Off to Prague!

Friday, May 17 (Day 11)

This morning we woke up at the usual time and had “exciting breakfast” - Rachel and I had both saved snacks from the day before to have for breakfast. Rachel had a yogurt for herself, and I had a chocolate muffin. Neither were that great, but it's the little things, isn't it?

Lilo wished us a great weekend, and we caught the bus, train, and U4, getting to the institute early.

Class today was good – Christine gave her presentation on Beethoven, Dr. Riesinger explained the superiorities of Viennese education, and we learned a lot about a great composer. We took a walking tour as a class, since it was beautiful outside. Dr. Reisinger (Wolfgang) showed us both historical sites (one of Beethoven's many apartments, a Haydn apartment, etc) as well as little-known corners of Viennese culture. He pointed out the Universität Wein, showed us back to AAIE, and went his merry way, wishing us a great weekend in Prague.

I had a quick lunch from the sausage stand while we waited for the bus, and I read my book.

We loaded into the bus around 1pm do drive the 5+ hours to Prague. We stopped halfway through to use the bathroom and buy sugary snacks and drinks to get us through to dinner.

We arrived in Prague, where we picked up the indomitable and ever-adorable Dana (pronounced like Donna), who would be our tour guide for the Czech Republic. She spoke to us on the bus as we drove through the city, giving history and other information about both the city and the Czech Republic itself.

We had dinner as a group in the “St. Norbert” monestary. After dinner (at which we all tried and disliked the meat patte, but enjoyed the chicken) we departed with Dana for our walking tour.

Initial thoughts on Prague: generally not favorable.

1. There is a TON of graffiti, covering almost every free inch of every building. We're sad about the lack of respect for older buildings.
2. Communism feel. All the buildings, though colored differently, look kinda similar (at least driving into the city). Although it wasn't that late in the evening, there were very few people on the streets or in the hotel.
3. It just kinda feels dirty all over.

I'm hoping that this first impression is a reflection on a less-beautiful part of town, rather than the “real” Prague; We're hoping that the beauty and history of the city are 

easier to see during a sunny day.

Dana showed us the Prague castle, as well as the church inside, which were both beautiful. We also saw the Golden lane, named for the alchemists that lived there, trying to create gold. 

It was also the home of Franz Kafka.

We photographed the cathedral, for which Doc advised us to lie down to take the picture.  

We returned to the hotel, where many tried and failed to get wifi. Audrey and I had a soda and headed upstairs to bed.

Ludwig, Sweatshirts, and Lorin

Thursday, May 16 (Day 10)

Long post today, friends!  Lots to say.

Today was a big day! Lots of things happening today – all good and lots of fun.

I got to the institute at the normal time so that I could finish up my presentation for class today. I had prepared to present on the early years of Beethoven's life, from when he was born to shortly after the composition of his first symphony. I got to talk to boyfriend for a bit, which was nice.

At lunchtime, Abigail, Rebekah and I ran over to the Wiener Musikverein, the concert hall where the vienna philharmonic performs. We got standing-room tickets for the Münicher Philharmoniker concert that night, where they were to perform Wagner's Prelude and Venusberg-Bacchanal from “Tannhüauser”, Debussy's “La Mer”, and Stravinsky's “La Sacre du Printemps”. Hell of a program. To top it all off, the orchestra was going to be conducted by none other than Lorin Maazel. 

For those who are unfamiliar with the name, here's a link to his info page: http://www.mphil.de/en/persons/lorin-maazel.html and his wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorin_Maazel. Read up.

After buying tickets, a group of us walked over to the Universität Wien (Vienna University) to buy sweatshirts. Which we did. In abundance. All kinds and colors.

I raced back to class in order to give my Beethoven presentation, which went very nicely. It was interesting to learn more about such a powerful and intriguing man, as well as the culture that influenced his music. We also had a guest speaker in class, named Christine, who was born in Taiwan, graduated from Northwestern, then received an internship in Vienna where she began studying with Dr. Reisinger. A well-accomplished young woman, clearly, and very sweet; she was happy to answer all of our questions and to share about her life.

After class, Abigail, Rebekah and I agreed to meet back at the institute so we could walk over to the concert hall together. I raced home to change and drop my backpack, giving myself just enough time to turn around and catch the next bus back to town. Crazy crazy Vienna.

The three of us walked over to the concert hall, where we were thrilled by the hall, which looks like this on the outside:

and this on the inside:

Pretty fabulous. Then the concert began.

Cons first:

1. Standing room is mostly standing, not roomy. Lots of people all crammed into one tiny area for a couple hours is not a fabulous situation.
2. Stupid tourists staling spots. No members of my group were guilty of this (obviously), but a very nice gentleman who stood behind us got his spot stolen by some bratty gal and her boyfriend. Lameski.

Pros next:

1. HOLY CRAP, THE MUNICH PHILHARMONIC IS AWESOME.
2. HOLY CRAP, I LOVE STRAVINSKY.
3. HOLY CRAP, LORIN FREAKING MAAZEL.

It was a pretty fabulous concert. As soon as Lorin Maazel walked out on stage, the patrons stood and applauded. Keep in mind that this is Vienna we're talking about, with people who smile sometimes and are generally kinda cranky. So Lorin's pretty impressive in that respect.

They knocked out the Wagner, through which I thought alternately between “wow, that's beautiful” and “I'd really like to sit down.” They also killed the Debussy, through which I thought alternately between “this piece is amazing” and “I'd like to sit please, my back is about to quit forever.”

Then we finally had a blessed intermission, where Abigail and I shared a juice and receive nasty looks from folks from higher social classes dressed in ball gowns and tails.

Then came Stravinsky.

Those who know me know that I'm a pretty big Stravinsky fan. Those who know music know the stories about the premier of “La Sacre du Printemps”, or “The Rite of Spring” in English. Long story short, Stravinsky premiered the Rite of Spring ballet in 1913 Paris. The piece is innovative in tonality, harmony, meter, rhythm, and overall sound. More simply, it changes time signatures rapidly, and contains a lot of, shall we say, “questionably tonal” chords. The music influenced many composers later in the 20^th century and is one of the most recorded works of classical music.

At the premier, people basically rioted. People began so distressed by the music so quickly that by the end of the introduction, you could no longer hear the music being performed. The performers persevered and finished the piece. Since then the piece has gotten considerably more popular, but it was clearly not so at the premier.

Anyway, the piece is intricately written and requires precision, which is to say that it's damn near impossible to perform perfectly for both the dancers and the musicians. The Munich Philharmonic just played the orchestral part, but wonderfully, and Maazel had the entire thing MEMORIZED. Incredible.

The audience erupted, myself included, and applauded until the director came out and had the orchestra play an encore, the finale from the L'arlesienne suite.

What a night! This will be certainly one of my favorite things to remember from Vienna.

A prodigy and a palace (also a nap)

Wednesday, May 15 (Day 9)

Slept through the alarm this morning.  Foggy head, sad brain.

Since Lilo and the other girls had to leave earlier than I did, I hung laundry, took a shower, ate breakfast, and took a later bus/train/U4 to the city.

I “worked” this morning after finding out that my computer charger has finally given up on me.

At about 11:15, we had a meeting about our upcoming weekend in Prague. I bought a chocolate croissant from the Anker (an Austrian bakery chain), which made me feel considerably better.

Our music class had an “excursion” at noon today, where we explored some Mozart-y sites. We saw the plaque commemorating where Mozart died (which is now a department store), walked to St. Stephen's (the same route taken for Mozart's funeral), and saw a cafe where both he and Beethoven had performed. We went to one of his old apartments, which is now a Mozart museum. Three floors of the apartment (which still have residents above!) are dedicated to the museum, housing information about Mozart's life, work, and family.

After the field trip, Abigail and I picked up a snack from the Anker and met up with Allison, Jessica, Meredith and Audrey at Schönbrunn, where they had been visiting the zoo (Audrey's first zoo!). The group of us walked all the way up the hill to where a monument and restaurant were.

We took pictures of the beautiful view of the palace and of Vienna.

We found a grassy area halfway down the hill in full sun, and the group of us laid down for a nap.

In between watching Russian tourists take silly pictures together, a grandfather photographing his adorable toddler granddaughter (who waved and threw grass at us), and meeting another student group from North Carolina, we napped for an hour in the beautiful Austrian sun.

For dinner, we went to an Italian restaurant in Heitzing. We got pasta, daiquiris, and dessert. The waiter was very patient with us :)

Audrey and I took the bus back, and took a walk through Lilo's garden. 

We enjoyed having an empty house to ourselves for a while before working on homework.

Despite a irritating head cold, days like this make me happy to be a student and happy to be able to explore cool new places. I'm very lucky to learn about people from different times, and people who are on this trip with me – I'm excited to grow      closer to these girls as the trip goes on.

Churches and Congestion

Tuesday May 14 (Day 8)

This morning the four girls took the bus/train/U5 to the Institute early in the morning again. I don't have class until 1:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I met Dad outside, and we walked back to the hotel to meet Mom and Karen. He told me that they got up and walked around Vienna at 2am because none of them were sleeping and got hot dogs. Weirdos.

The four of us did an impromptu walking tour of the city. I showed them St. Augustime's, which we explored and photographed. Next we went to the church where the Vienna Choir Boys sing. After that, we walked to St. Stephen's, taking pictures all through the street, getting lost, and acting generally silly, as we do.

Karen and I were both feeling pretty crappy today, so we had to try hard not to be too cranky.

At 11, the music class met up with Doc to go register to live in Vienna. The walk was fun; Doc showed and explained to us some cool things along the way.

On the way back, a small group of us attempted to find lunch before class. Abigail and I ended up stopping at a small stand, where I got pizza and she got a wrap.

At 1pm we had class, where another girl in class presented on Mozart. Riesinger, being his charming self, corrected her all the way through it.

After class, I met up with the family again and we looked for a place to have an early dinner. After finding a place recommended to us, deciding it was too expensive, and getting lost on our way back to the Staatsoper, we decided to eat at the Mozart cafe, which was delicious.

I headed home after dinner, since my head was so foggy I could barely walk. The transportation was easy though, and I made it home without winding up in the Czech Republic.

Lilo made me special tea to help me feel better.

Boo head colds! Go away soon!

Hope everyone at home is well. Looking forward to exploring the city more this week!

Mozart and Miscommunications

First day of school!  

We had a meeting with Doc this morning before class, talking about the AAIE (the Austria American Institute of Education, where we'll be taking classes), the upcoming week, and our weekend in Prague!

After the meeting, our classes started at 9:30.  My class, Vienna's Musical Traditions, continued where we had left off: Mozart.  Dr. Reisinger (who shares the same first name as dear Mozart), had assigned each of us a presentation to give during class, which we began today.  Micah gave a nice presentation about Mozart's early life (despite questionable wifi).  Dr. Reisinger supplied the rest of the information in his way.  It's very cool to learn more about the composers themselves, in conjunction with their works; as a music major, sometimes the music overshadows the composer, and it's nice to tip the scales back a little bit.  Mozart was a true, one-of-a-kind genius, and learning more about his life has been absolutely fascinating.  

After class, my buddy Abigail and I stopped at the sausage stand on the corner by the Albertina for lunch.  The Albertina is a giant museum of art, named for Prince Albert and his wife (a few members of the Hapsburg line).  The sausage stand is legendary - you can buy a kasekreiner (big ole' sausage), which they stuff into a loaf of bread and smother in ketchup and mustard.  It's messy, greasy, and delicious.  

I spent the next few hours waiting for some contact, any contact from my family.  Visiting Austria themselves, we had planned to meet up during my first full week in Vienna.  They didn't have a working phone or wifi, so it was a very frustrating 5 1/2 hours for all of us.  

Thankfully, Doc, as you'd expect, was amazing, and waited the whole time to make sure we all got together.  *Round of applause for Doc Hemenway everyone - he's the greatest.*

I took a walk by myself while I was waiting, which was very cool.  I explored some places I had been before, and ventured further.  I walked through the park with a Mozart statue, past the Burg Theatre, and all the way to the Universität Wien (Vienna University).  I got lost coming back, but managed to find my way just as the sun finally showed itself.  

I finally met up with Mom, Dad and Karen after getting a coffee and a walk with Audrey and Allison.  We went to see Doc, who found a hotel for my family, and walked us over together before heading home.  

The four of us went to dinner at an Austrian restaurant, where we shared awful travel stories, new foods, and enjoyed each other's company.  

Mom and Dad walked me all the way to the U4 back home, then we all said good night.  

What a beautiful city to share with friends and family!

Masses and Mother's Day

Another rushed morning – we meant to get up and catch the 8:01am bus to get to see the Vienna Choir boys, but we took too long getting ready. We missed the first bus and ran all the way down the hill before catching the same bus several stops later! From there we ran to the tram, ran to the U4, ran through Karlsplatz (the District 1 station), ran past the StaatOper (State's Opera), past the AAIE, past the Albertina (museum established in the names of members of Aristocracy), and past the square where the Spanish Riding school performs, all the way to the church where the boys sing Mass. We came in to the church huffing and puffing, and stood in the back to watch those lovely young boys sing the mass. Joined by Hannah and Nathan, we ducked out early to rest at a coffee shop, then came back to take pictures with the boys.

At 11am, we walked across the street to St. Augustine's, where we heard the Schubert D-major mass. It was absolutely beautiful – as I sat listening to the music of Schubert fill up that gorgeous, old, Gothic church, I was very moved. This is the way that music was intended to be heard: filling up the nooks and crannies of wonderful large churches, full of people that are there to worship the Lord. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning.

Audrey and I left to explore the city for a while before our meeting time. We found a souvenir store where we bought post cards for family and friends, a chocolate store where I bought Mozart chocolate, and free bathrooms (woohoo!). About half the group was there when we joined up at the AAIE, and we set off towards District 19 on the U6. We were joined by the rest of the students and the professors at Rudolfshof, where we had our official opening dinner. Although I had been feeling sick all day, the meal was delicious, and it was nice to sit down for a while after running all over Vienna the night before and this morning.

Many students, after finishing our dinner, journeyed up to Kahlenberg by bus, which is the highest point in Vienna. It was from this point that the Viennese strategized their defense against the Turks, and from this point that Audrey and I marveled at the expanse and beauty of Wien. We had good conversation about family and travels on the way back down towards the U6 (one of many good conversations, with undoubtably many more to come), and headed back to District 1. Audrey and I spent some time in a Viennese Starbucks (shameful, I know, but tasty, and with cruddy wifi!) before making our way back home to District 13.

Rachel, Annika and Audrey pretty promptly went to sleep while I worked on homework with the excellent company of Lilo. We shared a tasty snack – whole grain-y bread with butter, salt, and cold asparagus slices – and talked about our days. It was a lovely evening (with far to little work getting done). Looking forward to many more similar nights while I am here, hopefully with many of the great people who have taken this trip.

I've been frantically trying to contact my parents, who are in Vienna at the same time – if we manage to spend some time together in this wonderful city, I will be incredibly excited!

Happy Mother's Day to Kathryn Grace, with whom I share good talks, humorous adventures, great advice, and many more important and wonderful things. I'm blessed to have such an incredible and intelligent woman in my life, and I am so excited to share this journey through Austria with her too!  

A tour, a palace, and an opera - all in one day!

Whew! Busy day. This morning we woke up at the crack of dawn (it seemed) to catch the bus at 8:02am to go to the flea market. Lilo left breakfast for us, which we enjoyed, and we ran out the door. After an unexpected walk (when we got off the bus too early), we successfully made it to the flea market. Everyone bought lovely scarves, among other finds.

After the flea market, the entire group of 58 students met in front of the AAIE to do a walking tour of District 1. We did our rainy walk lead by Dr. O, who explained the important historical buildings, the monuments, and the layout of the city. We (Audrey, Annika, Abigail, Allison, Brant, Jessie, Boyu, Meredith, and Rebecca) ate lunch at Rosenberger's, then split up to shop a little.

The big group met up again a little later to journey to Schönbrunn Palace by the U4. The palace was massive and beautiful, despite the rainy and cold weather. We got to do an audio tour on the inside, where we learned a lot about the Hapsburg family line.

After Schönbrunn, Audrey and I took a few more pictures before heading back to the house with Rachel and Annika. Our navigating was more successful on the way home. We frantically changed and left again to go see an opera at the VolksOper (the Folk's Opera), Carmen. We navigated the bus, tram, U4 and U6 all the way to the VolksOper. The four of us stopped to have dinner (and a glass of wine) at the Opera Café across the street, enjoying the character of the very helpful waiter. We had a very typically Austrian meal: frankfurters and potatoes.

Carmen brought very mixed feelings for all. As for me, I was enraptured by the music, but frustrated by the acting and the look of the production. Most other students thought it was too long and boring, reacting by sleeping and fidgeting. Ah, college students. I was disappointed that the performance was not interesting enough to hold our attention, but also disappointed that it was such an ordeal for the other kids on the trip. I was, however, glad we had the experience.

On the journey home, Audrey and I had wonderful conversation with Jared and Micah. Audrey and I had some panic when the bus home whizzed 5 stops past where we wanted to get off, despite our frantic button-pressing. We had a brisk jog home, and it felt like we walked 400 miles, but we made it.