Autumn Approaches

I know, I know, it’s been way too long since I’ve blogged about anything. Let’s see, what’s happened since I got back from Salzburg? I’ve been going to a lot of performances at various venues for my music class. One night last week I went to see The Marriage of Figaro at the Staatsoper. It was really neat to be able to see it at the same time that we were studying it in class. However, we had only studied the first act, so I was a bit unprepared for the rest of it. It’s a very long opera. I did meet some fun people, though, in the box that I sat in – one couple was from Russia but had been practicing psychiatry in Maryland and the other couple was celebrating their 40^th anniversary and had come from London. Two nights after Figaro I went to see The Nutcracker. That was also a fun time. I went by myself, but that was okay. I was completely immersed in the ballet. I had forgotten how much I love The Nutcracker. All I could think about afterwards was how much I wanted it to be Christmas time. And the night after The Nutcracker I saw the famous Nikolaus Harnoncourt conduct a few of Joseph Haydn’s symphonies at the Musik Verein. The Haydn concert was really interesting. One of Haydn’s symphonies is called “The Surprise.” The last movement begins very softly and then there is traditionally a loud drum stroke to “surprise” everyone. Well, I suppose Harnoncourt was trying to be funny, because at this moment he pulled the trigger to a huge confetti canon that spewed thousands of colorful paper circles onto the stage. Of course everyone jumped but laughed so hard afterwards. I had never seen such a performance. It was a ton of fun!

Elizabeth and I reenacting the confetti canon

            Molly’s parents have been here in Vienna since last week. It’s been nice to have them here. It was a little rough seeing my family leave me, so in a way it’s comforting to have Molly’s parents here. They invited me out to lunch last week and we all had a great time. Molly, of course, has been happy too (not that she isn’t always happy!).

            I have to mention that yesterday was the halfway point for this semester abroad. I used to say that time was going by fast here, but I can’t believe how long it took to get to this moment. It’s been getting cold here and the leaves are starting to change colors. I’m always so in love with the red leaves of autumn. Pretty soon I’m sure we will get some snow too! Midterms are already next week. Actually, they start this Saturday with my German exam. And then guess what! I’m going to London next weekend! Naturally, I’m extremely excited to be visiting the homeland of Harry Potter. It will be quite an adventure, I’m sure.

The red leaves of our apartment building

Cheerio!

P.S. Be expecting the epitome of excitement in the next blog. ;)

Castles, Falcons, and "The Sound of Music"

            I’m so excited to share my Salzburg experience from this past weekend! It was by far my most favorite get away since being abroad. Elizabeth and I left last Friday evening and arrived in Salzburg around 8. By that time it was dark already, so we didn’t really get to see much. We checked into our hostel about an hour after we arrived, due to the not-so-efficient bus system. That took a little getting used to, seeing as anywhere I’ve been so far has had a pretty good underground transportation system. After checking in we decided to take a walk. We didn’t have a goal but ended up walking right in to the city center. That was a nice surprise. And because I was hungry again (like most of the time) we decided to look for a place to eat. There wasn’t much open and the city didn’t really feel “alive,” which was also very different from Vienna. We ended up coming across the Afro Café (a café we knew of because of its stand at the Vienna film festival). It was the coolest decorated café I have ever seen. We got some drinks and I ordered pita bread and dips. It was so good! One of the dips reminded me of Daal, a lentil stew I had eaten in India earlier this year. After taking our time and relaxing at the café we walked back to our hotel where we spent a little time on Wi-Fi before going to bed.

The ceiling of Cafe Afro

            Saturday morning was quite the experience! Because we were very late in booking this trip we needed to book two different hotels. So, Saturday morning we got up early to check into our new hotel with enough time to explore more of Salzburg before our Sound of Music Tour. Well, we checked out of our Friday hostel and made our way to the bus station. Upon arriving, we realized that the bus that the transportation website told me to use was going to be another hour! We were in panic mode for about twenty minutes before realizing that another bus would take us there a little sooner. I wasn’t in the best mood at that point so I just paced the sidewalk staring at the mountains in the distance. I was really trying to take it all in calmly, you know, have the “everything will be okay” mindset going on. It was really difficult.

Not reading the bus times correctly was my first mistake. The second mistake came when we got off the bus one stop too soon and had to walk alongside of an inclining road where cars sped fast by us. (Don’t worry, family. The most important thing is that I’m alive right now.) The most tragic thing for me at that moment was that I was being too big of a worrywart to enjoy the most beautiful countryside I had ever seen. I kept thinking that there wouldn’t actually be a hotel at the top of the hill. All around me, though, were the Austrian hillsides that I had been waiting for. Farmers were tending to their fields. Tractors were pulling hay down dirt roads. The sun was shining on the greenest hills I had ever seen. It also smelled heavenly of cow manure. Obviously, Indiana is not blessed with mountains, but it sure does have farmland and I miss it.

Walking to Hotel Graml

After asking a lady in her driveway if she knew where the Berghof Graml was, approaching a hotel that was definitely not the Hotel Graml, and then running into the bus stop right next to the Hotel Graml, we finally made it to the front desk where the lady told us that our room was not ready yet. She let us put our stuff in our room, though, and made sure that the cleaning lady finished our room first. Then Elizabeth and I were off to the city. By the time we got there we were ready to eat and found a beer garden where we both got schnitzel and potato and cucumber salad. It tasted perfect after a long hard morning. After lunch, we took an elevator inside of a rocky cliff up to the art museum, where we could get a great view of the city. We peacefully stood up there watching the view and took some pictures before heading back down to walk through the Mirabel gardens. This is also where we needed to meet for our Sound of Music Tour. Around 2 pm we boarded our bus with our tour guide Jenny and bus driver Lazlo. They were quite the pair let me tell you. Jenny was from England and had a very enthusiastic way of speaking and Lazlo would honk the horn of the bus in unison with the song, “The Lonely Goatherd.” Oh yeah, if I forgot to mention it, the Sound of Music Tour is indeed a sing-along tour. It took everything in me not to cry when we would sing some of the songs, only because the Sound of Music reminds me of my mom, sister and uncle. Naturally, it made me miss them. Anyway, the tour was fantastic! We got to see most of the filming locations and got to hear some of the juicy secrets of the filming process. It was really one of the most fun things I’ve ever participated in.

Self-explanatory

"You are sixteen going on seventeen..."

Saturday evening I dragged Elizabeth up to the top of the Nonnberg Abbey to try to find the gate that the children come up to Reverend Mother in the Sound of Music. The tour took us by the abbey but not in it, so there was no way I was leaving without seeing it. By the time we actually found the stairs to get up there it was getting dark and unfortunately, my camera was being a pain and didn’t take very good pictures of the gate that I had found. (I couldn’t really tell you if I actually found the gate that I wanted to find.) After the abbey, I also dragged Elizabeth up to a viewpoint I had read about that was great for taking night pictures. Poor Elizabeth. I kept worrying that I would be the death of her. Here she was suffering through her asthma symptoms and I was jubilantly encouraging her up the hundred stairs for my picture-taking purposes. She deserves a gold medal. Well, we did make it to the top of the stairs and I got some great photos. I also played a bit of Sound of Music from my phone to set the scene. The night was a beautiful ending to a terrible start that morning.

Salzburg by night

And if you thought my crazy touring antics were done there…wrong! Sunday morning I took us on a 40-minute train ride south of Salzburg to see the Hohenwerfen Castle in Werfen, Austria. The way this plan got into my head was the fact that the castle was the filming location of one of my favorite mini-series, “The Tenth Kingdom.” I also found out later that it was first the filming location of a movie called “Where Eagles Dare.” I had never heard of it but I think I might try to watch it now. Anywho, after arriving in Werfen we walked another highway to get to the bottom of the mountain that the castle stands on. Then, guess what, we hiked up the mountain to get to the castle! To make things even lovelier, it had started to rain! Sarcasm aside, it was an amazing castle and I was the happiest person alive to have made it there. It is such an awesome castle! They have a falconry museum and we even got to watch a falcon show! Because we needed to actually make it back to Salzburg to get on the train to Vienna, we needed to leave the falcon show a little early. I thought the train going back to Salzburg left at noon so we booked it down the mountain, in the rain, in heeled boots to the train station. We did make the noon train back and it sure felt great to finally sit down!

Castle Hohenwerfen

Falcon!

There was one more thing we had to do before leaving Salzburg. There was no way Elizabeth was leaving without seeing Mozart’s birth house! So, we saw that and then walked back to the train station where we chowed down on Burger King before boarding the train. Another nice surprise was waiting for us on the train to Vienna – no seats! I was astonished. Our train to Salzburg on Friday was practically empty and this train had people hanging out the windows (not really). Elizabeth and I did what any logical person would do and took two seats on the steps of the train door. I think I dozed off a little bit before the next stop where we grabbed the free seats of those who had just left.

Mozart's birth house, grocery store located conveniently below

Nice seats on the train, right?

And here I am again in the middle of another week of classes. I definitely feel like I’m in the slump of the study abroad experience. I definitely miss my family and friends from back home. Midterms are already in two weeks. I know it’s going by fast, I’ve been saying that from the beginning, but it’s still difficult to be away from home this long. I’m not going to deny my homesickness or sugar coat the study abroad experience. I think it’s tough. Exciting, but tough.  

Happy Oktober!

            Since my afternoon class has been cancelled for the third time this week, I figured it would be a great time to blog. If you’re wondering why it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything it’s because I just spent a wonderful weekend with my family! Aunt Kathy, Uncle Chris and Uncle John arrived Friday morning, after which they met me at the McDonald’s near my school so I could show them around the IES building and my apartment. They were pretty zonked from travelling all night so I didn’t force them to do too much. ;) My cousin Erika and her friend Raul arrived later that evening. We ate at a nice little restaurant near their hotel and then strolled through the area. I’m sure they were all very ready to sleep that night.

            Saturday morning I decided to take everyone to a beautiful monastery north of Vienna called Klosterneuburg. It was founded in 1114 by the Babenberger margrave Saint Leopold III. (I had to look up what a margrave was: the hereditary title of some princes of the Holy Roman Empire.) The legend of how the monastery came to be is really neat. One day Leopold and his wife Agnes were walking through the Vienna woods when a gust of wind carried away her wedding veil. Leopold looked and looked but it was nowhere to be found. Nine years later he found it hanging in an elderberry tree where the monastery now stands. Supposedly, the Virgin Mary appeared to him the day he found it and commanded Leopold to build the monastery in her honor. We had a great time touring the monastery and even went on the wine cellar tour (wine tasting included!). Klosterneuburg houses the oldest wine cellar in all of Austria!

The Klosterneuburg monastery to the right. Definitely not the best view, but beautiful nonetheless. 

Uncle Chris, Erika, Me, Uncle John and Aunt Kathy

            When we got back into Vienna that Saturday evening I then decided to take them to Austria’s Oktoberfest in the Prater Park. Unfortunately, it started to rain when we got there, but we were able to enjoy a Weißwürst and a beer and walk around to see all the crazy rides in the park. We finished the night off at Café Aida where I tried a Cardinalschnitte (a vanilla mouse torte with a raspberry paste) and a Melange (type of Vienna coffee). After dessert, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Chris departed for their hotel but Uncle John, Erika, Raul and I headed to the Karlskirche (St. Charles Church). The church has a reflecting pool that is great for taking pictures at night. Before we made it to the church, though, we ran into what looked like thousands of runners running along the Opernring for the Vienna night run. We stood and cheered them on for a little bit and then had to go underground to get across to the church, since the road was occupied.

The Karlskirche by night.

            Sunday we went to Franz Schubert’s mass at the Augustinerkirche. The Agustinerkirche is known for its superb choir and orchestra. Each weekend they play different mass compositions by famous composers. Schubert’s was much more intense than the Mozart mass I had attended with Molly a few weeks ago. It was still very beautiful, and although it was much longer than a usual Catholic mass, I think (I hope!) my family still enjoyed it. Afterwards we ate lunch at the Palmenhaus and then walked next door to the Butterfly house. One of the butterflies hung onto Uncle John’s shirt the whole time he was in there. I had to pick him off so we could leave! Erika and Raul unfortunately had to leave me that evening. I’d say we had a pretty great weekend together.

Can you spot the butterfly?

Now, here’s where the most interesting part of the weekend comes in. After Erika and Raul left I told my aunt and uncles that I was going to go to the Volksoper to try to get standing room tickets for the ballet, Carmina Burana, and that they could come with me or not. Of course they said they’d come with me. So we made our way to the Volksoper two hours before the show was to start. When we got there the ticket booth was not yet open, so we went across the street to eat dinner. We went back an hour before start time, got in line, and Aunt Kathy and I prepared our questions for the ticket lady. (After a while it wasn’t really a line anymore. We had to casually fight to stay near the ticket window.) The lady told us that there were no tickets but we could come back in half an hour to ask again. We waited. Then the crowd really started to pour in. It was kind of difficult to tell who was waiting for what. We had a few people come and chat with us about what we thought was supposed to happen. The ticket people began to get very harsh about there being no more tickets, but we stayed and waited anyway. I was beginning to think that it really wasn’t going to work out. I had already gotten [kind of] yelled at by the ticket lady when she told me it was impossible to get tickets. Finally, they gave the five-minute start sound and I saw the other ticket lady hand a lot of little yellow papers to the guy that had been guarding the booth. He turned around to me and said, “Three?” I said, “Four.” Then, handing us two yellow slips, he said, “Okay. Two and two.” I was stunned. He had just given us four seats free! We quickly ran up the stairs and made it to our gallery seats right as the show was starting. It was an amazing feeling and the performance was wonderful!

            Monday was a laid back day. I caught up on all of my homework in the morning before meeting up with my aunt and uncles for lunch at the Donauturm (“Danube tower”). If you ever make it to Vienna I highly recommend going here. The 826-foot tower has the best view of Vienna that I have seen yet. The revolving restaurant at the top was also very lovely. They gave us fresh bread with great spreads. I ordered the spinach and cream cheese Gnocchi. So good! My only complaint about the experience: It was very hot. The AC was not strong and the sun beating in through the windows didn’t help. I think it would be best to go in the evening.

A view from the Donauturm. The castle-looking church you see is where I sometimes go to mass.

            Because my afternoon class got cancelled on Tuesday, I went to the airport with Aunt Kathy, Uncle Chris and Uncle John to meet the pilgrimage group that they would be joining. I was going to sneak onto the bus with them to go to Schönbrunn palace, but they were an hour behind because of lost luggage, and I had to get back to the opera house to wait in line for another standing room ticket to see Madame Butterfly. (If you’re also wondering why I go to so many performances it’s because I’m kind of forced to for my Music in Performance class.) For this one, I waited in line for two and a half hours. Each venue has a different process. This one was actually a structured line and I didn’t have to run into the room to the sound of a buzzer. I also met a nice Taiwanese lady, Peggy, who had been sitting in line next to me when I got there. We talked about all of our different travels (she had seemed to have been to every country in the world!), what she did for work, and she asked me all sorts of questions about the standing room process. I learned that she was 40 years old, but I had guessed she was only in her mid-20s. We ended up sticking together for the whole night. I didn’t catch her whole name so I don’t know if I’ll ever talk to her again, but it’s those moments in life that you’ll never forget because you took a chance, met someone new, and maybe even bonded a little. Again, the performance was superb and I really enjoyed myself. I think standing at an opera for almost three hours has potential to build some real character in a person.

Peggy and me

            So, now my story brings us back to this morning where I had to say goodbye to my family. (On a side note, I think the English language should come up with a generic word for both aunts and uncles, like you would use the word ‘siblings.’  That way I wouldn’t have had to keep saying my aunt and uncles throughout this whole blog.) I got to meet many of my uncle’s parishioners. It looked like they will have a great group of entertaining people with them as they make their way across Austria and into southern Germany.

            Today was such a perfect, beautiful fall day. I am amazed that tomorrow is already Thursday and I still have not booked anything for my supposed travel weekend. We’ll see what happens…

Bis später! (Until later!)