of the day. I proposed we take the metro to the Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens. Enthused with the plan, he was in.
As we sat on the metro, each stop a hideous portrait of an emperor stared back at us. It was an advertisement for the Kunst Historishes Museum. I turned to Alessandro and asked who he would rather be in a scenario. I pointed to the poster we had already commented at each stop. I asked if he got to go back in time, but got to keep his own mind would he rather be trapped in that goofy man's body but was the ruler and Emperor of all of Austria or get to stay in his own body but have to wait on the Emperor hand and foot. Alessandro laughed and asked if it was just temporary or forever. I told him it would be forever. He declined Emperor and wished to stay in his body. I reminded him that if he stayed in his own body he would be starving and barely able to get through life. "Why does it have to be so extreme," he laughed. "Why cant I just be in my own body and be emperor??" I responded with, "Well than it wouldn't be a scenario, now would it? You must choose!" He decided on his own body. We cracked up over this on the metro as the Emperor continued to stare at us with his goofy expression.
We reached the palace and signed up for the Grand Tour of forty rooms in the palace. I grabbed the English Audio tour and Alessandro picked up the Italian tour. We had come later in the day, so were one of the last people to walk through. Room by room, we were the only people in sight. This was really fun because we got to take our time and walk through without crowds in blocking our view. We reached a room and the audio voice announced, "To the right rest a portrait of Marie Antoinette, daughter of Empress Maria Theresa. "I hit pause and nudged Alessandro. He paused his recording as well. "I didn't know Marie Antoinette was Austrian!" He shook his head and replied, "I did not know either, I thought she was the Queen of France?" I explained to Alessandro that I had toured the place of Versailles years ago and had been fascinated by Marie Antoinette. Alessandro raised his hand to me to wait and googled it on his phone, "we will find out!" His Internet was slow but we were bound and determined to confirm. After all how many Marie Antoinette's could there be? With no internet connectivity, we carried on with the tour. Alessandro hit the recording to continue before me and threw his hands in the air with laughter. Confused, Alessandro motioned for me to hit play. The voice recording continued, "Later, Marie Antoinette was wed to Luis XVI and became to Queen of France." We couldn't contain our laughter and giggled at ourselves that we had wasted all that time trying to find something that was literally the next sentence on our tour.
It was a moment like that where I was glad I did this trip. A week ago, I didn't know this Italian but here I was laughing my head off and relating to someone from a different country and a completely different world than me. Touring the city with Alessandro was really fun and even though we had a few language barriers, he was extremely patient and would say,"No, I want to understand what you say. Try again, I will figure it out." And he always did. The last ones to return our recorders in the box, the museum was now closed and we made our way back to the metro.
I was beat. We had just toured all of Vienna in on day. I climbed up to my bunk and went to bed happy. I continue to meet such fascinating people who leave an impression on me. I don't know how I got so lucky to have such a great trip but was hoping every person I met felt the same way.