Austria Trip - Navigating Vienna...Alone

The view from Mozart's Front Door

The night before had been spectacular, walking around and exploring Vienna. However, as I mentioned in my last post, we made it to the Stephansplatz just after the shops were closing. I incorrectly said 8:00pm, but it was actually 7:00pm. This morning, Taigen was going to go to breakfast with Todd & Stan. Later on in the day, I was going to do lunch with Grace and Sarah after Grace gave the Hudson kids some piano lessons. So basically, I had the morning free. After a busy and exhausting day, I could sleep in OR I could go exploring on my own. Sarah had written down some directions for me so that if I did go off alone, I could hopefully navigate my way back to their house at the designated hour (lunchtime).

Now, I grew up out on a small farm. To make a trip into town took some planning. When I got older, we moved "into town" but that was no booming metropolis. We now live in a very rural part of New England. So imagine, if you will, this country-bumpkin girl trying to tackle Vienna and it's public transportation, where everything is in German no less. To some, it might be intimidating, but to me, it was a whole morning, all to myself, of pure, unadulterated fun. It was an exciting challenge. I was thrilled. I chose to get out of bed early, get dressed, put on walking shoes this time and tackle Vienna.

Mozart's Address

I got to the tram stop just as one was leaving so I knew I had ten minutes to "people watch." I plugged in my earbuds and turned on my iTouch to a Morten Lauridsen CD that I had downloaded before our trip. (Never heard of Morten Lauridsen? He's new to me as well, but I "discovered" his choral works in June and have now come to consider him one of my favorite choral writers and arrangers of classical-in-nature choral works. Go ahead listen to this clip of his Lux Aeterna or of his piece entitled Sure On This Shining Night. It's amazing stuff. Okay...sorry! Enough of that rabbit trail. However, if you consider that I was listening to this and viewing some gorgeous architecture at the same time, you'll realize that they are a great combination. I now associate pieces of music to certain structures in Vienna and think of them every time I listen to his works nowadays.)

The 38 tram toward Schottentor arrived ten minutes later, I got on and punched my public transportation ticket for the day. I was successfully off! Once at Schottentor, I was to get on the D trolley (tram) and ride about four stops to the Stadtsoper (just outside the opera house). From there I could walk into the heart of Vienna: the Stephansplatz. In contrast to last night when everything was closing up, this morning I caught the stores just as they were opening. I caught a cup of Starbucks and wandered around looking for souvenirs to bring home. I also had birthday money that I had not yet spent, so I thought it would be neat for me to look around and see if there was something special that I could bring home as a memoir of our trip. Since I don't speak German, I didn't consider it rude for me to have the earbuds in, walking around and soaking up everything.

The Plague Column

I took the camera again with me this morning and enjoyed taking more pictures in the daylight. I found this statue that Taigen and I had missed the night before. It is called the Pestsaule (or Plague Column). There were walking tours of Vienna that I saw and they all were stopping at this statute. "The tour guides must be explaining what this is," I thought. I didn't recognize the language these guides were speaking (my guess was French and Chinese), but I speculated that the statue was important and took pictures of it. (Grace and Sarah were to explain to me later that it is a memorial to those who died during the Plague that swept through Vienna in 1686.)

After doing some shopping, I wanted to accomplish another goal of mine. I had every intention of going to visit the Mozarthaus if I could find it. After all, I was a music major! To be right in my good friend Wolfgang's neighborhood and completely not stop by for a visit would be rude, wouldn't it? It's tucked neatly behind St. Stephen's Cathedral I would learn, but I actually had to ask three different people where it was. This shocked me! My questions were not that difficult either: "Do you speak English?" and "Where is the Mozarthaus?" I saw an advertisement that had an address: 5 Dom Gasse. So then I asked where the street was: "Where is Dom Gasse?" Finally someone pointed me in the right direction. The problem was partly because it's nothing out of the ordinary for folks in Vienna, so they don't realize it's such a big deal to me. The other problem is that I was looking for fanfare and crowds clambering around each other to get in. It was completely the opposite. It's on a lovely side street in a row of beautiful old buildings and if you weren't looking for it, you would completely miss it. I saw the address and went in. (That's how close Mozart and I are. I didn't even have to knock! Ha ha!)

Outside Mozart's House

It is highly commercialized and nothing at all like how it would have looked when Mozart lived there, but I enjoyed the audio tour just the same. I didn't have time to listen to everything, but the sweetened-condensed version satisfied me and I especially enjoyed looking out the windows, thinking that it was very much the same as what Mozart would have seen, right down to the cobblestone streets. Vienna seems timeless.

Once done with the Mozarthaus I had to find the right bus to go back to Schottentor (I had come in via tram). Sarah had told me it was the bus over by the horses (city tours by carriage). I went to one that was across the main walk/drive area from the horses, directly across the street from St. Stephen's Cathedral. This didn't look like the right bus because it didn't say "A" on the bus. So of course I would have to ask, "Is this the one to Schottentor?" They would shake their head no and say, "Nein, itze uhzer vun." Silly me. But of course they didn't say where that other one was. So I walked around and around looking for another bus stop. Finally after about five minutes of searching, I stopped and looked around carefully. I saw a bus pull up right next to the horses and carriages and lo and behold it had my promised "A" on it headed toward Schottentor! Success!

From here it was a matter of counting stops and navigating my way all the way to the Hudson's district. With my Lauridsen plugged into my ears, I geared up for the challenge. I had to take the bus, then the tram, then the train, then the bus again. Could I do it?

My keys to a successful day (tickets, maps & directions)

I got off at Schottentor and took the tram back toward the hotel from the night before. I knew I needed to get on the tram toward Grinzing. That meant I had to have the Votivkirche (Votive Church) behind me...not in front of me. Once at Grinzing, I had to get off, walk down the street a ways and find the other stop called Oberdobling. Across the street from the Oberdobling tram stop was supposed to be a train depot. So far, so good.

I went in and walked downstairs, making sure I was taking the right track. I needed to find the one that read "Hutteldorf" not "Handelskai." I had a twenty minute wait, so I enjoyed more Lauridsen. The train station was relatively empty and there was a nice breeze blowing through. The train came, I boarded, and looked carefully at the simple map that they plaster on the inside. I had to make sure to get off at one called "Gersthof." The "conductor announces the stop, but to me they speak so quickly and the German all muddles together. So, for this foreigner, I had to count stops. For this part of the journey, it was two.

At the Gerstohof stop I had to exit and go up the stairs. At the top of the stairs there were two exits on opposite sides of the building. This was the most confusing part of the journey. Which way do I exit? It felt like a game show. Do I take door number one where most are exiting? Or do I take door number two? I chose one but realized that there was no Tram #41. I went to the other side of the depot and didn't see a tram stop either. Finally I asked a lady, "Do you speak English?" and "Where is the tram to Potzleinsdorf?" I had exited out the right door, but had to go around the side of the building to catch the tram.

Have I confused you yet? Wait! There's more! After I got on the #41, I needed to get off at the end of the line, when everyone got off. I needed to walk to the 41A bus stop. I rode the bus to 2 Tor Neustifter Friedhof. By this time I was recognizing where I was going. I had to notify the bus driver of where I needed to get off. You stand and push a red button. He then stops at the next available bus stop. So I knew once we started up the Hudson's street, I had to push the button just past the flower shop and cemetery, not before. I did as directed and shortly after 12:15, I was walking in the Hudson's gate. My journey was complete and the morning was a success!

Apparently, Todd was slightly worried about me. Taigen informed me that Todd had asked about every fifteen minutes if Taigen thought I was okay out there on my own. He even had Taigen call me on my cell phone just to give phone numbers in case I got lost. So, I think my entrance sent a wave of relief over our dear missionary. Maybe he would feel responsible for turning this country bumpkin loose and getting her lost? No matter, I was safe and glowing in the thought that I had "conquered the city." It was a morning I would never forget! More on this special day's afternoon later...