Sunday 7 August 2011
We found Camp Wien West early in the morning and negotiated a spot in the parking lot for a greatly reduced fee, since we didn't need electricity. During lunch at the camp cafe, we overheard two young guys speaking with an American accent, and when we approached them with a friendly, "What should we see in Vienna?" They said, "Oh, an American accent! We're so thirsty for English speakers." Mac and Seth (codenames Beth and Zach, covering all their sins) turned out to be really cool. We decided to explore Vienna together.
Also in the camp was a tall, thin, dark graffiti artist from Belgium going by the name aSquidCalledSebastian. We talked with him and photographer Jan about their fascinating mobile art project called 9000miles (find it on Facebook spelled this way). They were headed to Budapest for the famous eight-day Sziget Festival where they would be integrating their project on their transEuropean art journey, a group of nine artists in a van covering all media.
First stop, per Mac's hunger pangs, was a kebab stand right outside the metro station. We all had to get one, and we enjoyed them in front of the Vienna Opera House. Following the boys' motto of "If there's a door open, go through it," we stumbled upon Austria's national library and many other cool, lesser known sites. We saw an Asian street magician balance three eggs on his nose, then throw five small tennis rackets suddenly into the air and juggle them all flawlessly. The strains of Jerry Lee Lewis brought us to the next performer down the street who used his piano-playing marionette to captivate the crowd. His movements for the Killer and Ray Charles were uncanny.
We went on to St. Stephen's church, but not before stopping at Starbucks (Is it fair to say that Seattle makes the best coffee? - Dian). Dian sipped her joe while the others explored inside, and where Nicole discovered a Tuvan-style throat singer in a meditation room, which the rest listened to for a long time. She also picked up a daily hymn book given out for some extra sight reading material.
A light rain and heavy wind helped us make the decision to head home. We had decided to go to Budapest sooner rather than later because of the news of the music fest, and the opportunity to offer the guys a lift. Turns out they had already bought train tickets, but they liked the idea too,and split up with us on the way home to try to get a refund.
We picked up a meal of Chinese food and more kebabs (we were a little addicted), and arrived back at the campsite where we worked on this here blog for a bit. Good news - they got the refund. Look out Budapest!
We found Camp Wien West early in the morning and negotiated a spot in the parking lot for a greatly reduced fee, since we didn't need electricity. During lunch at the camp cafe, we overheard two young guys speaking with an American accent, and when we approached them with a friendly, "What should we see in Vienna?" They said, "Oh, an American accent! We're so thirsty for English speakers." Mac and Seth (codenames Beth and Zach, covering all their sins) turned out to be really cool. We decided to explore Vienna together.
Also in the camp was a tall, thin, dark graffiti artist from Belgium going by the name aSquidCalledSebastian. We talked with him and photographer Jan about their fascinating mobile art project called 9000miles (find it on Facebook spelled this way). They were headed to Budapest for the famous eight-day Sziget Festival where they would be integrating their project on their transEuropean art journey, a group of nine artists in a van covering all media.
First stop, per Mac's hunger pangs, was a kebab stand right outside the metro station. We all had to get one, and we enjoyed them in front of the Vienna Opera House. Following the boys' motto of "If there's a door open, go through it," we stumbled upon Austria's national library and many other cool, lesser known sites. We saw an Asian street magician balance three eggs on his nose, then throw five small tennis rackets suddenly into the air and juggle them all flawlessly. The strains of Jerry Lee Lewis brought us to the next performer down the street who used his piano-playing marionette to captivate the crowd. His movements for the Killer and Ray Charles were uncanny.
We went on to St. Stephen's church, but not before stopping at Starbucks (Is it fair to say that Seattle makes the best coffee? - Dian). Dian sipped her joe while the others explored inside, and where Nicole discovered a Tuvan-style throat singer in a meditation room, which the rest listened to for a long time. She also picked up a daily hymn book given out for some extra sight reading material.A light rain and heavy wind helped us make the decision to head home. We had decided to go to Budapest sooner rather than later because of the news of the music fest, and the opportunity to offer the guys a lift. Turns out they had already bought train tickets, but they liked the idea too,and split up with us on the way home to try to get a refund.
We picked up a meal of Chinese food and more kebabs (we were a little addicted), and arrived back at the campsite where we worked on this here blog for a bit. Good news - they got the refund. Look out Budapest!
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