Vienna

1. I arrived in Vienna. I met Paula. She's still a cutey pie, with her red hair and nice smile. The signature aspect of her face are her dimples. So I asked her how she was doing. We talked, ignoring the fact that we hadn't seen each other in ten years for a little bit, then mentioned it and things eased up a little. I joked with her about how in this case, it's not like, "So...how was your weekend? It's more like, how was your ten years?" We went to her apartment, put stuff down and then walked to a traditional Austrian place to eat. I had this pasta dish with slices of ham, parsley (I think) and really good cheese. Oh my god!!! SO GOOD.

2. We went back to her apartment (which I'm staying in) then went for a long walk with her mom and dad's two small dogs, saw two Christmas markets, the parliament, the emperor's abode and lots of other pretty buildings. When we stopped at his very gaudy coffee shop, with a ceiling that looked like a warped spider web, the dogs were so riled up that Paula kept stopping to reprimand them in German. It shocked me each time, juxtaposing with our jokes and polite conversation.

3. After stopping at the apartment again, we went out to get supplies for a balsamic vinaigrette salad. The best ingredient we put in it was feta cheese with bacon wrapped around them, cooked in a pan of honey and walnuts. KILL ME it was delicious. I had to do one of those stop, close my eyes and process beauty faces. She thought I didn't like it at first haha.

4. I saw Filippo, Paula's younger brother by two years, that I haven't seen in 12 or 13 years! So crazy. A friend of Paula's also came over. Her name is Helena. She is definitely cute. Dimples as well! We hung out. I showed them "Refresh Button" from my album and the youtube video of "Hot Dam Got a Woman". Filippo and Paula said they both have the old version of "Refresh Button" on their iPods. The three of them kept talking in German and I was so lost for a while. Paula kept filling me in but then they watched this comedy clip and it struck me so funny looking at this guy speaking in gibberish (to me), waving his hands and using his fingers as a puppet, lowering his voice, squeaking and getting everyone to laugh. I couldn't believe people understood it haha.

5. Paula walked Helena home and came back to help set up my bed. I'm lying on the fold out couch right now. Tomorrow I'm waking up at 7:30, having breakfast with Paula, then we're going to town and she's going to study for a while until lunchtime. I will walk around for that period of time, going to museums and things like that. I'm VERY much looking forward to that. We're meeting up again for lunch and then coming back. After she goes to work at five, I'm gonna go out and see a concert, probably a Haydn concert at a place that is supposed to be the most beautiful concert hall. That will be nice.

I like Vienna a lot. It's clean and happenin'.

Until tomorrow. I think tomorrow I'll feel more comfortable. I'm still getting used to the whole idea that I never really knew Paula well and now, ten years later, I'm staying in her city, her fold out couch, meeting her friends and this time being the foreigner. For me, travel is always hard at the beginning. But I think I'm starting to get the hang of new thing after new thing by realizing that so many of those "things", wherever I go, are similar to "things" I already know or have seen before.

Y.