Wiener Neustadt, Austria

Wiener Neustadt (which means "a new city near Vienna") is my new home away from home for the next few months. The town, with a population of around 50,000, is just the right size: small enough that you can ride a bike safely from point A to point B without risking your life, but large enough that you do not have to travel to a larger city for shopping. In fact, I don't even like the term town; it feels more like a village. Walking down the old brick streets and through the market vendors selling fresh fruits and vegetables and gorgeous flowers, I feel like I have stepped out of reality and into a fairy tale world of romance, risk, and adventure. There is one bus (G Bus) that students from FHWN can ride for free around the town. Our dorms and school are on the outskirts of town, near the airport (flughafen). The airport is quite large, as Wiener Neustadt exists as the headquarters for the Military Academy of Austria. On my second night, I went for an evening jog on a nice bike path that winds around the back of the dorms towards one of the town's two airports and along the Wiener Neustadt Canal, Austria's only shipping canal, and the Austrian Federal Railway. The night was perfect: I was kicking myself for leaving my camera in my room. As I reached the Schaffler Bridge (brucke) that crosses the canal, I took a minute to absorb my surroundings and take in the breathtaking view. The canal existed almost as a dividing line, separating dark from light and day from night. To the east, miles and miles of flat farmland stretched seemingly into the distance. Only an occasional isolated tree or building from a distant village broke the skyline. Above the dark expanse of land, the crescent moon was outlined in a soft lavender ring embedded in a velvety blue sky. To the west, on the other side of the canal, a silhouette of the Alps was visible and looming like a smoky gray fog in front of a fading sun. A smooth but rich blend of pinks and oranges illuminated the bleak mountains and made for quite the contrast. While I did not have my camera this particular night, I did bring it on a run the next week with Magda, a new friend from Krakov, Poland. While the view wasn't quite the same, you still get the picture.