Jay's European Adventure: Guten Tag Vienna! (Part I)

Backlog:
Before I start this story, I feel that there is a backstory that I need to explain to my readers. I did not move to the DC area until I was in 4^th grade (Spring of 1999) and was born/raised in Columbus, Ohio. When I was in second grade (1996-1997), we had a foreign exchange student come live with us from Vienna, Austria for the year. Her name was Mury and she was 15 at the time and went to Upper Arlington High School in Columbus (for my Ohio readers) until she moved back to Vienna. Her parents escaped Vietnam in 1975 to avoid the war and moved to Vienna, Austria where she was born roughly 5 years later.

Over the years, we have continued contact and she and Oliver (then boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend and her close personal friend still to this day) have come to visit us in DC several times over the years. As Oliver continued to come to visit (without Mury), I started to grow a strong personal friendship with Oliver and we have meet up in: Philadelphia, Niagara Falls (Canada side), Orlando, and even Boston last summer.

So last summer, Oliver was saying there is a plan in place to ask the big question to Marlene (his girlfriend of ~7years) and was wondering if I would be able to possibly make the wedding. It was during this time when I was getting my plan together for Europe and I said that I would very much do anything in my power to plan around being in Vienna during his wedding and count me in. And in October (if I can remember), he asked the question and she of course she said yes (I believe she had been waiting for some time) and the date of the wedding was booked for Friday, July 20^th.

In late Feburary and early March, I sent a random facebook message to Melissa (Stephanie’s best friend from Boston University who I had never meet) and asked her to go to the wedding with me. Now this may seem odd, however she was studying abroad in Vienna at the time of the wedding and I was thinking it would be fun to have someone to speak English with and do some damage on Oliver’s bar tab. She said yes and we sent facebook messages over the months leading up to the event to update each other.

Now the other part to this story is that my parents have also gotten to know Oliver very well (and Marlene as well on her one trip to DC) and around my birthday, I convinced my Mom and Dad to join me in Vienna for the wedding. So it was set, the plan was to stay at Mury’s apartment (who was also going to the wedding) and I had very much been looking forward to this event for some time.

I plan on being in Vienna two more times to visit them and have a free place to live. Thanks Mury/Alex/Oliver/Marlene!

Wednesday (July 18^th):

Well I did talk about the train trip on my last blog, I did not include the pictures of the Swiss Alps and thought that you guys might enjoy (I know I did). Although it was an 8-hour train ride, it was stunning riding through these babies, but that wasn’t the highlight of the day. When I arrived in Vienna, I was greeted by my parents, Mury, Oliver and we all went out to dinner. During dinner, Marlene joined us and both Oliver and Marlene asked me to read a poem called I Carry Your Heart with Me by EE Cumings at their wedding on Friday. Of course I said yes, and although I would never call myself a poet or a romantic, I felt honored to be a part of such a special moment with these two great people and of course I said yes.

View from My Train Seat of the Alps I

View from My Train Seat of the Alps II

Thursday (July 19^th):

On our first day in Vienna, Mury, my parents, Mury’s sister Sri, Juno (Sri’s daughter), and myself decided to visit the Schönbrunn Palace which was the home of the Sisi and Fernando during the peak of the Hapsburg Empire. We talked through the garden in front of the palace, enjoyed the views from the breakfast room, and took an audio guide tour of the palace itself.

Payne's at the Schöbrunn Breakfast House

After the tour, we made our way to the famous Hotel Sacher where we had cakes, snacks, drinks and got a break from the heat. We then walked/ran (as it started to rain) to Saint Stephens Cathedral which is located in the center of downtown Vienna. We tried to wait for the rain storm to pass inside of the Cathedral but ended up taking a taxi to the other side of town for a traditional Viennese dinner. We ate classical Viennese food, beer, and deserts.

Payne's Eating Sacher Cakes

Dinner the Night Before the Wedding

And as I explained in my note above, I had never seen her before so we decided to meet the night before the wedding to introduce ourselves. So Oliver then picked me up, gave me a copy of the poem, and drove me to meet Melissa at an Irish bar called Sheebeen. After about an hour and a half, she had to study for her final (which was taking place the following afternoon) so I handed her Mury’s address (which was only a 10 min walk from the castle where Oliver was getting married) and 20 euro to pay for her taxi ride to Mury’s place for tommow. I had some time to kill before Oliver was planned to pick me up so I practiced the poem but I couldn’t stop laughing on the second line “anywhere I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling.” For those of you who didn’t know, I didn’t know until Melissa told me that evening, the poem was also made famous in one of the most girly chick flicks of all time In Her Shoes. But I knew how important it was for Marlene (and therefore Oliver, by association) so I practiced until I got a rhythm down and was no longer laughing. I must have been a sight to see for the random Viennese people walking by, although I did try to stop reading out loud when people where approaching me.

And soon enough, Oliver and Marlene were there to pick me up and dive me back to Mury’s place. I wished them well on their last night as “single” adults, although I probably should have at least offered to go to the strip club with Oliver. I mean, what are friends for?

Friday (July 20^th):

Well the big day was finally here: Oliver’s wedding! My parents, Mury and myself had a small breakfast before heading to the grocery store and a café for lunch. We were taking our time, enjoying each other’s presence and realize we only had 40 minutes to get ready for the wedding! My dad and I took 5 minute showers (my dad’s was cold as the hot water heater ran out, sorry!) and I quickly made a card for Oliver’s wedding gift. At the same time I was facebook messaging Melissa who was having some troubles getting a taxi to take her to Mury’s apartment. Apparently the downtown taxis didn’t know where Mury’s address was and after three failed attempts, was finally able to get someone who was willing to take her (it was only 15minutes away).

Melissa and I at the wedding

But this time, our group was running late and my dad was telling me to move on as I was involved with the ceremony and he would wait for Melissa. Now my dad was just trying to help out, but I felt like this was one of those times where I had to step up and take responsibility for the situation. I told him that I did not want him to wait, and that I would take care of the situation. And although we were ~5 minutes late, it was no problem in the end.

Oliver and Marlene

The wedding was just amazing. It took place at an old castle/mansion on the outskirts of Vienna because Oliver is half Iranian and half Viennese, traditional food from Austria and Iran were served. Although we didn’t understand most of the ceremony, my poem went over well and is posted below (although I don’t have enough guts to watch it).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMnThLn0eKg&feature=youtu.be

Mury, Mom, Dad, and I at the wedding

My parents were catching a 6:15am flight to Berlin and headed home early (~9:00pm) while Melissa continued to help ourselves to the bar, terrace, and dance floor. We got to interact with almost all of Oliver’s friends throughout the night and talked, danced, and laughed all night. Both Melissa and myself agreed that night had been a highlight of our respective trips so far.

Mury and I returned back to her place around 4:15am when my parents were just waking up for their flight. I wished them good luck, skyped a bit, and immediately passed out.

Melissa, Mury, myself ~2am

Bride, Groom, Nico (bestman), and Jay!

Saturday (July 21^st):

After sleeping in till 11:00am, Mury and I went to the “Oliver & Marlene Brunch” where we had a brunch buffet (I had a few nutella crepes to say the least) and then off to Mury’s sister’s coffee shop to say happy birthday to her sister. At the coffee shop, we just chilled and relaxed, had some coffee, and talked to a few of Mury’s friends who were stopping in and out. We made plans to meet up for dinner to enjoy “one of the best schnitzels in town” and then we both went back to Mury’s apartment for a nap.

Once we woke up, we made our way to a restaurant called "Finkh" where Oliver, Mury's friends, Melissa, and two of Melissa's friends meet up with us. I gave Oliver a second wedding gift (4 sticks of Red Spice deodorant, his favorite) and then we were off for our first night on the town in Vienna!

Our first bar was called “25 Hour” which was a rooftop bar on top of a hotel that had a fantastic view of Vienna’s lighted government city center at night. Then we moved on to the international dance party at the Vestibule and waited for Alex (Mury’s husband) to join us after just getting back from his surfing/work trip (hes a photographer). Mury, Alex, and Melissa’s friends left for the night (~2:30am) so we decided to move on to some sort of garden bar that had trees going in the middle and a nice big gravel lot. It was somewhat of a disco (I think they have to be to serve alcohol past like 3:00am) and we stayed there for like an hour and watched the sun come up. Luckily Melissa’s place was only a 10 minute walk so I just crashed there.

Sunday (July 22nd):

Sunday was a very unproductive day. Mury had emailed me which METRO/Bus route to take so I blindly made my way to her place and crashed on the couch for about 5 hours from about 3:00pm to 8:00pm. Mury went to go pick up my parents at the airport who had just gotten back from Berlin and returned for a nice family meal with all of us.

Monday (July 23rd):

Monday was a bit more eventful, we woke up around 8:00am to pack, eat breakfast, and travel to meet Mury’s parents. I had meet them four years ago when I came to Vienna in the summer of 2008 but my parents had never had a chance to meet in person as they had talked several times over the phone in 1997-1998. Mury’s mom made us some sort of sweet sponge cake while Mr. Voo told us stories about his upbringing and about how the escape the war in Vietnam in 1975.

My Family With the Voos

Payne Family in Vienna's Airport

We then left the Voo family’s apartment and dropped off my Dad at the airport and wished him goodbye as he traveled back to DC. Mury and Alex then drove my Mom and I up the hills, and into the “Heuriger” district where the wine-taverns are. We went to the very top where we had an entire view of the city, had a coffee/desert, and then headed back to the airport as my Mom and I had a 5:30pm flight to Venice.