Welcome to my travel blog! Over the next 10 weeks I will be travelling throughout Europe and will share my adventure here. The name of this blog is a Latin phrase which translates roughly to mean 'to gain, understand, perceive'. It explains perfectly what I hope to experience in this trip; a sense of understanding and appreciation for life all around the world.



Monday, December 20, 2010

A little observation

I forgot to add this to the last post but I've noticed in Vienna that it seems to be a popular spot for a lot of Europeans for the Christmas vacation. I noticed that it was so busy compared to a lot of the other European cities I'd been to so did a bit of research and found that indeed a lot of Europeans come here for their holidays.

Aparently many Europeans go to skiing in the mountain regions of Austria (I remember my cousin in Holland saying that her family did this around Christmas time each year).

Anyway, what I found interesting was that when I first arrived and went out walking that first night, I noticed that so many shops were selling really expsensive wares - lots of jewellery and brand name clothing, and I figured I must just be in a upmarket area. But then I went into the main part of the city and what I had orginally seen was cheap compared to what was on offer here! Every shop is either a Gucci store or Prada or many others I've never heard of but look very exclusive (they are probably all very famous stores but I know as much about the different brands as I do about the Madagascan economy). And I noticed that here more than anywhere else, people are dressed to the nines. So many women are in fur coats and the men in tailored suits. They certainly look very glamorous!! And then when I did a bit of research I found that rich people from all over Europe come to Vienna specifically to do their shopping for the weekend then go back to their Chateus in the south of France or Switzerland.

I didn't have the guts to go into the stores that looked expensive (and that was about 90% of them) but the souvenier shops for instance were astronomically expensive too! Like, a tacky magnet saying 'Vienna' was over 10 euros or a cheap looking cherub sitting on a doll of Mozart was around 50 euros.

So, really all this is the long way of saying that no one is getting any presents from Vienna :)

2 comments:

  1. Hi Christina
    Cousin Elena here - I don't know if you are still in Vienna but I wanted you to know that I went to Vienna a few weeks after Granny - your great grandmother Vivienne died. Richard and I walked into Stephenplatz and to the Cathedral and a wondrous choir was singing Mozart and I just felt that Granny was absolutely there!!! She loved Mozart. When I would ask her if she believed in God she would say "how could there not be a God when there is Mozart". Sending you lots of Love, Elena

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  2. Elena! What a treat! I didn't know you were following this blog. I hope you like it so far.

    Isn't it wonderful how we can be in such moments of beauty such as hearing the music of Mozart or seeing Baroque architecture and the moment truly becomes alive to us when we have that human connection?

    I have found that especially as I go to many of the stunning churches in Europe, the beauty of their decoration can make it hard sometimes to focus on one point, but it is the human connection in the Eucharist that I am drawn to, every time. I can't express how grateful I am that I am part of Christ's Church - wherever I go in my travels, there is always a haven of solace and beauty.

    Merry Christmas!

    Christina

    P.S I also checked out your blog - beautiful posts. We are so obviously related!!

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