Reflections on Vienna

This weekend, I experienced many farewells, a scary taxi ride, a short plane ride, an incredibly long plane ride, a graduation ceremony, and lots of laundry.  After all that, I'm finally back home.

Overall, this May term in Vienna has taught me many things; I have learned an incredible about not only the city, the culture, music history, but about myself as well.

After three weeks of frantic travel, classes, and exploration, I am having a mix of feelings about the ending of this trip.

I have been challenged in may ways. Adjusting to the Viennese culture, Lilo's house rules, and Dr. Reisinger's teaching style were often very difficult for me, more than I expected.  There were definitely days when I wanted out.  I think this trip has made me realize some things about myself that are something to think about, whether induced by travel, being responsible for myself in a new city, or just enduring a totally new experience. That's something with which I'll have to continue struggling.

On the other hand, it is impossible to deny that this trip is one of the best experiences of my life. Having the opportunity to spend so much time in such an important city has been an invaluable experience.  Despite the low points.  I have made memories I will always cherish; I have walked in the footsteps of some of the most composers in history, made friends I will always value, and learned more about both the city and myself than I ever thought I would or could.

I am incredibly grateful for the group of girls with which I have bonded during this month.  These girls,  have blessed me in so many ways; they have truly helped me get through this trip, but made it an incredibly powerful and great learning experience too.  I hope that we will always remain friends, and I hope that we'll even get to travel again together someday :)

I made myself a list my last night in Vienna:

Things I'm regretting:
 - eating gelato while running
 - congestion
 - unexpected halts (and getting ejected) from trams
 - not being able to see everything I wanted to see

Things for which I am very thankful:
 - Chocolate gelato
 - Almdudler
 - Easy subway navigation
 - Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Beethoven, Bruckner, Brahms, Strauss, and Schönberg
 - Monuments, statues and plaques reminding us of people from the past
 - Good talks with great friends

As a whole, this has been an experience I will never forget.  I'm thankful for the fun times I had, and the learning experiences as well.  I am thankful for the work and encouragement put forward by Doc and by Dr. Reisinger, and for the welcome into Lilo's house.

Thank you all so much for reading this blog!  I hope you have enjoyed my stories.  Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or want to hear more!

Auf wiedersehen (until we meet again)
Kelsey

Allison's picture - thank you!

http://tinyurl.com/k2smcqz

Finals and final day in Vienna.

Thursday, May 30.    Last day :(

This morning I woke up, prepared for a busy, busy day!

We had breakfast together, as we studied for our respective finals.  Lilo made sure we were dressed well enough for the weather (rainy and cold), and we were out the door.

I split up from the other girls halfway through the subway ride, since I was meeting up with the music students to attend a Pentecost Mass. We found our way to Saint Brigitta's church, where we were invited by Wolfgang to join him up in the balcony. The mass was wonderful - Dr. Reisinger was absolutely legendary on the organ, completely living up to the standards we expected.  The baritone we met the other day in class sang for the mass, was fantastic and friendly.

After mass, we took some group shots outside the church, and rushed to the subway to catch the next train.  We panicked through our hour-long final, writing furiously and frantically trying to recall every bit of information we learned in these three weeks. Hopefully it went ok.

Wolfgang walked us to the subway station, and then to the place where we were all having our Farewell Luncheon.  The food was delicious, we thanked the professors and Doc profusely, and we made plans for our last evening in Vienna.

After lunch, we went home to nap and pack.

We presented Lilo with our goodbye/thank you gifts.  My housemates and I had pitched in to buy Lilo some wooden shoes from Holland, about which she got really excited.  She sat us down with her friend, and the two of them showed us the pictures from their recent trip to Namibia.

Les Six (Abigail, Audrey, Allison, Meredith, Jessica and I) had plans to meet up at the subway station for Schönbrunn to see the Vienna Philharmonic perform with Lorin Maazel.  Unfortunately for us, the busses weren't running on their normal schedule, due to the holiday.  Hence, Audrey and I ran down the hill to catch the tram to the subway, getting to the station about 20 minutes late.

The other girls, along with Rebekah, were waiting there for us.  When Audrey and I ran off the train, the whole group of girls greeted us with excited screams.  Group hugs ensued. It was completely adorable.  (Truly - it was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip.)




We walked through the cold drizzle to see the concert at Schönbrunn.  The 7 of us pushed our way through the crowds to see the concert, making our way through crowds of Asian tourists, cute Austrian boys, and others.








We stayed for the first piece, then decided once everyone started putting up umbrellas that it was too cold and rainy to stay longer. We pushed our way back through the crowds to the exit.

Les Six (Rebekah headed home) decided to hit up a bar we liked very much.  We ordered drinks, had some more good conversation, and eventually said our farewells.

Audrey and I grabbed our last Vienna gelato from our favorite stand, and ran to the subway station so we could catch the last bus home.

We hit the sack, ready for sleep, but not ready to leave.

House of music and Don Quixote (also, scariest walk home ever)

Wednesday, May 29

Today, our second-to-last day of the Vienna May term, was a rough day.

I woke up, and took a later bus to school. I got to the AAIE where all the other students had class.  I worked on my homework, studied, and checked my email for a couple hours.

I set off on my own to the police station to de-register, which was a nice walk.  The de-registering process took very little time, then I headed back to the institute, appreciating the walk.

At noon, the music class students met up to do our final excursion: visiting the House of Music.  The museum was really cool - they have different exhibits based on different composers, like Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and a ton of other composers we studied.  The museum is very interactive, with things to listen to, play with, and a game at the end where you could conduct the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The museum was a lot of fun, but we spent much of the time arguing about how to take our final. Long story short, there was a time conflict between going to the mass for which Dr. Reisinger was playing and having the full time to take our final.

When we got back to the institute, we spent some time working on homework and studying.  I got a letter from my Dad, which made me feel a whole lot better.

Abigail and I headed to the Staatsoper to get standing room tickets for the ballet, Don Quixote. We spent a lot of time in line talking to a young couple from Australia, Kirstie and Luke. They were in Vienna for just a couple days, one of their many stops on their THREE MONTH tour of Europe!  They told us that they were traveling all over, and that they had jobs waiting for them in the UK whenever they're done traveling.  Abigail and I enjoyed talking to them very much; they were very cute, had lots of stories, excellent accents, and fun to talk to.

The standing room experience at the Staatsoper is crazy - you stand in line forever until you can finally get tickets, then you stand in line for further forever until you can get into the actual theater.  Then they let everyone in at the same time, you run in between the railings and mark your spot with a scarf or a sweater or some other way.  Then you are free to leave and come back before the show begins, and everyone is able to lean on a railing.

Don Quixote was completely amazing!  The show was the first ballet I've ever seen all the way through (other than the Nutcracker), and what an introduction to the ballet world!  The performers were incredible, the musicians were flawless, and we enjoyed every minute.  It was totally a blast, and I loved getting to do it with my buddy Abigail.

The walk home was less fun - we got out of the show late, so I had to walk the last leg of my journey home.  It was already dark, scary, and cold, which was anxiety-inducing enough; however, halfway to Lilo's house, I passed a family with a big black dog that made me even more nervous. I was fine, until the dog began to chase me, at which point I freaked out and ran home. Super fun.  I'm really cool.

Anyway, weird day.  But it was wonderful to get to experience the ballet and the museum.

Double-post for lazy days

Monday, May 28

Today was full of papers and class.

I woke up, and went to class.
After class I wrote a paper and willed my computer not to die.
After paper-writing, Audrey, Annika and I spent too much money on souvenirs.
After souvenirs, Annika, Audrey, Abigail, Jessie, and I went to dinner at Della Lucia.
I ate pasta with something, and I have no idea what it was.
After dinner, we went home.
I worked on my paper about Bruckner all night and went to bed.

Nothing more to report.  No pictures 'neither.


Tuesday, May 29

Today, as usual, we woke up, caught the bus, and got to the institute early.

Before class, Abigial and another girl from our music class, Laurel, visited the Imperial Library. Incidentally, this library provided the inspiration for the library in Beauty and the Beast!











The library was pretty cool - they had an exhibit that discussed news that changed Austria.  I got to see things like Beethoven's death mask, an ancient papyrus scroll, and an original copy of a book by Freud.  Very cool.

After the library we had lunch, I blogged, and we headed to class. 

In class, we had a presentation, then a special treat - Dr. Reisinger had an open rehearsal during our class time with a grad student.  They will be performing at mass on Friday for the holiday.  The grad student was a baritone from Greece, who's voice was absolutely wonderful. We enjoyed him very much, and he did a lovely job.  We also got to hear Abigail sing for us, which was doubly awesome :)

After class, Abigial and I went to a local dessert cafe called Aida for some pick-me-up sweets (and tea).  Man, we love tea.  

During the afternoon, Abigail, Jessica, Audrey and I visited the Belvedere castle.












The grounds were really beautiful, as well as the castle.  It was a lot of fun to sit in the sun, take pictures, and people-watch.

The Belvedere is also the place where Anton Bruckner (the composer) spent his last four years, at the invitation of the Emperor.  He had a nice apartment, where he worked on his final symphony.

Abigail and I found it and took some more pictures. 

 






The four of us found a place for dinner in District 3, near Abigail and Jessie's house.  We had more introspective conversation, followed up with gelato.

Audrey and I caught the bus home, and went to bed.

Mines and Mauthausen

Sunday, May 26 

This morning, as usual, we woke up. 

Audrey and I leisurely packed and headed down to another excellent Austrian breakfast.  Seriously, these breakfasts are great. Lookout U.S., cuz I'm gonna start eating cold cuts and gugelhof every morning. 

We set off for the Hallein Bad Dürrenburg salt mines. It's exactly what it sounds like - people mine salt there.  Originally, salt water deposits were trapped inside the rocks when the tectonic plates shifted (y'know, geology and stuff).  Now they do everything by machine, rather than with tiny pickaxes and headlamps (although that would be AWESOME).

We got to wear these fancy white suits into the mines to protect our clothes:

 

Nice, right?  Jealous, right? 

I bet you are now!  By the way, the girls pictured above are pretty fabulous people.  

So we went down these big stairs to the entrance of a tunnel, where we boarded a tiny train.  It was basically a long wooden board on wheels.  We all lined up on it, one after another, held onto each other, and blasted through the tunnel into the mine!

We got to watch these cool informational videos with entertaining portrayals of historical figures.  

The important thing here though is the SLIDES.  As you go lower and lower into the mines, they have these cool slides for you to go down.  You line up in small groups on the slide, then ride the thing down on your butts to the bottom!  What a blast.  Abigail and I (mostly me) were nervous, but we did it!

Yay slides!









We finished our tour of the salt mines, then all piled into the bus for lunch.  We went to the Rosenberger, where we enjoyed a tasty lunch and great conversation. Doc told Abigail and I about the research project and book he's been working on - he has researched the life of Dr. Fried, who began the Vienna Summer School. He was especially looking forward to visiting the concentration camp that afternoon, since Dr. Fried's brother died in a connected camp.



Mauthausen, the concentration camp, was a big experience. It was very moving. We were able to explore the camp thoroughly - we saw the barracks (where the prisoners slept), the memorials, the rooms where the prisoners were gassed, and the quarry where the prisoners worked carrying rocks up the hill. There are photographic exhibits in some of the old barracks, with pictures taken as documentation.







Overall, the experience was very powerful.

The memorials there recognize different people groups who were victimized by not only Mauthausen, but by the other concentration camps.







The thing that stuck with me the most, however, was the juxtaposition between the sadness of what happened at the camp and the beauty of the surrounding landscape.  Despite the cold and the rain, which set the appropriate mood of the camp, it was impossible to ignore the beauty that has persevered through the years. It is hard to comprehend that such horrible things happened in our world, but knowing that we can recover as humans and do what we can to prevent it from happening again is something to hold onto.

After visiting the camp, we drove home to Vienna.

Lilo had made our special "goodbye" dinner for my housemates and I (Annika, Rachel, and Audrey).

We celebrated Audrey's birthday with wine and a special birthday flower!  :)

Our weekend in Salzburg was really cool - we got to experience a lot of history, learned a lot about the past in Austria, celebrated Audrey's birthday, and survived the rainy weather.

Feeling lucky to have the Salzburg experience, and luckier to be able to come home to Vienna!