#talia does vienna

[taliatravels]

This October, Courtney came to visit me in Vienna! It was nice to host one of the first people to come and visit me in my new apartment. Courtney's actually come to Vienna before while we were studying here in the fall of 2019, so this trip was a combination of tracing old tracks and forging new paths.

On Friday, Courtney and I got brunch at my favorite brunch spot: Palmenhaus, where I introduced her to the glories of eating meat and cheese for breakfast like a real Austrian. There we happily munched and caught up over coffee before heading to the Albertina. At the Albertina, we saw a really nice exhibit on Chagall (who painted tons of birds, pictured here), and a neat charcoal, hyper realistic artist. Unfortunately, the Prunkräume were closed for a private event, so I still didn't get to see that freaking rabbit. (I've been to the museum three times and every time the state rooms were closed. I'm starting to think I'm cursed....)

The next day, Courtney and I lazed around and walked around the city. We sat at the fountain at Karlsplatz and grabbed a slice of banana creme cake from Vollpension. In the evening, we met up with Sunna at the top of Kahlenberg (on the way up, I made sure to point out where I broke my arms last year), and took in sunset over the city as we walked down the hill. Before retiring for the night, we had some glasses of wine at one of the Heuriger and a mushroom risotto at Sunna's apartment.

On the last full day that Courtney was there, we went out of the city to Bad Vöslau for a short hike up in the hills outside the city. At the top of the hill was a small Hütte, where we sampled the local cuisine (Schnitzel and Käsespätzle, of course) before walking the last 20 meters to the tippy top of the hill. On the way down, we saw plenty of mushrooms, some of which Sunna foraged. It was a great way to end the weekend together--the three musketeers reunited again in Vienna.

[mermaidsirennikita]

This might be a difficult request, but do you have any recs for het romances (preferably HC) where the usual narrative of man = worldly and woman = naive is subverted? It doesn't necessarily mean that the woman has to be dominant or the man meek, im just looking for more interesting dynamics.

Thanks <3

Oh, for sure! Most of these are virgin hero books, but I tried to focus on the attitude of the heroes.

Check out:

Unclaimed by Courtney Milan. Historical, hero is a virgin who has a somewhat naive (though not judgmental) view of the world and wants to wait until he falls in love. Heroine is a sex worker who's been paid by one of his enemies to seduce and humiliate him.

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller. One of my favorite releases of this year thus far. Hero isn't super naive, but he is a virgin and does have a very black and white and principled view of the world, and is basically celibate because he doesn't want to deal with complex gray feelings. The heroine isn't a virgin and is the well-known illegitimate daughter of a baron; she runs a hotel and has to pick up slack for her flighty mother. The hero is a spy and very good at his job, but I'd call him emotionally naive whereas the heroine is emotionally worldly. This one is set in late nineteenth century Vienna.

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt. An all time favorite of mine, a Georgian historical with another virgin hero. The hero is a vigilante and he knows the world is Bad (his big thing is saving abused kids, and he runs a foundling home) but again I feel there's a level of emotional naïveté because he's sort of determined to keep those complications at arm's length. The heroine is a widow who's taken lovers and is very worldly and kind of cynical, if kind; she's also about six yeas older than him. He's poor and she's aristocratic, so he's also a bit out of place in her world. They fall in love, it's gorgeous, and I feel like he learns about a lot of emotional complexities and contradictions from her.

The Lord I Left by Scarlett Peckham. Not my favorite Peckham, but the hero is a virgin minister and the heroine is a dominatrix in training. A lot of what I'm talking about with his lack of worldliness is less the virginity and more him not knowing the truth of the world.

Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert. Paranormal romance novella. The hero is a virginal super lovey and sweet and naive werewolf, and the heroine is a werewolf hunter who's a lot more jaded. It's hot and lovely.

Dark Needs at Night's Edge by Kresley Cole. Conrad is a crazy vampire virgin whose life has mostly been madness and killing, no real social interactions for centuries. He meet Neomi, who's the ghost of this burlesque-dancer-turned-ballerina, very carnal and emotionally intelligent. Obviously a paranormal. One of my all time favorites, soooo very good.

The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham. Hero is a kindly single father who's not very familiar with society and its contradictions, heroine is a well-known man-eater who's writing her memoirs and ends up having a fling with him. I want to say it's Georgian?

[leemznho]

12, 14 and 19 💕

12. What are your 5 favourite songs right now?

i just answered this one but u already know i got more than 5 favourite songs so here’s another 5

vienna - ben platt’s version from the politician!!

this must be the place (naive melody) - kishi bashi

golden - harry styles

loner - yungblud

first date / last night - lindsay mendez and derek klena from the musical dogfight, the entire show/album is SO underrated

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?

i think i do, but only to an extent. i feel like maybe the idea of miracles can in a way discredit the hard work of the people they happen to, and kind of insinuate there is some ‘other’ power in control instead, and i am a big believer in being in control of your own destiny. and if miracles are real, then does that not mean that all of the real tragedies of the world are also somehow orchestrated by something else out of our control? or perhaps we manifest miracles ourselves and it is humanity that can be evil?? idk but that is certainly a philosophical/religious(?) debate i would love to have!!

19. Do you like bubble baths?

yesssss but i haven’t taken one in so long!! 

aaaah thank you talia ❤️number 14 really got me thinking oof

send me numbers!

[taliatravels]

"Reunited and it feels so good," was the name of this weekend in early April. My dear friend Hunter was able to sneak away from his home in Ireland to fly south for a few sweet days.

While he was here, we revisited all our old haunts from when we both lived in Vienna. We brunched at Palmenhaus, drank coffee at what might've been a thousand cafes, had all the sauces at Le Burger, and, most of all, enjoyed each other's company.

On Hunter's last full day in Austria, we headed out of town to the little village of Purbach for their biannual eine festival. Wandering with Katie and Alex between the umpteen odd wineries, we laughed and enjoyed ourselves like old times.

Can't believe that Hunter and I have been friends for 10(!!!) years. Here's to the next ten, and the ten after that, and the ten after that, and the ten after....... You get the gist.

[taliatravels]

Hi everyone!

On May 15th, I returned to, what I often think of as my second home, Vienna. With dreams of a relaxing summer in the former-Hapsburg capital, I entered the city of Vienna and checked into my Airbnb. On May 16th, however, I slipped on a manhole cover outside of the grocery store and broke both of my arms.

Luckily, the Austrian healthcare system was able to take care of my effectively and quickly. At Vienna's general Hospital (AKH Wien), I underwent a surgery to get a plate in the right arm and spent three days in the recovery ward. At least the view from the recovery ward was beautiful!

I'm so lucky to have a wonderful support system here in Vienna. While in the hospital and after being released, my friends here have helped me immensely. From bringing my toiletries, books and clean clothes in the hospital to offering to help me do the little things that are difficult with two broken arms, I couldn't ask for a better group of friends.

After three weeks, I got the two casts off. I have a few more checkup appointments to make sure everything is healing correctly, but I am sure I'll still manage to have a great summer despite the injury!

[taliatravels]

Life goes on despite my injuries!

After getting out of the hospital, I attended the Fulbright Austria Summerfest fundraiser. This is the fourth time that I've been able to attend this event. Not only am I a Fulbright Austria alumna, but this year, I have had the honor to be a member of the Fulbright Austria Alumni Advisory Panel. As a member of the panel, I've met a ton of other Fulbright Austria alumni from the US and Austria and from all different ages.

At this year's Summerfest, I was lucky enough to go with Katie, who is one of my longest and best friends in Austria. At the event, we ran into Abby, a grantee from my Fulbright year who studied the Viennese oboe, and Franzi, who was also from my grant year and studied musicology. I also ran into Judith, an Austrian grantee I know that studied and taught German in the US (and lived with my old roommate Hamda!)

My casts were like a beacon to every older person in attendence to make the same joke--which admittedly was a funny joke. Three or four people stopped me to ask, "Did you get in a fight with a dinosaur?" To which i would respond, "Yeah and unfortunately, I lost!" In situations like this one, it's nice to find a little humor.

The event was a smashing success. We heard stories from some of the first Fulbright alumni, reconnected with some other people I know and the Fulbright staff. Looking forward to continuing to attend this event for years to come.

[taliatravels]

This January, I went to the Blumenball for the third time. Katie and I have made it a tradition to go to the Blumenball every year since I got here (except the year that they sold out of tickets... Whoops). We always love going to the Blumenball because of how absolutely gorgeous the ball is in the halls of the Vienna City Hall. The Ball is sponsored by the gardening society in Vienna and the whole building is decked top to bottom in the most gorgeous flowers. So this year, I got on the train after class to head to Vienna to get ready and go to our favorite ball.

This year, Katie and I were joined by Jeff and Hannah as well. Since I'm probably moving out of Europe at the end of this year, this is the last Blumenball that I'll be able to attend for the foreseeable future. We got ready at Katie's house with pizza and wine and once we were ready we hopped in some Ubers to head over to the Rathaus. Once there, we danced and took pictures and had fun until the middle of night. At 2:00am, we danced to the quadrille and hip, hup, hupped. We left around three with some flowers to take home and a great time.

On Saturday, we got up to do brunch and went for a walk together. As the rest of my weekend in Vienna evolved, I was able to eat at all my favorite places, get drinks with many of my dearest friends and make cupcakes and watch scary movies with my wonderful friends. As always, when Sunday rolled around, I was sad to say goodbye and head back to Budapest. A piece of me always will lie in Vienna after all, but coming back to the humdrum life of Budapest has been a welcome change after a whirlwind few months.

[taliatravels]

On leaving home and returning home

This was originally written while on the bus from Budapest to Vienna and posted to Facebook.

•Waking up this morning, I scrambled to get packed and prepared to return to my home of two years--Vienna. In many ways, I am happy to return to Vienna after a year and change of being away, but it is a bittersweet homecoming•

•Living in Budapest has been a wild journey, with plenty of ups and downs, but at the end of the day, Budapest truly has become another home for me. A year of learning IR theory and Hungarian, a year of soaking in the baths with the girls, a year of taking for granted the small beauties found throughout the architecture and nature of Budapest. It's funny how easy it is to become attached to a place and even though I am excited for this return to Austria, my heart breaks to leave Hungary as well. Being forced to leave this city has enabled me to recognize and think about what it means to be and feel at home in a land so very far away from my birthplace•

•If this was a move for any other reason, it would be an easier pill to swallow. But sitting now on the first of many buses carting a whole university's worth of students to a foreign land, I reflect on the complicated and sad for reasons that we find ourselves picking up all our things to start over in Vienna. We are incredibly lucky to have this opportunity, I remind myself, as many immigrants are not given the privilege to move and start anew so easily. My heart holds many hopes for CEU and Hungary's future, regardless of what happens today, tomorrow or the next day•

•We approached sunset as we entered Vienna, which just echoed how surreal this whole experience has been from day one at CEU until now. As the sun sets on the university's time in Budapest, we are able to prepare for a new day--a new chapter--in Vienna. After living and loving in Vienna for two years, I know the city will do her best to welcome us, and I look forward to all the new memories I will make enjoying the culture and lifestyle of the Viennese again•

•So, goodbye to Budapest. We will meet again in winter, but until then you can find me in drinking a melange and eating a cake with my nose in a book in Vienna•

[taliatravels]

Home Away From Home

Unfortunately, it come to no surprise to me that these past two months have absolutely flown by. I am so unbelievably blessed to have been able to spend these last two, visa-free months in Vienna (and the surrounding area) just, as the Zoomers would say, absolutely vibin’. 

There are many things that make my life incredibly charmed, and one of the most wonderful reasons is that almost anywhere I go, there is a friendly face waiting for me there. During this trip, I’ve been reminded so much about how the best types of friends are the ones who can just pick up where we left off last -- no matter how long or how far apart we’ve been. 

I’m so thankful to have friends like these. To have a friend waiting at the airport with a sign glitter-covered to welcome me back to my second home, to have friends who wake up early before class to get breakfast with me, to have friends who do my Christmas shopping for me before lockdown starts while I’m still stuck on an ill-timed international train ride, to have friends who walk outside with me in the winter cold for hours so that we don’t break quarantine restrictions, to have friends who wait for me to catch my breath on a not-so-long hike, to have friends who do home office with me, and to have friends who wander around the castle gardens with me for the umpteen thousandth time. 

And here’s to hoping that I can come back in the spring, to spend another few magical moments together.

[taliatravels]

My last couple months in Vienna were spent doing a lot of things that I love. This includes hiking, swimming in the Donau, and last but not least making music. My good friend Jakob and I spent a lot of times in the parks of Vienna serenading all those around us with whatever caught our fancy. By the end of the year, we had really gotten the hang of a few songs including “The Suburbs” by Arcade Fire and “I’m Not Okay” by My Chemical Romance. On my last night in Wien, our friend Philip recorded us performing “Everything Goes My Way” by Metronomy to make up for the fact that we never made it to an open mic night. Hope you enjoy this small part of my Vienna experience.

[taliatravels]

Spring has finally sprung in Vienna! The past week or two had led to the entire city of Vienna to erupt into color. The magnolias, cherry blossoms, tulips and many others are out in full swing, helping to ward off the remaining gloomy feelings of winter. I feel so completely blessed to live in such a beautiful city as this!

[taliatravels]

One of the things that has made this semester so fascinating has been the move from Budapest to Vienna. In many ways, I was very apprehensive about the move to Vienna, not because of the fear of the unknown, but because of what a huge change this would be for the university and also the students themselves. In the end, the move has been messy and complicated and hard in a lot of ways, but honestly I was surprised how well things have been handled. Of course, I have my complaints (where are the trash cans? academic writing?), but these are all things that are to be expected with a transition of this scale.

On November 15, the university campus in Vienna was officially opened and “inaugurated.” This meant a large opening ceremony with dignitaries from all over. The mayor of Vienna, the Minister of Education for Austria, the founder of CEU and a plethora of alumni, students, professors and citizens of Vienna were all in attendance. To see such a large group of people, all supporting CEU and its transition was so inspiring. The evening ended with a wonderful celebration in the new campus to welcome the university to its 10th district Vienna campus.

[taliatravels]

This semester is off to a great start. Two weeks after getting back to Budapest, I headed up the Danube to Vienna, for my now annual tradition of going to a Ball. Katie, Hannah, Kaitlin and I all attended the best (in my opinion) ball, the Blumenball. The Blumenball is run by the gardening society in Vienna, and is located in the Rathaus. With the amazing different rooms for all sorts of dance--waltz, salsa, disco, jazz-- and the amazing decorations, this ball in by far my favorite.

Before the ball, we ate a home cooked meal and got ready together at Kaitlin’s apartment. Unfortunately for us, the power in the whole district was out, so we resorted to sitting and dining in candlelight, hoping for the lights to turn back on. After some wine and an amazing dinner, we hopped in an uber to the Rathaus.

Once there, we danced the quadrille, had some champagne and took many beautiful pictures. Of course we took a visit to the Disco room, where we were graced by the amazing musical stylings of Abba and Boney M. As the night waned on, we began to tire. We decided to head out from the ball and go to Kaitlin’s boyfriends bar to get a night cap. From there, we were invited to an amazing, password-protected bar, where we had one final glass of wine before floating off to Katie’s apartment for bed.

The rest of the weekend, we spent recovering from our wild, bougie night, by eating cakes and enchiladas, and drinking lots of sprite and coffee. Although this was the 6th ball that I’ve been to, I have to say that this was one for the books! 

[taliatravels]

Spring has truely sprung, and with spring has come many exciting events. Last weekend, I attended the Electric Spring with Jakob, Hannah, and Görk, which is a huge free concert hosted in the Museums Quartier. We stayed until almost 4am dancing to the different bands and DJs (and more specifically DJins) that came on the scene. 

With the very little foresight and understanding of consequences that I have, I agreed to go on a 30+ km bike ride the next morning at 9am. I met up with my friends Philip and Ayman from board gaming club to ride to the Laxenburg Castle. As we were riding, Jakob was able to catch up with us and make the day even more exciting. As we rode through the Upper Austrian Countryside, Jakob and I tried to sing along to all the songs we knew, which unfortunately for everyone else, we don’t have a lot of songs where we both know the words. After getting to Laxenburg, we explored the park and had a picnic lunch, before heading home.

That evening, I met with Hunter to get milkshakes and catch up with each other. Getting milkshakes quickly devolved into me trying to help him fix his bathroom sink (my biggest contribution to that endeavor was holding his beer) and taking Polaroid pictures of each other on his roof. I am eternally blessed that I can have someone in my life that has such a positive effect on me. 

The rest of the week, outside of work and class, I tried to spend outside as much as possible. I joined an ultimate frisbee group, rode bikes and went dancing with Jakob, picnicked with Hunter and got drinks in the park with Katie and Hannah. Overall, it’s been a fantastic start to the spring!

[taliatravels]

In case you were wondering, I am absolutely in love with the city of Vienna. I took this picture a few days ago from the roof of the Allgemeines Krankenhaus (the General Hospital) in Vienna. Bathed in the muted pinks and reds of sunset, the city itself seems to glow.

Below is a picture of Vienna that I took back in November, as seen from the Donauturm (the Danube Tower). This is one of the tallest buildings in Vienna, and from the top, one can sip a coffee, while slowly rotating to look at Vienna in all her glory. How could you not fall in love with a city this beautiful?

[taliatravels]

On our second full day in Vienna, I roused the troops to take them to one of my favorite end-of-summer events in Vienna: The Vienna Wine Hiking Days (or Wien Weinwandertag in German). Even though Vienna is a city of nearly 2 million inhabitants in the middle of Central Europe, the city is also home to a plethora of vineyards, most of which are located on the hills on the edges of the city before entering into the state of Lower Austria. For the vast majority of the year, these vineyards are closed off from the public, but for one weekend at the end of summer and the beginning of the Sturm season, three paths are opened up to the public for a relaxing day of hiking and wine sampling.

This year, I was even more excited than usual for this annual tradition because I was finally able to introduce my CEU friends to some of my dearest friends here in Vienna. Altogether, we had students from CEU, Uni Wien and Webster University, as well as a mix of Americans, Austrians, a Hungarian, a Brazilian, an Iranian, a Czech, and a Finn. The day started off at the Neustift am Himmel bus stop and ended at the Cobenzl winery on the way up to the top of Kahlenburg.

We took our time sojourning up the hill, taking time to eat some Salzstangerl (salty bread) and Krapfen (jelly donuts), drinking a mix of wine, Sturm and spritzers, laying in the grass, absorbing the views, and knicking a few bunches of grapes along the way. One of the uniquely Austrian things about this hike is that it takes place during peak “Sturmzeit,” which is the time of year when Austrians open up a few casks of wine early, to get a slightly bubbly, half-fermented treat.  So I was sure to make sure that all of my newly arrived friends had the chance to try some Sturm while winding in and out of the various vineyards.

This was a perfect way to start our time in Vienna together, meeting new friends, enjoying some local wine and snacks and spending time in nature looking over the city that we will call our home for the next few months.