grooming

I just stuffed my face with sushi, which was the first time since coming to Europe. I felt that this was justified a) because I have a sushi addiction b) I have been eating a ton of genuine Austrian food c) it's healthy. It was a far cry from Sadako, but I am satisfied. I bet the owner of Sadako misses me and my wallet.
I separated myself from my group after dinner because I was desperately in need of some alone time. Generally after dinner we go back to our hostel, hang out on our beds for awhile, relax, and eat a lot of chocolate. After this comes 2+ hours of hairspray, makeup, screeching, and yelling at Maryia for opening the window to smoke. Last night after all of this we went out to some bar called Kaktus, which was interesting. Stephanie and I were up at the bar eating Twix bars and drinking Heineken and kept getting hit on by business men who were easily in their 50's. They were all drunk, wearing suits, and going on and on about how they were all CEOs and presidents of major Austrian corporations. True or not, we were totally grossed out. Julia was talking to some firefighter from Texas named Michael who was resisting the urge to run over and save us, I guess, but I think we handled ourselves fairly well. Unsmiling faces work wonders. And I think that they realized that I was focusing mainly on candy. Do not get between a woman and her chocolate.
We've also come up with a code when one of us needs to be pulled out of a sketchy situation. Saying anything about some imaginary guy named Greg is our red flag. I have no idea where that code came from, but we've actually used it. "Have you talked to GREG, BECCA?" translates into "Please grab my arm, insist that you need me to come with you somewhere, and we can run off into the abyss and never be found again."
Sometimes I wish punching a guy in the face could be socially acceptable, but, since it isn't, we have learned to adapt.
On the way to Kaktus we opted for 2 cabs, since we were also with 2 French guys, Julian and Cedric, and Michael the Firefighter. Along the way, the French guys started singing the American national anthem. Mind you, they were also completely sober. I was also speaking to the driver in both French AND German. It wasn't even intentional I just kept mixing sentences together. So the French guys could understand half of what I was ever saying, which led to even more confusion. And Michael was just sitting calmly in the back, not understanding anything.
They were also horrified that I didn't know the French national anthem.

Today we went to the Hundertwasserhaus, which is this really funky decorated apartment complex in the middle of nowhere, basically. But it was nice to go walk out in the fresh fall air and the building itself was really neat. Daniel, Stephanie's roommate in Freiburg, met up with her this morning and has been with us the whole day.
After that we spent a couple hours in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which is the elaborate, gigantic building that holds all the art the Hapsburgs collected. We spent the entire time in the Picture Galleries, which included Rennaisance and Baroque art by German, Dutsch, Flemish, Italian, Spanish, and French artists. There was also a special exhibit for Bellini, Giorgione, and Tizian which actually had captions in English about painting in Venice at the beginning of the 16th century. I was doing by best to remember what little I know about art, but I sure wish I could have had Molly with me. She's the one who's always telling me racy historical tid-bits about Italian painters.
And, man, I wish pale, healthy looking women were still in style. Sure, there were some messed up things going on during the Renaissance, but I'd much prefer their ideals of beauty.

Yesterday we took the Grand Tour through Schloss Schoenbrunn, which was amazing. This gigantic yellow palace with soaring ceilings and ornate everything. I kept going on an on about how I want to be a princess, but by the end of the tour, Maryia changed my mind.
"Why would you want to be a princess? They all get shot or stabbed with a file or married when they're 13 to crazy guys. "
Hmm...convincing argument.
But still. I want a palace and, like Maria Theresa, 1,500 people to cater to my every need.

Vienna feels more like my kind of city. Prague was wonderful, but it was just too...young. And I don't mean the population, I mean moreso how often the city has had to resituate itself and adjust to historical tumult. It's still settling in and getting over recent history, which is understandable, but I'd need more stability if I was looking to live there. It's also very suddenly become a major tourist destination. Obviously Vienna has been through it's share of uproar, but this city also seems to have a very clear idea of who it is and I feel that much of it has remained continuous for hundreds of years. I respect that, Vienna. Nice work.
It's also very regal and grand, which I also love. Everyone here is groomed, confident, and is constantly in motion. I guess I could kind of guess that I would feel this way coming in. When I first started flirting with the idea of studying abroad in a German speaking country, I wanted to come here. I mean, it also happens to be the classical music center of the universe. That is very, very appealing-.
But, no, Freiburg is good for now. Freiburg is perfect for a 20-year-old who still may be a bit intimidated by a gigantic city.

Ok we have to go figure out our sleeping situation for tomorrow night. There's no room left here, so we get to get up and relocate to the other hostel tomorrow at 10 AM. There are two Wombats hostels in Vienna, so that's convenient. What isn't convenient is packing and repacking.
I am going to go eat more chocolate.