September 27, 1991
I have been in Austria for a couple
of days, both in Salzburg and in Vienna (Wien). Austria is a
country whose best times have seemed to pass it by and now exists
as a generally tranquil (re: neutral) corner of Europe. In the
18th and 19th century, Austria and the Hapsburg was a major political
power in Europe and Vienna was the place for culture. It was
also the center of culture for the German speaking peoples. It
was bypassed by the Prussian propelled German nation/state in
terms of power and attached it's fortunes to those of Nazi Germany
with the "anschluss" policy (although, admittedly, they had little
choice) during WWII and suffered accordingly. Modestly rebuilt,
Austria keeps a low profile today. However, the heart and soul
of Vienna revolve around music and elegant classical society
and on these terms the glory of Vienna is largely undiminished.
There still seems to exist a xenophobic and anti-semitic streak
in Austria.
In regards to music, Austria still
is the best. And nowhere is this better seen than in Salzburg
and Vienna: the birthplace and cultural mecca of Mozart and home
of the world leading Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra respectively.
A visit to the historical center of Vienna is to go back and
time and witness the glory and grandeur of 19th century Europe.
The fall of the Austria-Hungary Empire after WWI and the unbelievably
bad decision to side with Nazi Germany in WWII has led to rougher
times recently for the surprisingly slavic Austrians.
Salzburg is a relatively small town
in a steep valley bordered by two large cliffs with a majestic
castle looming threateningly down on the population below. The
region is highly mountainous and forested with the town historically
linked with the fortunes of the salt mines nearby. The authority
in the castle was the Archbishop - Austria is an overwhelmingly
Catholic country. We are staying in a small Hostel called "Naturfreundehaus," on
the top of the Monchsberg cliff that overlooks the Old City and
the River Salzach. My parents are staying in a five-star hotel
on the cliff also, but I have a better view. My price is U.S.
$10 a night plus $1 for a token which allows me to take a pitifully
inadequate two minute shower. Katie, staying in the same hostel,
was caught in the middle of washing her hair when her two minute
shower expired! My parents are probably paying many hundreds
of dollars each night.
The Old Town is the birthplace of
Mozart, and his visage is quite ruthlessly exploited commercially
by the contemporary Salzburgans. The Old Town is one of the most
beautiful square mile of 18th century cobbled streets I have
ever seen. I have always pictured Mozart in a setting exactly
like this. The area is clean and smacking of the 18th century.
The colors are all white, clean, Spartan. It reminds me of Mozart's
strictly puritanical father. I can understand a little the attractions
and repulsions which Mozart felt towards some of the cities of
Europe: the chilly, provincially mountainous austerity of Salzburg,
the societal grandeur and pressures of Vienna, and the uninhibited
and spontaneous joie de vivre of Prague.
It was good to meet up with Mom and
Dad finally. We went on a "Sound of Music Tour" which highlighted
the areas where the motion picture was filmed, and gave a general
good tour of the beautiful areas around Salzburg. These tour
buses are a common sight around the tourist areas of Europe and
are more than a little cheesy. Before Salzburg, I had never been
able to afford one of these tours. The surrounding areas feature
dramatic peaks, beautiful blue lakes and everywhere there is
green. Austria is even more mountainous than Switzerland. The
population seems to be centered around farming.
Living with Mom and Dad has certainly
boosted my standard of living and we had a very special dinner
at the "Cafe Winkler" overlooking Salzburg on the Monchstein
Cliff. I am sure it will be one of those nights that will remain
memorable; an expensive meals in an exotic and foreign land en
famille. I gave Mom a statuette I bought in Prague and Dad a
Soviet paratrooper watch I bought in East Berlin for their 26th
wedding anniversary. Katie is leaving with Mom and Dad to go
to back to Paris, and so I am traveling by myself again. Yet
I welcome this because it will give me a chance to catch up on
my journal. I am almost exactly in the middle of my trip and
I will have to watch money very carefully now.
After a short train ride, I arrived
in Vienna and had a very difficult time finding a room. I have
a cold, and I walked to two hostels which were full. I was exhausted
and sick and frustrated but I finally got a room in a hostel
in the beautiful suburbs above Vienna. A little difficult to
get to, the hostel is clean, modern, and has a beautiful view
of Vienna. I feel like shit but there is such a feeling of relief
in having a place to stay when you are new in a strange town.
I tried to read some of a book that Mom had given to me highly
recommended named "The Beauty Myth." I was reading it in bed
and after twenty minutes of hate filled polemic, I quickly threw
the book into the wastebasket and washed my hands. The anti-male
vituperation was especially malignant after experiencing the
relatively harmonious sex relations of Europe. Next, I composed
the following letter "...
Dear Mom,
I enjoyed hanging out with you and Dad in Salzburg,
and my standard of living did certainly rise a couple of levels! Anyway, I read
about one third of The Beauty Myth but had to stop, immediately throw it away,
and wash my hands. I know the book was hard to get but I have enough problems
with women in general (having almost nothing to do with women I know personally)
without reading yet another anti-male polemic, and letting it piss me off. What
I, Richard (me, personally), need to do is develop my life naturally and individually,
free from the toxin of militant feminism. What is not needed is more bitterness
in the air; I will not let their insanity make me insane.
Anyway, I am looking forward to coming home and living
with Dad and you. I think you will find me quiet, clean, and unobtrusive.
Love,
Richard
..."
The next day, I bought a couchette
(sleeping car) for Venice and checked my backpack into a locker
until the train leaves. This gives me a full day to explore Vienna,
and this is plenty of time. Like London, Vienna is an old town
of past splendor. Vienna was a world-class city in the 19th Century
and arguably has the most impressive cultural heroes. Mahler,
Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert. It is the music and buildings of
that era that still exists in the heart of Vienna today. The "Ring" streets
of Vienna are full of opera houses, museums, baroque palaces,
etc. that epitomize the culture of Europe. Viennese opera, waltzes,
etc. attest to what must have been the grandeur of Vienna at
the end of the 19th century. Vienna must have been splendid at
that time and even Hitler speaks fondly of the beautiful women
of Vienna although it is said that he personally felt rejected
by the city and hated it.
However, the 21st century has dealt
Vienna some obvious cruel blows. The power of the Austria-Hungary
dynasty was vanquished in WWI, and in an attempt to regain lost
stature a portion of the Austrians embraced Hitler's Third Reich
and the rest were browbeaten. WWII brought destruction and famine,
and a Russian occupation which lasted until 1955. Now, the population
has been cut roughly in half and Vienna only resembles its former
self in terms of total population. The culture here is still
very great, and the Viennese Philharmonic and the Viennese operas
still rank among the best in the world. But there are many old
buildings that are decaying in a way in which those in London
are not. The best of the city remains in the past, and this fact
relegates Vienna to the position of neutral city where east met
west during the Cold War - a sort of symbiotic relationship of
convenience. It reminds me a little of a museum.
It is often said that Vienna is a
good meeting point for the East and West. It really is geographically
in Central Europe, and the slavic influence is readily apparent
in the food and collarless jackets of the men. But it leans towards
the west in terms of government and culture. It seems Austria
is still a somewhat wealthy country and I wonder why? There is
no large industry or trade (I think). I think it is a question
of old money somewhat perpetuating itself coupled with a small
population and few expenses. The thought of living in a country
with no enemies or external responsibilities in a quiet nook
of the world appeals to me as an American whose country spends
ridiculous amounts of money on weapons and has numerous burdens
and ties in a violent, dangerous and unpredictable world. Austrian
life, in general, is about three times slower than American life.
They live their lives, enjoy their fine operas and symphonies,
and have fewer of the plethora of distractions and complications
we have in the U.S. Maybe this will change now that the Cold
War is over.
Austrians speak German and have somewhat
the same culture. The people here certainly do look Germanic.
Yet Prague is further west than Vienna. And Austria and Vienna
is the spot nearest to the Eastern block where all the refugees
would flee to during the Cold War during crises (1956, 1968).
The area between the Ring streets
and the Danube is simply sublime. The Baroque architecture seems
to have remained untouched since its construction and walking
through the area I felt transfigured.
This trip has been somewhat disorienting
for me because, for the first time in a long time, I have had
no busy schedule to occupy my time. Despite a frenetic rate of
travel, I still have significant amounts of time on my hands
and it leaves me bored and disconcerted. How typically male:
to be restless without some kind of guiding purpose or principle
in life.
And so I have become a practiced
people watcher. Some of my most pleasant times here in Europe
have been in parks and public squares watching young wives with
their babies and young children. I am fascinated and it occupies
all my concentration. In my hurried and focused life, it seems
there is so much I miss simply because of tunnel vision. A young
mother playing with her child in the park is so typically out
of context to my life in the States. Especially what my life
was like with fraternity games and emergency room work. They
consisted of long, long nights followed by a few comatose hours
of daylight followed by yet another endless night. I was so cut
off from mainstream life and all my personal interactions were
all either with police or medical people, criminals, hypes, the
homeless and the partyers.
One of the things that is most disappointing
about this trip is the fact that I see so many people and places
yet gain such a superficial understanding of them. For some reason,
this fact fills me with bitterness. My rational mind tells me, "What
did you expect? You spend a day or two in a city and you expect
much?" For the most part, people have been hospitable to me and
tolerant of my lack of German, French - whatever. But I also
know in a thousand ways that I am almost immediately classified
as a tourist generally and as an American specifically. The reactions
range from fascination (Czechoslovakia) to revulsion (Paris,
in places). In Paris, they walk by you quickly you holding their
noses. Perhaps this is merely the naturally feeling of the exile
in not fitting in, of the loneliness of the stranger in a strange
land. No wonder that the people American tourists meet in Europe
most often are other American tourists. I have met many locals
in pubs, trains, and such and those acquaintances - no matter
how brief - I regard as valuable and educational. But I would
trade them all for a one night stand with some European women
whom I could talk with in an intimate manner. It sounds somewhat
cynical, but sex is a good way to cut through to the truth (or
as much as is possible) through all the bullshit that typifies
everyday conversation. Admittedly, I use sex for intimacy.
I talked to Marty on the phone and
the first thing he asked me was (typical UCLA), "Are you getting
laid?" I almost had to laugh at the question, thinking how far
away from getting laid I am. And it has been this way for a long
time and it does not bother me. It is always this way with me:
feast or famine.
