I’m Sorry, I’m an American! And other adventures in Wien

Our stay in Vienna has been very short, but in the time we have been here, I have fallen in love with the city. I love its mix of modern architecture and ancient buildings. I also am amazed by the city’s liveability. There are lots of parks, great public transit, and little things like water bottle filling stations that seem very convenient. While here, I have spent a great deal of time exploring, and consequently have had a few adventures as well!

Today, after class in the park, Cassie, Simone, and I went off to find lunch. We picked up some food and then went to sit in a covered driveway of an apartment building. As we were finishing up we decided we needed to go to the washroom. Luckily, there was a gentleman walking out of the building, and I decided to ask him where the washrooms were. He didn’t reply when I first asked him, so I said WC, and air spelled the letters, as well as repeating washroom several times. A few seconds later, he replied. “You know there are people in Austria that speak English right?” and proceeded to direct me to the pub next store. I felt like the biggest tool ever, and apologized, adding that I was very sorry, I was from America.

We then walked to the pub he directed us to, but it was locked. It was turning into a washroom emergency so we walked into the next restaurant we saw. It was nearly empty, but looked very fancy inside. We walked down a hallway that we thought would lead to the washrooms, but it only led to another dining room. As this point, we spotted some staff, and ran around a corner. We then proceeded to walk into coat rooms, a buffet room, and an office before finding the washroom. After finishing, we continued our absurd game of hide and seek until we were outside.

Actual restaurant floor plan

After the ridiculousness of finding a bathroom was over, we decided to rent bicycles to tour Vienna. Cassie and Simone chose blue, and I chose purple.

We decided to tour the downtown for a little bit, and then bike back to the hotel and deposit them in one of the machines there. We began our journey biking around the church and pack and through the side streets downtown. We started out on the sidewalk, but soon switched to the road when we realized we weren’t welcome there. After a while, we were coming very close to cars, and getting honked at constantly, so we switched into what we thought was the bike lane.

As it turns out, we were horribly, horribly wrong. We were using the buffer zone between cars and the tram as a bike lane. Conveniently, a tram soon came barrelling at us, and we realized that this was not the right place for bikes. We soon asked a cyclist where to ride, and were directed to the correct lane.

apperently these signs were too difficult for us to understand

Not that the real bike lane was any safer. People here don’t seem to understand that pedestrians and cyclists are made of real flesh and blood, and if you hit them, they might actually get hurt.

Cyclists: now made of metal

Accordingly, cars pay absolutely no attention to you, and drive as close as they can get beside you. One of my “favourite” moments of the bike ride was when a turning lane opened up for cars. At this point, the bike lane would continue going straight, and another lane would cross over it. The bike lane was now between two lanes of cars. When crossing over into the turning lane, cars would regularly ignore the bike lane, and drive straight through without stopping. Needless to say, we were always hyperaware of our surroundings at intersections.

After finishing our harrowing bike ride, we found a place to return the bikes, and headed back to the hotel. On our way up the elevator, Cassie and I both looked in the mirror and realized we had been burnt on our journey today. The burns will be a not so perfect reminder to a perfect day with friends in the city!