My Weekend in WIen: 5/30-6/1

*Warning: this post is going to be loooong and detailed and possibly boring, but I want to document every detail!*

Anna and I planned to catch a train at 7:31 at a train station that was only 9 minutes away. We left at 7:00, assuming we had plenty of time. Continuing with the theme of this trip and my life in general, we got lost. We ran into the train station at 7:30, shoved our way past people to get to the platform, and saw the train. Relieved, we strolled up to the train doors, pressed the button to open the doors, and all of a sudden it zoomed away. Well shit. Luckily, the train stations here have an information box where you can press a button, talk to an attendant, and they can help you figure out which train to take and which platform to go to.

After our snafu in the morning, everything else seemed to go relatively smoothly. We still got to the airport with plenty of time, grabbed breakfast, and flew to Vienna. I’ve never been before, but Vienna is one of my Dad’s favorite cities. I also had a friend growing up who was half Viennese, so I’ve always had an urge to visit. Anna is one of my best friends from school, and she’s lived in Europe for nearly her entire life. He dad is Austrian and her mom is American, so she has a really cool world view and has been exposed to a lot of different lifestyles. Having her as a tour guide in Vienna was something I was super excited about. I’ve also never been to a residential neighborhood in a European city because my family and I would typically stay downtown. I’ve always wondered what houses and yards and neighborhoods actually look like in Europe.

Anna’s house is absolutely beautiful, and her neighborhood is really cool. In Vienna, trams run throughout the city and into the ‘suburbs’ so transportation into the city is really easy to come by. The tramline was the main thing that was different in her neighborhood than in mine. We showered off our morning and made our way into the city center via metro. When we arrived, there was a huge parade going on. An Austrian marching band was playing in the main square, called Stephansplatz in front of Vienna’s famous cathedral Stephansdom. Tons of stands were set up selling wine and food and other goods and it reminded me of the Christmas markets I’ve seen in Berlin and New York, except it was springtime. Anna was excited because she totally forgot that Kirt Fest was that day. Kirt Fest is basically the same as the Christmas markets, just celebrating spring instead of winter. She told me everything we were seeing was very ‘Austrian’. We got some wine and then made some of the marching band boys take a picture with me.

We explored the cathedral, which was beautiful. My two favorite things to see in other countries are churches and dungeons so I was thrilled as we strolled through some other churches as well. I may be the most unreligious person you’ll ever come across, but there is something so fascinating, creepy, and beautiful about churches. Later, she took me to the national library, a rose garden, and the stunning Hofburg Palace. The weather was perfect and the city was gorgeous. We stopped by a famous Austrian dessert boutique, Demel, and tried to get the waitresses to pay attention to us. We look like children so we get ignored half the time. We finally sampled some cakes and hot chocolates and continued to shop and wander around Wien.

That night, we went out with some of Anna’s new Austrian friends that she literally met the weekend before. We played some really fun drinking games that I plan to introduce in the USA and we hit some bars that Anna frequented in high school. We made it back early according to European standards and were in bed by 2:30.

Anna’s brothers and their friend made us a feast for breakfast after we were somehow roped into picking up flowers for their prom. We got all of our stuff together for Life Ball and Anna’s mom drove us to the salon for hair and makeup. In Vienna, balls are huge social events. Ball season is in the winter, and there are countless balls that all sorts of people go to, but every spring only one big ball is held, and that’s the Life Ball. As an American, I didn’t really grasp the concept of what a ball actually was. Anna has constantly tried to explain them to me, but we don’t really have anything comparable in the US. Life Ball actually seems most similar to the Met Gala – every year there is a different theme and people dress up to such an extent that you would call the outfits’ costumes. This year, the theme was Garten der Luste, or Garden of Earthly Delights. Everyone is supposed to dress up in some sort of garb that fits the theme. People go all out for this – celebrities make appearances, hair and make up is supposed to be insane, and a lot of people forgo clothes all together, opting for body paint or flowers to cover themselves. Life Ball is a huge fundraiser for HIV/AIDS research; it’s a hugely important event for the LGBT community and it’s a chance we everyone to celebrate freedom and equality while raising money to fight a disease that targets inequality.

I can’t even begin to put the Life Ball into words – there was a four hour opening in which we saw opera singers, dancers, Christina Perri, Ricky Martin, Marcia Cross, Bill Clinton, and a Vogue fashion show. I was in awe – and in pain. My feet were about to give out and leave me in a heap on the floor. I kept standing on one foot to give the other a break. But in all seriousness, the costumes, the music, the performances, the artistry, City Hall – it was all gorgeous and breathtaking. At 11, the guests are ushered into City Hall. Those with VIP tickets go to a grand ballroom and are served a plated meal, and all other guests are allowed to roam to a from the bazillions of rooms set up with DJs. We danced and wandered until 2 am and then headed out to a club. Anna and her friend Val took me to one of their favorite clubs and we ran into her brothers there, celebrating after prom. Needless to say, their after prom was worlds away from the one I experienced in a janky Ocean City hotel with communal bathrooms and rats.

We stayed at the club until 5:30 and when we left it was literally daylight. I was in shock. My American body is typically home by 2 or 3. We slept until noon the next day and Anna’s parents took us to a traditional Viennese restaurant where we sipped mimosas and ate boiled beef and bone marrow – and it was really good! As we sat in the airport waiting to go back to Amsterdam I remember thinking that this weekend was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I will likely never have again. Who on earth ever thinks they’re going to get invited to a ball in Austria over the summer? I was lucky enough not only to have the opportunity to go to the ball but to experience Vienna from a local’s perspective, and I’ll never forget it!