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!)