I’ve been in a weird mood today. I was wondering if I’d missed out on a specific encounter in Prague, only to find the opportunity present itself again in Vienna and miss out again (with no one but myself to blame). I’ve decided not to be any less cryptic than that. Also, I still haven’t quite been up to 100% health as far as my internal organs are concerned. And the crazy-ass humidity was becoming too much for me. I was about to anti-socially lie in my bed and read ‘n’ sleep when Gillian suggested going to lie on the wooden beds in the hostel’s big backyard.
Good call.
After reading my book for a little bit, Gillian came out with her book to join me. She brought her iPod and put on Ella Fitzgerald singing “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered.” This, mixed with the cooling shade of the trees and the background noise of kids playing in the backyard behind the hostel, hit the spot. I had been feeling like such a fool and also a bit homesick I guess (having been away from Mississauga for 9 and a half months) so I guess I needed an experience that was close to home.
Our hostel is located on the western outskirts of the city, so it’s sort of like staying in the Etobicoke of Vienna. There’s suburban housing all around us and it’s fairly peaceful. And after seeing lots of beautiful architecture in uncomfortably hot weather (for me), it was nice to just chillax for a bit. In a way, with the trip winding down, I am wanting less and less to “see things” and more and more to just “be in places”. So chillin’ out in suburban Vienna, at this point in the trip, fits into my itinerary more so than the historical city tours. And I suppose I’ll feel the same in Rome.
And good on Gillian for bringing exactly what I needed to pull me out of my schlump - some reading in the shade while listening to the best of Ella.
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