36 Years Ago

36 Years Ago, Vienna 1971—A Student Journal

Day 244: Easter Sunday; tourists

36yearsago.com

Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing & friends.



Day 244 — Easter Sunday; tourists
02-April-1972 (Sonntag–Sun.)


TRANSCRIPT

Easter Sunday. Day of relaxation.

Went to Wiener Choir Boys [Vienna Boys’ Choir]. Extremely nice, except for the influx of tourists. A sign of spring in Vienna. The crows leave and tourists come. At mass, met an American who was traveling around; really good attitude and intelligent. Had a good discussion. Also met a fairly nice girl from Germany. It ended up that a whole group of us went on a walking tour of the area. Very nice, relaxing, good company, good conversation. Things were going really well; even had an invitation to spend some time in Germany. Thus, made plans to meet at the opera. Obviously, something went wrong because we never met. I was sure that she wasn’t going to stand me up—we’ve must have gotten the times, or something else, wrong. Well, that’s life.

Anyway, the opera—
Magic Flute. Extremely enjoyable.


REFLECTIONS

Easter Sunday. Yay, I’m finally back in church and enjoying the Vienna Boys’ Choir at mass (sorry about the dyslexia). If you are traveling and go to a tourist spot, say to hear the Vienna Boys’ Choir perform a mass in church, you should expect there to be a lot of noise and movement from the tourists. It’s still nice to enjoy this.

I imagine Vienna has a lot of crows during the winter and that they are replaced by lots of tourists in the spring and summer. Is this some kind of hidden meaning?

Walking tours. Look at me—Mr. American, cosmopolitan, world-traveler, Viennese transplant and expert tour guide of Vienna—meeting a few people, and going with them on a walking tour. I’m not certain if I suggested it. More likely, we just started walking around. The entire center of old Vienna (Hofburg, St. Stephansplatz, Staatsoper, parks, History and Art museums, Parliament, Burgtheater, Staatsoper, Kärtnerstrasse) is such a wonderful place to walk around. I wonder if it’s the same, 36 years later.

A German girl and European hospitality. Desperate for female companionship—remember, I’m a 22-year-old male—I meet a nice German girl and join them on this walking tour of the inner city. My German-language skills must be ok. I get invited to visit her in Germany—another example of European hospitality. This friendliness happened many times during this year. Another example—on one of my ski trips, a doctor on the ski lift invites me to stay over if I ever visit his city. This is most likely a you-can-sleep-on-the-couch-if-you-are-ever-visiting-my-city invitation. Could we do that in today’s world? Trust a total stranger? Probably not. Sad.

What did the German girl look like? It is interesting to note that if I don’t have a photo of a person, and they weren’t a close acquaintance, then I have no idea today of what they looked like. It’s just too hard to remember casual acquaintances that far back. Wouldn’t it be nice to go back in time and see these people? In lieu of a time machine, take lots of pictures throughout your life. That’s my advice.

Magic at the opera. My attempt to rendezvous with my new friend at the opera that night didn’t materialize. Thankfully, Mozart’s Magic Flute is there to be enjoyed. It would have been more enjoyable with a companion to talk to.

John

- - - -