December 26, 2004
Christmas Squalor Walk
Dan arrived Christmas morning. That's Angie's boyfriend. They were all holding hands and happy to see each other, and I figured that we were going to be spending enough time all three together on our tip to Vienna, London, and Dublin, so I wanted to give them this time alone with each other. I wrote in my journal and then went for a long walk with my iPod.
At first, I didn't really know where I wanted to go, but headed back towards the little residential area we had traversed on our way home Christmas Eve. I wanted to linger a little longer. As I crossed the bridge again, these buildings, hidden from view on Christmas Eve, caught my eye.
I thought it would be nice to somehow make my way up to them and explore a little. I had no idea if it was even possible, or how far away they were, but my iPod battery had just been recharged, so I had plenty of good music to listen to and nothing but time, so why not try.
Well, the roads here aren't exactly straightforward like they are in Utah, so I found myself weaving in and out of them, not quite sure what was a road up the hill and what was a driveway. I made a couple mistakes. Eventually the road led down by the railroad tracks, and instead of spending my Christmas afternoon exploring the grounds of a beautiful building, I found myself in the squalor of railroad tracks, graffiti, trash, and underground passages (also covered in graffiti).
This is all part of what I love about being here, though, like I've mentioned before. The juxtaposition of graffiti with details like this little fountain along the way:
And the moon rising over the university, while cirrus wisps of clouds wrap around it. I sat down on the wall lining the river and tried to capture the perfect blue of the sky.
Then I remembered the way the shadow of an iron gate fell across a snow-covered ground over by a church on the way home, so I tried to take a photo of it, but it didn't work. Here's the church that it is by, though, so if you are ever in Innsbruck and you want to see a delicate shadow in the evening, stop by this church:
(This is what it looks like at night, too, so you'll know.)
Then I decided I had had enough of walking around and waited for the bus. The clock on my iPod is 10 minutes fast, though, so instead of waiting for 10 minutes, it ended up being 20 minutes. This is a self-portrait of me impatiently waiting for the bus in the cold:
After I got home, I made some stirfry and called my family. I wished I could be with them, but I'm also really glad to have had Christmas on my own - all alone. It felt just as good as being in the warmth of my family's house.