On the Road with Julie

Time to Read:

I fell in love with Vienna about 3.5 minutes after I touched down.

Was it the culture? Nope. The people? Nope? The architecture? Nope.

It was the bathrooms.

The bathrooms are, of course, a product of the culture, the people and the architecture. I am quite confident that the lavatory is a testament to the culture, the people and the architecture and, as a result, I fully expect that I will ALSO fall in love with each of those things as my month in Vienna carries on, but my love at first sight moment was all about the bathroom.

When I got dropped off at the airport back in Cologne with plenty of time to spare before my flight, I decided to set myself up at a coffee shop with some tea and water to work on writing my blog post about my week in Bornheim. I had plenty of time before my flight to make the journey through security and to my gate, so I settled in and made myself at home so I could bring closure to my Germany adventures before moving on. 

Well, the thing with time that you may or may not be aware of – it passes. So, while you can start off with plenty of it – eventually, after some of it ticks by, you then have less time. And, if you are not paying attention to time AT ALL, that can happen “all of a sudden”. So, yea, I’m the idiot that got to the airport with over an extra hour to spare that ended up in a decent-sized security line not sure that I would get through it in time to catch my flight. Thank goodness I made it to my gate just as boarding had gotten under way, though, in doing so, I missed out on a chance to claim a gold medal podium spot for the Darwin Awards – “Boneheaded Travel Moves” category for “stupidest reason to miss flight”. But it was worth it.

Well, I still found myself feeling like a Darwin Award contender when I found myself in a constant state of being mere seconds away from wetting my pants for the next hour and a half of my life. See, all that extra time at the airport that one might typically use to do things like excrete liquids, I instead used to sit and write and imbibe liquids. By the time I got snuggly onboard in my window seat, I had a full bladder and a 90 minute flight ahead of me. There wasn’t much time on the flight to actually get up and go to the bathroom. Also, I was tucked away in a window seat behind the N-95 mask I had decided to wear since I had realized by this point that what I had started out during my week in Germany thinking were allergies, was clearly some kind of virus. I was definitely sick. So, I wasn’t trying to spread my germs all over the people next to me and up and down the aisles. So, for the duration of the flight, I decided to hold it. 

By the time I got off the plane I was in that state where you have to pee so bad that walking hurts, where every new step you take risks a “situation”. The upside is, I was in that zen place where one has achieved the ability to clear one’s mind completely and retain one truly singular focus. No distractions, no mind wanderings, no lack of presence in anyway. I had one mantra and I repeated it with fervor.

“Don’t pee your pants. Don’t pee your pants.”

That was my only job and I am proud to say, I succeeded.

It was profound.

I’m surprised, these days, with all the whacky ways people are trying to reach enlightenment, that this form of meditation hasn’t become a thing. Drink a ton of water and then hold it for an hour and I guarantee you your mind will be clear and focused while you walk 100 yards through a public place while using all of your efforts to practice impeccable continence. Enlightenment achieved!

So, at that point, with every ounce of my physical and mental and spiritual energy focused on getting to the bathroom, I would have been happy with a filthy outhouse. 

Instead, what I found was the Four Seasons of airport bathrooms. A choir of angels sang when I entered and the feeling of gratitude that I had arrived in this magical land of Vienna washed over me. I now feel I must believe in unicorns, as they seem every bit as likely as an airport bathroom like this. I’ve always heard that you can often judge the quality of an establishment by the quality of their restroom. Well, perhaps you can judge the quality of a city by the quality of it’s airport bathroom. The second I walked in, I knew I was in a special place.

The mirrors by the beautifully functioning sinks were lined with soft lighting. The entry way to the bathrooms were a beautiful clean, cream design. And the stalls? Oh the stalls. I am not kidding you that just one of these bathroom stalls would easily go for $850 a month, or more, as a studio in NYC – and I was ready to move in.

They were so clean and SO spacious. And the hooks. Oh the hooks! There were more solid and usable hooks in this 4ft x 8ft (huge!) box than in the actual studio apartment Ryan and I paid so many dollars for to rent in NYC. Come to think of it, there is not a single space I’ve lived in on this whole trip that has had this many usable, well-placed and sturdy hooks for one’s stuff-hanging delight.

The picture below of my luggage is taken from the vantage point of me ON the toilet! How many airport bathrooms have I crammed myself into with my luggage and done some weird tango to turn myself around, smushed up against my bags in an unwanted closeness as we spun around each other in awkward jerks and pulls to rearrange our positions so that I could reach the toilet, just hoping that nothing hanging from me, like a jacket or a scarf, touched anything too disgusting on the way. Not here. Not in Vienna. Here in Vienna, I was doing ballet! I was waltzing with my bags in a glorious celebration of clear, clean, open space. 

Where do I sign the lease?!

What a welcome.

And, yes, I am aware that I just spent 800 or so words describing going to the bathroom in an airport as my introduction to one of Europe’s most historic, cultured and storied cities. And it’s not just because I’m trying to be cheeky (pun absolutely intended). It really did make a profound impression on me, I really do mean my compliments from the heart, and I really do feel, above all, that these bathrooms and my experience in them was absolutely a reflection of the city I was about to step into. And, so far, that has proven to be the case.

If my experience in and love of Morocco had something to do with the chaotic, loud, kinetic, dirtiness that came to life in it’s small, winding streets, then it is the quality of being pristine that overcame me from the second I arrived in Vienna that is at the core of my love for the place. And, once I exited the bathrooms and continued my way through and out of the airport, that experience did not diminish in the least.

When my plane was loading up in Cologne pointing east to Vienna, because I am a sentimental and ceremonial person by nature, I had to cue up the song that I had waited my whole life to play at this instant. As a lifelong, devoted Billy Joel fan, I had long been programmed to believe that Vienna was always there, waiting for me. I had taken the lessons that the song had to teach long ago. As a college student, I had given into a natural tendency of mine to be ground into dust by my own ambition and enthusiasm for life. I remeber how tired I was from going, going, going and never stopping. I remember that I could feel it eating me up and burning me out. I took Billy’s words to heart back then and changed the tone of my life for good. “Slow down, you crazy child. Your just so ambitious for a juvenile.” It’s all of that slowing down and taking my time that allowed me to get here, to this trip and to all of the things that I’m doing at this time in my life – all of the things I’ve been building towards for decades.

And now, finally, here I am, finally heading towards Vienna, in the flesh. 

And how poetic that, even though I’d had all the time in the world at the airport to take things slow and easy, I set myself up to be against the clock and rushing to get on the plane to be here. All so I could have the experience of needing to and getting to slow down in the place I had long been looking forward to slowing down in. And, those bathrooms, those wonderful bathrooms just brought me 100% back to solid ground. It’s my ambition that made the schedule on this trip – and, 2 months in, humbled by a weakened immune system and a little dance with bronchitis, there is no better place to find myself ready and needing to take a breather, than Vienna.

On that note, it turns out that those “allergies” I got in Germany are full-fledged bronchitis and I’ve got multiple night’s full of hacking up a lung to prove it. And, yes, it’s true that if I had to choose between being sick and not being sick, I would choose the former, but, actually, I can’t think of a place I’d rather be sick in than here. It’s so quiet and peaceful where I am staying in the outer neighborhoods of the city – the perfect place to rest and recover. And, as far as where it sits on the agenda of my trip, it’s the best time and place for me to need the time to heal and recover. Yes, I’m missing a few days of class and not all that happy about it. But, I have 4 luxurious weeks here, so I will still get a chance to enjoy it.

And, the bathrooms in Vienna were only the beginning. Once I left the bathrooms and found myself in the airport, I found myself continually overtaken by the cleanness and quiet of everything around me. 

I couldn’t stop taking pictures. And, when I stepped out of the airport into those open building that was not yet outside, but was outside the airport, I could not believe how clean and quiet everything continued to be – even though there were plenty of people. I was so wonderfully overwhelmed by the quiet, I took a short video of it. I just couldn’t believe how peaceful it was. And this was a Saturday night.

This video is of just outside the airport on a Saturday night. So calm!

For someone that wasn’t feeling well, this was exactly what I needed. 

It was super easy to navigate public transit from the airport to a stop 800 meters away from my new apartment. The night air was perfectly cool. The streets in the neighborhood I’m in were so unbelievably quiet. 

I arrived at my AirBnB. Again, everything was so clean, so well organized and appointed and so unbelievably quiet. After a week of poor sleep and getting sicker day by day, the palpable quiet was everything to me. I even texted Ryan and asked if he wouldn’t mind if I skipped giving him a call until the next day cause I was just enjoying the quiet so dang much – I didn’t even want to hear the sound of my own voice (for once!) or his. 

Now, the downside is, I am writing this on Tuesday and, after 3 full days of being in Vienna, I have seen almost none of it except the trip from the airport to my apartment and the trip from my apartment to the doctor’s office and back, but I am loving every second of it.

I am bummed to have missed 2 days of classes here, but I’ve loved every moment of resting, healing and enjoying some welcome time alone. I love people and I’ve met so many wonderful people on this trip. But I also thrive when I’m all alone – and I have been in need of time without the joys of human interaction. And, I’ve gotten a chance already to see how easy and wonderful the healthcare system is here. And while I used English with the doctor because I didn’t want to risk miscommunications, it was all German with the technician that gave me a blood test and the pharmacist that gave me my prescribed medication. 

I’m hoping I’ll feel well enough tomorrow to finally join for my classes. I’m really excited to finally get started. I’ve got 4 whole weeks here (now minus 3 days!) to get to study German and to study music IN German! I’m so excited. But, for now, I’m really enjoying not being excited at all – just resting and being quiet and loving my pristine surroundings.

And, there are so many observations I’ve made about how they do little things here in Vienna different from back home – little things that speak volumes. And they all say the same things that those bathrooms told me when I first arrived.

For example, the building that I’m in that is maybe 7 or 8 stories high is filled with big beautiful windows, maybe 3 feet wide by 5 feet tall. That, in and of itself isn’t such a big deal. The big deal is that those windows open more than 2 inches before metal hinges keep them from any further expansion. They open fully and all the way!  No screens, no bars, no limits to how wide open they can be – even on the upper floors. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to open a window so wide. 

The subway has tickets, but there is nowhere to swipe them. You just walk on and off the train. There are no barriers to entry or exit. You are supposed to buy a ticket, yes, but it’s the honor system that ensures that you do. Yes, there are enforcement officers that dress in plain clothes and could catch you at any point if you don’t, but, well, I’ve been on three trains so far and haven’t once had my ticket checked. And, you better believe I will make good on that trust that has been vested in me as a temporary resident. I will buy my ticket. It’s nice to get to have honor and to get a chance to use it. 

And, then, of course, there are those airport bathrooms. 

I hope that my focus on a washroom does not at all communicate any lack of respect in the least – it is exactly the opposite. It is the simple and necessary elements of life and being human, not the flashy, for which there is room to sit down, relax and breathe into. There is nothing I could possibly have more respect for than that.

So, I haven’t really seen much of Vienna yet, but I’ve seen more than enough to feel the love. I haven’t met many people yet, I haven’t seen any of the sights yet and I’ve not been where much of the action is yet, but I’ve already gotten so much from being here.

Billy Joel was right, Vienna is waiting for you wherever you are. And you don’t have to physically come here to find it. It’s the patient waiting that Vienna is doing that is the part that’s for you – because there’s no rush, there’s no scramble and there is plenty of room to make yourself at home, even if you are thousands of miles away. That’s the gift that Vienna has already given me.