Birthday

So my first birthday outside of the States was wonderful.

It didn't start out too well, with me waking up early with a cough. I will go to an Apotheke today I think and see if I can get something for it like Guaifenesin. I got back asleep for a few hours and then got up, took a shower, and left for IES to practice for my last lesson with Barbara.

I only practiced for about 2 1/2 hours but it was focused and I felt okay about the last two pages of Sibelius. My lesson went really well. I'm sad that I was sick and Barbara is such a germophobe. After I used one of her pencils she washed her hands and then disinfected the pencil with a wipe. I asked for a copy of the 2nd and 3rd movements of Sibelius with her fingerings, and she gave them to me and I sight read the 2nd movement. I will miss her a lot, she was a fantastic teacher and such a funny woman. (She got a call from her husband during my lesson and they are so cute together. "Get bread, we don't have any. -something in Polish or German- ciao ciao.")

I left my lesson at 4:30 and it was already dark. Oh well. I went home and did I don't know what for a few hours until I left for my dinner party. I got there early so I could go find it so I didn't get people lost, but it was really easy to get to. Westrey and her friend couldn't come because her friend's flight was delayed and Westrey had to wait for her at the airport. Albert didn't answer his phone for the longest time and then called around 8:30 apologizing, saying he had just woken up. Charlotte totally called that, I don't know how.

So I found Emily and Ben at the Stephansplatz station, and Amelia was there too but decided to wait for Jennie. So the three of us left and met Oliver who had just gotten there. There were a bunch of people waiting for a table I guess but as I approached the hostess Ben asked if I had made a reservation, and I said, "Yes, of course I made a reservation." I think she heard that because I didn't actually give her my name before she exclaimed, "Oh, you're Mr. Stevens!" (Oliver, Emily, and Ben smiled) and she led us around the corner to the Mark Twain room, "This is your room."



The Mark Twain room was so nice. You can't really see the gold "Happy Birthday" confetti but I know Rochelle and Emily have pictures. I didn't take that many pictures, but I know they have the evening well documented and I will steal their pictures later.



I only found two famous signatures: Egon Schiele and Rilke.

Charlotte came a little late and I swear I gave her good directions, but I had to go outside to get reliable cell reception and talk to her. I must have missed her on the street but she found her way without a problem.

I don't remember what the aperitif was but it was delicious. We all joked about how many glasses we all had. (red wine, white wine, water, aperitif) Later Ben and Oliver played their glasses, but we didn't have enough water left to make consonant intervals. I had a glass of Chardonnay, and I know others got Zweigelt. (I am looking at the bill, which, incidentally, came out to be 249 Euro)

I ordered Zwiebelrostbraten which was delicious. I know Jennie tried the wild boar, because that started our "Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo,..." saying. And "like a bull" is an inside joke about Charlotte. "Oliver, hand gestures do not make this sentence easier to understand." "It made sense in my head." "Wouldn't it be buffalo buffaloes, if it's a verb?" "No, because buffalo is plural, not singular." It was ridiculous. "I wonder if people outside the door can overhear this conversation."

We were going to sing a song which is related to the restaurant, but I don't know the history of it right now. But instead we got started talking about solfege. In particular, the IU "number" system was very amusing. For chromaticisms, they add "fl-" or "sh-" in front of the number, representing flat or sharp. "This piece is in the key of Flive."

I remember talking about British accents with Oliver. Apparently the British pronounce Barack Obama really funny. I can't accurately represent it here. "controversy" was another such word.

It took a long time for them to split up the check. On the way out, I noticed one particular picture on the wall. "Is that an Asian The Sound of Music?" It was. There were also pictures of Pavarotti but we didn't stay to try to find his signature. It was a really fun time and I am so glad that such great friends could celebrate my birthday with me. I'm sad there isn't a picture with the whole group because Rochelle took the group pictures. And I don't even have those to offer yet, but I will probably make it my profile picture.

Carpe Diem

Here's that list I made a few weeks ago. I've been very busy and have loved experiencing as much of Vienna as possible.

Eat at Zum Schwarzen Kameel (Beethoven ate here)
Eat at the Griechenbeisl (Schubert ate here)
Go to the Schönbrunn Zoo (one of the oldest zoos in the world, 10 minutes from my apartment)
Tour Schloß Schönbrunn
Go to the Belvedere (and see Klimt and Rodin collections, including The Kiss)
Go to Mozarthaus + Haus der Musik
Eat at Cafe Sacher (and try Sacher torte)
Liechtenstein Museum
Naturalhistorisches Museum
Leopold Museum (I know there's a Schiele exhibit there now, and maybe another Picasso?)
Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury)
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Hofbibliothek (The National Library, the one that the Beauty and the Beast library is based on)
Peterskirche (nativity scenes closer to Christmas)
Eat at Cafe Central (very famous. Trotsky ate here)
Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts)
Eat at Cafe Hawelka (another famous cafe)
Go to Beethoven's Heiligenstadt House (where he wrote the Heiligenstadt Testament)

I have reservations at the Griechenbeisl for my birthday dinner. I am very excited for my birthday. I hope I am feeling better. Today I was at the Leopold Museum and I started feeling really sick. I made it back to IES and curled up on the couch on the 2nd floor. Rochelle and Westrey came by and asked if I was okay. They were so sweet. They sat with me for a while and kept telling me I looked like death and needed to go home. They made me laugh and I felt a little bit better. I wanted to go home but I really thought the Beethoven quartet needed one more run through.



Death and Life, by Schiele. At the Leopold Museum.

Tomorrow I will try to see the National Library because I don't think that would take long. I want to go see the Naturalhistorisches Museum and Schönbrunn before I leave.

______________________________________________________

It is now officially my birthday.

Yesterday, we had our final IES concert. The Beethoven was first on the program and I think it went fairly well. Honestly, I thought we did better in the dress rehearsal Wednesday, but I was pleased. I also really loved seeing Zu Hilfe! from Die Zauberflöte. Katy did a great job as the dragon and it was really funny (props to Jeremy for the staging). Also, right after the concert there was a reception and then the theater class acted out a few scenes from Schnitzler's Reigen. It was very funny, even though I only caught the gist of the scenes. Then I went over to Emily's place and we hung out and had a really good time.

Today, I slept in, then decided to finally go see Schloß Schönbrunn. It was beautiful. Also, I forgot to mention that before the IES concert I went to check out the Hofbibliothek. It is the national library of Austria and was the model for the library in the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast.

So here are some pictures before I go. I am excited for my birthday dinner! I might also go to the Nationalhistorisches Museum between my lesson and dinner. I've had a wonderful time in Austria and I am sad to think about leaving so soon. I will make the most of my time left here.



The Hofbibliothek



The Mirror Room at Schönbrunn. Where Mozart supposedly played for Marie Antionette and kissed her.



The Millions Room at Schönbrunn.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

I made a Christmas playlist like a week ago.
I'd copy it down here but I don't have that much time, and it's not that important.
What is important is that I have had a blast these past 3 weeks. It may or may not have something to do with the fact that I haven't seriously practiced in about 3 weeks. I will worry about that when I go home. I can't believe that my time here is almost over. I want to live up my last week and a half here. I am super excited for my birthday! But more on that later, if I have time.

I just came home from my German teacher's house. She invited both her classes to come for dinner and then we sang a bunch of Christmas carols. First we sang traditional ones in German, like O Tannenbaum. Then we sang whatever Christmas songs we could remember, led mainly by Ian and Kyleigh. It was a lot of fun, I am really glad I went.

Before that, I had Beethoven coaching with Amelia, Emily, and Elianna. It went really well today and I had a good time. I didn't really like op. 18 no. 1 before, but it definitely grew on me, and I love playing it. During our rehearsal it is interesting to note that Dean was guest teaching my Philosophy class that I had to skip. He said it went well.

I decided not to travel to Munich to see Timna over the weekend, sadly. It just would have been too much traveling to see her and the city for two not full days. I played in Chris LaRosa's (and Drew Schweppe's) composition recital on Friday and went to their after party. But between the recital, which was really good (Chris' vocal works are incredible) and the party a group went out to dinner and went through the Christkindlmarkt at Museumsquartier. Then Kyle showed us this great Italian restaurant after Centimeter and a Viennese place were too full. It was delicious. I got Ravioli, Prosecco, and Tiramisu.

Chris and Drew's after party was really really fun. I think more than half of IES showed up. Not much to say about it now, though, except I thought it was funny that Kyleigh really wanted me to have Asian glow. haha.

On Thursday instead of German class we met at the Christkindlmarkt at the Freyung. We wandered around in twos and threes and looked around. Co/Co had questions to ask people but my class just had to talk about what we thought of the Christkindlmarkt with our teacher. Then she bought us all really fancy hot chocolate. They had a variety of chocolate bars and they poured hot water over them and mashed them up in the mug.

After that Westrey, Carrie, and I went to Cafe Central. They just got pumpkin soup, but I wanted to treat myself so I got roast duck. It was delicious. I have been eating out a lot, which has been nice. They stayed to do homework but I had to leave for Classical Symphony.

I'll have to write other posts about Prague and the weekend before. I have done a lot on my list and have had a great time. But now I have to go to class. Bis später!

Things yet to be done

My goodness, time flies!
I am sad to think about this great semester ending and all my friends here dispersing all over the United States. I probably won't see most of them for years. (the music world is small, though. so fingers crossed)
This weekend has been really great. Full of music.

Friday we had the day off because IES was celebrating its 60th anniversary in Wien. The Vienna program was the first. I didn't go because I just wanted to relax and I wasn't that interested in presentations or speeches.

But actually Thursday I was looking at concerts for the weekend and found now only Symphonie Fantastique and Glazunov Saxophone concerto (I didn't end up going to this one) and Mahler's Kindertotenlieder and Bruckner 9, but Werner Güra was singing Schubert's Winterreise that night! I called Charlotte but she had rehearsal until 7 so she couldn't go, sadly. I arrived at the Musikverein at 7 and waited in line for almost 15 minutes before I could get my ticket. I paid 21 Euros (no Stehplatz in the Brahmssaal) and found my way there. I sat in the balcony right above the stage. Right before the concert started I moved more to the side so I could see the pianist as well. It was a fantastic concert. I wish I had studied the words beforehand, but it wasn't necessary to appreciate such beautiful singing.

I don't remember what I did Friday except for talk to Katy for over 2 hours. I think I practiced some that day. I didn't go to the IES celebration. Oh yeah! I set up a hair cut appointment and then (after going home to get my computer power cord) met Rochelle at Cafe Phil and wrote for almost 2 hours for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, which I may have mentioned earlier). She and Hannah had been there since I think 9 or 11 that morning. I want to at least break 10 or 15 thousand words, but it's not a high priority for me. I can write a novel in January.

Yesterday I practiced at Schönbrunnerstraße for a few hours. I had texted Charlotte and Westrey to see if they wanted to do something. I wanted to see the Zoo, finally, but I won't go by myself. Westrey was going to Graz spontaneously, and Charlotte had rehearsal and then was practicing. (I heard from Zan later that Barbara had called her and told her not to come after all because the strings weren't done rehearsing / tuning the Brahms quintet, and Charlotte was very upset) So I practiced and wanted to visit Peterskirche and the Rathaus for the first day of the Christkindlmarkt before going to Bruckner 9 / Mahler. I texted Charlotte and Katy and Katy wrote back to meet her at the Rathaus at 5:30. I don't remember when I left for home exactly but I got a text from Charlotte as I was eating frankfurters that she was leaving for the Rathaus. I left earlier than I intended in order to meet her there. Then Charlotte called and said she was not going after all and was going to a ballet with some other people instead of to Bruckner 9.

Since I was early to meet Katy, I got off at Karlsplatz and walked to the Rathaus. I sort of got lost but knew the general direction and arrived on time. I called Katy and she said she was on the U3 ready to get off at some random stop. She was kind of out of it. She made it to the Rathaus eventually and we (Sierra was with Katy) found Zan and Jeremy among the throngs of people. It was really funny, too. There was some sort of protest and two girls got dragged off by the police after climbing on a stand roof with a megaphone.

It was time to go for Bruckner tickets, so we found the right tram and got to the Musikverein.

The Mahler was very beautiful but I was a little tired and had trouble concentrating. The Bruckner was absolutely phenomenal! After the 25 minute first movement Zan and I looked at each other and were just like, 'holy shit.' It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to.

After the concert most people went their separate ways but Oliver, Zan and I tried to find a bar to just hang out and get some food. 1516 was packed but we somehow found an open table at a bar / restaurant whose name escapes me. I got a beer and goulash, and it was delicious.

Oliver and I went back and I think we both turned in fairly early.

Today I slept in until almost 10. I got to Schönbrunnerstraße to practice for my 4:30 lesson just after noon. I put in over 3 1/2 hours and left at 3:45. My lesson went pretty well but not as well as I was hoping given my great practice session. I came back here and made pasta and bread (Oliver showed me how) for dinner, with Sturm of course. Now I want to go to bed but it's only 9:30 and I should read for Mahler.

And here's the list of things I want to do / see before I leave in December (the reason I wrote this post in the first place, ha):

Eat at Zum Schwarzen Kameel (Beethoven ate here)
Eat at the Griechenbeisl (Schubert ate here)
Go to the Schönbrunn Zoo (one of the oldest zoos in the world, 10 minutes from my apartment)
Tour Schloß Schönbrunn
Go to the Belvedere (and see Klimt and Rodin collections, including The Kiss)
Go to Mozarthaus + Haus der Musik
Eat at Cafe Sacher (and try Sacher torte)
Liechtenstein Museum
Naturalhistorisches Museum
Leopold Museum (I know there's a Schiele exhibit there now, and maybe another Picasso?)
Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury)
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Hofbibliothek (The National Library, the one that the Beauty and the Beast library is based on)
Peterskirche (nativity scenes closer to Christmas)
Eat at Cafe Central (very famous. Trotsky ate here)
Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts)
Eat at Cafe Hawelka (another famous cafe)
Go to Beethoven's Heiligenstadt House (where he wrote the Heiligenstadt Testament)

Also, I am going to Prague after Thanksgiving, and hopefully going to Munich Dec. 4-5 to see Timna! So there is a lot to do! Not to mention I need approx. 1000 pictures with all my friends.

So if I don't update much, hopefully it's because I'm doing lots of cool things all day with friends.

Friends

This weekend has been so much fun.

As I was leaving the apartment for IES on Friday, I thought that some friends were in town and I had yet to make plans. I shouldn't go out and do much because I really needed to practice, but after 10, what then? Oliver and his mom left for Salzburg around 1 so the apartment was all mine on Saturday. I'm not sure when he gets back today. So I invited a dozen friends over for drinks and a relaxing evening.

Then I got a little excited about the idea and went shopping, after our non-quartet-rehearsal. I practiced a bit, then went to the Naschmarkt, then went out again to Spar to pick up more food / wine. I was going to have bread and cheese spread and hummus, but the Ciabatta bread I picked up at the Naschmarkt wasn't quite right for that. So I'm using it to make sandwiches and dip in olive oil. I suppose I could have put that out but I forgot once people actually came over.

Anyway, Friday Charlotte called and was about to go shopping herself. She was downtown though so she promised to call after she was done shopping and cooking dinner. She came over after dinner and we just hung out, had some wine, and found Batman Begins in German on tv. I must say, German dubbing is much better than English dubbing. It was a lot of fun. I know the movie well enough that it didn't matter that I missed most of the words. Charlotte left when she was falling asleep.

On Saturday I got up and went to the IES solo concert. It was really good. I wasn't sure anyone would actually come over because no one responds to facebook invitations. I really wanted to go to the Hilary Hahn concert (she played Sibelius!) but decided I really needed to practice Sibelius instead. It was somewhat productive. I really hate fingered octaves.

I was kinda down because my night was looking really boring, when Charlotte texted saying people were on their way over. I think they all came from the concert. Charlotte, Zan, Emily, Michelle, and one of Michelle's Vandy friends who is studying in Copenhagen came over. I texted Ben and he got here a bit later.

Everyone started out with a glass of Sturm and we sat on the couches and talked, and Charlotte made a PARTAY playlist. (Beck, Interpol, Of Montreal, Vampire Weekend, Muse, Fratellis, Arcade Fire) We tried watching YouTube videos but my internet died. I told Michelle and Zan that I had just caught Alexandra on facebook and she said hi.

Then we went out (Charlotte went home) to a club called Chelsea, off Thaliastraße (U6). It was free, and it was fun, and we had a good time dancing. I apparently left right before a big bar fight broke out. I guess I'm glad but I wish I had seen it, ha. I came back, facebooked for a bit, then went to bed around 3.

A Long Post About Everything

Alright I went to Berlin this weekend and took a train there (about a 9 hour trip) so I brought my journal to write. Originally I was going to translate Die Zauberflöte (the Magic Flute, by Mozart) but then stuff happened which prompted me to record it immediately. Then I wrote 11 more pages. So here is most of that, all in one chunk. Sorry I have not been updating regularly. I might throw in a few pictures, but then again, this post will be long enough as is.

Dear Journal,

I should have been writing a lot this past month. I think my Styria trip is covered in my Blogger post. Let me work backwards, or at least start with this trip. I am on my way to Berlin, on a train somewhere between Passau and Nürnberg.

Last night I went to see the French National Orchestra perform Beethoven 6 and Rite of Spring. Oliver, Katy, Elianna, Chris LaRosa, Rochelle, Ben, and Daniel were there. It was a good concert but I wasn't that impressed. Beethoven was slow and lackluster, and the Stravinsky didn't have enough passion for me, although it was very precise. The rude French people crowding us in Stehplatz didn't make it any better.

Afterward we all (minus Elianna) went back to Daniel and Chris' place. We hung out for a few hours. I left just before 1 a.m. It took a while to get back and then I remembered that I needed to register for spring semester. I had actually talked to Chris who mentioned to his Mayfield the possibility of me replacing Laura Bouffard in the Mayfield when she goes abroad to Australia. They like the idea so I hope to live there.

I picked classes (despite some internet failure) and was pleased with my schedule.
Violin (4), Orch. (1), Senior Recital (1), Studio (0), German 103 (3 - provided I take a placement test, I assume), Opera (3), and General Logic (3). Only Opera on Thursdays! Anyway I finished picking after "sleep" from 2:30 -5:15, when the internet came back on. I ran out the door, forgetting my microtrack, hostel number, and most importantly, my passport.

After getting checked for my ticket I didn't think much of it, having asked Oliver to bring my microtrack. He asked if I had my passport and he took it with him when I told him I had forgotten it. God bless the guy. So I was sleeping when German police came to ask for my passport. I didn't have it and my social security card wasn't good enough.

They took my credit cards and at Plattling we got off and returned to (my favorite place) Passau. I called Oliver to see if his train also went through Passau. Thank God it did.

We couldn't just wait at Plattling for some reason and took a slower train back to Passau, missing Oliver's train by a good 10 minutes. Oliver gave my passport to another police officer at the station and then got back on his train. I'm glad I didn't make him late. After his train there was no way for me to get to Berlin on time. I tried many combinations. I am scheduled to take a train from Nürnberg to Berlin and arrive at 8:15. I can only hope 'A Survivor in Warsaw' is a long piece and I can get in during intermission. *sigh* I left at 6:40, 2 hours before Oliver, and will arrive 2 hours after he does. So stupid. Anyway they made a copy of my passport for paperwork at the police station and let me go.


Passau Police Station

So there is a ton to talk about now. I need to catch up on my blogging because it's faster to journal that way.

I finally got new shoes! Charlotte and I went shopping last week, the day of our first IES concert. She forgot to pack concert clothes somehow. My Adidas were literally falling apart.



We went to Mariahhilferstraße and looked for a dress for her first. Then we found a big shoe place and each got shoes. I am really happy with my new shoes. They are brown, which I don't normally like (for shoes) but Charlotte noticed that I wear a lot of Earth tones, which is true.



Actually we tried to go shopping between classes. I was in the computer lab and she found me and called from the doorway: "Pssst! Austin! Austin!" It made me smile. We went to a store on Kärtnerstraße but didn't find anything before we had to go to our respective classes at 1:30.

Over the past week I have been obsessed with Die Zauberflöte, since I bought the Reclam book libretto. I later went back and found the Der Freischütz libretto and the fairy tale Undine at OBV (Austrian bookstore). I have plenty to translate. I am listening to the Magic Flute CD I just purchased on iTunes the other night (with Fritz Wunderlich and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau). I was going to start translating on the train but had to record my journey so far. Next I will pick a version of Der Freischütz.

Oliver and Katy and I watched The Red Violin a few nights ago and I followed the German decently. The last time I watched the movie I didn't have any German experience. Katy hadn't seen the movie before but basically guessed all the plot twists throughout the movie. She said at home she's not allowed to talk during movies, haha! Also, Oliver pointed out the connection between the Pope scenes and the China scenes - the servant. I had never noticed that before, or had forgotten. We stayed up until almost 3 just talking, it was a lot of fun.

So I am planning on participating in NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Rochelle and I will be among the many trying to crank out a 50,000 word novel during November. Obviously, music comes first, and I still have a ton to experience of Wien with my friends. But why not? As long as I keep my priorities straight there's no real harm.

Also, I really want to compose chamber music while here. I definitely want to learn about the clarinet and horn from Charlotte and Oliver. I need to ask for my Schubert Octet score back from Charlotte; I loaned it to her a while ago. She gave me a great recording of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players performing it. I think it's better than the Berlin Philharmonic Octet recording I have.

I really want to get a few more scores, in particular Mendelssohn quartets (I'm listening to them now) and Dvorak Serenade for Strings, but I know that I will already have a weight problem when I pack my bags in December. And like I said earlier, I would love to buy 50 more Reclam books. They are so wonderful and cheap. In addition to the 3 I mentioned earlier that I bought recently, I also got some Grimm's Fairy Tales and Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Kafka I may never be able to read, but it's one of my favorite German short stories so it is my somewhat lofty goal to be able to read it someday.

So I guess there isn't a lot to say about midterms. I thought they went well. I threw something together, which I thought was okay, for philosophy. The midterm (3 one page essays to prompts) was due on the 18th, before any other midterm, so it was easy and nice to get out of the way. German was Saturday. I was worried but I felt it was fair and pretty easy. The fairy tale I wrote the night before was probably all kinds of wrong.

Mahler studying was mainly limited to going over notes and rereading the last article (by McGrath) because it summed up everything we have talked about in the class pretty nicely. The Classical Symphony midterm was the hardest to prepare for because no one really knows how to analyze a piece like we need to. The best I got was looking for instrumentation (1749 was the earliest use of Clarinet in a symphony... or maybe when it was invented?) The treatment of winds / brass and bass instruments is the most telling. If winds mainly double the strings, it's probably an earlier work. Also, it wasn't until later that composers wrote different bass lines for the celli, basses, and bassoons.

So Sunday I saw the Wiener Philharmoniker for the first time (I also went to a rehearsal the week before). They performed some Mozart Symphony (I don't know which one), Thomasi trombone concerto (very cool) and Dvorak 9 "New World." It was a very good concert.

On Monday I went to the Oper to see L'Elisir D'Amore (the elixir of love) by Donizetti, with tenor Juan Diego Florez. The entire cast was very strong. The story is adorable and they played it up. Unfortunately there was no encore that night (Juan Diego Florez had given an encore of an aria the opening night). I went with Zan, Siena, and Jeremy. I arrived for Stehplatz at 4. I finally finished reading Viktor Frankl's book, "Man's Search for Meaning." That book deserves its own blog about it. I thoroughly enjoyed the opera, though I think I prefer the lower standing room places instead of the galerie.

This week has been a lot of fun and I am still hoping to be able to cap it all off with Mahler 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic. However, we just left Leipzig half an hour ago, which means we are 20 minutes late. I think I should arrive at 8:35. I told Oliver to call me at intermission. I am very annoyed, but it was my fault for forgetting. I'm glad to not be in jail.

Last week, after the German midterm, I decided to go out to the Wienerwald. It is close, and I knew I couldn't go to Hallstatt because I needed to prepare for my Mahler midterm Monday. It was so pretty, with all the leaves having changed!



On Tuesday it was the Austrian independence day, so a lot of museums were free to the public. Rochelle wanted to go to some museums so we planned to meet in front of the Parliament building. The most fun part was taking pictures with the "National Holiday: Redefined" sign Rochelle brought from IES. In particular, we found some little Pokemon like creatures, which I guess were supposed to make government fun for kids. One had glasses that we dubbed "Austin Jr." haha.



Okay, hopefully we are close to Berlin. Will write more later!

I got out at the Hauptbahnhof at 8:20, only 5 minutes late. I ran to Washingtonplatz and got a cab to take me to the Philharmonia. I came in and asked the lady at the info desk if I could go in during intermission. She told me there was no intermission. So close and yet so far! I can hear the ff sections from the lobby. I am very disappointed.

Oh well, like I told Chelsea when she called, I'm just glad to not be stuck in jail, in Passau. What consoles me is the fact that I can come back one day in the future. Oh, they are done already! I guess I should look for Oliver, Westrey and Chelsea.

* Then we went to a cool wine bar and hung out at Westrey and Chelsea's couchsurfing place. Oliver and I went to our hostels. I had a hard time finding mine but wound up by Checkpoint Charlie. Sunday I woke up early and wandered all over the place, meeting Oliver for an early lunch somewhere near the zoo.



Walking through the Tiergarten

My German teacher (from Vandy) called and we met up at the Museum island and went through the Pergamonmuseum, which was really awesome. It was great to see her.



The Ishtar Gate

Then I went to the DDR museum, which was about life in East Berlin. Finally we a bunch of us met up and got dinner, then I went to bed because we had a 6:40 flight.

Yesterday, instead of sleeping as soon as we got back, I took a shower and then went out to practice. After a while I wasn't being productive so it was perfect timing when Katy texted about going to Zentrumfriedhof (the big cemetery where Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Gluck, J. Strauss, and Schoenberg are all buried).



Beethoven's grave

My feet were killing me so after a drink at 1516 they went to hear the Verdi requiem and I went home to finish practicing. I wish I could have gone but Stehplatz would have killed me. Instead of practicing I went to bed at like 8 and slept around 12 hours. I felt horrible this morning and skipped my classes. I feel a lot better now.

I think that's as close to caught up as I'll ever be. Tschüss!

Beethoven 3, 4, 6 and 7, plus two overtures

I've given up the idea of posting in chronological order. I'll finish the 10 day break posts soon, hopefully, but I have been doing a lot lately and want to post about it.

I'm in the IES computer lab now waiting for workshop to start at 4:30. I just got out of a coaching with Albert. We are playing Navarra, and it's such a fun piece. It's difficult to tune but we are working through it slowly and efficiently and we sounded much better today than Friday. Barbara (our teacher and coach) is really funny and always gets the best sound out of us.

Speaking of last Friday, though, after our coaching I went home and changed. I met Charlotte at the Naschmarkt where we walked around until we decided to get Chinese food. It wasn't only Chinese, since I couldn't resist getting Bulgogi. I think the name of the place was 'Pineapple.' ha.

Then we went to the Konzerthaus to get last minute student tickets at 6:30ish. We ran into Chelsea and Westrey was there, too. We swapped seats with them because Charlotte and I wanted to sit in the Organbalkon, behind the stage. It was incredible! We sat right behind the bass section.

The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen was phenomenal! They had a small string section (only 3 basses) but it allowed them to play as a chamber ensemble more than an orchestra. The precision of the group was astounding. We were literally giddy with happiness.

They started with Coriolan Overture, which I have loved ever since we played it at Vanderbilt under Leon Fleisher. Then they played Beethoven 6, had intermission, and finished with Beethoven 7. It was the best concert I think I have ever been to.

Our favorite part was probably watching the viola section as they played. The first stand, and in particular, the principal violist, was so incredibly happy to be alive and playing Beethoven. He was smiling and laughing and having fun with his colleagues. He exhibited pure joy as he played. To a lesser extent I think you could tell all the musicians were enjoying the music and the sounds they produced were genuine and alive. They really exemplified the ideal of chamber music: many people acting as one unit effortlessly.

Dean had called me in a panic before the concert. He was running late and forgot his ID, so he wanted me to try to get him a ticket. The line was really long, but some random lady offered me a ticket and I bought it from her.

After the concert Dean showed us a nice little restaurant / bar near where he lived, and it was great catching up with him. We actually ran into him the next night.

Charlotte and I had to go back the next night. I told Eva we had to postpone our Skype time until Sunday so we could go.

Saturday I slept in, then went down to the first district to explore and just wander around. I started at Karlsplatz and went to Karlskirche. Karlskirche is a really beautiful church that's unique in that they have built an elevator inside that takes you up to the dome. You climb some stairs up and you can see 360 degrees.

Then I wanted to finally go to the Hofburg, since I hadn't even seen it yet. It's a beautiful place with gardens and several national museums, including the national library. I was going to see the Silberkammer but was told that there wasn't a lot of time and I would be rushed. I came back Sunday and really enjoyed it, plus the Sisi (Empress of Austria and wife of Emperor Francis Joseph I) museum and Kaiserappartements. I thought mom would definitely love to see the Silberkammer, with all the court silver and porcellan.

Then I wandered and found myself by the Belvedere, but it was just closing (everything here closes at 6), so I went to the Prater to ride the Reisenrad (the ferris wheel). I decided it was too dark and left. I ended up going back the next day and rode it, getting another great view of the city, this time as the sun set.

I went home and made tortellini and got a text from Charlotte telling me to hurry up. I shoveled pasta into my mouth and ran out the door. We wanted to be early to snag the best seats that were left. Unfortunately they didn't have the Organbalkon open this time so we sat on the right side on the orchestra level. The seats were pretty good but we weren't sitting together. Oh well, it wasn't a big deal.

I actually brought my microtrack to this concert and tried to record it. The Creatures of Prometheus Overture and Beethoven 4 didn't turn out so well, because my microtrack is having issues. But I finally got it to work correctly and recorded all of Beethoven 3, which sounds amazing! Charlotte had her earphones so we listened to the first movement again on the U bahn back to Hietzing, haha.

Anyway, that was most of my great weekend. I should get ready for workshop, Albert and I are playing half of Navarra in class today. I hope it goes well.

Tosca, Donkeys, Museums, and Wine

I apologize for not posting as often as I wish I could. I still have most of my stories from my 10 day break to write up. Luckily I kept a good travel journal. I have had so many unbelievable experiences here, it's hard to write everything down! Not a bad problem to have.

But before I forget about this weekend I should blog about it. Then I will finish up the rest of my 10 day break stories.

This weekend was incredible. It started with me going to the Wiener Staatsoper to see Tosca. It was phenomenal. I was blown away. I left at 4:45 (I remember because I got a text from Michelle saying she was getting there at 4:45). I arrived around quarter after and I wasn't too far back in the line. I brought Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl to read during the wait. I sat next to Chelsea who was writing a birthday card to her mother. The card was Norwegian I think. She had trouble licking the stamp she took out of her wallet. haha.

The Opera house is gorgeous. There's not really much else I can say about it. I was told a story about one of the two architects of the Opera house committing suicide after Emperor Franz Josef told them he thought the building looked like a train station. The other died of a heart attack.



The production was beautiful. Obviously the music was incredible and the singers were so good. I brought my binoculars which weren't really necessary but it was cool to see all the details of the sets and costumes. The candles and the drinks (and I assume the food) were real. The costumes were fantastic. The sets were huge but no detail was skimmed over. I wish I could have taken pictures of the sets.



Honestly, Tosca isn't my favorite opera. I didn't really know the story before I went. But when Tosca kills Scarpia I was wondering how it would end. The antagonist is dead, so now what? Obviously the lovers have to die, and I knew that Tosca jumps off a cliff (or just a high building?) at the very end. I immediately thought that for some reason Cavaradossi would actually be shot during his 'fake' execution. I wanted to have an explanation, but one wasn't really provided. So the ending for me seemed a little curt: "And then everyone died."

Anyway I got home around 11 and packed for the IES trip to Styria. For whatever reason I didn't get to bed until 1 am. The bus left at 7:30 in the morning so I set my alarm for 6 am. It was kinda rough, but I made it there right on time.

We stopped at Stübing to see the open air museum. They basically took apart representational buildings of villages all over Austria and put them back together in this valley. It's really cool. A description in The Story of the Trapp Family Singers really fits: "If I think of the villages in Europe," Rupert entered the conversation, "in the Alps or in France or England and Scandinavia, there the houses fit into the landscape, and the people do, too. They seem to be a part of it."

It's a wonderful place and I am glad people are taking care to preserve a special part of history. I overheard a conversation later that they were having financial problems and might have to close down. I hope that doesn't happen.





Anyway, during our time there - we had a few hours to wander around - we came across two donkeys. They were right up against a fence and we went up to them and started petting them. They seemed docile enough. I was petting one and it swung its head around and bit my left arm!



This is the donkey that bit me.



A picture of my bicep that I took later.

At first everyone just thought it bit my sweater but it got some bicep as well. It didn't hurt too much but it was surprising and when I pulled up my sleeve I had a nice big bruise. It's not serious, luckily. I am thankful it wasn't a finger. It's a fun little story and before lunch just about everyone had heard of it. I guess that's one way to be famous.

So that night (Saturday) was the Long Night of Museums (Lange Nacht der Museen). After a very nice tour of Graz and dinner at the hostel everyone went wherever they pleased. I went with Joncie, Katy, Amanda, and Elizabeth to Schloss Eggenberg first.

Sadly no pictures were allowed and I'm too lazy to upload pictures from online, so just Google it if you want. From the outside the palace isn't that impressive, but the rooms are absolutely gorgeous, with paintings all over the walls and ceiling and beautiful crystal chandeliers. I thought it was cool that they still used candles with the chandeliers. The tour was a bit briefer than what I expect they normally are, since it was such a busy night. Also, it was only in German, so I only caught bits and pieces.

The next thing we did was we went to the Kunsthaus, the museum of modern art. There were only two exhibits open that night and I am not so keen on modern art.



I can get behind expressionism or works by Klee, Kandinsky, and Kokoscha. Jackson Pollock is probably pushing it for me (though I think I have only seen one piece by him). One exhibit was by Franz West. The art was somewhat interactive. It was a cool idea but I was too weirded out by the strange shapes he put together. I didn't have any guide, either, which might have helped. Oh well. The photography exhibit was pretty cool at least.

Next I ran into Albert and Rochelle and we decided to go see the Armory. I had heard that it was something you had to see in Graz. I was not disappointed. It was like a department store for if you were going to war in the 16th century. Rows upon rows of armor, swords, spears, pikes, and a very cool set of horse armor. After a tour auf Deutsch, which I didn't get anything out of, we wandered around and took pictures even though we weren't supposed to. We decided that this was THE place to be if a zombie apocalypse ever broke out.





I wanted to climb up to the top of the Schlossberg, the mountain which overlooks the city. Rochelle climbed with me but we stopped at the bell tower, which had a nice view. Night pictures are hardly ever worth it with my digital camera, unfortunately. I think there is a castle up higher on the hill but it was late so we went back to our hostel. We took a cab and got back right at 1 am.

I'm sorry this post grew uncontrollably long, so let me just say that today we got up and drove to a nearby wine festival. It was pretty fun. Glühwein is excellent, as is Sturm. The parade was kinda slow; it kept stopping and starting for some reason. But overall it was a good time. Here are a few pictures.

The Break, Day 2: Berlin

At 9 I woke up, eager to plan my day and experience as much of Berlin as I could. From my Fodor's guide I made a "short" list of about 8-9 things I wanted to see.

Because I didn't have the foresight to bring a few blank sheets of paper (if I wasn't going to plan my trip beforehand) I wrote all my itineraries on the back of a German handout my teacher gave me, with the name and place of her daughter's restaurant in Berlin. It was called 'Alt Wien' but I couldn't find the place on the maps I looked at so I never found it, unfortunately.

For the first day I went to the Tiergarten, Brandenburg Tor, the Neue Nationalgalerie, and the Gemäldegalerie. It was all incredible!



A cool statue outside the Hauptbahnhof where I got breakfast.



The Reichstag.

The Tiergarten is so large, I walked around on some of the paths for over an hour and a half and I think I saw maybe 40% of the park. I walked down to the center where there is a big statue / monument but it was being repaired, so I couldn't see it.





I actually wandered past the Brandenburg Tor on one edge of the Tiergarten. It was exciting being at a famous monument that I've seen many pictures of.



I loved all the galleries I got to see in Berlin! I didn't get through all of the Gemäldegalerie before I had to go, but I hope to see the rest of it next time I go to Berlin for the Mahler 2 concert in late October. Room after room of masterpieces was almost too much to handle. Here are some of my favorite pictures. They might be slightly fuzzy because you can't use flash in the museums for obvious reasons.



Drei Pferde II, by Franz Marc



Nacht über Deutschland, by Horst Stempel



Der Wald, by Edvard Munch



Der Kaufmann Georg Gisze, by Hans Holbein d. J.

I left the Gemäldegalerie a little early (5:30ish and they close at 6) so I could get back to my room and change for the Berlin Philharmonic concert. I had wandered around and found the Philharmonie so I thought I could remember how to get there and save a few Euros by walking instead of figuring out the public transportation system of Berlin, which appears to involve calculus at first glance.

I started out the right direction but forgot which way I should bear in order to make a straight line. I started to panic around 7:40 and thought I had wasted 70 Euros for this ticket when I found a cab who took me there. I salute you, cab driver man, for some sick driving in order to get me there as soon as possible. So I didn't save any money on transportation, but oh well, I thought.

I got my ticket at the box office and tried to go in. The ticket reader showed an error, though. "This ticket is for tomorrow." I was told. Shamefully I remembered I had bought a ticket for Sunday, not Saturday, and I walked back to my hotel.

I didn't want to waste the night and I thought that if I were to go out this break, Berlin would by far have the best night life. From my Fodor's Guide I picked a cool jazz club called B-Flat. Cute, right? I went out but I remember going back to my room because I forgot something. At least twice during my time in Berlin I had to buy food or a drink in order to break a bigger bill before I could buy rail tickets. I was always like 10 cents short, it was frustrating. But once you figure out how the system works, Berlin's public transportation system is fantastic.



B Flat was super cool and I managed to snag a stool at the bar. I got a menu and picked a drink at random, because I never drink anything and have no idea what's what. I ordered a Mai Tai because it sounded familiar and was expensive and I had only had a big bill like a 20. I always feel bad paying for cheap stuff with huge bills.

I really regret not bringing my microtrack with me because this little band was incredible. I had a really good time. I even introduced myself to the couple sitting next to me because they were speaking English. Turns out they were from Britain, 'on holiday.'

After a few hours I left and made my way back to my room.

The Break: Day 1

Sorry I haven't posted anything since I got back to Wien, it was a busy week of first classes. I like all of my professors and I think my classes will really engage me and help me grow intellectually, so I'm excited for that. (less excited for 100 pages of reading a week for my Mahler class, but hopefully it won't be quite that much on average. When reading includes philosophy there's only so much you can read at one sitting before you have to take a break.)

I traveled for 10 days, and wrote a good deal in my journal (it is a moleskine and the cover broke away from the spine after like 2 days) each day so I figure a post for each day is easy and adequate.

I took +1400 pictures so I will be able to illustrate my stories fully, which was my goal. I would have run out of room on my camera if I hadn't brought a 2nd SD card. I didn't bring my computer so I couldn't upload them and then make more room on my camera.

I didn't book my flights early enough so it took me a long time to find flights for prices I could suffer through. I decided that A) It's worth paying to fly to be able to spend more time seeing the cities I wanted to rather than sitting on trains for hours a day and B) Since I wanted to see the Austrian Alps and Salzburg I should just fly from Berlin to Salzburg and then I wouldn't have to take an unnecessary long train ride across Austria from Wien.

I didn't book my hostels until a few days before I left, and only a place in Berlin and Salzburg. More planning would have made my life a little easier and less stressed, but I'm proud of myself for being able just figure things out as I went along. I took my Fodor's guides for Germany and Austria, 4 outfits including some dress clothes for the Berlin Phil. concert, a towel, umbrella, iPod, chargers and adapters, my Microtrack, my two cameras and miscellaneous items. I was hoping to carry it on the plane but it was too heavy 11 kg = 24.25 lbs. approx. I don't think they charged extra to check it though, luckily.

My flight for Berlin left at 9 so I said bye to Oliver and left around 6. I was worried because I couldn't figure out how to print my boarding pass online (or at the kiosk at the airport, since I don't remember receiving a check in number) so I waited in line with my passport. There weren't any problems and I grabbed a chicken sandwich before my flight left. I like flying within Europe because security checks, at least in Wien, were at each gate before boarding, and you didn't have to take off your shoes so it went a lot faster. I got in to Berlin around 10:30 and after some trouble bought a bus ticket and found the right bus to the Hauptbahnhof.

I was flustered and wasn't sure what to look for so I got off a few stops early. Looking at the bus stop map I considered walking the rest of the way but getting lost in Berlin at night with my 24 lbs. bag didn't appeal to me, so I waited for the next bus. After the bus stop, which luckily was the Hauptbahnhof and not some random stop I'd have to search for, I had no idea where my hotel was. I was a little stressed but I had a number to call if I couldn't find it, so I didn't worry a lot.

Arriving at the Hauptbahnhof, which is humongous, I wandered through the building. By luck I came across a pamphlet for my hotel. This didn't end up being a huge deal because although it reminded me what street I was looking for, I went out the other side of the Hauptbahnhof and my hotel was practically next door, so I would have found it.





A sight for sore eyes.

I checked in and after about 5 minutes I figured out that you have to put your key card in a little slot on the wall in order to turn on the lights. I unpacked a little, wrote in my journal, and crashed.

Berlin by 10:40

My flight leaves at 9:20 tonight. I am almost packed (my clothes are drying on the rack) and I am super pumped / nervous. I decided to leave my computer behind, because of its size and weight and I don't want it to be stolen. I went to Libro just now and bought a notebook and some small binders for class when I return, and I also got a bigger moleskine. It shall be my diary for all my travels this semester.

One important change is that I decided to visit Zell am See and Heiligenblut instead of the Salzkammergut (lake district: Gosau, Hallstatt, Altsee) because they are further away. Hopefully I can see the lake district over a weekend or two later this year.

I booked my hotels in Berlin (today - Monday) and Salzburg (Monday - Wednesday) after my German intensive final this morning. After that I don't know. I will write down as many directions and plans as I can before I have to leave, and then I'll just go with the flow.

I know there's a train from Salzburg to Zell am See, and that's about as far as planning has gone. It's going to be an adventure for sure. I am very excited and I will post again when I return home to Wien!

Berlin and Salzkammergut

I booked my plane tickets to Berlin and Salzburg yesterday! I forget exactly how much it cost but it was more expensive than I was hoping. It's the fees that kill you.

Our German intensive class final is Friday at 10:00, and my plane leaves at 20:00 or around there.

I bought a ticket to see the Berlin Philharmonic on Sunday. They are performing Coro by Berio, and Pulcinella by Stravinsky. AND I got a ticket to the Mahler 2 concert on Oktober 30! A bunch of friends are also going so we may travel together, by overnight train rather than fly. They are also looking into couch-surfing and I think that could be fun.

Since I am going back to Berlin, I figured I would spend the majority of my break in Salzkammergut, Austria's lake district. I am flying from Berlin to Salzburg, and will spend at least a day there, probably two. Then I'll take the train out to Gosau and Hallstätt and the Altsee. I'm still pretty flexible about where exactly I'm going.

Also, I just registered for classes and these are the courses I am in:

German - Elementary II (in the same class as during intensive, but we have a new teacher)
Performance Workshop
Mahler
Cross Cultural Philosophy
The Classical Symphony

I REALLY wanted to get into Vienna, Past and Present, but it is still full. Oh well.

That's all for now, after a class meeting at 18:00 I'm going to find a place to Skype around town, since I'm not sure if I would run up a bill by video Skyping at my apartment.

Tschüss!

Kärntner Kasnudeln (take 2)

My German class went to a Lindt chocolate factory yesterday. We got to the train station and left at 10:05. The trip was about an hour, and though we didn't go over the Semmering Pass as we expected it was still a good trip. We were a pretty loud group of Americans, but oh well, it was fun. The chocolate was delicious and for lunch I tried chicken liver at the local restaurant by the train station.



It was interesting. I could eat it again I guess but it wasn't my favorite.

After a brief nap and trip to Spar to get regular, non-hard boiled eggs, I practiced for about 45 minutes and was ready to try to make this dinner again.

So with an actual egg, I put the ingredients together for the dough and mixed it. The blob rested for half an hour in the bottom of one of our pots. It was too wet so I added more flour. I wish I had had saran wrap or something to spread the dough out on. I sprinkled some flour on the oven baking sheet we have.



Raw egg is not appetizing. I realized that I didn't save the egg white of the first egg I mixed into the dough, and I needed egg white later to seal the dumplings. So I got a 2nd one out, saved the egg white in a glass, and swallowed the yolk. Ehh.

So it took me about an hour to realize that I needed a lot more flour, and I still don't think I added enough. It started looking like a ball of dough that I recognize on cooking shows. We don't have a rolling pin here so I spread the dough out with my hands and then grabbed the nearest rolling pin shaped object in the kitchen, which was my Sprite bottle.



The potato cheese filling, i.e. the only thing edible I cooked.

Problems started when cutting the dough with a knife was very messy. The dough was still too sticky and wasn't cut easily. I eventually formed 9 of the ugliest looking circular dough pancakes I have ever seen. I then realized that I had roughly 4 times more filling than I could stuff in the dumplings.

I put a dollop of filling on each "circle" and spread the egg white I saved around the edges with my fingers. I folded the dough over and sealed them up. Looking back I wish I had only done half so I could try to fix my mistakes.



I dropped in 4 of my dumplings into boiling water and took the first one out after about 12 minutes. I spit it up immediately. The dough was practically uncooked. I waited a few minutes before trying each of the others, and they progressively got less inedible. But it was undoubtedly a failure in terms of producing something I could eat. Not even a lot of butter would have saved them.



Sadly, I threw them out and washed up my dishes. My dinner, which had taken almost 4 hours because I have never worked with dough before and was half-assing the entire process (and I spent some time talking online with friends, too) turned out to only consist of way too much filling. After the mashed potatoes I made the other night when I couldn't finish attempting the recipe because of hard-boiled eggs, I was not too pleased eating all that filling.

Our kitchen smelled of undercooked dough and failure.

Tonight I made pasta and it was delicious. I have no idea what kind of cheese I bought, either.

Kärntner Kasnudeln

So Wien is celebrating the U-Bahn being open 24 hours (on the weekends, I think) by teaming up with a bunch of clubs around town. You could print a ticket online for free that allowed you into any of the (I think) 35 clubs for free. By the time I tried to get to IES to print one out, they were 'sold out' so to speak. Oh well, no big deal, I'm not one for the clubs (IE - until last week I had never been clubbing).

Instead I decided to try to cook my first Austrian meal - Kärntner Kasnudeln.



That's what I'm shooting for. A potato and cheese filled potsticker variation. More like pierogies, I think.

I went to Spar and somehow managed to find all the ingredients (I think, I could have totally bought the wrong things). It took me forever to find Sour Creme. I got out right before they closed and took the tram back to my neighborhood. I translated the directions from my little Austrian cookbook to the best of my ability. So here goes.

I just peeled the potatoes and put them in a pot of water to boil. I'm glad to have not cut off my thumb in the process.

Failure. I accidentally bought hard boiled eggs and didn't notice until I had trouble cracking one open. There is no dough without an egg.

Rolling with the punches, I finished mashing the potatoes, added salt and pepper, butter, a dab of sour creme and some sort of cheese similar to cottage cheese. It's practice for the filling for attempt #2. Also, I like boiled eggs. I'm going to get another one now. I'll try the Kasnudeln again tomorrow when I get some eggs.

With this failure I have already tried new things. I have no measuring equipment so cooking will be even more of an adventure. When I cook, which rarely happens, I am very strict with the directions and measurements. I shall learn to guesstimate this semester.

Prater

This morning was wasted. Yesterday I almost completely forgot about my academic adviser meeting at 10:30. I remembered at 10:15. It takes 30 minutes to get to the IES center. It was rough. I hope that fulfills my quota for late days. I haven't found a lot of time to practice since it's against the law to make lots of noise after 10 pm here. So hopefully I can make it my routine to practice in the mornings.

I register for classes Tuesday. I am number 006, but oddly enough we register backwards, starting at 199 or whatever. I really hope to get into this history course, Vienna Past and Present. I am #2 on the waitlist.

After German today I found a bookshop on Kartnerstrasse and found a little Austrian cookbook. Once I translate a few recipes I'll start my cooking adventures. Speaking of books to translate, I also got selected fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and the Metamorphosis by Kafka the other day. I'm not even going to bother with Kafka now, but it's one of my favorite short stories so I got it. Reclam is awesome. It felt wrong to buy The Little Prince in German. It was tempting though since it came with a CD.

So I was planning on meeting some friends at the Prater at 4, but they had decided not to go for some reason. Since I was there I decided to explore, but I didn't want to spend a lot if I was just by myself. I'm glad I didn't buy a 39 Euro park ticket. The Prater is enormous and there's a ton of fun rides there! The only one I did today was the Prater Turm (Tower).





At first I was afraid my camera might get flung halfway across the park but once we were at the top (100 meters) the view was so amazing I carefully slipped my camera cord around my wrist and took some pictures.





As most people know, I am generally terrified of heights. And these pictures were not taken when we were swinging quickly. It was a lot of fun, and I plan on going again when I return with friends.

Gloriette

Sunday I went to Schloss Schönbrunn, which is an enormous, beautiful summer palace which the Hapsburgs built in the 18th century. It was a favorite residence of Empress Maria Theresa. There is an entrance to the grounds that I walk past on my way to the Hietzing U-Bahn station. I went in and promptly got turned around. I think my sense of direction is usually adequate, but there were so many things that caught my eye that I turned off to see.

I eventually made my way through to the actual palace. I decided to go up to the palace first and look out over the (main / central) gardens from the terrace.



Schönbrunn



View from the terrace



There were tons of beautiful Greek statues lining the sides as well.





And opposite the palace, below the Gloriette is the Neptune fountain.

The Gloriette is the biggest hill on the grounds. There are two paths that wind their way to the top, where there is a building that looks out over all of Wien. In a lecture on things not to miss in Wien in terms of art and architecture, the professor told us that Maria Theresa used to love to go up to the Gloriette for breakfast. She was a large lady and had to be carried up to the top. Also, she wanted to see some of the animals from the zoo as well, so they would bring out some of the tamer ones. It's an amusing bit of history. That tradition was referenced when people were seeking to set up a cafe at the Gloriette.



For 2 Euro you can climb to the top of the building and the view is breathtaking. Through a little rooftop telescope you can see the Stephansdom, St. Stephen's Cathedral, all the way in the center of the 1st district.



Pictures can't really do it justice.

When I came down I wandered through the cafe and ran into some friends from IES. Tierney, Jenny (who is also from Vanderbilt, in A&S) and Brenna had just ordered drinks. We hung out until we all got to the U-Bahn, where we went our separate ways. It was very fortuitous that I ran into them.

It rained yesterday and today, and I have an afternoon meeting tomorrow following German, but I am hoping to go to the Prater very soon before it gets too cold.