The Home Stretch

Sorry, I know I have not been blogging, but that is because, honestly, the past couple of days have been pretty low key. We are in the home stretch before returning to the USA, and I think Kim and I are getting a little tired. Living in a little tiny dorm room, sleeping on a little tiny dorm bed, and constantly focusing in trying to understand a new language gets pretty tiring after a while. Plus, its the week before finals, so just like everyone in the states, we are just swamped with schoolwork. We have had some great experiences despite all the homework though! Here are a few highlights...

Breakfast and class with Mr. Dunn at the fabulous home of the Canadian Ambassador and his wife.

My big psychology presentation on Bullying.

Exploring at Doblinger. Finding an amazing CD and DVD shop with every opera imaginable.

Discovering the Staatsoper Gift shop, getting gifts for teachers, and purchasing a kick ass poster for my room for 50 cent.

Mahler, all day, everyday.

Girls night out with Rita and Isabella!

The donaucentrum, the enormous shopping mall.

Thats about it, lots of coffee, and writing papers, final projects, and for me, getting to know Ballo in Maschera, which UAO is performing this summer. I am so exhausted I don't want to write anymore, I just felt weird not continuing to blog, even though times are overshadowed by school-work. Kim's family gets in soon, I think I am almost as excited as she is!! Tomorrow, we go on a tour of Schoenbrun palace!

Goodnight!

E

Don Carlos

10:00 a.m. Wake up to an email from Diana. We had called her the night before because we have to reschedule our voice lessons, because Don Carlos starts so early.

10:30 a.m. Kim is already at class, I had been emailing back and forth with Diana when I get a call from her. She suggested I come directly and have a lesson from eleven thirty to twelve thirty, so I clean up and go!

11:50 a.m. Lesson time!

12:30 p.m. Get to school to meet briefly with my project group for psychology class, and grab Kim and Celia for Chinese Tuesdays!

After our favorite chinese food, Kim and I head back to Diana's for Kim's lesson!

4:00 p.m. We head to the opera!

On the way to the opera, we both were having trouble getting motivated to stand through the five hour performance. We just wanted to go home and sleep. And also not stand for five hours. We almost just went home. Then I had the idea that we shop around outside and see if there is anyone selling cheap seats. So we head there and see what they have to offer. The first guy that offers us tickets has good spots for 25 Euro. I am ready to settle, but Kim wisely turns him down. The next guy offers us seats for 15 Euro. Sold! We are instantly ecstatic, we can't wait to go see our seats. When the time comes we arrive at our box. There are three chairs near the edge. There are two chairs behind them, a little taller, slightly blocked by the wall which seperates this box from the next. Then there is a lone chair behind those, tucked away in the dark corner of the box, and elevated slightly higher than the two in front of it.

We could barely see anything from our seats! Then we realized we could stand, and had plenty of wall space to lean on, and when we were standing, we could see everything. And we were in the fifth box from the stage, close enough to see facial features, sweat beads, details in the costumes, etc.

Yes, we stood the whole time, but it was not hard. Don Carlos quickly shot to the very top of my list of  favorite operas. It is a masterpiece. Five hours felt more like one. The characters and their relationships completely consume you.

So the three seats in front were bought by a woman, for herself, her mother and her father. Her father got sick, and could not come. The daughter turned around before the opera began and said something along the lines of "Would you like to sit in this seat?" Then she realized that we had paid 15 Euros for our tickets, and that she had paid 115 Euros a ticket for her front row of box 5. Her offer of the great seat turned from a free spot, to "for 50 Euro?" We sadly went from "Oh my gosh, yes!" to "Oh, sorry, we can't afford that..." So long story short, we stood the whole time, even though there was a great seat right there which remained empty for the entire opera. The guy sitting directly in front of me (yes, I got the back corner chair) told us that this was unusual, and that open seats above the parterre are up for grabs if their patrons don't show up.

During intermission, the old guy felt sorry for us, since we had been standing the whole time, and invited us to his reserved table for a drink! It sounds creepy, but it was completely innocent. Apparently he comes to the opera all the time, and was just happy to see young people excited about music. He told us stories about famous conductors, and names we should know as musicians that we need to google. :) We told him we were singers and said if he ever saw us onstage at the Staatsoper he would yell out "bravo!" for us.

Don Carlos was fantastic. Still thinking about some of the production choices. Like the fifties American house wife dream sequence in the middle, and also the paparazzi scene, where the stage is filled with modern socialites drinking champagne while the paparazzi snap photos or arriving royalty.

11:15 p.m. Get home. Blog. Sleep.

1:30 a.m. Goodnight!

Boris Godunov

10:00 a.m. Wake up!

11:00 a.m. I take a trip to BIPA before we catch our tram to school so I can get moisturizer and sunscreen...our biking adventures left my shoulders with a little burn. No, Mom, its not serious, and I got the sensitive skin kind that doesn't make me break out, spf 50. :) Then Kim and I head out to school!

We go early, Kim works on her painting in the art room, and I watch most of a documentary on Wagner that Mr. Dunn had given us. I have to stop it after about forty minutes because I could not take any more. I am a very emotional person, and as an artist I believe it is our job to be as fully well-rounded of a human being as possible in order to bring substance and integrity to our art. Wagner was manipulative and egocentric, he lied about things in order to gain favor (he started a rumor himself that he had self-taught his own compositional education by reading, when in actuality he had formal training), and stabbed people in the back who had helped him rise to success (mostly Jews that he later he no longer wanted to be associated with because of his anti-Semitic views.) So, while he was a brilliant composer, and pioneered so many innovative ideas in orchestration, musical symbolism, etc, but I have a problem where once I know about a composer as a person, I see their work in a completely different way. In this case, everything I already disliked about Wagner, suddenly seemed 2,684 times worse. :( So when (and I quote) a british Wagner fanatic said that "Beethoven plus Shakespeare equals Wagner" I got a little sick of it. Just need a break, then I will tackle the ring cycle with gusto!

1:30 p.m. Class time! Today we covered Mahler 4, 5, and some of 9. We also watched clips of 2001 Space Odyssey which is always awesome. I was kind of in a bad mood from all the Wagner stuff. Plus I was anticipating a disscussion on Parsifal afterward at our independent study...a production that I was less than fond of.

3:30 p.m. Independent study time. We meet with Mr. Dunn. I tell him what is on my mind. Lately I have been having stronger opinions about music, mainly because I really do feel much more knowledgeable than the average person. (I am sure that I passed that mark after my freshman year as a music student, but sometimes when you are surrounded by other opinionated musicians all the time, you start to feel like you are constantly behind the curve) So, anyway, it was very helpful to get all my emotions regarding Wagner out in the open, and Mr. Dunn wisely encouraged me to try to keep and open mind. I told him I just needed a little break, and he was totally fine with that, especially since we moved on to Boris Godunov for tonight!

4:30 p.m. Off to the opera!

5:15 p.m. We get great spots in line! Despite myself I read part of "Turning the Sky Round" a breif book on the Ring Cycle, and before we knew it we had our spots in the Balcony!

7:00 p.m. Boris Godunov was wonderful. It was a modern production, but in all the right ways. The music was just what I needed to break the Germanic Music funk I had been in all day. A heavey dose of Russian, please! The role of the Boris' son particularly interested me, the end scene between father and son was heart-wrenching. One word of warning: we got excited when we saw the Spielplan because we saw that the opera was only 2 and a quarter hours long, but we did not realize that there is no intermission. You don't realize how much intermission means to you until you are standing for exactly 2 and a quarter hours without stretching or peeing, or sitting down. Honestly though, the effect was great. You don't get a chance to break the suspension of reality, you are in their world the whole time, which makes their struggles so much more real in the end.

Quite the experience!

10:30 p.m. We get home, facebook, skyping, catching up on some major blogging.

1:30 a.m. Goodnight!

E

Saturday: The Zoo!

9:30 a.m. Yes, its early for a Saturday, especially after being out late, but its for a good reason... we are going to the Zoo!

10:15 a.m. We meet up with Colin downstairs and off we go!

We meet Anar and Isabella at the Schoenbrunn! We then walk as a group to the zoo, which is beyond the palace and the vast gardens. It looks beautiful in pictures, and it really does look just like the pictures... but it is so much bigger! The size of these gardens is shocking and the giant waterfall makes you squint because of its magnitude.

We get to the zoo, and immediately start seeing the coolest animals ever. From then on it was animal mania, with so many exciting and cute animals. It is pretty hard to describe how fun the zoo was so I will give a brief bullet-point list of some highlights:

• OTTERS: otters playing, otters making cute otter sounds, otters kissing, otters chasing birds, otters.
• fish
• seals! 
• sleepy anteaters :D
• zaboomafoo the leaping lemur
• zebras
• elephants and a baby elephant!
• bats, where you literally walk through a dark area where bats zoom around you, touching you with the tips of their wings...I was too scared, but Kim totally braved it!
• lots of different types of goats?
• giant Pelicans
• etc

2:00 p.m. Despite our best efforts, we were running late to Kim's 2:00 hair appointment. We had never been to the location before, and since we could not find it right away, the stylist said she had to reschedule. :( That's ok! She now has an appointment for this coming Wednesday. I also tried to schedule a nail appointment, but they handed me their spa menu, and their basic manicure was, wait for it, 40 Euro. Blammo. Not going there for my nails any time soon! 

So we ended up going to get much needed food at the Naschtmarkt, salads at that awesome salad place we found, and before we knew it, it was time to go wait in line at the opera!

4:30 p.m. We get in line fore Don Carlos, but almost immediately after getting there, we are told that we cannot stay because we were wearing shorts! What! Apparently that is a thing, so we spend the rest of the afternoon perusing the shops at Stephansplatz.

8:30 p.m. Pooped out from our big day, we head home for some How I Met Your Mother and early bedtimes!!

12:00 a.m. Goodnight!

E

Friday: The Bigger Picture, Bricks, etc.

7:30 a.m. I get up early for psychology class!

9:00 a.m. I had a lot of trouble stressing out in class because all we talk about is how you can blame everything on your childhood, even if you had a decent childhood, about how adjustment is so hard, and how marriages never work. It just all gets on my last nerve sometimes. I am a very positive person, and talking about all the terrible things in life for four hours once a week really makes me anxious. Also it was gorgeous outside, which makes things ten times worse.

1:00 p.m. I ran out of that classroom and grabbed Kim, who was waiting for me outside in the lobby. We decide to go outside to the Volksgarten for lunch! It was so beautiful, the first day like this in a very long time. I wore a dress! It was crazy! So we laid around in the sun, talking and munching on our sack lunch, people watching, until we decided to walk around the ring...we wanted city bikes!

2:00 p.m. We tried to get registered for city bikes. Despite trying two different cards, and a lovely british fellow trying to help us out, it just did not like my card, so we set off to try to find the next station.

We end up walking around half of the ring. It was incredible! Since we always take the U-bahn everywhere, we never really got a full picture of how everything in the city was connected. Today, we got the bigger picture. We were having such an amazing time walking and talking that soon we ended up all the way at Praterstern! We decided to leave the ferris wheel for another day, and went to find our concert of the night: our friend Aurelia, a piano student here in Vienna, was giving a small recital at a private residence!

We got there really too early, so we hung out at a nearby McDonalds and I got myself a HappyMeal, which I guess is weird if you are not a child, because I got some funny looks when I ordered it.

7:00 p.m. We are still about fifteen minutes too early for the concert, so we decide to walk down the street and back for a bit.

Halfway down, we hear the funniest music. Of course we decide to follow it.

It was an Austrian band! Complete with tuba polka music! It was hilarious, and Kim and I walked around the plaza, I guess it was a small festival: there were tables with beer and food, the awesome, brass-heavy marching band, and face-painted kids running amok. Oh, Austria!

7:15 p.m. We settle in at the recital, it is in the sitting room of a private apartment: the owner of which reminded us both of our beloved Carole Gaspar! She was just so excited about hosting, and about Aurelia, and food, and was just precious.

The recital was an inspiration!

Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and Schumann. She plays with so much soul and passion. It was really wonderful.

8:30 p.m. Afterward there was a reception where I met several musicians and non-musicans. A pianist, a violinist, a lawyer, and a guy who played the piano, but who did not want to be called a pianist. There was also a very interesting character, I think it was the husband of the hostess, he is a BBC actor! He had been up late the night before doing voice over recordings for something I didn't quite catch, and he had to shuffle off quickly. He did manage to invite me to another private recital by a vocalist next week and give me his business card so that I could let him know how many friends I am bringing! He was awesome!

9:15 p.m. Afterward, we met Rita at Bricks Lazy Dance bar, a place that we had heard so much about from our friends who had traveled to Vienna last year. It was really cool looking, and it played the best music! We were there for a while, and as the evening grew a little later, the bar started getting more and more crowded. The thing was... everyone was significantly younger than us. Not sure if this is what it was like when our friends last year went, but we started to feel like we were at junior prom. The bar was actually split down the middle, because none of the boys wanted to ask the girls to dance, they remained segregated, males on one side, females on the other.

Anar joined us, and after a few minutes he convinces us that going to a different bar with some of his friends would be a better idea. We have a great time getting there, but once we are there, I was not really feeling the whole bar situation, so Kim and I head out almost as soon as we get there.

12:00 a.m. The two of us decide to go next door to a less crowded, less smokey, less loud restaurant that specializes in glasses of wine, and flatbread pizza things! We ordered one, and shared it over a heart-to-heart. :) We said it was good while we were eating it, but we both agreed the next morning that it actually wasn't that great... too many onions.

1:00 a.m. Homeward bound!

2:00 a.m. Goodnight!

E

Thursday: Museum's Quartier

7:00 a.m. We wake up very early on Thursdays for class at Mr. Dunn's apartment.

10:00 a.m. We arrive to find Mr. Dunn with two other students, both musicians. The first we have met before, Stan, a retired violinist who loves Obama. He is very nice, and we get along very easily with each other. The other's name I do not remember, but he was a musician as well, and also very nice!

We finished watching Sleeping Beauty, then continued with the documentary about Shostakovich and Stalin, and the finished with Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto.

After that, we got some toothpaste from a nearby store, and then we decided to go see the museums!

1:00 p.m. We had a snack in Museums Quartier, and then got duo passes to the Leopold and the Mumok.

2:15 p.m. We then spent the next several hours exploring these museums!

2:30 p.m. The exhibits on Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt were amazing. I learned a lot about who they were as people, and I feel enlightened about art in Vienna. We saw so many famous paintings, and one great part of the exhibit on Klimt was that they had collected over 400 of his post cards to his life-long friend, Emily. They were intertwined throughout the exhibit as his life progressed, like a timeline that you walked through. I think my favorite paintings were the lake paintings, and the stormy sky with birch tree paintings that he completed while with Emily's family on Holiday.

4:00 p.m. After that, we went to the Mumok. It was three floors of Claes Olderburg. I saw some pieces of art that I read about in my Art History textbook in High school!

There was the giant fluffy piece of cake, the giant soft electric plugs and outlets... I think it was meant to make me question everyday objects I take for granted, and it definitely did, but it also made me smile. Seeing a vacuum cleaner in an art museum just made me giggle. A lot of the art was very grim and edgy, but some of it made me see everyday objects with humor, and that I loved. On the top floor, there was a main visual theme: Mickey Mouse. An all-American symbol, he used it over and over in his artwork, culminating in a giant walk-in exhibit. It is an oddly shaped black box which has lit display cases filled with strange Americana, fake foods, old products, and also random stuff that doesn't really make sense. There is a second black box you walk into, in which the shape of a ray-gun: basically a sideways "L" is explored, with all kinds of different objects in this shape, also in lit display cases. In your mind, all of these things really could represent guns, but they weren't. They were pieces of wood, toys, metal, a dried-up old gardening glove etc, but any of these could be used by children to play "ray-gun," a long American tradition. When you emerge from the black boxes, you discover that from above, you just walked through an outline of mickey mouse's head, and a ray-gun pointed at it. It was a strange feeling to have that realization. Another strange feeling happened when we saw what appeared to be KKK hoods in the shape of mickey mouse heads, complete with ears.

5:00 p.m. Then the day took a bad turn, Kim starting feeling bad. :( We head home, and had a great nap and watch American Tv shows for the rest of the day, and I actually did my laundry!

So Kim will hopefully sleep and feel better in the morning!

Goodnight!

E

The Funk

10:00 a.m. Wake up! Finish writing a paper, send to Mr. Dunn. Finally, our Parsifal papers are done, now to finish Der Rosenkavalier and Werther before we see Don Carlos!

12:50 p.m. Time to go to class! Today we focused on Mahler 4, a little of Beethoven's ninth, and ended with some Piezolla!

After that we have our independent study, where we learned about the ring cycle with Mr. Dunn. Still getting to know Wagner.

After that, we kept trying to stuff, and things just were not working out!

For example:

We were going to see Renee Fleming...she postponed her concert to December due to illness.
We wanted to go to a jazz club...we youtubed the performer, and didn't like them.
We then decided to go to Hamlet...after going to get student tickets, they had no show tonight.
We wanted a healthy dinner...we tried a new restaurant and hated it.
We wanted to get strawberries from the market...all the fresh air parts had shut down.
We were walking...Kim stepped in gum!

We had officially been effected by: THE FUNK. They funk gets to us all, it is a condition when nothing goes your way, and you feel like you are in a haze. The funk is contagious, and if left untreated could lead to whining and a flakey scalp.

So we decided to treat the funk with fresh strawberries and hot chocolate. We go to one of our favorite coffee shops, Cafe Museum. I get something called Oma's Schokolade. Basically it was a double portion of the most amazing hot coco I have ever had, served in a big mug, with schlagobers. That means the most delicious fresh whipped cream ever. Ever. That cream is topped with chocolate shavings. As you drink it the cream slowly mixes with the hot coco making it even more delicious.

So even though our night turned out a little lamer than planned it had a happy ending. And I had time to do my laundry.

Also on the ride home we made a list of pros and cons about Vienna vs the States

Cons:
-you can't eavesdrop on people speaking a language totally unknown to you
-its not the states
-our friends don't live here
-the 30 minutes from everywhere at least rule
-laundry costs TWO EUROS for just washing machine
-things close on sundays...even though sundays are the best days for shopping slash everything

Pros:
-great public transportation
-strong coffee
-music
-food...except the food we ate tonight.
-cafes!
-opera.

AND TO ALL A GOODNIGHT!

E

Cafe Landtmann

9:15 a.m. Wake up! Kim is in class, I go back to sleep for a while, and catch up on some 30 Rock.

11:00 a.m. I go shopping! It was my first time at the Penny Markt by myself. Surprisingly not such a big deal! It is just like shopping in the US, if you are shopping at Aldi's, and everything is labeled in German. Also, I wasn't sure what the cashier lady said to me, but I just smiled at her, and sort of nodded?

12:00 p.m. Clean up the room, put away groceries. Head to school for Chinese Tuesdays with Kim and Celia!

1:00 p.m. When I got to school I found them right away, hungry as two little clams, so we head to our traditional chinese place at Kaisermuhlen. It is packed :( . We even try to sit on their patio, but it is so windy that we just couldn't deal. So we decide to break tradition and head to the Naschtmarkt to find a new restaurant!

We end up at an Israeli infusion restaurant with awesome felafel!

3:00 p.m. Now voice lessons! I had another great lesson. I really want to go on a rant here, about how inspired I am, but I won't, but please ask me about it and I would be happy to go on a rant in person. :)

5:30 p.m. We meet up with Gagik, a friend from Highschool who now goes to school in Vienna. Kim and I finally get a chance to try one of those cones of strawberries, and yes, they are as good as they look. We went to Cafe Landtmann, which is a landmark in Vienna...

"This legendary Café has been and continues to be one of the most popular in Vienna with regulars such as: Peter Altenberg, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Max Reinhardt, Marlene Dietrich, Romy Schneider, Burt Lancaster, Hans Moser, the Dutch Queen Juliane, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sir Paul Mc Cartney."


After that we head home for some much needed practice and down time! Skype is being werid tonight... :( Anyway, looking forward to class tonight! and making some big plans for this weekend!

Goodnight

E

Salzburg Day 2

10:00 a.m. We wake up.

We are all doing fine, getting ready. I am about to make coffee for us in our room when suddenly se hear a terrible noise. “Is that the fire alarm?” We open our door, and yes, indeed, it was the fire alarm. Celia asks me if I am leaving my things in the room, and I say no because we are mostly packed up as it is. We quickly gather our things, and head towards the lobby. Just as we reach the end of our corridor, the alarm stops. We continue down the stairs, where there is a mob of people, including several mothers and their babies. As we arrive in the lobby, a man tells the crowd that everything is ok, and that there is nothing to worry about. We go back up to the room for a moment to do a final sweep, since last time we almost left Kim’s converter in Italy. Everything is in hand, we check out and search for replacement coffee. 

We are all quiet, I think Kim was especially upset at being ripped away from her morning routine so violently. We all just needed some caffeine. After breakfast, we significantly perk up! We head in the direction of the Fortress! 

12:00 p.m. We know our was across the river well by now so we make it to the street we know leads to the fortress. Halfway there, we see some incredible view, and we stop for pictures. We are already being challenged by all those stairs. Frequent breaks are a must, and it is made easier by the gorgeous views. Every time you look around, there is something more breath-taking than what you were previously looking at. 

Celia, Kim, and I have become quite the sight-seeing team, and traveling together is a lot of fun. 

The last leg of the journey up to the entrance of the fortress is hard. You are traveling up an extremely steep road for an extended distance. We kept each other motivated. It wasn’t until we were on our way down that we discovered a second way up to the fortress...a sleek looking tram that took up up the side of the mountain in probably less that two minutes. For all my adventuresome friends going to study abroad next year, I highly recommend taking the hard way up. You feel so much more accomplished when you reach the top sweaty and gasping for breathe, and it makes all the cool stuff in the fortress seem even cooler. 

1:30 p.m. We have wandered around the fortress for some time, seeing some beautiful views, and climbing through the halls and outdoor areas you are allowed to explore when we stumble upon tour! It is a guided tour through the inner rooms. A few highlights were the torture room, a room set up to show the archbishops and what the fortress looked like when they took over control of construction, and a view from the top. You can see everything. We saw places that took half an hour to get to from the Sound of Music tour! 

Another memorable part of the Fortress was the marionette museum! You even get a chance to try out your skills with a real marionette. It is a hoot-and-a-half! :) In the corner of the exhibit there is a box with a closed lid. If you swing the door open, suddenly there booms a maniacal laugh and a skeleton bathed in red light pops up! I was too scared to open the door, so Celia did.

By the time our tour is over we are ready for some substantial lunch. We find a cafe at the base of hill, where the food is good, but the service terrible. :) I had a “Bratwurst Hot Dog” and a desert of Kaiserschmarrn. (check spelling) 

After that, our next stop were the catacombs. We were excited to be shocked and spooked by skeletons and graves. We were sadly disappointed, but we did have an entirely lovely experience at the beautiful graveyard! It was kept up with flowers and offerings. The catacombs were deep within rock caverns, but you have to go up to get to them! We were confused, because we thought that catacombs would be far beneath the ground. On the contrary! There were some beautiful caverns carved out of stone, they were lit with natural light from windows that overlooked the cemetery. No skeletons, but not a total loss! :) 

3:00 p.m. After that we head to Mozart’s birthplace! We stood in the room where he was born! We got to see the clavier he composed on! It was really exciting for our dorky sides. I got Nora her present in the shop there! (Get excited Nora!) 

5:00 p.m. We were all three getting pretty pooped out at this point. Climbing up to the fortress really took it out of us, not to mention we were carrying around our computers/clothes/etc on our backs the whole time! After our tour of Mozart’s Geburtshaus, we went to the house he lived in for seven years in Salzburg. When we arrived, we found them closed, but I think we were really relieved, and we decided to catch an earlier train home. 

6:10 p.m. Our train left the station!

We were under the impression that we had reserved seats for the whole month, and that we could come get those seats whenever we wanted to. Apparently, that is not the case, and after chasing up and down the train trying to get what we believed to be our seats, and some help from the controller, we were set straight. Of course you can’t reserve seats for a whole month! When I said it out loud, I understood how ridiculous it sounded, and realized that the people in the seats were right, and that we couldn’t kick them out. I apologized at least six times, I felt so badly for misunderstanding, and for getting upset when they would not leave their seats for us. To make matters worse, they were two sweet older ladies! 

Kim and Celia went off to find their own individual seats, and I took the one left with the ladies. I blogged and worked on my school work for the rest of the trip. Home, pjs, facebook, skyping with matt!

Goodnight!

Best trip ever.

E

Salzburg Day 1

6:20 a.m. We wake up time.

6:40 a.m. Skype with the boyfriend! :)

7:00 a.m. Meet Celia downstairs and head to Westbahnhof!

8:00 a.m. Get on our train, and work on homework until I fall asleep.

11:10 a.m. We get there in what seems like no time! We get Salzburg cards, which give us discounts on touristy things! Then we get our tickets to the Sound of Music Tour! We decide to spend the extra money and get tickets to the Original tour, as opposed to the “hop-on hop-off” bus tour that only cost 15 Euro. The difference is a live tour guide, four hours of touring, and we get to see sights outside of the city, lakes and mountains where the film was shot. 

We have three hours until the tour begins, and we are all very hungry. We wander around walking into restaurants, but none of them are open! We finally end up at a bakery where we get sandwiches. 

After that we still have quite a lot of time to spare so we wander into the Mirabell Gardens! They are incredibly beautiful, and we could not have had nicer weather! The gardens are filled with sweetly scented flowers, and bright green leaves! We were shocked when we saw a man strip down to his underwear and go fishing in one of the fountains for coins! There are pictures. They are hilarious. Eventually we got tired and sat down on a bench and ended up watching a bride and groom get their pictures taken.

1:45 p.m. Time for our tour!

1. everyone who likes The Sound of Music should take this tour
2. our tour guide’s name was Peter, and he was fabulous. we laughed the whole time. here are some memorable quotes: 
1. “our-feet-are-the-same!” 
2. “if you feel the need to sing along...let it out!” 
3. “Walk in like you own the place. Take someone you care about. Sip champagne on the rooftop, and talk about your feelings!” 
4. “Donkuh Shun!” 
5. “I got mine from barnes and nobles. In Florida!” 
6. “Can I call you Grown-up Gretel?” (That one was to Kim) 
7. “May you marry rich and have lots of children” (also to Kim) 
8. “Want to make your neighbors jealous? Make your house look like a wedding cake!” 
3. The scenes are breathe-taking. You really lose your breath. There is nothing so beautiful in the world. I have never seen anything as awe-inspiring in my life. I am at a loss for words. It really is that beautiful. Imagine a small town nestled into a valley, Mountains rising around a perfectly clear lake. 
4. It was a great time. We saw the Alps, the church where the wedding scene was shot, several lakes, the gazebo where sixteen-going-on-seventeen was shot, the Trap family home, the tree-lined walkway, the abbey, and so many more amazing locations.
5. We stopped in the small town of the Moon River, viewing the Dragon Cliff, and had the most delicious cheese strudel and vanilla ice cream. 
6. It is totally worth the money.

6:00 p.m. After our tour, we find the hotel and take a quick nap. 

7:30 p.m. We get up and head out for dinner and adventure!

We end up at a great restaurant on the other side of the river. At my insistence, Kim and I split the “Family Plate.” Not only was it a better deal, but we got a sampling of several different traditional Austrian dishes! Schnitzel, dill potatoes, garlic dumplings, boiled pork steaks(?), traditional gravy, some sort of meat goulash, and apple-horse radish garnish! It was one of the best meals I have ever had. Salzburg is SO amazing. It is clean, the country-side is gorgeous, the people are nice, and the food and drink is to die for. It was a lovely change of scene from the ultra-cosmopolitan Vienna.

8:30 p.m. We head out in search of the famous brewery. It takes us quite some time (and Celia’s GPS) to finally find it. On our way we even climbed up the side of a hill to the back of a church where we could see the night skyline of the whole city. It was an amazing sight. 

The beer hall was wonderfully friendly, and whole families, with kids lined the tables. You are given the choice of big and bigger beer steins, they fill it up, and then you find a table where you sit and talk and slowly drink your beer. Every once and a while a group of grown men stand at their table and sing a song! Mostly they are traditional German songs, but it is certainly fun and gets everyone in a fabulous mood! The beer was good, and I am not even a beer drinker. One was plenty! At around 11 they started shutting down, so we finished up and started to head out.

On our way out the door, I hear someone yell “Opera Girl!” I turn around and see one of the guys we met on the train back from Vienna! A group of American boys introduced themselves! They walked us most of the way home, the conversation was so refreshing! American boys are so much more polite than Austrian ones! It restored faith in boys in general, and it was nice to relate to the ones who also had girlfriends back in the states!

It was the best day ever. I am so glad we are here, and I cannot wait for all the excitement of tomorrow!

Goodnight!

E

Werther

8:00 a.m. We wake, very groggy.

9:15 a.m. We leave for Mr. Dunn's class.

10:00 a.m. We arrive at Mr. Dunn's class.

We watched a documentary on Shostakovich and Stalin, and then watched a modern dance production of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty. Both were quite interesting, although the documentary was extremely hard to watch, especially because of the video footage from death camps of graphic murders. The second subject was definitely a relief.

After class, we got a chance to vocalize for Mr. Dunn, and hopefully a couple of coachings are in our future with him. He has an incredible ear, and lots of insight and Kim and I both are excited for his advice.

After class, we explored some of the second hand shops around the neighborhood thinking we could find some deals. Apparently second hand is much more expensive here! There were no deals :( , but the walk was lovely! The sun actually came out!

After that we head into the city to get in line for tonight's opera!

2:30 p.m. We check out where the line is supposed to be. It is completely deserted. Surprising, but I guess it is a Thursday.

So we get our food, a cheap meal from McDonald's, and settle in as first in line. We didn't really have much of a choice because it would have been a waste to try to go home because home is so far away, and everything there is to do in the first district is shopping, and neither one of us really wanted to spend money, so we watched 27 Dresses on Kim's iPhone.

Slowly but surely, people started lining up behind us!

6:30 p.m. It was the first time that we have been first, so we decided to go all out and get parterre tickets! We literally had the best view in the house. The sound was incredible.

7:30 p.m. Kasarova played Charlotte. She is truly an inspiration. One of the greats. I still am in disbelief of her voice in person. It is a wall of sound, with a range of color that can bring tears to your eyes with just a certain infection. Her characterization of Charlotte had so much integrity and intelligence. I have been lucky to be able to see two of my greatest hero's live onstage in the past week. Unbelievable.

And can someone tell me why I had never heard of Werther? It was one of the most heartbreaking stories I had ever heard, and the opera was beautiful.

The Letter Scene. It must be mine one day.

10:45 p.m. So, basically Vienna is my dream city. I hope that I can make it a more permanent part of my life someday not so far away.

11:00 p.m. Blogging, facebook, the usual, got to skype with mom and dad tonight! Must try to sleep now because I have an early class in the morning!

Inspired.

E

Giant Trampoline?!

8:30 a.m. We get up early, we have a breakfast date with Ryan!

10:00 a.m. We finally find him, at the entrance to the Museum’s Quartier. We were both so tired on the way that we made some sleepy mistakes: like, missing our stop completely on the U-Bahn and having to back track, Kim accidentally going up the wrong escalator with her iPod playing, and only noticing half-way up that I was down below calling her name. It was classic Kim and Emma.

We had the best breakfast EVER. We were in a little cafe inside the museum’s quartier building, near a book store (I forget the name of the place.) Ryan and I both had the Bacon and Eggs. It is basically a plate-sized layer of bacon that is fried, then three eggs are fried sunny-side-up right on top, then scallions, salt and pepper on top. It was very American, and good in every way. 

It was wonderful to see Ryan again! Of course we had a great time, and seeing an old friend from the states feels so natural and easy. We have been meeting so many new friends, but there is always the knowledge that we are leaving so soon, and new friendships take so much work to maintain, so sometimes it gets tiring.

After breakfast we head to school, and Ryan comes with us to see what Webster Vienna looks like!

12:30 p.m. Of course, we bump into Mr. Dunn on the bus! He and Ryan meet and get along right away. We all go to class together, and start preparing for our mid term exam. We have a listening section on Mahler Symphonies 1, 2, and 3; Brahms Piano Concerto No 2, and Bruckner’s adagio movement from his 8th. (Although Bruckner never actually showed up on the test.) After that, a short writing section.

3:30 p.m. Class ends, and Kim and I decide to  take a walk along the Danube and see some of the sights. 

We decide to sit on the edge of the river and hang our feet over the edge. We are there only a few minutes before a boy approaches us about a light, and then is shocked when we don’t smoke, and is then further disappointed when we do not want him to stick around and talk to us. Really, Austrian boys? Really? Seriously, give it a break. It was flattering the first two hundred times, after that it gets creepy and annoying. :( 

So when he decides to sit just a few yards down from us, we decide maybe its time to go. We head further down the river, toward Donauinsel. We want to check out the giant bridge that looks like a battle zone from Yu-Gi-Oh. On our way to the bridge, we pass what seems to be a giant floating trampoline, on the river. We both glance at it casually, and say “Oh, maybe we can go there sometime.” 

We go check out the bridge, and the second time we pass the trampoline thingy, almost at the same time, we both look at each other and say “Want to go on the trampoline?!” We both had been thinking it, but were nervous that the other wouldn’t want to go.

What happened next was magical. We paid two Euro for eight minutes of super-fun on the bounciest trampoline right on the water. It was so fun. So. Fun. When you first step onto it, you start laughing, and you can’t stop until way after you are done. I fell down so many times, and am now covered in bruises, but it was more than worth it. 

4:45 p.m. So we still had time to kill before our concert that evening, so we decide to go to the first district and find some dinner. 

After walking around looking for this one sandwich restaurant that Prentis told us about, we realize that it is almost time to be at the Musikverein, so we ditch that idea, and get some Chinese food about a block down. Then off to the concert!

6:15 p.m. We meet Mr. Dunn and some classmates at the Musikverein! We see Brahms’  piano concerto no. 2, and The Firebird.

I think my ears and musical tastes are really starting to develop in a new way. I did not like the Brahms...it remains one of my favorite pieces, but it didn't speak to me this time around. The Firebird, on the other hand, I enjoyed immensely. The end of that piece gets me every time.

10:30 p.m. Celia, Kim and I head home, completely wiped out.

11:30 p.m. Early bedtime, Skype with Lucy and my Dad! So glad to see them. :)

12:00 a.m. Sleep.

1:15 a.m. Matt calls on Skype! :D 

And back to sleep!

Goodnight!

E 

Shopping and a Package from Home!

9:15 a.m. Got up. Kim is at class, I shower, and head out. I have a nail appointment!

10:30 a.m. I arrive at the nail salon 5 minutes before my appointment, which is almost exactly when my manicurist arrived as well...with her adorable dog Ben. He is a big dog with an old soul, very clam and sweet.

My nail appointment went splendidly, I haven't gotten my nails done since I left for Europe, and for those of you who know me, you know that means I have been biting my nails. It is an unhealthy habit that I have been trying to break for years, but can't seem to. I have long periods of time where I don't bite: when I get a manicure.

My Nail Artist's name is Melanie, Mel for short. She is cute and sweet, and talkative, and since it was only me and her in her little studio, she really put me at ease. I found myself talking to her about random stuff that I wouldn't normally tell a stranger, but she was just so nice!

Nails looking SO much better, I head over to school. Today is Chinese-food Tuesday, so I decided to save the extra couple Euro and not have coffee. This proved to be quite the challenge when I got the the Webster computer lab and tried to work on my Parsifal paper. I still haven't finished, but I must tomorrow, it is getting down to the wire.

1:00 p.m. Kim gets out of her class, and she, Celia, and I go to Chinese-food Tuesday! It is the amazing little Chinese place we found right near Kaisermuhlen that has the most delicious food, and big American-sized portions. Today I was starving and ate my entire plate.

2:30 p.m. We arrive a little too soon in our voice teacher's neighborhood, and we decide to kill some time by exploring the surrounding blocks. We stumble upon a little clothing store with cute potential birthday dresses for Kim and I, and we vow to go next week before our lessons and check it out.

3:00 p.m. Voice lessons! Kim went first, and I totally fell asleep. I really should not go without coffee until I get back to the states. Next was my turn! I really look forward to my lessons with Diana, and I am sad that we only have three more weeks left. :(

5:30 p.m. We meet Celia at Westbahnhof and get our train tickets to Salzburg! I am so excited for this trip, I know exactly what to avoid, and what to plan now that we have been on a trip already. Then we explore the station/mall!

I buy shoes. Pictures will be posted. Basically I am in love with them.

7:30 p.m. We get back home, and start studying for our midterm tomorrow. But before that, we got to open the package of goodies my Dad and Step-mom sent from Texas! It had cloth shopping bags, Doritos, Fritos, Twinkies, and Wheat Thins. It was an epic feast.

Skyping with family and Matt!

Goodnight!

E

The Blog That Isn't Really a Blog

So for a few days I have been a day behind, and it has been really hard to find the extra time to catch up with myself in the blog world, so here is how this is going to work. I am just going to make bullet points, and later on, years from now (if my memory remains intact) you can ask me about the stories from today and I will tell you the tales:

• Kim's nail appointment
• Trying to write a paper on Parsifal in under an hour
• The creepy guy who stalked me all day :(
• When I said a certain someone reminded me of Schoenberg
• (never tell anyone that they remind you of Schoenberg)
• The meeting with Mr. Dunn where we tell him how felt about Parsifal
• When the creepy guy continued to stalk me all day :(
• The Dorito Disappointment
• Our failed grocery store trip

I think that is about it!

Goodnight!

E

Der Rosenkavalier

11:30 a.m. We wake up. We had showered the night before, so we just got dressed. Today is the day I get to see one of my all time singing hero's on stage. Elina Garanca is singing the role of Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier.

Since Garanca is such a big star that people get there three, four, five, even sometimes six hours early. They bring stools, reading materials, meals, and friends, and make a day of it! We decided to go out to Karlsplatz and see what the line looked like, then get some food and hunker down for the few hours before the show.

First, we definitely needed coffee. After last night, we really needed coffee. Thankfully, there is a Starbucks right in front of the Staatsoper. We get there and order our coffees, and suddenly we spy what looks to be the most delicious sandwich in the world, staring at us from inside the glass case at Starbucks. It was called the Pita Rustica. They heat it up for you, and the cheese melts around the chicken, and the pita bread gets all toasty on the outside. It was gone in less than three minutes. Our coffees were still being made, and this sandwich was gone.

1:40 p.m. We went to check out the line. Basically there were five people in line, so we decided we had nothing to worry about, and that we had time to stock up on snacks before finding our place in line.

I head to McDonald's first. Ready? Twenty piece chicken nugget. Two large fries. And a Coca-cola light. (that's what they call diet coke here) Oh god, the glory of it all comes back to me as I write it. I don't think anyone had ever ordered the twenty piece meal there before, because when the cashier told the cook in the back, they laughed, and looked to see who had ordered it. Suck it nerds, I'm American!

Then Kim and I stop at an Anker so she can get her healthy alternative: a deli sandwich. Then we go on a little journey to find her some chips to go with it. After a few stops, we end up at a subway where she gets Walker's salt and vinegar, (basically Lay's but british) and "Dorito's." Later, waiting in line, we found out that these Dorito's were really some sad imitation that tasted like rotten ketchup. :( Disappointing.

Anyway...

3:00 p.m. We got in line!

After that came a few hours of waiting. We ate, talked, read Tina Fey's book on Kim's Kindle, I started writing a paper I had been procrastinating on.

Right ahead of us in line, were a group of American singers. All girls of course. Unfortunately, all they talked about (rather loudly) was their insecurities about graduate school, music careers, and topics like: "Well the only reason that she got into all those schools is because she is tall and pretty, I heard that one of her vocal folds was paralyzed" or, even better, "Yea, once they got the leads, the pretty much were the only ones who got cast, that always happens." There was even talk of "How much do you need to be a musician, I just couldn't have a job just for the money." Of course, on some level, I am sure all singer's feel a little judged, and insecure, but these girls were every cliche of singers rolled into one. It was quite embarrassing.

But now onto the important stuff.

6:00 p.m. We got great spots. We could see and hear everything perfectly.

As far as I am concerned, the performance was spot-on. In particular, Octavian and the Marshalin were incredibly inspiring. The magic wasn't in the voice. Well, let me rephrase: the magic was the totality of the character. Voice, physicality, expression, emotion, tambre, relationship with the other characters, relationship with the audience, relationship with the conductor, relationship with the orchestra.

It was certainly a performance I will never forget. It was the first time at the Staatsoper that I cried. And it was a good cry. It started during the trio, and I ended up being in tears pretty much the rest of the opera. I just realized that I really can relate to the Marshalin. No, I have never had to leave a lover, nor have I ever had to be mature enough to know to let someone go, but I have experienced debilitating loneliness in my life, and I have experience complete satisfaction. There is so much good in her character that I wish to discover in myself as I grow up. This trip has helped me discover so much self confidence, but it has also provided me with a look at how I want to mold myself for the future. I experienced so much emotion, that I don't really think I understand what I was thinking exactly, as I watched the bows, but I know that I found something that I love, and that I am determined to chase it with everything I got. People are going to have to beat me down before I give up, and I just can't wait to see what my life has in store for me.

Seeing one of your idols in person is one of the strangest experiences: I realized that after scrutinizing over youtube videos of Garanca, and looking for updates from her website, reading articles and reviews, translating interviews, that this is a real living person. She is a performer on the stage. And that is really the best way to experience great performances: Live on the stage. Her intelligence shows on the stage, and she is enchanting, after seeing just one role, I am almost sure of her ability to play a range of different characters.

10:30 p.m. I didn't wait by the stage door, and I am glad. After such an emotionally enlightening experience, I am happy that I walked away with the feelings that I had. Trying to meet a famous person can be tiring, and disappointing. (because they are, after all, human, and after giving a kick-ass performance, and probably traveling/rehearsing/etc they may just not be the perfect person you hope they would be) And so Elina Garanca is still one of my heros, and is still shrouded in a little bit of mystery. And for now, that is how I like it.

Goodnight!

E

Composers and Clubbing

10:00 a.m. We wake up and get ready! This morning we are meeting our voice teacher Diana at the Naschtmarkt with Celia, so she can show us her favorite bio food people to shop from! Then we are going to head to the Central Friedhof to see all our favorite composer's graves! I know to most people the thought of wandering around a cemetery doesn't exactly get their goat, but it totally gets my goat.

We meet Celia downstairs, of course we are late, but we end up finding her, and then (after a much needed cup of coffee) meet up with our voice teacher Diana at the Market. She is the queen of that market, everyone there knew her, and were excited to meet us, her students. One man, seeing us together turned around and said through a heavy German accent, "Big Mama is watching you?" after she had explained that we were her voice students. We got a sample of fresh Leberkaese, which you think would be gross, but is totally delicious. Not exactly sure what is in it, but it literally means Liver Cake. It is cut into slices, and served warm in sandwiches. We also got samples of several types of cookies that used honey as a replacement for sugar, different natural juices, handmade chocolates, cheeses, and some kind of savory spinach strudel. Free breakfast is always wonderful.

So once we had our fill of the market we headed to the Central Cemetery. To get there you take the U2 line to the very end, then take a tram right to the enormous gates of the entryway.

I have been asked several times now, "Was it sad?" No, not at all. In fact, it was incredibly happy. First, it is gorgeous, broad walkways and roads lined with trees, and flowers blooming at every tombstone. I almost feel wrong in calling them tombstones as well, because that conjures the image of a crooked, rectangular stone with R.I. P. chiseled into the front. In reality, every tombstone is an elaborate work of art, intended to reflect the achievements of the person buried beneath. Some had extremely ornate sculptural works, others monumental simplicity. Ligeti, for example, had a simple glass tombstone with his name written with a laser inscription so that it floated in the center of a perfect glass case. Wolf, on the other hand had a rather large stone, or wall rather, with classical nude figures, a couple in a passionate kiss, and a man deep in thought, and a likeness of his face.

We visited Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart (a memorial, not a grave), Czerny, Salieri, Ligeti, Schoenberg, Wolf, Schubert, and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head.

There is also a giant church in the center of the cemetery, which was gorgeous on the inside.

2:30 p.m. Lunch at Vapiano with Kim and Celia, then back home for a nap before our big night out!

6:00 p.m. Working on homework, skyping some people, practicing, then getting ready for our first night clubbing in Vienna.

We decided on a club called Passage, which is near Volksgarten. The reason for the name is that it used to be an underground passageway for pedestrians, which was renovated into a hoppin' club!

11:40 p.m. Of course Kim and I are late for our appointed time to meet with with Isabella and Rita. :) But after some searching we finally found them and the train to our final destination. Well, we did, and then we got confused about the actually location of the entrance, and so we had to turn around a few times, but eventually (after a lot of laughs) we made it to the club.

Coat check, bouncers, stamp on the hand, and we are in!

It is like a typical American club, but nicer, the age range is very wide, the music is loud and repetitive, everyone dresses to the nines, (or their version), and drinks are over priced. The major difference, the one that makes it, is that the dancing is real dancing! Grinding doesn't really happen here. Well, I saw a few couples getting down, but they were definitely a minority. Here dancing is a personal art form. For the first hour or so that we were there, there was enough room to move freely and to get down with your bad self. And boy, were there some re-donk-u-lous dance moves.

Also, as a side note, everyone here seems a lot taller. My peeps.

Dancing ensued, and of course boys happened. Meaning boys came over to talk to us, which is more like screaming (which is used, in most cases, as an excuse to get really close to your face) The tricky part is being nice, but not interested. And in my case, making sure that my single friends are in between myself and the boy in question. Here, they do not mess around, everyone is very forward, and even pushy in some cases.

The other main difference between clubbing here and clubbing in the united states: here in Vienna, the party just gets started at three in the morning. Whereas, in the states, everyone is ready to head home.

Oh! Also, there is such a wide range of ages represented! That's a thing, right?

After a while, we also ran into J! We had quite the little clubbing group going!

2:30 a.m. Being a woman in a committed relationship, I started wearing down earlier than my girlfriends, who are single. Also, I am not really one for wearing high heels for long periods of time (especially when getting my groove on). At this point, I started feeling the itch to head back. While the dancing was SO FUN, I was getting a little tired of all the male attention, my feet were hurting, and by-the-way its two thirty in the morning.

3:00 a.m. But, they have this trick. At this point in the night, the club is at it's most crowded, and suddenly the music gets awesome! The whole night up until this point, it has been euro-house nonsense, and then all of a sudden your favorite American top forty mash-ups start popping up on the play list! It makes it nearly impossible to leave! It ends up being amazing song after the next! and you just have to keep dancing!!

4:00 a.m. After some convincing on my part I get Kim to head home with me. :) It was a wild night! We get a cab to the nearest U-Bahn station and take the train home. We are lucky enough that the night bus is waiting to take us the last leg home.

4:30 a.m. A quick skype with my boyfriend, (even if you do nothing wrong, you always just need to check in, or at least I do) and BED!!!

It was such a wonderful night!

E

Psychology and Nightlife II

7:30 a.m. I have to wake up early today for my psychology class!

8:00 a.m. Get out the door, head out to school.

Of course I stop into my favorite Der Mann at the Kaisermuhlen station. I always get two topfenbaellchen, which are little balls of dough covered in sugar, and a cafe latte. It is always a nice cheap little pick me up in the morning, and it has become a lovely tradition that makes me feel so at home here in Vienna. :)

9:00 a.m. I have psychology class, but I forgot that my class is going to be happening for the next SIX hours! Usually it is a four hour class, but since we missed a class for easter, we have to make up for it bit by bit by adding extra time to our remaining classes.

But here is the problem: I forgot to tell Kim that my class is ending later, and we always meet up after my class! Also, as a side note, out cell phone is not working.

12:00 p.m. We have been in class for a while and we take a break. It is a really good group of kids, and we are all becoming friends.

1:00 p.m. This is the time that my class would normally get out, so I check around the building quickly but Kim is nowhere to be found. I worry that maybe she slept in, or that she came here to find me and got confused and left.

At this point, the whole class is very tired, who wouldn't be after four hours of psychology? We still had two hours left.

3:00 p.m. Class finally ends! It was a fun class, but no matter how good a class is, six hours is just too long.

So I managed to get in contact with Kim with Rita's iPhone, on facebook! What a blessing! She had come to school and looked for me, and had returned home after she could not find me.

So a group of us from my class decided to go out to lunch together, and Kim and I made plans via facebook to meet up afterward!

We decided to eat at Vapiano, an Italian semi-fast-food restaurant. When you walk in you get a card, then you get a tray and silverware and step into line so that one of the chefs can make a creation for you right there in front of you!

I got campanelle in pesto sauce with pine nuts. It was delicious. After you eat, you take the card you recieved at the beginning (and swiped after getting your food) up to the cashier and pay right before leaving.

The group was six people: Rita, J, Anar, Monika, Jacob, and me! It always baffles me how many nationalities there are in one place! Everyone was from a different country!

After lunch I got met up with Kim, and we walked back to school together, very happy to see each other! She worked on her painting, while I figured out how to work the internet in the computer lab. I had a lovely facebook chat with my boyfriend, and then went back to the art room where Kim showed me how to paint! I am not very talented, but it definitely was fun!

7:30 p.m. We decide to try stepping off into a new station and trying dinner at a place we had never been to before! We ended up at a fast food restaurant called Mr. Lee's! It was cheap, and we got so much food! Rita met up with us there, and then we all met with Anar, and some new friends of his and went to a place called Luke's bar!

It was really nice, a big open space with tables. The problem was that all the tables were reserved! We eventually did find a place to sit. We all ordered the same thing to drink because the drinks we asked for were apparently not available!

We talked with our new friends, until about midnight then headed out!

It was a very chill night, but we had to get up in the morning for a new adventure!

1:00 a.m. Skyping with Matt, Colby, and Nora!!! Then skyping with just Matt! Then bed!

Goodnight

E

Parsifal

For homework reasons, I did not get to blog last night. Here goes:

10:00 a.m. We get up slowly, leaving a little later than we should have for our voice lessons, and not getting to read the entire synopsis of Parsifal, which we are seeing tonight!

1:00 p.m. My voice lesson! This time we primarily worked on coloratura rep, focusing on the opening of "Non Piu Mesta" from Rossini's La Cenerentola. Her technique is all new to me, but it involves a lot of focus forward and relaxation of the muscles. I cannot wait to bring this stuff back home, my melissmas are getting faster and clearer with this new instruction. I ended the lesson wishing that I had a whole hour more, to work on my other rep. The aria "Things Change Jo" is the other piece I have been working on, which is proving a hefty challenge, next week hopefully we will get to spend more time on it. Also, lately I have been longing for some Carmen, (we will have to see what Professor Gaspar has to say about that when I get back home :) here's hoping). So all in all, some really good work, and a lot to practice.

3:00 p.m. After Kim's lesson, we head directly for the opera. Before we leave Diana's apartment we borrow her cell phone to make a nail appointment! Since coming to Vienna some of my old anxious habits have re-appeared because of all the excitement. One of them being biting my nails. It's strange because here you have to make an appointment, and a nail salon is literally ONE person. They have a station where they focus on one client at a time, and usually they are getting fake nails, so the appointment is lengthy.

So off to the Opera we go!

We get there, and already the line is filling up the waiting room. There are several people who have obviously been camping out for quite some time already. The die hard fans. Tonight we see a famous conductor, known for his Wagner.

We wait, then go up some stairs, then wait some more, then go up some more stairs, and finally we are let into our seats. Then we run frantically around the U-Bahn until we find the McDonald's, which I was craving like crazy all evening. We eat quickly and head back to our standing places.

The Opera was five hours long. We had great spots. The singers were everything you could ask for.

After the first act, I was filled with loathing. I hated it. I hated the idea of it, I hated the sound of it, and I hated the ideas that inspired it.

After the second act, I loved it, I loved the music of the second act, especially the maidens' music and the extended duet material between Kundry and Parsifal. Although some of this act bordered on what I would consider Euro-trash, I think in the end it was successful.

After the third act, I was completely numb. It was very long, and abstract. I don't really think I will know whether I appreciate it until it has settled in for a few days, or maybe a few months.

The show started at 5:30, we left at 10:30. It's official, I must love opera. Everything here inspires me.

11:30 p.m. Home to skype my mom and Matt! Psychology homework. Bed!

Goodnight!

E

Outdoor ballet

11:00 a.m. I wake up, Kim has been up for a while, studying for our listening exam. I write my paper that I have been putting off, about Tosca.

12:30 p.m. School!

1:30 p.m. We have our first listening quiz today, Kim and I had less trouble than the rest of the class, we are the only music majors, but we were still pretty nervous, I can't imagine how intimidating it would be for a non major, I know my first listening exam was really stressful for me.

After that we had our independent study time. We started watching bits of Don Carlos, which is phenomenal. I got sucked in immediately, so much royal drama.

After that Kim and I decide to check out the outdoor plaza set up right in front of the Staadtsoper! They have a giant screen and chairs set up where people can come watch a live feed from inside for free. It is really a blessing.

We had a while before the show started, so we went exploring for a bit. We went to a memorial with a giant fountain, I should have probably read the plaque that said who it was for, but I just wanted to enjoy the view of the fountain. :) We also stopped in at the SPAR Gourmet ( a local grocery chain) where we picked up some healthy dinner options, a smoothie, a fresh deli sandwich, and a bag of paprika chips.

We head back and watch a beautiful ballet routine. We leave after the first half because we are freezing and I really have to pee. So we get some starbucks to go and head back home.

10:00 p.m. We get back, skype with Matt and Jason! Blogging, some opera research, The Princess Bride, then bed time! Excited for Parsifal tomorrow night!!!!

Sweet dreams,

E

The Day We Went to Venice

10:00 a.m. We wake up, we still have to put some laundry in the dryer. After showers, I don't feel well, so I lay back down for a while, hoping that my illness will go away after a few minutes.

Kim has nothing to wear downstairs, and she asks me to go grab the laundry. By the time I get back I can barely stand up. :(

We decide not to go to class, I sleep most of the day and have an obvious fever and nausea. I was a very very unhappy camper.

3:00 p.m. I wake up and realize that I have to go to school, because my rent is due and if I don't pay it before leaving for our trip, it will be late, and that means an 80 Euro fine. Which I cannot afford.

We finish packing for the trip and head out, luggage in hand. We are planning on going straight from school to the train station.

4:00 p.m. I manage to make it to school ok, but I'm sure I looked terrible. Little did I know I was about to get much worse. Of course I ran into my teacher (the one whose class I missed) but luckily he was very understanding. (Maybe judging by my appearance, he could tell I wasn't faking). I found the financial aide lady, paid my bill!

She said, while I was in her office, that her grandfather was a doctor. She suggested a remedy that could be found at a local pharmacy. She said it was black, and was to be crushed into a teaspoon of tea, and swallowed. I never actually go to try it, but she said it was great for food poisoning. Turns out I really had a 24 bug. :(

5:00 p.m. We are on our way to Westbahnhof and it is rush hour. But for Austrians, rush hour is not tons of cars, its tons of people. So only a very lucky few get to sit down. I was not one of those lucky few. I was fine for a few stops, but standing for so long, with so many people close to me I suddenly felt much sicker. I was next to a pole that I was able to lean against for most of the ride. It was surprising that no one offered their seat to me, I am sure if it had been less crowded it would have happened, but it was packed.

It happened just at the last possible moment. We arrived at Westbahnhoff, the doors opened. I pushed out first probably saying something like "Oh my God." I made for the nearest section of clean floor and sank to the ground just as I thought I was going to vomit and my vision was growing dim like I would pass out. It was really scary, but I managed to sit, and breathe, and keep anything bad from happening.

Poor Kim, she has been my mother hen this whole time! :) Gotta love a good friend.

So we make it, but by now my fever is so bad that I can't really walk very far without having to sit down. Movement just gave me intense shivers. (Yes, mom, I took my Ibuprofen, but nothing was keeping me from my Venice trip! ) So we decided to make our way through the large station by coffee-shop hopping. At one we would get a roll. The next a hot coco. We finally made it to the trains but had quite a while to wait still.

Kim needed to eat, so she got this awesome looking panini. I on the other hand was exhausted and laid my head down for a rest on the bench.

45 minutes pass.

A guard yells at me to wake up, that I am not allowed to sleep on the bench here. Ha! I just took the best nap of my life!

It was pretty perfect timing anyway. :)

8:00 p.m. Kim and I find our seats on the train! I am so tired and sick that I fall asleep almost imediately. Of course on a train no one sleeps soundly, so I woke up a few times during the night. It was just Me, Kim, and the Albanian man we shared our car with.

We would arrive in Venice in the morning!

Adventures to come...

E

Back to School

Dear readers,
I have been on a trip to Venice for the past four days! I did not get a chance to blog because we thought that it would be best not to bring our computers. (But of course you already know that because you follow my blog so diligently!) I am currently working on a four-blog post that fills you in on the details of the trip, but that takes time, and I am feeling slightly lazier since returning to Vienna, so y'all will have to deal. :)

The past day has been very emotional for me for personal reasons, but let me just say, its all better now and there is nothing to worry about. If only I had known that from the beginning of my day I would have been a little more stress free.

10:30 a.m. After a stressful night, it comes to a nice end very late, and I wake up feeling refreshed but still haunted by the drama of the night before. Sorry I don't really feel comfortable sharing details, but I do feel like it is important to follow today that you know I was just a little distracted throughout the days events.

I shower and dress quickly after waking up because there is no internet to distract me, as Kim, so I thought, had taken the converter to school with her to use her computer. (In reality, it was actually in the bathroom the whole time, which we figure out when we see each other.)

I head to school early, hoping to have a chance to practice piano in the practice room at school downtown.

I get to the U-Bahn station near school, and instead of taking the bus to the next stop, I walk all the way to school. It is a nice walk, you go through a park, and along several blocks of little shops and bakeries. I just wanted to clear my head, and catch up on some listening. I ended up listening to the first movement of Mahler 2 twice because the second movement just pissed me off in the mood I was in. :)

11;50 a.m. I arrive at school, and head to the office of my advisor for the key to the practice room but he is not there, so I situate myself on the second floor in a comfy chair and do some more listening in the hour before Kim gets out of her art class, which had started at nine.

Of course sitting in the hall always runs me into all kinds of people!

I see J and we (hopefully!) make plans to all hang out Kim, me, the Fabians, and Bruno maybe? Some adventures are sure to ensue!

I also meet a girl and a boy, the latter from Connecticut and going to school in Montana who play the piano! The boy is the one whom I always fight over the key for, but had never met him! All three of us were excited to meet some other students excited about music. I got both of their names and hopefully they will join us for some concerts in the future if all goes well.

1:00 p.m. Well, by then Kim was out of class, and she was starving! So we head out to lunch at our now favorite chinese place right by the U-Bahn before our voice lessons. Best chicken-fried-rice ever. Pretty different from the kind you get in the US. The veggies are actually crunchy and they use much more of the flavorful dark meat of the chicken. And this is the best part: They Gave Us To-Go boxes!!!! That is a first, and now we have reusable tupperware and dinner for later!

2:30 p.m. We had some time to kill, so we went to the Naschtmarkt for a few minutes then head over to our teacher's apartment for our lessons.

3:00 p.m. Celia was there from her lesson too! We all made plans to go on the Beethoven walk together on Saturday! Very exciting. Oh! and also Diana promised to take us to "her people" at the Naschtmarkt! I want some fresh-ass strawberries! Sorry too many exclamation points, just trying to convey my excitement.

Kim went first, I went second. Time for a subtitle:

New Teachers

Having a new teacher is exciting. It can also be very frustrating. Especially if the new material that you are learning seems to be contrary to everything you have learned up until this point in your life. It is confronting, but at the same time can be really fun. I happen to be the type that is very loyal to my teachers, but I always think of myself first when it comes to my voice. I will always try something once, but if I think it is unhealthy or not conducive to good singing, I will not continue to try it. I think the important thing to know is that a new teacher must respect a student enough to know that another teacher out there cares more about that students voice and soul more than the new teacher. (Unless the situation is not a good one.) Everyone has a different approach to singing, and there are so many different ways to find beauty in a person's voice, and different ways to make beautiful singing, even in a single voice.

That being said, I did have a great lesson, and I feel like new things are being presented to me, and I get to play! It is really exciting to experiment with the different colors of your own voice! I may not agree with everything that I hear in my new lessons, but here and there, I find something that I have never thought of before and I really like it. And isn't that the beauty of being the instrument? When you find something new in your voice, you find something new about yourself.

5:00 p.m. After lessons we head home, each with our own frustrations and successes from the lesson, but both tired and ready to watch some American TV and skype some peeps from the states!

8:30 p.m. Got to fb chat Katherine, then Skyped with my mom, Nora, and Matt and Jason! Ugh! Missing everyone!

Now off to work on my Venice blog entries, and to bed! We have a listening quiz tomorrow in music class that we need to do a little cramming for too.

Goodnight!

E