Two days in Vienna make Prague feel like a dream that I just woke up from and can't quite remember the details of. And now that we've made it to Budapest, I better write down everything before I forget it.
We met Alex, an unstable, intransiet yet incredibly sophisticated 24-year-old Australian girl in our room. We also met Catherine, a 25-year-old girl who graduated Harvard, has traveled most continents, works as a strategy developer for Teach for America, and actually planned--in advance--to go to the opera every night she stayed in Vienna. She came with us to the Imperial Treasury today to look at the unbearable amount of wealth the emperor used to wear, physically, on his body, made out of every precious stone and material imaginable. In terms of tourist sites, Aurite and I also made it to the Kunts...er, Museum of Fine Art today and the Belvedere Palace yesterday. The architecture in Vienna is unbelievably gorgeous, well-planned and clearly intended for royalty. Not to mention the art inside those buildings, which is world renowned.
But the highlight was unquestionably the opera. Six hours of standing--two in line, four at our standing-room-only seats at the back of the opera house--were worth it. We saw Don Carlo, an Italian opera written by Giuseppe Verdi. It was brilliant. The storyline partially resembled a Shakespearean tragedy. The music was beautiful, really extraordinary and intensified each charscter's personality so that a soliloquy, for example, was more than just acting or introducing a scene or a conflict. These offered such personality, such emotion--I've never seen theater like this before in my life. I realize I'm so lucky to have been to the opera in Vienna, the city of music! And afterward, we enjoyed a glass of wine and a chocolate torte at Cafe Museum, a famous cafe for artists and intellectuals two blocks away from the Opera House. So there, I got my (seems to be newly acquired) desire for food culture in Vienna.
I would be remiss not to mention Memo, our new friend from the Naschmarkt who made us delicious falafel sandwiches (twice), especially with his curry hummus. The falafel itself could have been better, but he basically saved us A LOT of money in a city we thought would really bite our wallets.
Actually, so far Budapest is doing a pretty great job of biting my wallet. I got pretty ripped off in the train station and dinner was pricey, but at least we got some free beer and relaxation. I can already tell Budapest is my kind of place. Mostly because it was a pretty gloomy arrival to the train station, no hope for directions or English-speaking people. But I figured out how to read the map and find the names of the streets in different districts and change money (rffffffff) and we made it after awhile. I hope to give serious tourism a break here. So does Aurite. I think we deserve it.
Oh, but Budapest being my city. Here is why: It is complicated. It is hospitable. It is full of people dressed in some alternative style. It has a dirty subway. And everyone seems to love Budapest, drink outdoors while watching the Euro Cup. So far, so good.
I find myself starting to appreciate the company of friends more and more. I do wish I could bring certain people on this trip (my mom to Prague, dad to Vienna, Maddie to Budapest, Wajida everywhere) and have them appreciate these parts of the world and watch them experience life transformations like I am. But that's the point of keeping a journal (because I am keeping a handwritten journal, primarily, of course)--to remind myself that I need to let them know I'm thinking of them and that in my heart I really would love to be with them in this part of the world!
Now it seems like everything is going to work out. Time is passing quickly, but in a very different way than I'm used to. Today is June 27. In a week and a half, we will be, G-d willing, in the Julian Alps, in Bled, Slovenia. Before that, we will take a very complicated trip to Krakow on a very dubious bus route called Orange Ways. It is really a unique feeling to be able to Just Go Places. Because anybody can just go places, but to rid yourself of all restraint and realize that, yes, the world is indeed within your reach, especially if you have a computer and a book and YOU KNOW IT'S POSSIBLE. This feels really, really good. This must be what they mean by "tripping."
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