New Year's in Vienna

industrial Vienna in the morning
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I arrived at Wien Westbahnhof at 6:40 am on Tuesday, 30 December 2008. From there I took the U-Bahn (subway) to the Eurolines bus station to meet my friend Hi, who was arriving from Dunkirk via Paris. Then we were met by our friend Mo, baring baked goods for breakfast, who took us back to her apartment. To prepare for New Year's Eve and Day we went food shopping, something I like to do in different countries anyway. In the late afternoon, we walked around Vienna a bit and that evening, we played a rousing Game of Life in German. Though Hi doesn't speak it, she read her cards aloud in German and guessed what they might have meant. I have to give her a lot of credit, because, while she didn't understand what she was reading, Mo and I often did!

classy Vienna in the evening
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On Wednesday, New Year's Eve, we slept in. Hi, Mo, her fiancé Au and I had all just arrived in Vienna via night transportation and hadn't gotten much sleep. While poor Au had to work, Mo, Hi and I leisurely made breakfast and compared notes on our teaching assistantship experiences in Austria, France and Germany, respectively. In the late afternoon we ran a few errands in town. I bought train tickets for the rest of my Austrian destinations. The ÖBB (Austrian railways) lady that sold me my tickets was very helpful and even helped me get an unexpected discount. Later, we went to an exotic grocery store to look for some unconventional ingredients for Au's planned New Year's Day dinner (he's a great chef).

partying Vienna in the wee hours
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After freshening up back at Mo's, we went to Jo and Cl's, where we were invited to a raclette dinner. Both were very nice, and it ended up being a fun time. Hi and Mo poured lead for the first time, a German/Austrian/Scandinavian(/other?) New Year's tradition, in which you melt lead on a spoon and pour it into cold water. The shape that the lead takes upon cooling is supposed to reveal your fortune in the coming year.

As midnight approached, we all got ready to go downtown. Mo, Hi and I went to Au's restaurant to wish him a Happy New Year and then we followed the crowds to live music and general revelry. Along the way we befriended an Italian couple, so I got to practice a little Italian. At some point I remember being in a conga line.

Hofburg (palace) in the afternoon
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Mo broke off from the group to go get Au from work, so Hi and I stuck with Jo and Cl. We stopped for a snack, and I ordered falafel. Then Jo and Cl brought us to an Irish pub, where met up again with Mo and Au. We hung out there quite a while and then caught a very late/very early tram back to Mo's. Au hadn't had all that much to drink, because he had had to work, so he was up earliest of all of us. He got started right away preparing New Year's Day dinner.

I didn't feel especially miserable when I woke up, but I definitely felt the previous night in my head and limbs. Hi and Mo were worse off... In the evening I caught parts of Casino Royale, which Mo and Hi were watching, and helped Au a little in the kitchen. Jo and Cl came over and we all devoured Au's delicious, gourmet creations.

After dinner, we sat down to watch Mama Mia, which Cl had brought from home. I didn't realize how many big names were in it, and they actually didn't muck it up too horribly. After the musical portion of the evening, Jo and Cl left for home, but Mo, Au, Hi and I sat down for another Spiel des Lebens (Game of Life).

Friday was another relaxing morning, but we had a lot planned that day. First on our list was the the Schatzkammer (Treasure Chamber) of the Austrian Habsburgs. This exhibition consisted of many chambers filled with imperial regalia, religious artifacts and other treasures, all incredibly beautiful, however repetitive. After that Mo, Hi and I met up with Au and went to an exhibition of old musical instruments, fascinating whether you play one or not. The exhibition is very large, and you definitely need to set aside time if you want to see everything. Especially neat are the instruments you can test out yourself.

In the evening, Au had to go back to work, but the rest of us walked down Vienna's main shopping street, Mariahilferstraße. After that we met up with Jo and Cl for dinner at Vapiano, a neat Italian place, where you choose the ingredients, and the chefs prepare them in front of you: nice and not exorbitantly priced.

After dinner, Mo, Hi and I decided to go back to Mo's place for some refreshment. Hi mixed us drinks and then we had a fun conversation about poop and various other scatological themes. We played some hangman and watched youtube videos: much more fun than it might sound. When Au came home from work, Hi taught us euchre. When Mo and Au went to bed, Hi and I decided we still had enough energy for a few rounds of Egyptian Ratscrew, then we too went to bed.

Saturday morning, Mo got me on my way to Vienna's less accessible Südbahnhof, where I hopped on the 7:56 am train to Ljubljana, Slovenia.