Wiener Eistraum

On February 8, I met up with some of the other exchange students. We met at Stephansplatz and wandered over into a cafe. Over the next few hours we introduced ourselves, shared some of our hopes and dreams for the exchange and generally had a good time.



By 21.00 there were just four of us and we decided to wander around the innerstadt (the very centre of Vienna were most of the famous sights, monuments and museums are located). It took us awhile as we stopped every few minutes to take pictures or read signs but we ended up at the Rathaus (city hall). During the winter the grounds in front of the Rathaus are boarded over and turned into two skating rinks connected by skating paths: der Wiener Eistraum (the Vienna Ice dream). One of the Finnish girls went to check on prices. It turned out it was five euros to skate and an additional six for the skates. A bit much for poor students...especially as it was less than two hours to closing. As she turned to go, some gentleman came up and handed her four entrance tickets. Whether he had overheard her conversation at the ticket booth or whether he was smitten by her beauty (my favourite reason) or whether he was just going home and wanted someone else to use the tickets we don't know.

It was almost 22.00 and now we had entrance tickets to the Eistraum. Should we? Could we? Well, when else were we going to get free entrance tickets? All four of us rented skates and off we went: two Canadians (one's actually Czech), one Finnlander and one Chinese. After a bit of a row at the gates onto the ice we were on.

Now imagine this: two skating rinks (smaller though than the standard hockey size) with flashing lights and disco balls connected by paths that wind around trees, past benches and along the street. All the while music from the last fifty years in English, French, German and some other languages plays in the background. The Rathaus and the trees in front of it are lit up with reds, blues, pinks, greens, purples and yellows. There are about five little refreshment stands selling everything from Hungarian goulash, to Turkish donars to Croatian hot dogs. This is an experience for the senses.

There we were, four girls, strangers in the country, but enjoying ourselves immensely. We skated together, we split into pairs, we even sung along with the music. (The electronic-but-sung-in-a-country-twang-style version of "Country roads, take me home" was actually pretty good. I'd download the song if I only knew who sang it.) Two of the girls even decided to bust out the dance moves underneath the disco ball. We skated almost until closing, our feet sore we headed first to the Croatian hot dog stand and then to the underground.


Why don't you join us next time?