Willkommen, Willkommen, Willkommen Sonnenschein!

As spring changes (ever so slowly and hesitatingly) into summer, I've immersed myself even more deeply into the life of this city. Here's a look at what I've been up to:

Österreichischer Frauenlauf (May 26, 2013)

The Past is Never Dead

Last night was Lange Nacht der Museen, when all of the museums in Austria stay open until 1am and are free to enter with the purchase of a 13-Euro ticket (11-Euro if you're a student like me). It's a Pflichttermin, as the Austrians say, an event you absolutely must attend. Even if, like the friends I went with, you're not really a Museumsmensch and this is your one Kulturabend of the year.

My favorite collection was at Oberes Belvedere. There was quite a bit of Austrian art from the turn of the twentieth century (including many works by Gustav Klimt, pretty much the only Austrian artist of wide international acclaim, and also the favorite artist of my friend Tatenda from last summer, who invited me to accompany her and some friends on their Lange Nacht adventure.)

Der Stephansdom

The Charmed Life

This year, the stars aligned perfectly for a European vacation with my friends from Harvard. Marion had a polo match against Oxford (the men’s team – yes, she is that legit!) over the weekend, and then planned to spend a week at her home in France before heading back to Boston for a physics internship, while Mariam was expecting to spend a week in London with her best friend from Georgia (the country) who just completed a journalism program there. Because I would be in Austria for the summer anyway, it just made sense for me to join them. And when Eunice heard that a trip to London and Paris was being planned, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. So, before fulfilling January’s promise to myself and returning to the country of my dreams, I spent the weekend in London with my friends.

Lange Nacht der Museen

As sad as I was to leave Schwäbisch Hall and all of the friends I had made there, I was ready to live in a city again. Even amidst the stress of dragging multiple oversized suitcases through half of Vienna, when I first stepped onto the streets last Thursday, tasted the cold city air, and tried to avoid getting trampled by the rush of people streaming out of the U-Bahn station, I knew I had made the right decision. I like to tell myself that I could live anywhere the revolution takes me, but I’m a city girl at heart.