To: euro@neurostyle.net
From: Emilio Gonzalez 
Subject: 6.22.00 - 13:43 - frankfurt, germany


vienna. it was a bit odd to be in vienna, home to a million plus souls, after a
string of relatively small cities - it's bustling, if you want to be cliche. i
stayed in a hostel for a few nights, very close to the city center, and then a
few nights at a friend's house, nadia's, in vienna. for those of you that don't
know her (which is probably most of you), nadia is ian/kappa/woo's girlfriend who
is from austria but now lives in california and was visiting vienna while i was
there. 

since i haven't written when i was in vienna (mostly due to the fact that the
computers i was using were crappy, crappy windows touchscreen terminals, no way
in hell i'm typing a long email on a touchscreen. scotty, i need more tactile
feedback!) i'll just run down some of the highlights... 

@ the vienna court orchestra @
an incredible performance, with an eight person orchestra playing mozart and
strauss in an indescribably beautiful hall of one of the viennese palaces. a
mural'd ceiling, gilt wall carvings, etc etc. dripping with european imperial
wealth. the performance was great because aside from an incredible orchestra,
they would be joined occasionally by a pair of opera singers or a pair of ballet
dancers. 

@ the dali musuem @
a small museum, one room, but with many pencil and ink works of his alongside a
handfull of sculptures, covering quite a range. many of the works were
illustrations he had done of classic literary works, from aesop's fables to one
of my favorites in the collection, dante's divine comedy (although, i must say
i've never read it). the place itslef is a little surreal, with deep blue walls,
subdued lighting and spacious, ambient music overlaid with what i can only
imagine is dali himself. 

@ the summer palace @
another of the vienneise palaces, this former hunting residence was converted to
be a full-fledged summer palace by one of the austrian queens (well, not
technically a queen, i forget the titile exactly). the palace is quite large,
mostly in the baroque style (crystal chandeliers, gold-covered vinelike wall
decorations, parquet floors, etc) with countless impressive rooms showing the
wealth of the former austrian empire. of course, "impressive" is an
understatement. rooms were walled with teak, rosewood, silk, gilt wood and other
glittering imperialist aquisitions.

@ a high school prom @
i'm not kidding. in austria it's a "matura ball," and was a lot of fun. i went
with nadia, as it was the school she used to go to, and students keep strong ties
with their former schools. it was kind of surreal because it struck me as just
like an american high school prom dance, with kids dressed in tuxes and gowns,
suits and skirts, dancing to a band (an irish band - very cool) and a dj... along
with enjoying a bar and strippers. yes, it is bizzare to go to a high school
dance and see a dominatrix stripper pull one of the students up on stage, tie him
up and rub lotion on him. but, it's that europe vs. american puritan ethos thing
again.

(blah. i'm having to retype everything past this point, because my web browser
decided to spontaneously reload the page. why, i don't know. i was almost done,
too. fuck this. if i'm not writing as usual, you'll understand why.) 

(wait, no, fuck this, i really don't feel like retyping all of that, i have
better things to do. i'll just be quick.) 

so frankfurt is nice. modern, gleaming, blah blah blah, bombed to bits, rebuilt,
blah blah blah. it's warm here. i skipped prauge, i don't know why. i hear it's
one of the most beautiful cities in europe, and very cheap (that's what
/everyone/ says), but i guess it didn't appeal to me. plus i kind of wanted to
get going on my trip - vienna was nice and all, but i guess i was just willing to
go anywhere. sorry, no absinthe for the people that wanted it, heh.

i'm staying with the brother of a friend of my mom's, which is nice. comfy bed,
hot showers, do laundry. he's a car guy, too, and also into vw-audi-porsche, so i
can get all the car stuff off my chest. went to an audi dealership, saw an rs4,
which is a station wagon with 380 horsepower and can beat most cars on the road.

(on the previous email i spent about two paragraphs on the rs4. i guess you've
all been spared that. it was pretty witty, though. i guess you'll never know.
it's the little things that annoy the hell out of me.)

(i've been procrasinating on buying my camera, i have a sliver of hope that mine
will show up fine and happy, and i don't want to have to downgrade a camera. i
really should, though - better than no cam at all i suppose.)

so i'm going to berlin today, in about an hour and a half, and i'll be there for
maybe a week before heading to sweden. going to be close.

and otherwise everything is spiffy. money is going alright, but i expect my
accounts to drop like a brick in sweden and finland. 
i've read most of the books i came over with, and have bought a few cd's to keep
the music fresh.

(i miss this girl i met in vienna.)

-emilio