October 28th, 2008
Wet and the colds
After breakfast at the hostel I decided to walk into the Ringstraße, the inner ring at the city’s center. It’s a little over a mile from Westbahnoff down Mariahilfer Straße through a chain store part of town that reminds me of affluent downtown in San Francisco: molded fascades, boutiques and record stores, and a moderate degree of construction. At the end of Mariahilfer Straße the scenery changed immediately at Museumsquartier. Now I’m sitting directly in front of Hofburg Palace on a bench in the chilling cold and cursing myself for having left my wine opener and knife in my bathroom kit at the hostel. I should have brought my winter jacket and muffler, or at the very least worn my lohn johns (left to air out in my locker). It’s only eleven, but I’m thinking some wine would be very good right now. Perhaps a Riesling.
I’m still searching for an artist that suits Vienna. I started out listening to Simon and Garfunkel and have now settled on Björk. Unfortunately each of them already has deep emotional significance so this is awkward and inappropriate. I do enjoy the solace, though. All of the few people around seem to be tourists, mostly families.
HIS AEDIBVS ADHAERET CONCORS POPVLORVM AMOR
