Dan! You just spend 12 hours on the train....what are you going to do next?
Take a train, of course.
So yeah, my wonderful 12 hours of train riding was actually really enjoyable! I saw lots of countryside, marked with the transition from Austrian rolling hills, to German mountains, to low hills, to the extreme flatness that is the Netherlands. Since crossing the Netherlands border, I've seen more livestock than I think I had in about 5 or 6 years combined! It's everywhere- cows, horses, sheep...all of them just grazing away in the vast expanses of fields separated only by starkly straight canals (which are also everywhere here).
Today for excitement, we left Marjorie's excellent apartment at about 8:30 to catch a 9:20 train en route to Texel Island, one of the north most points in the Netherlands. We needed 2 trains, a bus in Den Helder, and a ferry to get there, which took us until around noon to arrive. Once there, we stepped off the ferry and each rented a bike for the afternoon.
Unfortunately, the size of this island is not to be believed. Except roughly an hour break for lunch, we biked CONTINUOUSLY and still only saw roughly half the island. Yes, we covered over 20 miles by bike in about 4 hours. Most of the time was spent looking out over fields of emptiness, punctuated on the horizon by a scant row of trees. One of their claims to fame is their mountain, Den Burg, a whopping 50 feet above sea level. There was also a city there, but we were rushing to get to the North See side of the island....which proved to be extremely difficult. We weren't able to see the See by bike, but after the bikes were due at 5, we caught a bus to Den Koog, an excellent restaurant district really close to the water.
Anyway, I feel it's worth taking a step back to the beginning of our trek. About 7 miles in, we came to the lovely and charming village of Oudeschild on the eastern (Wadden See) side of the island. There, we found a hotel/restaurant and grabbed some unbelievable Dutch food. I had 'Bitterballen' which is pretty much a mystery meat paste inside a fried falafel-sized sphere. Very very good. Even better, however, were Marjorie's "hot snacks." Her lunch, of which I don't presently remember the name, was stuffed miniature envelopes of meat and/or stuffing. It was really, really good. We also got some french fries, which are apparently eaten all the time at meal or snack. Interesting?
Well, what an unbelievably long day. We got back here at midnight, so we're very tired. Tomorrow, I'm seeing Rotterdam, but beforehand, I'm taking some rest on my own and it's going to be great. Perhaps I'll discuss more of our sore details later, but for now, I'm really tired.
Dan
PS, Marjorie reminded me that we ate ice cream in Budapest too, so I ended up having ice cream 8 consecutive days! It was peerfect. Which reminds me...apparently Ben and Jerry's has its sole plant somewhere around Amsterdam. How cool would that be?
PPS - Les Mis has been and is showing in Dutch. Enough said.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Auf Wiedersehen Wien; Hallo Rotterdam
Good grief; it's Friday night (almost midnight), I haven't packed, and I can only think about how quickly this month went by!
Before that, however, perhaps I should recap the week:
-Mon- Leopold Museum featuring lots of art, specifically by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, two of the Secession's most renowned painters.
-Tues-Went to visit Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Johann Strauss, who reside in consecutive plots at the Zentralfriedhof. We had an excellent lecture on music (mostly about Gustav Mahler)
-Wed- The Vienna Museum, which has artifacts from the Vienna area dating back to the Roman Empire. Then, I took a tour of the State Opera House (somewhat disappointing) before going to the Musikverein to see the Vienna Mozart Orchestra play a concert. The only non-Mozart piece was the encore, On the Beautiful Blue Danube, by Strauss. Beautiful concert in a beautiful hall.
-Thurs- Went to the Nashmarkt, a sort of daily farmers market. I picked up a box of excellent raspberries and a box of Ribisel...aka Johannisbeere...aka currants. I don't think I'd ever seen raw currants before. They're apparently native to Austria, and they're very sour. yum! We also had our program-concluding dinner at a heurigen (winery) north of town. The food was great...as was the wine.
-Today, Friday- After our class's goodbye party/lunch, I went to the Instrument Museum at Hofburg Palace. There, the museum exhibits a huge collection of old and ancient (as old as the 11th cen.) musical instruments! The woodwinds were actually wood! I also saw an Edison wax-cylinder phonograph and listened to a recording of Strauss's orchestra, the only remaining original recording of that orchestra. Too bad I only saw 2/3 of the museum before closing. I guess I should have allotted my time better... Next, a few of us went to the Volksprater, an old amusement park. The highlight of this park is a 200 foot diameter, 111 year old ferris wheel (Riesenrad)! Also special is that each ferris wheel car is the size of a small tractor shed! What an engineering marvel for 1897.
I guess the other notable thing this week was my mass consumption of ice cream. I rediscovered the ice cream I ate on the 2nd day and decided that it's the best ice cream in the world. For only 2 Euros, I could get 3 huge scoops! Thus, I made it a point to go get 3 scoops of ice cream there every day this week! mmmmmmm...
Well, that was a ridiculously fast month. Tomorrow at 8:40 am, I catch my 12 hour train to Rotterdam. I intend to look out the window, read a lot of the Lord of the Rings, and write my Arts in Vienna final exam (200 words on each of 4 prompts, flexibly due this weekend by email). When I get home to VA, I'll put in some overall thoughts and discussions on my cultural and experiential impressions of Vienna, but for now, I just want to say that it has been such an AMAZING trip. I intend to also make a list of all the things I did while I was here, but I know that will take quite a while to compile. No one here can believe that we're finished up, but many here openly state that they're excited to get home. Admittedly, I'm excited to get some real sleep, since 6 and a half hours per night is starting to wear on me. Nonetheless, I have one week left, and I'm looking forward to seeing a lot in the Netherlands- Rotterdam, Amsterdam, the North See, windmills, the home of the Pilgrams...and of course Brussels and Paris.
If you have any sightseeing ideas, let me know by reply post or e-mail! Good bye for now, and good bye sweet city of Vienna!
Before that, however, perhaps I should recap the week:
-Mon- Leopold Museum featuring lots of art, specifically by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, two of the Secession's most renowned painters.
-Tues-Went to visit Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Johann Strauss, who reside in consecutive plots at the Zentralfriedhof. We had an excellent lecture on music (mostly about Gustav Mahler)
-Wed- The Vienna Museum, which has artifacts from the Vienna area dating back to the Roman Empire. Then, I took a tour of the State Opera House (somewhat disappointing) before going to the Musikverein to see the Vienna Mozart Orchestra play a concert. The only non-Mozart piece was the encore, On the Beautiful Blue Danube, by Strauss. Beautiful concert in a beautiful hall.
-Thurs- Went to the Nashmarkt, a sort of daily farmers market. I picked up a box of excellent raspberries and a box of Ribisel...aka Johannisbeere...aka currants. I don't think I'd ever seen raw currants before. They're apparently native to Austria, and they're very sour. yum! We also had our program-concluding dinner at a heurigen (winery) north of town. The food was great...as was the wine.
-Today, Friday- After our class's goodbye party/lunch, I went to the Instrument Museum at Hofburg Palace. There, the museum exhibits a huge collection of old and ancient (as old as the 11th cen.) musical instruments! The woodwinds were actually wood! I also saw an Edison wax-cylinder phonograph and listened to a recording of Strauss's orchestra, the only remaining original recording of that orchestra. Too bad I only saw 2/3 of the museum before closing. I guess I should have allotted my time better... Next, a few of us went to the Volksprater, an old amusement park. The highlight of this park is a 200 foot diameter, 111 year old ferris wheel (Riesenrad)! Also special is that each ferris wheel car is the size of a small tractor shed! What an engineering marvel for 1897.
I guess the other notable thing this week was my mass consumption of ice cream. I rediscovered the ice cream I ate on the 2nd day and decided that it's the best ice cream in the world. For only 2 Euros, I could get 3 huge scoops! Thus, I made it a point to go get 3 scoops of ice cream there every day this week! mmmmmmm...
Well, that was a ridiculously fast month. Tomorrow at 8:40 am, I catch my 12 hour train to Rotterdam. I intend to look out the window, read a lot of the Lord of the Rings, and write my Arts in Vienna final exam (200 words on each of 4 prompts, flexibly due this weekend by email). When I get home to VA, I'll put in some overall thoughts and discussions on my cultural and experiential impressions of Vienna, but for now, I just want to say that it has been such an AMAZING trip. I intend to also make a list of all the things I did while I was here, but I know that will take quite a while to compile. No one here can believe that we're finished up, but many here openly state that they're excited to get home. Admittedly, I'm excited to get some real sleep, since 6 and a half hours per night is starting to wear on me. Nonetheless, I have one week left, and I'm looking forward to seeing a lot in the Netherlands- Rotterdam, Amsterdam, the North See, windmills, the home of the Pilgrams...and of course Brussels and Paris.
If you have any sightseeing ideas, let me know by reply post or e-mail! Good bye for now, and good bye sweet city of Vienna!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Hungary? Grab a Snickers.
If Prague was a tourist trap, Budapest is a business center. So I know after that line, you expect me to say that we had a pretty boring time in Budapest, but in reality it was really awesome. Friday, Mary Brooke, Marjorie, and I got in around 4ish and we walked a couple laps around the center of the city, went up Gellert hill on the 'Buda' side of the Danube, and went to and admired St. Stephens Basilica (in Pest) for a while. After sunset, we walked down to the river again and waded a little in the river. It was quite refreshing. The funniest thing about Friday was that I went to the bank when we got there and apparently I had multiplication and division issues because I took out the smallest denomination: 1000 Forints. I thought I was getting roughly 40 Euros but when my Kebab wrap was 600 Forints, I realized I ACTUALLY got out about 4 Euros. OOPS!!
Saturday, we did a lot! It was extremely hot, and now all three of us have some extreme tan lines. We got up and caught a "hop-on, hop-off" bus and went up to Heroes park to the sounds of Hungarian Dance No. 5. We looked at the cool monument, walked around the little castle and park, row boated for a half hour, and then went and found a giant hourglass! To our best guess, the hourglass measured a year (since the sand was about half gone and we're in June). It was gi-normous!
So then we got back on the bus and crossed over to Buda to see the castle...on the hill...JUST like Prague and Salzburg! Imagine that. Well, this one was the most 'castle-like' of all of them. It had a royal palace, a big church (Matthias Church), and a peasant quarter, all in the same walls. It was very cool! We enjoyed the excellent views over the river at the Parliament building (the most excellent neo-gothic building I think I've seen in Europe) while drinking some lemonade in the shade and listening to a violinist and a hammered dulcimer.
After the castle, the bus took us up to the Citadel, on Gellert hill. It gave us the best view of the castle, the river, and the parliament amongst the rest of the city. Finally, the bus took us to Margaret island, where we put our feet in a spring fountain and grabbed a decent (unfortunately not Hungarian) dinner. Ordering was tricky; the menu was printed in Magyar (Hungarian), German, and English, but the waiter only spoke Hungarian. Thus, when Marjorie tried to ask for the waiter's recommendation, we all just kind of stared at each other for an awkward minute.
Dinner finally done, we walked over the bridge from the island to Pest (the East side of the river...maybe I should have said that earlier). We wanted to catch "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" the musical in Hungarian, but when we got to the theatre 15 minutes before curtain, hot, sweaty, and gross, we decided to pass. Instead, we went to a grocery store and picked up a few random unique snacks and hung out at a park. The sausage we obtained was a bust because it had chunks of solid (thus inedible) white bits...fat maybe? I don't know. So that was the end of Saturday.
Sunday was yet another toasty day. Two Floridians from the hostel joined us in our search for the famous Statue Park (Szorpark). When the Soviets pulled out of Hungary, they didn't want the statues to be destroyed, so the Hungarians took all the statues in Budapest and put them in a random park about 5 miles outside of town, in the middle of nowhere. So after some interesting use of public transportation, we admired all the statues and got lots of interesting pictures. I enjoyed seeing Lenin's feet (surely you've seen the picture of his body being pulled down) on a plinth all alone.
To conclude our weekend, we went out for an excellent Hungarian lunch. The three of us split 3 dishes- a pork in cream sauce with dumplings, Hungarian Goulash soup, and a fish I'd never heard on pasta with a mysterious orange-colored sauce (it was the waiter's recommendation to me). All were to die for! Best of all, I loved the spicy paprika sauce served with bread. After two slices of bread, my face was on fire for the next 15 minutes, but it was sooooo good! Well, after that, we walked back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, then headed for the train station. It was a wonderful weekend and we enjoyed every minute (except the ridiculous heat, which has followed us to Vienna!)!!!
Well, one week to go in Vienna; one week following in Rotterdam/Paris. This week will be really busy and really hot, but as always, promises to be great fun!
Saturday, we did a lot! It was extremely hot, and now all three of us have some extreme tan lines. We got up and caught a "hop-on, hop-off" bus and went up to Heroes park to the sounds of Hungarian Dance No. 5. We looked at the cool monument, walked around the little castle and park, row boated for a half hour, and then went and found a giant hourglass! To our best guess, the hourglass measured a year (since the sand was about half gone and we're in June). It was gi-normous!
So then we got back on the bus and crossed over to Buda to see the castle...on the hill...JUST like Prague and Salzburg! Imagine that. Well, this one was the most 'castle-like' of all of them. It had a royal palace, a big church (Matthias Church), and a peasant quarter, all in the same walls. It was very cool! We enjoyed the excellent views over the river at the Parliament building (the most excellent neo-gothic building I think I've seen in Europe) while drinking some lemonade in the shade and listening to a violinist and a hammered dulcimer.
After the castle, the bus took us up to the Citadel, on Gellert hill. It gave us the best view of the castle, the river, and the parliament amongst the rest of the city. Finally, the bus took us to Margaret island, where we put our feet in a spring fountain and grabbed a decent (unfortunately not Hungarian) dinner. Ordering was tricky; the menu was printed in Magyar (Hungarian), German, and English, but the waiter only spoke Hungarian. Thus, when Marjorie tried to ask for the waiter's recommendation, we all just kind of stared at each other for an awkward minute.
Dinner finally done, we walked over the bridge from the island to Pest (the East side of the river...maybe I should have said that earlier). We wanted to catch "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" the musical in Hungarian, but when we got to the theatre 15 minutes before curtain, hot, sweaty, and gross, we decided to pass. Instead, we went to a grocery store and picked up a few random unique snacks and hung out at a park. The sausage we obtained was a bust because it had chunks of solid (thus inedible) white bits...fat maybe? I don't know. So that was the end of Saturday.
Sunday was yet another toasty day. Two Floridians from the hostel joined us in our search for the famous Statue Park (Szorpark). When the Soviets pulled out of Hungary, they didn't want the statues to be destroyed, so the Hungarians took all the statues in Budapest and put them in a random park about 5 miles outside of town, in the middle of nowhere. So after some interesting use of public transportation, we admired all the statues and got lots of interesting pictures. I enjoyed seeing Lenin's feet (surely you've seen the picture of his body being pulled down) on a plinth all alone.
To conclude our weekend, we went out for an excellent Hungarian lunch. The three of us split 3 dishes- a pork in cream sauce with dumplings, Hungarian Goulash soup, and a fish I'd never heard on pasta with a mysterious orange-colored sauce (it was the waiter's recommendation to me). All were to die for! Best of all, I loved the spicy paprika sauce served with bread. After two slices of bread, my face was on fire for the next 15 minutes, but it was sooooo good! Well, after that, we walked back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, then headed for the train station. It was a wonderful weekend and we enjoyed every minute (except the ridiculous heat, which has followed us to Vienna!)!!!
Well, one week to go in Vienna; one week following in Rotterdam/Paris. This week will be really busy and really hot, but as always, promises to be great fun!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Yet another craazy week
Hello everyone once again!
So where did I leave off.....ah yes, Prague. So Monday was the BIG Austria vs. Germany game in the first round of the Euro cup. Throughout the day, I saw jerseys for both teams all around town! It was unbelieveable. Naturally, we decided to go to the fan zone....like everyone else in Austria and Germany. Arriving at 18.45, the plaza between the Rathaus (city hall) and Burgtheater was already PACKED. Now, I have never been in a crowd like this in my entire life. I say this because once you wedged yourself in, there was literally NO WHERE to go. Impatient fans often just pushed the crowd, almost knocking people over. It was so crowded, one of the other group members and I (we got separated from 5 others who were with us) watched the first half with people pressing up on each side of us. It was nuts. For the second half, we pushed our way down to the Ringstrasse, where we had a little bit more room to move around. I also got a huge sweet pretzel and man was it good! Unfortunately Germany won 1-0, but it was still great fun.
On Tuesday, I went and checked out the Stephansdom (St. Stevens Cathedral), the single-towered landmark of the city. The four of us went inside, admired the excellent (but simple) gothic architecture of the 1300s, and then returned outside. We found out that 3.50 Euros bought a chance to climb the south tower, so one of the guys and I took up that offer. 10 minutes til closing was no match for us as we climbed up the 339 steps in under 5 minutes, took some pictures, then charged back down, wobbley-legged. Next on our schedule was to meet up with the rest of our study abroad group for Austrian cooking night. We made Wiener Schnitzel (using turkey), potato salad (different than the US!), cucumber and tomato salad, and for dessert, Apfel- and Topfen-strudel! mmmm good! Finally, to finish off the day, I picked up a fellow Caldwell, Marjorie, from the airport. She is interning in the Netherlands this summer with Unilever and she's joining two of us study abroaders on our trip to Budapest this weekend.
Wednesday was fun because our classtime was spent visiting the Secession muesum just outside the Ringstrasse. The Secession was a movement started by a bunch of turn of the 20th century artists to reinvigorate art. Its leader and first president was the famous Gustav Klimt, whose "Beethoven Frieze" adorns the walls of the museum's basement. After class, I met up with Marjorie at the train station, where we reserved our tickets. Then, we headed over to take a look at the Karlskirche (Church of St. Charles). We chose not to pay 4 Euros to go inside...but I might go back there next week. We'll see.
Wednesday evening was the most exciting part of this week. Three of us went to the Rote Bar at the Sacher Hotel for dinner. Complimentary starter: Shrimp with sauce and pastry with caviar. Very good! Then, I had the "Sacher Tafelspitz mit Apfelkren, Schnittlauchsauce und Erdäpfelschmarrn" (Beef filet with Apple-horseradish and chive sauces, with Viennese potatos). Naturally, dessert was my first slice of official Sacher Torte. OOOOhhh, was that good. And we paid like it was good! 40 Euros for me, our total for 3 people was 144 Euros!!! Well, we got our super fancy meal in, and I loved it. So why the fancy dinner? Well, it was OPERA NIGHT. The Staatsoper (State Opera house) was right across the street, and we met the entire group for Verdi's Don Carlos. Now I'd never seen an opera before, but this was amazing! Spoken in Italian, little individual screens translated into either English, German, or French. We had Loge seats on the 2nd level, so we had a great view of the orchestra. Obviously, the music was great, as was the performance overall! What an evening.
Today, Thursday, our Arts in Vienna class met at the Schloss Belvedere (Belvedere Castle), the summer residence of Prince Eugene (fought off the Turks, woo hoo!). The castle (which looks more like a Baroque mansion) has a great skyline view of Vienna, which gives it it's French name Belvedere or "Beautiful View." It's upstairs ball room is where the joint occupation of Vienna ended in 1955, but now it houses an art gallery- Klimt, Sichle, a couple Monets, and some others. Also there is "The Kiss," Klimt's most famous work (gold, silver, and oil on canvas-ooh ahh, special). As usual, we had a great time. Afterwards, I met up with Marjorie, and we went to see the Modern Art Museum in the local Museum Quarter. Perhaps the most interesting piece to me was a 4 page blank musical score marked "Pastoral Symphony"....but blown through with about 30 airgun holes. Irony? I think so.
In the evening, I introduced Marjorie to Wiener Schnitzel and local potato salad before we headed over to the FanZone. Tonight's game featured Germany against Portugal, and it was really a lot of fun (especially because we could breathe!). So, as you can see, it has indeed been a pretty busy week, but I'm looking forward to seeing what this weekend brings in Budapest!
Thanks for reading! Tune in next time for Indiana Dan and the Search of the Lost Budapest!
So where did I leave off.....ah yes, Prague. So Monday was the BIG Austria vs. Germany game in the first round of the Euro cup. Throughout the day, I saw jerseys for both teams all around town! It was unbelieveable. Naturally, we decided to go to the fan zone....like everyone else in Austria and Germany. Arriving at 18.45, the plaza between the Rathaus (city hall) and Burgtheater was already PACKED. Now, I have never been in a crowd like this in my entire life. I say this because once you wedged yourself in, there was literally NO WHERE to go. Impatient fans often just pushed the crowd, almost knocking people over. It was so crowded, one of the other group members and I (we got separated from 5 others who were with us) watched the first half with people pressing up on each side of us. It was nuts. For the second half, we pushed our way down to the Ringstrasse, where we had a little bit more room to move around. I also got a huge sweet pretzel and man was it good! Unfortunately Germany won 1-0, but it was still great fun.
On Tuesday, I went and checked out the Stephansdom (St. Stevens Cathedral), the single-towered landmark of the city. The four of us went inside, admired the excellent (but simple) gothic architecture of the 1300s, and then returned outside. We found out that 3.50 Euros bought a chance to climb the south tower, so one of the guys and I took up that offer. 10 minutes til closing was no match for us as we climbed up the 339 steps in under 5 minutes, took some pictures, then charged back down, wobbley-legged. Next on our schedule was to meet up with the rest of our study abroad group for Austrian cooking night. We made Wiener Schnitzel (using turkey), potato salad (different than the US!), cucumber and tomato salad, and for dessert, Apfel- and Topfen-strudel! mmmm good! Finally, to finish off the day, I picked up a fellow Caldwell, Marjorie, from the airport. She is interning in the Netherlands this summer with Unilever and she's joining two of us study abroaders on our trip to Budapest this weekend.
Wednesday was fun because our classtime was spent visiting the Secession muesum just outside the Ringstrasse. The Secession was a movement started by a bunch of turn of the 20th century artists to reinvigorate art. Its leader and first president was the famous Gustav Klimt, whose "Beethoven Frieze" adorns the walls of the museum's basement. After class, I met up with Marjorie at the train station, where we reserved our tickets. Then, we headed over to take a look at the Karlskirche (Church of St. Charles). We chose not to pay 4 Euros to go inside...but I might go back there next week. We'll see.
Wednesday evening was the most exciting part of this week. Three of us went to the Rote Bar at the Sacher Hotel for dinner. Complimentary starter: Shrimp with sauce and pastry with caviar. Very good! Then, I had the "Sacher Tafelspitz mit Apfelkren, Schnittlauchsauce und Erdäpfelschmarrn" (Beef filet with Apple-horseradish and chive sauces, with Viennese potatos). Naturally, dessert was my first slice of official Sacher Torte. OOOOhhh, was that good. And we paid like it was good! 40 Euros for me, our total for 3 people was 144 Euros!!! Well, we got our super fancy meal in, and I loved it. So why the fancy dinner? Well, it was OPERA NIGHT. The Staatsoper (State Opera house) was right across the street, and we met the entire group for Verdi's Don Carlos. Now I'd never seen an opera before, but this was amazing! Spoken in Italian, little individual screens translated into either English, German, or French. We had Loge seats on the 2nd level, so we had a great view of the orchestra. Obviously, the music was great, as was the performance overall! What an evening.
Today, Thursday, our Arts in Vienna class met at the Schloss Belvedere (Belvedere Castle), the summer residence of Prince Eugene (fought off the Turks, woo hoo!). The castle (which looks more like a Baroque mansion) has a great skyline view of Vienna, which gives it it's French name Belvedere or "Beautiful View." It's upstairs ball room is where the joint occupation of Vienna ended in 1955, but now it houses an art gallery- Klimt, Sichle, a couple Monets, and some others. Also there is "The Kiss," Klimt's most famous work (gold, silver, and oil on canvas-ooh ahh, special). As usual, we had a great time. Afterwards, I met up with Marjorie, and we went to see the Modern Art Museum in the local Museum Quarter. Perhaps the most interesting piece to me was a 4 page blank musical score marked "Pastoral Symphony"....but blown through with about 30 airgun holes. Irony? I think so.
In the evening, I introduced Marjorie to Wiener Schnitzel and local potato salad before we headed over to the FanZone. Tonight's game featured Germany against Portugal, and it was really a lot of fun (especially because we could breathe!). So, as you can see, it has indeed been a pretty busy week, but I'm looking forward to seeing what this weekend brings in Budapest!
Thanks for reading! Tune in next time for Indiana Dan and the Search of the Lost Budapest!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Czech it out!
Woo Prague!
So, once again, I have managed to cram an inordinate amount of stuff into one weekend! Our Prague trip started Friday morning with our 5 hour bus ride (with 2 stops). On arriving in the city around noon, it all seemed very strange to us. Of course, we couldn't understand any signs because they were written in Czech, and all the buildings looked really eastern European. It didn't help that it was an overcast, chilly day, because - no joke - it really resembled what you would think of a Soviet Eastern Bloc country. We went to take out money (Czech Kronen or Crowns) so we could 'grab' some lunch. Ordering was somewhat tricky, as we used a combination of English, German, and hand signs to tell what we wanted. My 2 slices of Bacon pizza set me back 50 Crowns (CZK).
OH YEAH, I forgot to mention that it's roughly 15 CZK to the dollar or 22 to the Euro. So we were all walking around with 500 CZK bills...a lunch for 5 was 1880 CZK...and admission to the Jewish museum was 600 CZK. MADNESS!
So anyway, the rest of Friday, we went on a tour around Prague Castle and saw some of the highlights of downtown, such as the Astronomical Clock, the Dancing House, the shopping district, and the Jewish Quarter. Then, after an excellent dinner of stir fried pork and veggies and potato salad, we chilled in the hotel.
Saturday was the height of craziness. A group of six of us started off at around 10.15 taking the streetcar downtown. We walked through Wencenslas Square (i.e. the Good King W... who was a Czech king) en route to the Communism Museum. Ironically, it's next to a McDonalds. Actually, it was a very good museum for understanding Czech history in the past century. After the museum, we walked down to the Vltava (Eng-Moldau) River, checked out an island, then walked along the river towards the Charles bridge (and the shopping district). After some window shopping and some lunch, we turned off of the main drag to see what some other inner city streets were like. It was all touristy.
So, from the "new" part of town, we crossed the Charles bridge in search of 2 landmarks. First, we found the Infant Jesus of Prague at the Church of our Lady Victorious. This statue was made and given to the church in 1631 and supposedly has done many miracles since. There's a Wikipedia page about it if you want more information.
So after that, we went on a search for some wall that looks like the inside of a cave. Yeah, I know that's obscure. It was too. Turns out, it was in the courtyard of the Senate building, so we checked it out, along with plenty of other tourists who were there. The courtyard actually had some really nice gravely walkways, an outdoor classical-style stage, some hedges...and a flock of free roaming peacocks. So we admired the peacocks (including an albino alpha-male...he was a beast!) and the children chasing them around the courtyard. (the peacocks were smarter)
Finally, we walked back across the river, through the shopping district in new town, and through Wencenslas Square back to the streetcar to return to the hotel. There, we grabbed dinner (WIENER SCHNITZEL! YUUUUMMM!) and took a few minutes off before heading back downtown. Apparently, it was Prague's annual Museum Night, where some 30 museums were open from 19.00 til 1.00 for free! Additionally, buses ran between museums to make it easier to get around. So, we went to the Veletrzni Palace of the National Gallery to view some modern art! It was quite fun, though we didn't have enough time to do justice to the gallery. I wanted to see the Dvorak museum or another music museum, but the group consensus for art worked out pretty well. In the lobby was a row of urinals: above alternating urinals was written "This is not art" and "This is art." Enough said.
Today, Sunday, we got up at a similar time, checked out the Jewish Quarter again, walked through old town, walked the Charles bridge again, and went through the shopping district one more time (= 5 total times...impressed?). Then we returned to the hotel, and our entire group left to return to Wien.
So, I had a great time in Prague! Our little group did so much, and truely had a lot of fun. I'm sorry others in the Vienna group didn't quite enjoy it as much as we did, but hopefully it was still ok for them. As for the city, the downtown and old town areas were really nice; all the streets were cobblestone and featured the standard baroque architecture. The river was beautiful, especially with the Prague Castle in the background. Nonetheless, the outskirts of town (where we were staying) still had the earmarks of a country recovering from a long period of political turmoil. The local population is older rather than younger, but it would have been hard to tell that with the population of tourists downtown.
I can only hope that next week, when I venture off to Budapest (where they speak Hungarian and use Hungarian Forints) that I'll get yet another aspect of Eastern European life unlike Vienna or Prague.
This week at a glance:
Mon- Austria v. Germany- FAN ZONE!!!!
Tues- How to make Schnitzel, sponsored by the Internationalle Kulturinstitut
Wed- Dinner at the Sacher Hotel followed by a Verdi opera at Staatsoper Wien
Thurs- TBD
Fri- BUDAPEST!
So, once again, I have managed to cram an inordinate amount of stuff into one weekend! Our Prague trip started Friday morning with our 5 hour bus ride (with 2 stops). On arriving in the city around noon, it all seemed very strange to us. Of course, we couldn't understand any signs because they were written in Czech, and all the buildings looked really eastern European. It didn't help that it was an overcast, chilly day, because - no joke - it really resembled what you would think of a Soviet Eastern Bloc country. We went to take out money (Czech Kronen or Crowns) so we could 'grab' some lunch. Ordering was somewhat tricky, as we used a combination of English, German, and hand signs to tell what we wanted. My 2 slices of Bacon pizza set me back 50 Crowns (CZK).
OH YEAH, I forgot to mention that it's roughly 15 CZK to the dollar or 22 to the Euro. So we were all walking around with 500 CZK bills...a lunch for 5 was 1880 CZK...and admission to the Jewish museum was 600 CZK. MADNESS!
So anyway, the rest of Friday, we went on a tour around Prague Castle and saw some of the highlights of downtown, such as the Astronomical Clock, the Dancing House, the shopping district, and the Jewish Quarter. Then, after an excellent dinner of stir fried pork and veggies and potato salad, we chilled in the hotel.
Saturday was the height of craziness. A group of six of us started off at around 10.15 taking the streetcar downtown. We walked through Wencenslas Square (i.e. the Good King W... who was a Czech king) en route to the Communism Museum. Ironically, it's next to a McDonalds. Actually, it was a very good museum for understanding Czech history in the past century. After the museum, we walked down to the Vltava (Eng-Moldau) River, checked out an island, then walked along the river towards the Charles bridge (and the shopping district). After some window shopping and some lunch, we turned off of the main drag to see what some other inner city streets were like. It was all touristy.
So, from the "new" part of town, we crossed the Charles bridge in search of 2 landmarks. First, we found the Infant Jesus of Prague at the Church of our Lady Victorious. This statue was made and given to the church in 1631 and supposedly has done many miracles since. There's a Wikipedia page about it if you want more information.
So after that, we went on a search for some wall that looks like the inside of a cave. Yeah, I know that's obscure. It was too. Turns out, it was in the courtyard of the Senate building, so we checked it out, along with plenty of other tourists who were there. The courtyard actually had some really nice gravely walkways, an outdoor classical-style stage, some hedges...and a flock of free roaming peacocks. So we admired the peacocks (including an albino alpha-male...he was a beast!) and the children chasing them around the courtyard. (the peacocks were smarter)
Finally, we walked back across the river, through the shopping district in new town, and through Wencenslas Square back to the streetcar to return to the hotel. There, we grabbed dinner (WIENER SCHNITZEL! YUUUUMMM!) and took a few minutes off before heading back downtown. Apparently, it was Prague's annual Museum Night, where some 30 museums were open from 19.00 til 1.00 for free! Additionally, buses ran between museums to make it easier to get around. So, we went to the Veletrzni Palace of the National Gallery to view some modern art! It was quite fun, though we didn't have enough time to do justice to the gallery. I wanted to see the Dvorak museum or another music museum, but the group consensus for art worked out pretty well. In the lobby was a row of urinals: above alternating urinals was written "This is not art" and "This is art." Enough said.
Today, Sunday, we got up at a similar time, checked out the Jewish Quarter again, walked through old town, walked the Charles bridge again, and went through the shopping district one more time (= 5 total times...impressed?). Then we returned to the hotel, and our entire group left to return to Wien.
So, I had a great time in Prague! Our little group did so much, and truely had a lot of fun. I'm sorry others in the Vienna group didn't quite enjoy it as much as we did, but hopefully it was still ok for them. As for the city, the downtown and old town areas were really nice; all the streets were cobblestone and featured the standard baroque architecture. The river was beautiful, especially with the Prague Castle in the background. Nonetheless, the outskirts of town (where we were staying) still had the earmarks of a country recovering from a long period of political turmoil. The local population is older rather than younger, but it would have been hard to tell that with the population of tourists downtown.
I can only hope that next week, when I venture off to Budapest (where they speak Hungarian and use Hungarian Forints) that I'll get yet another aspect of Eastern European life unlike Vienna or Prague.
This week at a glance:
Mon- Austria v. Germany- FAN ZONE!!!!
Tues- How to make Schnitzel, sponsored by the Internationalle Kulturinstitut
Wed- Dinner at the Sacher Hotel followed by a Verdi opera at Staatsoper Wien
Thurs- TBD
Fri- BUDAPEST!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Museums anyone?
Well its been another week, and so now I have some more fun things to talk about! It seems like we finally buckled down to working on museums here in Vienna.
Tuesday after class, we headed out to Schloss Schonbrunn once more, but this time to hit up the Tiergarten (animal garden). The Tiergarten is the world's oldest zoo, having been founded in 1752! We were all surprised how large it was, and how many animals they have from all over the world. In particular, I enjoyed seeing the emu and piranha (strange combination, huh?), as well as the myriad other animals (birds, traditional animals, koala, penguins, etc) that they had.
Yesterday ended up also being a lot of fun. I went with a couple guys to the Naturhistorisches Museum and it was incredible. Unlike museums at home, this natural history museum has almost no information-just specimens. But holy cow, did they have a lot of specimens! Fossils, birds, gems, mammals and things from all over the world. Supposedly, they have the most expensive mineral collection in Europe, and they have a full collection of meteorites! How cool is that? I think I spent a good 3 hours there, and for only 3,50 €!
To finish off the week, we went to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Military History Museum), and saw lots of guns, some tanks, assorted artifacts from both world wars, and tanks! The most interesting thing, however, was getting to see the automobile and uniform worn by the Archduke Franz Ferdinand when he was assassinated in 1914 (which of course started World War I)! Definitely impressive to be in a place that has such a long history.
Anyway, that's all for now. Tomorrow we're leaving for Prague at 7 am. It's going to be a loooong 5 hour bus ride, but this weekend should be tons of fun!
Tuesday after class, we headed out to Schloss Schonbrunn once more, but this time to hit up the Tiergarten (animal garden). The Tiergarten is the world's oldest zoo, having been founded in 1752! We were all surprised how large it was, and how many animals they have from all over the world. In particular, I enjoyed seeing the emu and piranha (strange combination, huh?), as well as the myriad other animals (birds, traditional animals, koala, penguins, etc) that they had.
Yesterday ended up also being a lot of fun. I went with a couple guys to the Naturhistorisches Museum and it was incredible. Unlike museums at home, this natural history museum has almost no information-just specimens. But holy cow, did they have a lot of specimens! Fossils, birds, gems, mammals and things from all over the world. Supposedly, they have the most expensive mineral collection in Europe, and they have a full collection of meteorites! How cool is that? I think I spent a good 3 hours there, and for only 3,50 €!
To finish off the week, we went to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Military History Museum), and saw lots of guns, some tanks, assorted artifacts from both world wars, and tanks! The most interesting thing, however, was getting to see the automobile and uniform worn by the Archduke Franz Ferdinand when he was assassinated in 1914 (which of course started World War I)! Definitely impressive to be in a place that has such a long history.
Anyway, that's all for now. Tomorrow we're leaving for Prague at 7 am. It's going to be a loooong 5 hour bus ride, but this weekend should be tons of fun!
Monday, June 9, 2008
The hills are alive with the sound of muusic!
Where to start about Salzburg...
BEAUTIFUL
That should do it. Now for the slightly longer version. We took a train out Sat morning and by the time we got to our hotel, settled, and lunched (fancy restaurant too!), it was around 2 pm. From our hotel in new town, we walked to old town, meandered (i.e. squeezed) our way through the streets, and saw some of the sights. Mozart's Birth house (the inside left something to be desired), and the Fan Zone were the two biggest highlights from the afternoon. Unfortunately, it started downpouring, so we scurried back to the hotel and watched some Duck Tales (auf Deutsch!) on TV. That evening, we went up to the castle above town and saw a quartet play some assorted Mozart pieces, including Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in a Romanesque chamber! PERFECT. After the concert, we went back to the Fan Zone to watch the end of the Turkey-Portugal game. Then, even though Turkey lost, their fans still decided to have a party/parade through the streets. Go figure. That's dedication.
On Sunday, most of the group was going to go to Hitler's retreat spot (the Eagle's Nest) or into the Salt mines below Salzburg. That was until they found out that passports were required (since both tours crossed the German border). OOPS. 3 others and I, on the other hand, planned to take the Sound of Music tour (the original one...apparently that's important). So we saw the lake and back facade of the von Trapp mansion from the movie (which is now owned by Harvard University, go figure), the gazebo, the church in which Maria and the Baron were married, and some of the countryside around Salzburg!
After some more roaming around old town, a couple of us grabbed a WONDERFUL lunch at "Spaghetti & Co" (I had picante pizza- salami, corn, ham, peppers....soo good), and then we caught the train back to Vienna. What a wonderful town. Beautiful hills. Great atmosphere. You get the idea.
So today, after class, people were a bit tired and under the weather, so it was generally agreed to take a night off. Naturally, that was just what I needed! I used the opportunaty to go see "The Sound of Music" musical at the Volksoper! It was amazing! Because it was in German, a bunch of the lyrics had been changed (C, D, E... instead of Do, Re, Mi... for instance). Thankfully, they projected a rough English translation above the stage so people (cough. Americans. cough) could still follow the story.
So that pretty much wraps up Salzburg! I'm really glad I had the opportunity to follow it up with the musical here in Vienna too. I hope Prague turns out as nice as Salzburg did! Anyway, until next time, thanks for reading!
BEAUTIFUL
That should do it. Now for the slightly longer version. We took a train out Sat morning and by the time we got to our hotel, settled, and lunched (fancy restaurant too!), it was around 2 pm. From our hotel in new town, we walked to old town, meandered (i.e. squeezed) our way through the streets, and saw some of the sights. Mozart's Birth house (the inside left something to be desired), and the Fan Zone were the two biggest highlights from the afternoon. Unfortunately, it started downpouring, so we scurried back to the hotel and watched some Duck Tales (auf Deutsch!) on TV. That evening, we went up to the castle above town and saw a quartet play some assorted Mozart pieces, including Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in a Romanesque chamber! PERFECT. After the concert, we went back to the Fan Zone to watch the end of the Turkey-Portugal game. Then, even though Turkey lost, their fans still decided to have a party/parade through the streets. Go figure. That's dedication.
On Sunday, most of the group was going to go to Hitler's retreat spot (the Eagle's Nest) or into the Salt mines below Salzburg. That was until they found out that passports were required (since both tours crossed the German border). OOPS. 3 others and I, on the other hand, planned to take the Sound of Music tour (the original one...apparently that's important). So we saw the lake and back facade of the von Trapp mansion from the movie (which is now owned by Harvard University, go figure), the gazebo, the church in which Maria and the Baron were married, and some of the countryside around Salzburg!
After some more roaming around old town, a couple of us grabbed a WONDERFUL lunch at "Spaghetti & Co" (I had picante pizza- salami, corn, ham, peppers....soo good), and then we caught the train back to Vienna. What a wonderful town. Beautiful hills. Great atmosphere. You get the idea.
So today, after class, people were a bit tired and under the weather, so it was generally agreed to take a night off. Naturally, that was just what I needed! I used the opportunaty to go see "The Sound of Music" musical at the Volksoper! It was amazing! Because it was in German, a bunch of the lyrics had been changed (C, D, E... instead of Do, Re, Mi... for instance). Thankfully, they projected a rough English translation above the stage so people (cough. Americans. cough) could still follow the story.
So that pretty much wraps up Salzburg! I'm really glad I had the opportunity to follow it up with the musical here in Vienna too. I hope Prague turns out as nice as Salzburg did! Anyway, until next time, thanks for reading!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Laundry, eine Kirche, and the Danube
So last night was "fun with clothes" night as I found out how to use the laundry machines here. I thought there were a lot of settings on machines in the States, but here, you have to pick your temperature (in degrees C), your material type, your length of drying (in minutes)...how complicated! Oh yeah, and you have to pay with a laundry card, naturally making use of the confusing card reader. So I put my clothes in, poured some powdered soap in the wrong slot (I used 'vorwasche' (prewash) instead of 'hauptwasche' (main wash)) by accident, then couldn't figure out the card system. Good thing another resident came in and offered his help..in English! Then I had to dry my clothes for an hour and a half on high heat because the dryers are pretty poor. Just what you wanted to hear about, right?? Well, at least the clothes are clean.
Today for our Arts in Vienna, we went on an excursion out to the Church of St Leopold (Leopoldskirche), completed by architecht Otto Wagner in 1907. This church is interesting because it was built simultaneously with the mental hospital which it serves, so everything in the church had to be extremely functional. Unlike all other Catholic churches, the front of this church faces south (instead of west) so the two huge windows on either side of the pews would allow a lot of light in (important for hospital patients). The pews are designed for only 4 or 5 people, so if necessary, it would be easy for a doctor to get to a patient. There are no paintings on the marble walls, but instead 2 small and 1-87 sq ft mural in the front. There were many other things making this church extremely functional (including a drop-by-drop holy water dispenser...safer for the patients than a bowl) but it is also extremely artistic and symbolic. Wagner designed the building AND everything inside it, right down to the instruments to be used by the priests. Naturally, this was more different than any other church I had ever seen, but it was spectacular - definitely a feat of architecture, art, and civil engineering.
After our tour, a handful of us decided to go check out the riverfront. We walked close to the Ringstrasse, and went into the Votivkirche (Votif church or Church of Thanksgiving). Much like a traditional catholic church, the Votivkirche had mamoth stone pillars and remarkably high, arched ceilings. The towers outside looked like thin, white Christmas trees reaching up towards the sky. I was thrilled, once again by the amazing architecture (by Fenstel, before 1900). The rose window above the pipe organ was a beautiful work of art...but so was the entire church. Apparently, the Viennese didn't really like how 'perfect' it was, instead preferring the more scarred look of the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral, which has 1.5 towers), which had been around much longer. Honestly, both seem remarkable to me, but I will compare again after having the chance to see the inside of the Stephansdom hopefully next week.
So, having looked at the Votivkirche, we hopped on an U-bahn and made for the riverfront- not the canal adjacent to downtown, but the actual river in all its...glory? Actually, the river was pretty excellent, probably rivalling the width of the Mississippi, however, we saw it in a more industrial-empty part of town, and there wasn't really anything else to experience aside from the river itself. Actually, the U-bahn station we got off at was right next to the Stadium where the Euro is going to be (starting tomorrow!), so I guess that was something to look at. But other than that, there wasn't much at all.
Finally, we went in eine Lokal (a small restaurant) for dinner. The waitress was very nice and we shared some thoughts and a couple laughs with each other about our time in Vienna. She spoke broken English, so we had fun (not sarcastically) with our broken German explaining things to each other. Our enjoyment was topped off when one of our group members asked following our meal, "Könnten wir bitte erzählen" (Can we please explain?) when she meant "Könnten wir bitte bezahlen" (Can we please pay?)!! We all laughed a good deal about that.
Anyway, that's all from me for the weekend. Tomorrow we're off to Salzburg, so I'll post again either Sunday or Monday. Aber jetzt möchte ich ein Eis! (But now, I want an ice cream!)
Today for our Arts in Vienna, we went on an excursion out to the Church of St Leopold (Leopoldskirche), completed by architecht Otto Wagner in 1907. This church is interesting because it was built simultaneously with the mental hospital which it serves, so everything in the church had to be extremely functional. Unlike all other Catholic churches, the front of this church faces south (instead of west) so the two huge windows on either side of the pews would allow a lot of light in (important for hospital patients). The pews are designed for only 4 or 5 people, so if necessary, it would be easy for a doctor to get to a patient. There are no paintings on the marble walls, but instead 2 small and 1-87 sq ft mural in the front. There were many other things making this church extremely functional (including a drop-by-drop holy water dispenser...safer for the patients than a bowl) but it is also extremely artistic and symbolic. Wagner designed the building AND everything inside it, right down to the instruments to be used by the priests. Naturally, this was more different than any other church I had ever seen, but it was spectacular - definitely a feat of architecture, art, and civil engineering.
After our tour, a handful of us decided to go check out the riverfront. We walked close to the Ringstrasse, and went into the Votivkirche (Votif church or Church of Thanksgiving). Much like a traditional catholic church, the Votivkirche had mamoth stone pillars and remarkably high, arched ceilings. The towers outside looked like thin, white Christmas trees reaching up towards the sky. I was thrilled, once again by the amazing architecture (by Fenstel, before 1900). The rose window above the pipe organ was a beautiful work of art...but so was the entire church. Apparently, the Viennese didn't really like how 'perfect' it was, instead preferring the more scarred look of the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral, which has 1.5 towers), which had been around much longer. Honestly, both seem remarkable to me, but I will compare again after having the chance to see the inside of the Stephansdom hopefully next week.
So, having looked at the Votivkirche, we hopped on an U-bahn and made for the riverfront- not the canal adjacent to downtown, but the actual river in all its...glory? Actually, the river was pretty excellent, probably rivalling the width of the Mississippi, however, we saw it in a more industrial-empty part of town, and there wasn't really anything else to experience aside from the river itself. Actually, the U-bahn station we got off at was right next to the Stadium where the Euro is going to be (starting tomorrow!), so I guess that was something to look at. But other than that, there wasn't much at all.
Finally, we went in eine Lokal (a small restaurant) for dinner. The waitress was very nice and we shared some thoughts and a couple laughs with each other about our time in Vienna. She spoke broken English, so we had fun (not sarcastically) with our broken German explaining things to each other. Our enjoyment was topped off when one of our group members asked following our meal, "Könnten wir bitte erzählen" (Can we please explain?) when she meant "Könnten wir bitte bezahlen" (Can we please pay?)!! We all laughed a good deal about that.
Anyway, that's all from me for the weekend. Tomorrow we're off to Salzburg, so I'll post again either Sunday or Monday. Aber jetzt möchte ich ein Eis! (But now, I want an ice cream!)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sommernachtskonzert
When we last left our intrepid adventurer, he was debating whether to go to the Schonbrunn Palace to see the Vienna Philharmonic...
And so I did! We took the U-bahn (Unterbahn= subway) out to the palace where the free concert was being held. Arriving 20 minutes before the start of the concert allowed us to take a few pictures before packing into the crowd. And man were there a lot of people! I'm sure if it had been nice out, people would have been sitting down, but unfortunately, the rain led people to remain standing...and to put up their umbrellas! So getting a view was a bit tricky, but we found a nice spot. The stage itself was covered in a half-cylinder translucent covering that not only blocked the rain but also provided a screen for assorted moving, colorful lights. On either side of the stage was a jumbotron that showed the Philharmonic up close as well as different scenes from around the city. After the first piece, we decided to stroll some of the palace grounds while listening to the music. Thus, we grabbed an ice cream and walked some of the Baroque style roads (wide gravel paths lined with tall, uniform trees) outside of the sitting area. It was splended, in spite of the constant drizzle! Amongst the pieces performed was the finale from Orpheus in the Underworld (i.e. the Can-Can), some Strauss, a Copeland...great music. As it turns out, I'm really glad I went because the other 3 Vienna Philharmonic concerts this month are already sold out! Glad I got to hear them!
Yesterday, we did nothing but homework. I had 90 pages to read for Arts in Vienna as well as a bunch of work for German. So we stayed in.
Today, after class, a bunch of us went to a residence office to turn in a form stating our intent to reside here for a month. Then, we went on a casual stroll around some of the shopping district before coming back to the dorm. On our way back, however, who should we run in to but Evangeline Lilley (Cate from "Lost") and Billy Boyd (Pippin from Lord of the Rings)! I would have never recognized either of them (seeing as I don't watch Lost and I didn't know Pippin's actor's name), but a couple people in our group did! So, they ran ahead and got a picture. Apparently Evangeline refused the picture but said they could have one with Billy. Hence, there's now a picture of 2 of our group members with Pippin. How cool is that?
Anyway, I haven't done my homework for tomorrow yet nor had dinner, so I'm going to go take care of that now. If something interesting comes up, perhaps I'll put off homework some more and go out tonight. Who knows. Speaking of food, Bratwurst mit Senf (with mustard) is really, really good! I think I'll be quite pleased with a month of that, fresh aufschnitt (cold cuts- salami, pastrami, etc), and the delightful pastries I've been having for breakfast!
And so I did! We took the U-bahn (Unterbahn= subway) out to the palace where the free concert was being held. Arriving 20 minutes before the start of the concert allowed us to take a few pictures before packing into the crowd. And man were there a lot of people! I'm sure if it had been nice out, people would have been sitting down, but unfortunately, the rain led people to remain standing...and to put up their umbrellas! So getting a view was a bit tricky, but we found a nice spot. The stage itself was covered in a half-cylinder translucent covering that not only blocked the rain but also provided a screen for assorted moving, colorful lights. On either side of the stage was a jumbotron that showed the Philharmonic up close as well as different scenes from around the city. After the first piece, we decided to stroll some of the palace grounds while listening to the music. Thus, we grabbed an ice cream and walked some of the Baroque style roads (wide gravel paths lined with tall, uniform trees) outside of the sitting area. It was splended, in spite of the constant drizzle! Amongst the pieces performed was the finale from Orpheus in the Underworld (i.e. the Can-Can), some Strauss, a Copeland...great music. As it turns out, I'm really glad I went because the other 3 Vienna Philharmonic concerts this month are already sold out! Glad I got to hear them!
Yesterday, we did nothing but homework. I had 90 pages to read for Arts in Vienna as well as a bunch of work for German. So we stayed in.
Today, after class, a bunch of us went to a residence office to turn in a form stating our intent to reside here for a month. Then, we went on a casual stroll around some of the shopping district before coming back to the dorm. On our way back, however, who should we run in to but Evangeline Lilley (Cate from "Lost") and Billy Boyd (Pippin from Lord of the Rings)! I would have never recognized either of them (seeing as I don't watch Lost and I didn't know Pippin's actor's name), but a couple people in our group did! So, they ran ahead and got a picture. Apparently Evangeline refused the picture but said they could have one with Billy. Hence, there's now a picture of 2 of our group members with Pippin. How cool is that?
Anyway, I haven't done my homework for tomorrow yet nor had dinner, so I'm going to go take care of that now. If something interesting comes up, perhaps I'll put off homework some more and go out tonight. Who knows. Speaking of food, Bratwurst mit Senf (with mustard) is really, really good! I think I'll be quite pleased with a month of that, fresh aufschnitt (cold cuts- salami, pastrami, etc), and the delightful pastries I've been having for breakfast!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Classes
So today was the second day of class, and I've already come to the decision that it is going to be a looong month of work. The classes themselves are pretty enjoyable (assuming I get enough sleep the night before). My German class includes me and another student from our group, 2 students from U of Washington, a Polish student, several Chinese/Taiwanese students, a student from Serbia, and someone from Mexico, making 13 in total. Our teacher takes enthusiasm for teaching to an entirely new level, as it seems that she is always laughing about something. I think that's good though, since I would otherwise find it difficult to make it through 3 hours of German. She certainly gives a lot of homework though. Yesterday we had 5 reasonable exercises to do, but today we have to write a letter (to a prompt) and do 3 pages of work.
In "Arts in Vienna: 1900," we've had 2 lectures going briefly over the political history of Vienna, especially between about 1500 and 1918. I had never really understood the political climate of this region, but it's really quite interesting! It seems that in the years leading up to WWI, all the nationalities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire seemed to love 60-year emperor Franz Josef, but rather dispise everything else. Hitler - who hated Vienna (or was bitter about not being accepted to art school) - loved Vienna as the capital of an empire, but hated the fact that Franz Josef and the empire were so multiethnic. In fact, he apparently tried to make WWII Berlin somewhat of a replica of Vienna, but even admitted that he would never be able to match what Vienna had. Confused yet? I don't blame you. Anyway, this class should live up to its expectations! Tomorrow's lecture: Architecture and the Ringstrasse.
Tonight, if the weather clears up (and I get enough work done), I plan to go to the Schonbrunn Palace, the summer residence of Emperor Franz Josef, for a classical music concert. I'll report back on that next time I post.
PS Eurocup2008 fever is in the air! They shut down a portion of the Ringstrasse yesterday for the fan zone and construction crews are working feverishly to build stages, press boxes, jumbotrons..the whole bit! Did I mention one of the fan zones is on the President's lawn??
In "Arts in Vienna: 1900," we've had 2 lectures going briefly over the political history of Vienna, especially between about 1500 and 1918. I had never really understood the political climate of this region, but it's really quite interesting! It seems that in the years leading up to WWI, all the nationalities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire seemed to love 60-year emperor Franz Josef, but rather dispise everything else. Hitler - who hated Vienna (or was bitter about not being accepted to art school) - loved Vienna as the capital of an empire, but hated the fact that Franz Josef and the empire were so multiethnic. In fact, he apparently tried to make WWII Berlin somewhat of a replica of Vienna, but even admitted that he would never be able to match what Vienna had. Confused yet? I don't blame you. Anyway, this class should live up to its expectations! Tomorrow's lecture: Architecture and the Ringstrasse.
Tonight, if the weather clears up (and I get enough work done), I plan to go to the Schonbrunn Palace, the summer residence of Emperor Franz Josef, for a classical music concert. I'll report back on that next time I post.
PS Eurocup2008 fever is in the air! They shut down a portion of the Ringstrasse yesterday for the fan zone and construction crews are working feverishly to build stages, press boxes, jumbotrons..the whole bit! Did I mention one of the fan zones is on the President's lawn??
Sunday, June 1, 2008
HEAT
I think this is going to be an exceedingly hot month.
There is no air conditioning here. Streetcars...HOT. Classrooms...HOT. Temperature...HOT.
But worst of all...my dorm room. See, the sun rises at 5:30 here, and shines directly into my east-facing window, directly onto my bed. And yes, we have a black-out screen, but with the blackout screen down (like a concession stand gate), no breeze comes into the room. A dilemma to be sure. So, until I track down a fan somewhere, I guess I´ll just wake up at 6 a bit sweaty every morning.
Actually, today it thunderstormed big time (with hail!!!), so hopefully it´ll stay overcast and be cooler tomorrow.
Enough ranting about that for now. So what did I accomplish today, on my 21st birthday? Well, I didn´t drink anything alcoholic today, if that´s what you´re thinking...I got up at 11, walked around a bit with some of the group, went on a walking tour of old town (the middle), and had dinner. It was pretty excellent! Old town is unbelievable! From the magnificent churches to the medieval corridor-style streets, I was fascinated! Mozart stuff is everywhere (two homes, the place of his last performance, his death place, etc), and the city is really rich with history. We went in this BEAUTIFUL Jesuit church, filled with colors and golden sculptures and architecture.
Having almost completed the tour, we stopped to get some gelato. I chose himbeere of course (raspberry) and it was...heavenly. It tasted like I was eating straight raspberries without the thick sugar and creme taste of ice cream. SOOO GOOD. I think I´m going back...SOON.
Classes start tomorrow at 9, and it is already 0:58 in the morning, so I guess I´m going to hit the sack. But stay tuned for more adventures!
There is no air conditioning here. Streetcars...HOT. Classrooms...HOT. Temperature...HOT.
But worst of all...my dorm room. See, the sun rises at 5:30 here, and shines directly into my east-facing window, directly onto my bed. And yes, we have a black-out screen, but with the blackout screen down (like a concession stand gate), no breeze comes into the room. A dilemma to be sure. So, until I track down a fan somewhere, I guess I´ll just wake up at 6 a bit sweaty every morning.
Actually, today it thunderstormed big time (with hail!!!), so hopefully it´ll stay overcast and be cooler tomorrow.
Enough ranting about that for now. So what did I accomplish today, on my 21st birthday? Well, I didn´t drink anything alcoholic today, if that´s what you´re thinking...I got up at 11, walked around a bit with some of the group, went on a walking tour of old town (the middle), and had dinner. It was pretty excellent! Old town is unbelievable! From the magnificent churches to the medieval corridor-style streets, I was fascinated! Mozart stuff is everywhere (two homes, the place of his last performance, his death place, etc), and the city is really rich with history. We went in this BEAUTIFUL Jesuit church, filled with colors and golden sculptures and architecture.
Having almost completed the tour, we stopped to get some gelato. I chose himbeere of course (raspberry) and it was...heavenly. It tasted like I was eating straight raspberries without the thick sugar and creme taste of ice cream. SOOO GOOD. I think I´m going back...SOON.
Classes start tomorrow at 9, and it is already 0:58 in the morning, so I guess I´m going to hit the sack. But stay tuned for more adventures!
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