In which Emily gets lost in a Viennese cemetery.

17:31 -- Meinhartsdorfer Gasse 7, Vienna Austria

So, as some of you will know, and others of you will have experienced (Bekah, my love!) I periodically despise the company of my fellow humans and feel an intense need to be alone. This is a difficult thing to do when living with eleven other women (not that I don't love them, because I do).

I was directed to the cemetery for a good out-of-the-way, not very trafficked place to do some thinking, and boy was it worth it! To get there one takes the Strassenbaum 71, so that when a person dies in Vienna they are said to have taken the 71. The death train.

The elaborate gravestones are above ground (some are even mini-buildings in which lie whole families). It was a very touching place. Periodically there would be piles of rubble from when WWII bombs landed in the cemetary; a plaque commemorates those who were buried there. It had also snowed that morning, about an inch or so, so the cemetery was still and eerily quiet and possessing the beauty only fresh snow can deliver. This is where Mozart is buried (roughly--he was thrown in a mass grave, no one's sure where he is exactly). In my time there, I only saw two other people.

The grave that really got me was a fairly modest stone that read: "Mein unvergesslicher Sohn," or My unforgettable son. It strikes me as perfect words for a loved one's grave...what would I want to be to those who love me but unforgettable?

Well, I kind of became immersed in the whole atmosphere, and before I realized it two things happened: 1. I got lost, and could not see through the trees and headstones where the wall surrounding the cemetery was, much less an opening in the wall. 2. The sun set.

Can you imagine? Wandering through a deserted Austrian cemetery alone, at night? I finally found the wall but couldn't find an opening, and then found an opening but it was gated and locked.

I stumbled into a caretaker who didn't speak a lick of English and I only just was able to understand how to get out, and I returned home (safely, parents, here I am, writing, safe and sound and happy!).

It was pretty cool, though.

Also, we have been invited to the club where Helmut's brother is deejaying tonight...for those confused about Helmut, see below.