Ponder, ponder

[feuervogel]

So, I ordered the Lonely Planet city guides for Vienna and Budapest a few days ago. They arrived today (I was pretty shocked, actually.)

Reading through the Vienna book makes me wonder if I'd rather go there for a month than Berlin, regardless of whether I can afford it. It's strange. I love Berlin, all the Cold War relics, and the Hohenzollern stuff and the former Prussia and everything. But since I introduced the idea of going to Vienna instead, my brain's tending in that direction. I admit to a rather romantic notion of Vienna, with the coffee houses and Opera and Habsburg relics.

I'm torn.

Comments

[yhibiki]

For what it's worth, my German mother absolutely loves Vienna, and says it's one of the best cities in the world. She enjoys going to the opera and walking to the little cafes and whatnot. She definitely prefers it over Berlin; but then, she's never stayed in Berlin for a substantial amount of time.

No matter which you decide though, I'm sure you'll enjoy the experience. :)

[feuervogel]

sabeth also endorses Vienna; it's her hometown. It's just, I've never heard of any of theses places offering German instruction, and how can I be assured I'll get a quality refresher course? The Goethe Institut is highly regarded, you know?

I spent Christmas 2007 in Berlin (a week), and I <3d it so much. I'm a bit of a Cold War and Prussia dork, so.

The plan (somewhat convoluted) is for me to spend a month doing the language course, then kirin to join me in Vienna for our 10th anniversary trip (5.5 days in Wien, 1.5 days in Bratislava, and 5-ish days in Budapest, for a total of 2 weeks.) So I'll be going to Vienna regardless, just for a shorter time.

[amakarie.livejournal.com]

VIENNA!! VIENNA! GOOO VIENNA!

[feuervogel]

XD

The thing is? I haven't heard of the schools offering classes there, except Berlitz, and they're more expensive than Goethe (E637 for 2 weeks!) Lonely Planet mentioned Inlingua as being well regarded, though they're almost as expensive as Goethe (E945/4 wks.) It looks like they have more instructional hours, maybe, and they focus on speaking. Which is kind of nice, because I feel like I can read fine, but expressing my thoughts is harder (whether written or spoken.)

[amakarie.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I'm extremely biased in my opinion and can't offer any credible educational reasons for going to Vienna, besides, OMFG Vienna! Klimt! Vienna! And so on.

Goethe sounds very well-regarded, and, well, I suppose you could try to go to Vienna and really devote yourself to vacationing a few years down the road...

...but OMFG! Vienna! ;o;

[feuervogel]

Well, the plan is for my & Ben's 10th anniversary to take a trip to Vienna and Budapest, so Vienna's on the itinerary for sure. He's gonna meet me there after the language class.