It was my second day in Vienna and after having breakfast, I said goodbye to my ever smiling host Astrid and headed towards Dresdnerstrasse by the U6 metro. I got out of the metro and I was looking for Universumstrasse 23 - 29/28. I tried looking for it but didn't find it and so decided to ask for the exact location. I looked out for someone young thinking that they might be able to talk in English, but to my surprise all the 3 young people I asked didn't speak English. Finally one guy checked it on his iphone, found the place but still showed it to me in the opposite direction. Uff...I texted Sepideh and she told me that she was out and will take another hour or so to reach home. So I decided to spend some time at a cafe. I asked the owner of the cafe the exact location and he showed me the lane. I started heading towards that lane and got a call from Sepideh and she was standing right outside the building and finally I was there.
I Had a quick tea and Sepideh showed me 2 places Cobenzl Parkplatz and Kahlenberg on the map which I can visit. So I took a bus and reached Cobenzl Parkplatz on a day which was really cloudy and windy. Cobenzl Park was on a height and you can see the city located down and there were grape wines grown all downhill. The sun occasionally kept peeping from the clouds. It was getting really cold and so I decided to go back to Stephanplatz, the center of Vienna. Somehow I really enjoyed there. I got a bus from Kahlenberg and got down to the metro and in some time reached Stephanplatz. By now the sun was shining and it was perfect to sit out and enjoy a cup of coffee. I kept roaming around as there were lots of stuff going on the street. People disguised as some entertaining characters, artists painting with spray colors and lots of tourists walking and clicking. Finally decided to go back.
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| Some entertaining characters at Stephanplatz. |
When I reached back I met some friend's of Sepideh. Mateja and Lorena. It was nice to have some light talk together. Her friend Lorena was fun to talk with and was really witty. Finally we decided to cook and have dinner together. While we were talking I came to know that Sepideh has actually Iranian roots. But from her early childhood she has been in Austria. So we cooked some Rajma and rice. Sepideh had also cooked a cake for us. Don't remember which one it was, but it surely was really delicious. Some how I felt that she liked baking very much and today she was going to experiment her baking skills on me, which I must say that she succeeded in it. After dinner I gave an idea to watch a bollywood movie and it was accepted soon. So I selected one of my favorite movie Dil Chahta Hein. I have watched it so many times but still watching it with Sepideh and Lorena was a different fun this time. Their witty comments made the movie fun to watch again. After the movie Lorena left and before that we had decided to meet up next day. She had offered to show me some part of the city.
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| Coffee with Dasa |
It was 21st October, my last day in Schengen area. I was meeting Dasa in the morning that day. We met at the metro station and went to a cafe for coffee. We didn't had much time as she had to go back home before evening. But it was really nice to meet and talk with her after a long time and probably never might meet again too. Who knows ? So we said bye to each other and soon I headed towards the Nash Market. Soon I met Lorena and we were off too see that part of the city starting from Nash Market.
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| Groceries @ Nash Market |
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| Spice shop @ Nash Market |
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| Flower shop @ Nash Market |
I really liked this part of Vienna. This market was situated right in the middle and it had some buildings with some beautiful architecture on both the sides. We walked around and Lorena showed me and explained some interesting buildings and things about their architecture. She was like a specialist.... ;) She got used to it and knew all this stuff as she had lots of visitors whom she took around to show Vienna. Finally before I had to return to get ready to leave Vienna we went to a quiet famous restaurant to have coffee and some delicious pastries. Lorena treated me. :) I was really over whelmed with that gesture of hers. It was time to say good bye to her and I headed straight to my host's place. Sepideh gave me all the instructions on where to board the train to the airport and she also came along with me to the train station. That was so nice of her.
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| With Lorena |
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| My lovely host in Vienna - Sepideh |
Such small gestures really make some nice connections between strange people, at least that's what I think and believe. I was a complete stranger to them and yet when I was leaving Vienna I never felt that I'm parting from 3 people. It was more like I had 3 beautiful days in the company of 3 beautiful friends and I'm greatly thankful to them for making my stay in Vienna so beautiful. I loved Vienna, its character, and its charm. The city is multi-cultural not too big and too small also. Green, clean and colorful. No doubt recently it was rated the best city in the world to live. But for me I thank couch surfing for giving me this chance to meet such wonderful people whom I would like to remember always.
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