Austria 24/08/2011

Highlights

Swimming in the old Danube, sitting on stone stairs having dinner next to the Danube feeling like we are the only people that know this location, an evening in the city of simply discovering, enjoying the shade after a hot day of walking, walking for a full day in Vienna and not looking at the map once, Alex’s old apartment and dinner on Alex’s balcony.

Summer nights

Part 1

Sitting in traffic in Vienna I began to wonder whether I was going to make the time that I had agreed to meet my couchsurfing host, Alex.  We had agreed to meet at her place and I had instructions on how to get there, catch the metro line 3 to a certain stop, exit the underground via a particular exit, walk past a couple of restaurants and there is the front door, press 20 and you have arrived!  Fortunately the traffic broke and before long I was in the metro and on my way. Naturally I took the wrong exit and was a little turned around but after not too long I was pressing the magic number 20.

I knew that Alex lived in an old style building and I was excited to see what it was like and after entering the courtyard I was blown away.  As soon as we shut the door there was no sound from the city and we could have easily been in a small country town.  In front of me a full grown tree stretched to the sky above and the temperature in the courtyard was much more comfortable than the sweltering heat outside.  After walking up a few flights of stairs we were in Alex’s apartment and I suddenly felt at home, there was such a warmth to the apartment.  There was a large timber beam that ran through the apartment and also old, worn timber floors that were just gorgeous.  I am not sure what Alex thought as I could not seem to stop smiling.

After I took a shower and we had chatted for a while we decided to go out for a walk.  It had been a particularly hot day, around 36 degrees, so now it was a warm summer’s night; perfect to explore a new city.  Alex lives close to the centre so we set out with no particular plan but a general direction in mind.  We simply took whichever lane seemed interesting.  The shadows that are cast at night seem to have a life of their own, particularly with the old buildings.  Without realising it we had been walking through the city for 3 hours, just chatting and enjoying.

We decided to visit a local bar that Alex knew about.  As we approached, I am glad that she knew about it as I could have easily walked straight past without even realising that it was there.  As you enter, the bar is immediately to the left and the table and chairs were to the right.  The ceiling was fairly low and there was only room for about 15 people, giving the place a cosy feeling.  Because we were there late on a week night there were only 3 other people in the bar.  Two sat at a booth and were chatting to each other while smoking a cigarette, which cast a hazy glow through the bar as the lights were slightly dimmed.  The third person sat next to a window at the back of the bar and was deeply occupied by the book that he was reading.  Stairs in the rear led down to the toilets. 

We took a seat next to a window, which had a window box with some plants adding a nice touch of green.  The seats were timber, painted black and the sort that had obviously been sat in many times before as there was a certain amount of wobble to them.  The owner came out from behind the bar to take our order.  She was a woman in her 50s, dressed all in black.  Her hair was also black, ran down to the middle of her back, sat very flat and was cut in a square around her face.  The lines in her face suggested that she has had an interesting life.  After taking our orders she went back behind the bar and changed the record as it had just finished.  Her choice of records were extensive as they ran from the floor to the ceiling.  Scanning around the room I noticed music posters from the 1960s.  I am not sure how to explain what it felt like sitting in that bar taking a drink with Alex, except to say there was ‘old school’ atmosphere.  The whole scene is something that I may have expected to see in an old movie, yet there I was sitting there, living it.

Part 2

I had spent the day walking through the city with temperatures above 35 degrees so was glad to get home into the cool sanctuary of Alex’s apartment.  We discussed what we were going to do for the evening but I did not particularly feel like doing anything that required too much energy as I was catching the night train to Zurich.  We decided to simply have dinner on her balcony and headed down to the local markets to grab some ingredients.  After returning I took a quick shower and Alex started to prepare dinner.  After I was finished, and much refreshed, I helped with the preparations of the meal.  Alex’s kitchen is fairly small so we kept having to dodge each other, but that seemed to add to the fun of the preparation.  Once the dinner was ready we took the kitchen table out on the balcony, which was actually the balcony that led to her front door.  This meant that we were looking across her magnificent courtyard with that fabulous tree and by now the sun had retreated and we were left with the soft twilight.  The meal we shared was a fresh salad and on that warm summer night we sat there in silence for a long time just enjoying the moment, the only noise was the soft jazz music that was coming from Alex’s apartment and in that moment I felt a strong sense of belonging.

The following photos were taken in Vienna

Alex's Courtyard

Dinner on the balcony