vienna 3

The blog I never finished, you know it’s hard to come back from a long day or walking and touristing, recount everything you saw in the day and your thoughts from that day, plan everything for the next day and before I knew it I was a  day behind with each blog and did the walking tour of Vienna day on the train to Frankfurt and never have gotten around to doing the last day one. Well anyway in my long day of walking and 2 tours and Hofburg, and then made mental notes of what I wanted to see the next day that I could not fit in the first day. I have to say I am quite proud of the day I crafted. It was all built around the Jewish quarter Leopoldstadt tour at 1:30 so I figured I would hit up Schonbrunn palace in the morning and work my away over to the tour which would meet in the 1^st district. I had hoped to have the Maria Theresa coffee drink with apricot liquer but by the time I figured out where it was, it was all the way up the hill away by the Galerie and I needed to make it in time for the tour. So Schonbrunn was nice, it was like a more vacation spot for the Austrian royalty of years past, some of the imperial apartments were open so I chose the grand tour because I did not need to see an Apple Strudel cooking show nor did I need a live guide when I had the audio guide. Once again unfortunately like in Hofburg, photos were prohibited, but I managed a few in my own sly way out of my coat pocket, not great pictures but something. I think the grounds were mor emagnificient than the inside, there is this monument atop a hill in the backyard that looks out onto the whole city, and it is quite a trek to get up there. Unfortunately because it was late October and cold, not a lot was visible and the statues were covered too, there is also a zoo and garden maze on the grounds but I was under time restriction. Explored the palace and by 11:30/12:00, had covered pretty much all of it in an overview, and I still had to take the U subway into the center of the city as Schon brunn is really in the outskirts. My next  hopeful destination was the Stefan church with the big tower of 343 stairs (statue of liberty to the crown has about 350, for comparison purposes). I did not want to miss the tour so I figured I could squeeze the tower climb in between the tour and Kabbalat Shabbat at the only pre-1938 synagogue remaining in Vienna, the StadsTemple, mincha started at 5:40pm so I did not have time to go back to the hostel to change, not that I had actually brought any special clothes, it’s funny how many Europeans tend to wear jeans to services, I was wearing a polo and khakis. So lollygagged my way froim the palace to the center and also had time to sit down for lunch which was good, The tour was mostly old people about 10-15, much more of a lecture than the Jewish tour in Budapest had been, not only did it cost 12 Euros, but the lady had a big picture book to show the past of the city because much of it had been ruined in the second World War. Interesting enough was there was never an official Jewish ghetto in Vienna, just ‘predominantly jewish neighborhoods’ kind of like how Midwood in Brooklyn is very Jewish but is also home to plenty of other types of people. The walking was not that extensive because there was not much left to see, only to imagine and experience. W esaw plenty of plaques  and 4 columns from the old huge synagogue that is no longer had been based on the mammoth structure in Budapest. Despite there being only 15,000 Jews in all of Austria, there is a vibrant Charedi community complete with kosher restaurants and a kosher market even, some shuls, and a couple yeshivas too I think. The best was the night before making my way to the place with the huge wienerschnitzel getting on the #2 tram and out the window seeing this yeshiva bukher with payos flying in the breeze on a razor scooter stop at the window of a home goods store and admire the displays of vacuums LOL. After the tour it was barely 3:00/3:30 so perfect timing to go climb the tower I parted ways with the group at the Sephardic community center and took thesubway to Stefansplatz, found the South Tower (the North tower has an elevator and you cannot get up as high), bought my ticket to 3 Euros and got to climbing. Like the Statue Of liberty, there is one way up and one way down, all in the same inclusive and it is narrow too. It was an exercise getting up to the top but very worth it, going down was the scarier part though I did videotape my entire walk down, butvery slowly. Then it was time to go pray, I had seen earlier in the day where is the entrance to the shul, it is not conspicuous on the outside, accessible via an alleyway which is one of the reasons it was able to survive Nazi occupation, being obscured from regular view. In Vienna they do not fuck around, there was a policeman or soldier with some outrageous looking gun ina ready to use fashion. It was like a New York synagogue on high holy days or somrthing. The Jews are endangered ane need protection so much so that there was an interview process at the door, you needed to show your passport. I thought it would be as simple as oh here this me thanks Shabbat Shalom go in side. But there was a group of 3 priests and 4 or 5 nuns apparently wanting to experience the service that night so that was a big delay as the guys at the door attempted to explain the prohibitions inside and the separation of men and women from the balcony to the main floor. Finally it ws my turn after I was behind a mother and son who were possibly Israeli I think, so I showed my passport and he looked hard and good at it then proceeded to ask me a series of questions, did I have anything dangerous with me, weapons,  bombs, etc. Even made me take out my electronics and test the power switches to prove I was not rigged (!!!) talk about secure proceedings, like in Rotterdam whether at the Chabad synagogue or at LJG, you have to be buzzed in at the door, then the topper of the day was ‘Why are you here?’ ‘um because I want to join a minyan for erev Shabbat services thank you very much’ ( I didn’t actually say that) and then probably because I don’t wear tzis tzis or a kipah I was asked if I am Jewish/a member of a Jewish community so I said yes, a Conservative/masorti congregation in New Jersey, USA where I semi-regularly attend Shabbat services. Where did you from now? From Holland do you belong to a Jewish community there, yes the Liberal Progressive shul in Rotterdam, then finally to send the point home I stated my Hebrew name Mordechai Yaakov ben Ephraim HaKohein and I think that was enough proof LOL. Finally inside I hung up my coat and bag, got a kipah, and wen t in the first door, I knew the shul was inside the alley but I wasn’t sure if it ws up or not. I ended up on the balcony and being familiar with egalitarian congregations it did not phase me one bit that there were women  around so I picked up a Siddur and then a lady motioned for me to go downstairs and it cliked in my head and I was like ‘oooh yeah! This is orthodox, it’s separate sex, ahah.’ So hoping no one but this woman had seen me I mad emy way downstairs, picked up a Siddur, a Wiener one at that! And made my way to the center area. It is a very classic shul inside, sort of egg-shaped with an all encompassing balcony and mezzanine too where men could sit with their little desks and personal cubby holes. It wasn’t a huge shul, but was the real deal. The ceiling painted some sort of purple blue with little stars, I was a bit disappointed I could not take any pictures as it was already Shabbat but there are pictures of the inside on the internet, because it is THE main shul in Vienna. The denomination seems to be some stream related to Modern Orthodox, as there is separate seating (womens balcony) but there were no long beards or black hats the cantor Shlomo Barzilai seemed pretty contemporary, there was a choir of 5 guys also on the bima accompanying him, he had a fantastic voice and although I did not recognize some of the tunes sometimes I was able to keep along for the most part, there was a mix of people present, I think more than a few non-Jews just to experience the service as evidnded by 2 older guys sitting together a few rows ahead of me not following in the Siddur, there was a young-ish guy diagonal from me who kept gesturing with a woman in the balcony presumably his wife or girlfriend. The service was quick, over in under 1.5 hours. Wherever I go so far no one seems to recite Yedid Nefesh much to my disappointment like it is usually so spiritual and echoing in the Berlin Chapel at Brandeis at the BUCO services, well I will be back there in due time, first Friday back is either Jan 14 which would probably be a stretch or then Jan 21 I will try to make it, that is in 12, 19, 26, 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, 7, 14, 21 well still in a substantial number of weeks but after this weekend there are only 5 weekends including the last one which mom dad and Lisa will already be here, so after this weekend, just FOUR 4 left!!  1 of which I will HOPEFULLY be in Barcelona for, one I will be in Belgium for and that leaves next weekend 19-21 and first weekend December 3-5 to be in Rotterdam, time flies fast. It was October that was the catalyst, after Oktoberfest first weekend of October there was no more time everything became booked we had Market Research and Consumer Behavior assignments and projects due, one week, then we had 2 exams the following week, then I had my week off when I went to Budapest and Vienna, then I was an absolute hermit for the next week just going to class basically and this week I prepared myself to go to Prague where I am now! Ahoy!  Na-sledanow Prosim!!Prague here I come! Post:, how can I forget that I saw an opera in ViennA! That was the topper to the day. Schonbrunn à Jewish Leopoldstadt tour à St Stefans Church south tower all 343 steps à Kabbalat Shabbat in Vienna Main Central Synagogue à Opera at the Staatoper (L’Elicir Del Amor), of course this schedule did not leave much time for food so I had the regular breakfast at the hostel in the morning, a pastry or 2 the day throughout the day, doner from a middle eastern food stand for lunch, granola bars to last me through the opera because the service was at 5:40 and got out around 7, and then I headed to the opera and got a standing only ticket for 3 Euros and the opera started at 8 and ended at 10 so on my way back to the hostel I had KFC finally, it’s okay because the last 2 days I had real Austrian food. And while I am writing this reflectively on the last leg of the ride to Prague (pretty on time, not even 8:45pm!), I can’t help but admit there is something to riding the trains, sure they can take forever in this case a whole day shot because of travel but there is a certain mystical element, youre just cruising along, it’s a constant hum at the high speed, it’s a routine, station after station, people on, people off, roll in, roll out, sure now that DST is over, it was dark by the time this train rolled out of Berlin but it is peaceful to an extent and you are not confined to a closed space like on a bus or plane, trains are sequential, planes are erratic, and vehicular traffic is unpredictable. I honestly don’t see the appeal in the overnight trains, I like the old-fashioned sleeping in a bed that doesn’t move, and for people who  hate to waste days traveling then build the travel days into your schedule, its an adventure unto itself, not to mention traveling overnight is a bit eery. So youre in another city bright and early in the morning, if youre so concerned then take an airplane, but I guess if youre going in a string of places the eurrail isn’t a bad option because you can go as far as you want in one day.  I think I really stretch it to the extreme though. This trip will be the end of long distance train travel for me, unless between Paris and Holland. Maybe I just am jaded because I have yet to experience a couchette or sleeper car.