Making Friends

When I got to Vienna I made a conscious decision that I wanted to meet people and make at least a friend. So while the hostel was bustling with activity the night I arrived it seemed everybody was in their own clique- and really young. So I decided to relax in my room with a book and tackle it tomorrow in my own way. While I was relaxing a tall, slim, red headed girl arrived in our dorm room. I put my book down and introduced myself. She was Inna from Latvia. She spoke English (once again she speaks several languages and I alas speak English) and was here for a job interview as an optometrist. She's only in town for two nights. She immediately opens her duffel bag and brings out her hot water teapot, plugs it in and asks me if I'd like to eat with her. She had bread, cheese, meats and tomatoes and of course tea. Hell yeah! So I contribute some olives I've got and we get to know each other. We decide I'll take the U-Bahn to her interview with her in the morning and then after we'll go look at the city together.

While I love to see the sights I kind of wander, stroll if you will. I've been travelling for six weeks now so I'm not in a huge rush. Not my long legged friend- she wanted to see everything in two days because she might never come back to Vienna. So this presents the bittersweet issue in making a new friend. She wanted to see lots of museums and cover as much ground as possible while I wanted to sit in front of a fountain and chill sometimes. But thanks to her I did see things I probably wouldn't have otherwise. There was the massive church she wanted to see that I reluctantly dragged myself into behind her only to find a stringed orchestra practicing for that night's performance.

There was the 4th floor apartment where Beethoven lived for a while composing. I looked out a window imagining he saw something there that may have inspired him.