EuroTrip 110516

I propose a tale of three cities. Better still: a comparison of four, based on fleeting impressions and meager evidence. My rude assertions shall prove indefensible and are certainly not peer-reviewed. So cut slack and read on. 

Amsterdam is casually energetic, broadly connected to the rest of the world. Leipzig is more insular, its culture shaped by Martin Luther and a communist era of low expectations. Praha also suffered under soviet dominion but Czech people are more openly emotional. The architecture of Leipzig is essentially sturdy and functional while Prague is ornate, overwrought, fantastical. Slavic folklore combined with gothic imagination and a ready embrace of surrealism draw tourists from around the world onto the narrow cobble stone streets. It helps that Prague survived the second world war largely intact. Vienna is another altogether different experience. I must have underestimated the power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Habsburg might is visible at every turn in the city center. Heroic monuments abound. Yet at some point, Kaisers on rearing steeds cease to amaze. Streets are broad, buildings elegant and grand. In Prague we visitors were constantly dealing with annoying tourists on the constricted walkways. There may be even more pedestrians in Vienna but the spacious sidewalks leave plenty of elbow room.

Can it be that in Vienna, the good life of the ultra-rich has "trickled down"? Streets are clean, people dress well and good food is readily available. Traditions are maintained but a cheery good humor might also be a continuing custom. There is even a name for it: "gemutlichkeit". Austrians seem more expressive and more overtly sensual than northern Germans and are certainly more playful. One benefit of communism's lingering oppression is the value of the dollar in both Leipzig and Prague where a room in a former 4-star hotel or palace is available at the rate of an American Holiday Inn. I did like the dark beer in Leipzig and wondered at the MaryJane-infused brownies and drinks available in Prague (some heralded as "Amsterdam style"). But as our journey takes us south, I look forward to a more vegetable-laden platter. Martin Luther can keep his meat and potatoes.

Our little apartment is a half block from the Vienna Operhaus, a sophisticated section of a very art-and-style-aware city. As in the States, a city vs. country dynamic can take hold. When I mentioned to the Austrian lady in reception that we were going to Graz, she went on a hilarious, very theatrical bender on the (country/hill) people of Styria. Flexing both arms in an exaggerated show of muscularity she said "their women are three times stronger than we are. And they need to be!" She herself was a deep-voiced athletic woman at least 5'10". With expansive gestures and comedic expressions she elaborated in a singsong Anglo-Deutsche bridge language of her own making. I did manage to catch: "and the way they talk, they don't want us to understand them". 

We are currently on another railjet rolling through the mountains toward Graz and my friend Anton Waibl who lived with us for a week 13 years ago.