Realizing Vienna

 26 June 2011

The weather in Vienna has been a bit Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde lately.  Today concludes a fabulous four day weekend with each day spotted by rain storms and sudden drops in temperature.  Between the rain drops, however, I found enough sunshine for several activities.  I took my first motorcycle ride in about 7 years.  The ride was a little over an hour and the destination was one of the biggest lakes in Austria: Neusiedlersee.  Coming from Michigan, the lake spanning from Austria into Hungary was not so impressive in size but amazing in itself.  I also fit in a lovely bicycle ride, drinks with a few great ladies, a trip to the donauinselfest, discovery of the Millenium Center (a shopping center near the Danube), two great yoga classes, cooking delicious fresh asparagus and several lovely walks. 

Also accomplished was starting and finishing a new book from Yann Martel called “Beatrice and Virgil.”  The book sticks with me the most of all my weekend activities.  Especially the end that offered questions such as “You are about to die.  Next to you is a stranger.  He turns to you.  He says something in a language you don’t understand.  What do you do?” and, “A doctor is speaking to you: ‘This pill will erase your memory.  You will forget all your suffering and all your loss.  But you will also forget your entire past.’ Do you swallow the pill?”  These questions posed at the end of this strange story left me shocked, terrified and very thoughtful.  I decided my answer to both questions would be to simply smile truthfully and accept my fate.  In reality though, I found I had a bit of emotional complaining to do sparked by a realization.

Realizations often arrive in the most surprisingly casual way.  As I walked up the stairs to my apartment yesterday, I realized I am the only woman tenant in this upscale building of “business apartments.”  All business men reside here who have no spouses, no significant others and then there is me.  The person who is mirrored back at me by the place I live is a successful woman in a man’s world.  This is overwhelming.  I do not want to live like a man.  I am a woman who wants all those things a woman wants including a partner in life, a child, a big fluffy doggy and a home to fill with love.  Where I am right now does not define me, it is simply an interesting stop on my path filled with inevitable and blessed happiness.  Even when life is difficult, it is light.  We must always embrace this light.

The bar where we sat and had a drink on Lake Neusiedlersee



The view while sitting at the Sun Set Bar



The Donauinselfest of this past weekend - I did not bring my camera so here is a link:
http://www.2011.donauinselfest.at/

Time Travel.

04 June 2011

The last few weeks have been marked by important internal transition for me.  With my internal travels through a lifetime of thoughts, my physical body has also traveled.  Recent time spent on airplanes and long walks in new places has provided time I needed to process and become my new perspective.  Displaying a quality that may never change about me, I will tell you about the places and all the new faces but I will leave you to guess where my mind and soul has wandered through.

Berlin, Germany welcomed me on 22 May, 2011.  It is a city like no other.  Soon after my arrival, I set out to wander the streets of Mitte.  I walked slowly noticing how it is such a hodpodge of beautifully designed historic buildings, modern buildings and many 1970’s-esque industrial style structures.  Berlin is a city that does not appear to believe in matching its shoes to its belt.  The mixture, however, makes it what it is: a city with a shaded paste of murder and a complete lack of consciousness, bombed and attempted to be torn to bits, divided, reunited and rebuilt.  The rebuilding seems to continue as everywhere I turned there was construction. 

In between the construction, there was great beauty.  Museum Island, the river Spree, statues, Brandenberg Gate and the Reichstag building were all photo worthy.  I walked and walked until I saw it and it became all about one building.  The magnificent Berlinerdom absorbed my attention.  I feel in love with the building…we dated for a while, had great times and now I will always remember it fondly.  Berlin was good to me.

When speaking of beauty, nobody can overlook Paris.  I landed in France on 27 May, 2011 and though the drive from the airport was long and full of traffic, it was exciting to see everything.  I have finally been to Paris!!  The goals of my trip were to get my picture in front of the Eiffel Tower and see Erica and her family (including her brand new nephew!).  These were accomplished as well as a walk through the park, a meal at a café and a dinner of delicious Thai food. 

Despite all of the beautiful buildings lining every street in Paris and the enormous size of the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower stands out in my memory the most.  Immediately upon exiting the Metro, the Tower first showed itself to me amidst a beautiful blue sky backdrop.  Poking through the trees and above the buildings, it said, “hello.”  As we walked closer, my excitement to stand under it grew and my want to go up inside it skyrocketed.  Then we got there, and I loved standing under it and looking up in amazement.  We got in line so we could go up the elevator into the Tower and suddenly, I did not want to go.  It was going to take forever and there were so many other things I wanted to do.  I quickly and firmly decided it was not the time to go up and get to know the Tower better.  It was, instead, the time for further exploration elsewhere.

After some time in Paris, I joined Erica and some friends and family at a country house in Vouzon.  We rented a car and drove the 2.5 hours south not knowing exactly what we would see or how it would be.  It was, delightfully, perfect.  Quiet, beautiful and relaxing.  Upon my return from France, an unusual period of 6 weeks with no travel commenced.  My thoughts are in a good place and my continued growth shall flourish as I relax in Vienna for a moment.

As I am in Vienna now for several weeks, with much time for reflection, I think of where I am and who I am.  It is overwhelming sometimes to think of how this lady who I became grew from so many different pots and flower beds.  So many places and situations tended in multiple spectrum ways.  Sometimes watered and fed, sometimes left for dead.  From each replanting, though, I have prevailed.

I captured it well in a poem drafted hundreds of days ago…

Reincarnation

Reincarnation?

No need to brush me off this earth

For a rebirth to occur

New forms I take

Appearance

Social status

Occupation

But the friends stay the same

In my 30 years I feel

I have lived 10,000 lifetimes

Walking varied paths

Through different worlds

Each one leading to

A peak of chaos resulting

 In change

Change in direction

Change in dimension

Change in me

Each rebirth carries

Knowledge and experience from

Each past life

There is a method to this.

Me and the Berlinerdom:-)

The Berlinerdom!

The Eiffel Tower