Traveling Europe 6: Wien

From: Wednesday, July 19, 2017
To: Saturday, July 22, 2017

I like to believe that I have two sides. I love hippie and I also love elegance. Wien is the city that made me fall in love with all the graceful goddesses and womanhood, and especially the empress Maria Teresa. I was captivated by the beautiful sculptures of a woman; the strong yet graceful images. Women and men, adults and children, the brains and the muscles, introverts and extroverts, and so on all have respective roles in society. And for women, they represent prosperity and love. An ‘ideal world’ to me, is a colorful world of graceful women, upright men, and dreamy kids.

Museum

I can’t remember, but I went to a fine arts museum too.

Before Sunrise

One of the reasons I decided to travel Wien was a movie trip for Before Sunrise. So basically, I visited scenes of that movie and I enjoyed every steps and spots! I love that movie and the scenes in that movie sticked with me so strongly that I recognized each spots that I visited and the feelings and thoughts tagged on each.

The telephone scene. Céline and Jesse have a roleplay, each calling their friends back at home telling them about their current trip in Wien where they met each other.

On their very first time in Wien, they randomly ask two guys about what to do here in Wien. They jokingly lie that they are honeymoon couples and the two guys obviously do not believe them. They recommend watching a play they are playing in. At the end of the movie, Céline and Jesse realize that they didn’t attend the play – that they didn’t have to and that it didn’t even crossed their mind during their time in Wien because they had a lovely time together.

Céline and Jesse kiss in this ferris wheel. They also walk around the amusement park and talk about couples lying to each other and themselves into thinking that they are happy.

A street beggar suggests that Céline gives a work to him and he writes a poem. If they like, they give him money. Céline gives him ‘milkshake’ the poet writes for a while and he reads it to them. the suggested work is randomly included, so the beggar chuckles.

As nigh deepens, Céline and Jesse’s conversation deepens. Céline talks about how she believes in God not in ‘you’ or ‘me’, but in the interaction in-between ‘us’. We can never fully understand each other but who cares? The answer must be in the attempts.

Céline and Jesse enters this church and Céline talks about how she sometimes things of herself as her grandma-self, looking back at her present-self now, and Jesse talks about how he always thinks of himself as a little boy, no matter how old he gets.

When a palm-reader approaches Céline and Jesse at the café, Céline leans forward, curious, and offers her hand without hesitation. The woman speaks of destinies, stars, and all sorts of mysterious things. Céline is even more intrigued, hanging on every word, while Jesse chuckles at how serious Céline is at what he perceives as nonsense.

Céline and Jesse enter a very small audio room to listen to music together. When both look at each other, when one looks aways, avoiding looking each other’s eyes.

Last Day in Wien

On my last day in Wien, I decided to have lunch at this small restaurant. When I entered the place, it was already full, so I asked the waiter whether there is a spot for me. Obviously, I was just checking out, and I was actually getting ready to be rejected. However, the waiter suggested a table which was already occupied, and asked me whether I wouldn’t mind taking this spot. He also asked the person who was already sitted there, eating his meal. That suggestion was strange yet fun, so I decided to take it.

The person seated in front of me was a guy, a student like me, and he was visiting Wien alone too. We started chatting, as we had no other way to spend this awkward yet exciting situation. His name was Thomas and he was already done with his meal when I started with mine, but he kept company until I finished eating. We left the restaurant together and ended up spending the day together. He already had a single ticket to the operas, but he didn’t go and decided to spend time with me. We walked around the town, checked the architectures, and attended random festivals. I had so much fun! It was my real-life version of Before Sunrise. What I really appreciated during my travels in Europe is meeting new friends just so randomly and spending a day or several days together. I loved the pure, simple bond I had with each of my random friends.