"I didn't realize this was the permanent residence of Sister Act"

       

      Every now and then I'm startled to remember that Vienna is a modern city. It's steeped in so much history spanning from as far back as the Roman Empire. Of course, the time period I prefer to associate Vienna with is the 18th and 19th Centuries--replete with palaces, horse and buggies, royal balls, Don Giovanni, and all of those romanticized things. 

   But then I'll walk by a McDonald's, or a Forever 21, housed in ornate buildings on Kärnter Straße and I'm thrown for a little bit of a loop. (MOZART DID NOT EAT AT MCDONALD'S). But I like it. I appreciate the old mixed with the new--it's what makes Vienna so unique. The train system, the U Bahn (which I am proud to say I can successfully navigate comfortably on my own!) is far more convenient than having to take a horse and carriage to school every morning. And yet something tells me that if that were to be my daily method of transportation, I would NOT complain. ;)

^For example, seeing a musical house that puts on performances of Sister Act (I kid you not!), adjacent to a Kaffeehaus is sometimes off-putting! (McDonald's is just down the street.)

Another First

        This morning I went to the Hofmusikkapelle to hear the Vienna Boys' Choir sing at High Mass!! The chapel is situated in the oldest part of the Hofburg castle, and the choir is accompanied by members of the Vienna State Opera orchestra and choir! First rank musicians.                  

        I won't lie, I wasn't following the mass too well. Although I'm becoming more comfortable with

(This is me in my carriage

German every day, the German word for, say, "salvation" isn't quite in my arsenal.
      So instead I fantasized that it was 1790 because the moment I entered the chapel, I felt like I was in the movie Amadeus! The chapel wasn't grossly ornate, but it had a chandelier, a lovely alter, and the celestial sounds of the Boys' Choir.   I pretended that my horse and carriage had been thundering through the cobbled streets of Vienna battling sheets of bone-chilling rain. We made it on time to Mass. (I pretended like I was Salieri lamenting my tormented life and repenting to God!!! Hearing the heavenly sounds of the Viennese Boys Choir and begging God to bequeath me with musical genius like Mozart.) I am on my knees, hear my prayer!! Oh what I wouldn't give to compose music as divine as this! I was very, very absorbed in these thoughts for the first 15 minutes--Withhold judgement please ;) In actuality, it's a brisk, partly-cloudy day in Vienna and I don't have any all-consuming angst and despair even remotely comparable to Salieri. (details, details...) I'm Salieri!

        But then, 20 minutes in to the service or so, I fainted. (Not kidding!) I felt a wave of nausea and dizziness hit my head--I thought I was falling asleep, but actually I was just falling...onto the poor woman in front of me--guess I was dehydrated? And I just sort of slumped over. I spent the remainder of the mass sitting on the floor in a daze. Salieri got taken down.  It was actually kind of embarrassing, I've never fainted in public before! But to add to my list of firsts, I can now say: I've fainted in mass at the Hofburgkapelle. Even though I felt terrible, the music still sounded wonderful from the floor! (...) Now to get some sleep and some H20 in my system....

(Me as Salieri. Not looking too good...)

Mein Lieblingskaffeehaus!

Very-much-posed picture of me being "cultured"

        I've found it!!! My favorite Kaffeehaus. (so far). It has the cutest interior, delicious coffee, and to-die-for Topfelstrudel. (As evidenced by Liesl making a go for our strudel--BACK OFF, BITTE!)

           Our server was so friendly. She appreciated our speaking German and was really interested in hearing where we came from and why were studying abroad in Vienna. When we told her we all studied Music, she of course was not surprised we chose Vienna. :) She told us stories of all the places in the US she's visited and how her first experience was in JFK Airport. She didn't have any US dollars and apparently all the currency exchange booths were closed. When she asked a man to make change for her, he simply paid for her train ticket and said, 'welcome to New York!' It's been really neat so far meeting Austrians who DON'T have negative impressions of Americans. I'll definitely be returning to this Café!

Leopold Museum

       Sometimes I think Vienna is almost prettier at night... (Almost.) --->

      Friday afternoon (turned into evening) was spent at the Leopold Museum. I've truly never seen any museum like it. It was a very eclectic collection of art--all pieces that evoked an EXTREME emotional reaction. The deeper you descended into the museum, the darker the art got it seemed. The art on first floor below ground level, was fascinated with death and depression, while even more disturbing images and collections were on the floor below that. I was very moved by those rooms, but felt too uncomfortable to takepictures of those rooms.....(if blood makes you feel faint, the Leopold Museum is NOT for you!) There were lots of staged photographs of torture, naked bodies, blood, and defiled dead bodies. I felt almost sick to my stomach. Therefore, NO PICTURES! No one told me what I was getting into when I went to the Leopold Museum!! But I'm glad I went. It was a very intense experience.

      But I did take some neat pictures of some other cool pieces of art. (Thankfully there were 3 floors ABOVE ground level, including a Gustav Klimt exhibit, that were a little less morbid.)

       I really liked this one on the right--the artist cut out the figures of many different pictures of models from magazines to make them all uniformly blank--commenting on the banality of the fashion industry. Very cool!





        Now this last painting down here was very interesting because of the history behind it! I'm going to summarize it poorly, but essentially: the composer, Arnold Schoenberg, was also a painter on the side. A young painter, Gerstl, who admired him greatly, painted his portrait and the two became friends. Gerstl was able to enter into Schonberg's friend circle and the families became close and vacationed together. However, (tough times ahead) Gerstl had an affair with Schoenberg's unhappy wife, Mathilde, who felt isolated and unloved because Schoenberg was so committed to his composing. This is one of several portraits that Gerstl painted of Mathilde. Sehr scandalös!! Basically Gerstl broke up the marriage and Mathilde ran away with him for a bit. (Until Webern convinced her to return back to her family and assuage the social scandal her forbidden romance created!) So funny. Wagner definitely had a lover named Mathilde too. And she wrote him love poems that he set to music and used as "studies" for Tristan und Isolde...These women!

 

Bed, bed, I couldn't go to bed.

The Hofburg Palace

         If you've ever secretly harbored desires to dress like a princess and waltz the night away in a fairytale dream......(it's OK if you have. Go ahead, admit it!)........then I recommend you go to a Viennese Ball!!!

        When I applied to study abroad in Wien, I hadn't realized that the first 2 to 3 months would be the height of the Ball season! Not being properly equipped with "ball attire", I had to do some thrifty shopping in the 6th district for a ball gown, and then I was off to the TU Ball! I should probably mention that the ball was held in the Hofburg Palace. (PALACE). Sehr Schön.

        People kept asking me throughout the first hour of the ball if I was alright or feeling unwell, because I was "being pretty quiet". Well--in my defense--it's hard to be conversational AND simultaneously devote all of your attention to staring at the palace ceilings and extravagantly dressed guests! It took me a while to soak it all in, and even then I was overwhelmed.

       We got a little lost on the way to the palace. Probably looked quite ridiculous--5 girls in ball gowns running through U Bahn stops and around Vienna.  (Had to try a few trams before we were going in the right direction.) But we made it eventually!

        Doors opened at 8:30 but the opening ceremony wouldn't start until 9:30. Um halb zehn, The horns promptly started a fanfare and I was so excited I was afraid I'd start crying or something. (didn't). Unfortunately, I didn't have that great a position from which to see the dancers, but from what I gauged from the camera screens of people in front of me, it was quite the beautiful procession! All the women were in white and all the men in tuxedos. It was so elegant. They even danced to Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (low brass kind of startled me when I was expecting Johann Strauss) It was surreal. just. surreal.

         The Palace was like a maze. There was a bar in practically every other room, spaced between all the different dance rooms! I danced a little swing and cha cha (danced=attempted) and spent a happy amount of time in a jazz room. And even more time just watching all the Austrians dance and interact. I stayed clear from the salsa room because of the eye-watering Atmosphäre. I'm still surprised they allow people to smoke in the Hofburg palace! (Bitte stop smoking when I'm trying to dance; I can't breathe, bitte.) I heard rumors of a disco room, but I never did find it :( ...I'll just have to go to another ball and try again! Next ball coming up later in February is a Masquerade Ball??? (Ladies choice with the symbolic un-masking at midnight! Sounds almost too perfect.)


         Speaking of Mitternacht....at the TU Ball, it was nearing midnight and I realized I hadn't waltzed yet. (UNACCEPTABLE) I grabbed a partner and we hurtled to find a spot in the main ball room. And NOW I can officially say that I've waltzed at a Viennese ball.
      The ball went until 5am. I didn't quite have the energy reserve to last that long, made it home around 3am. Some brave souls stuck it out to the bitter end, and if I'm not mistaken I saw some exhausted, sorry-looking folks in tuxedos at class this morning.

       I woke up early this morning to buy some bread at the Naschmarkt for German class, and was a bit of a zombie ordering, "Wir möchten zwei Semmeln und einen Kürnbirkernweckerl, bitte." (Kürnbiskernweckerl is pumpkin seed bread, which by the way, is spectacular.)
Last Friday my German class went to a Kaffeehaus, but this week we "ate in" and put together an authentic Austrian breakfast from items different students were assigned to collect from the Naschmarkt. It was delicious. Did you know that Austrians eat cold-cuts for breakfast?? I guess it's more filling than a muffin...It was the perfect post-ball breakfast.

SO TIRED. But as with many whirlwind, sleep-deprived evenings, it was SO WORTH IT.
I am absolutely wiped. However, there are more things to do! Classes are over for the week and it's the Wochenende!!I
I have time to sleep when I'm dead!!....or Sunday when everything is  closed.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

BaRbEr Of SeViLlE!!!!!!! Having the first live opera I’ve watched since 5th grade (field trip to see Magic Flute!) be at the Wiener Staatsoper, is something very much like a dream.  I absolutely have fallen in love with opera. 

waiting in line!

my view!

       A group of IES students got in line 3 hours before the performance to buy standing room tickets. For a short-ish wait and a mere 4 Euros I was standing maybe 50 feet from the stage with an uninhibited view. (I was lucky to have a very short Austrian man in front of me.  AND I slinked a little off to the side of my row so I could lean against the wall.  Es war perfekt!) 

 

Before the start of the performance we had some time to run around the Staatsoper to take pictures or grab a beverage. 

I even made a friend that night. Asked one of the ushers if he’d take a picture with me and he replied “of course”.  Glaringly American of me? Yes. Resulting in a spectacular photo that I cherish with all of my heart?? YES!  

 

            I grabbed a small espresso (Einen kleinen Schwarzen, bitte?!) before the beginning so I could be sure to be awake! I’m notorious for falling asleep during the first piece of a classical concert, especially if it’s a Mozart Piano Concerto. It’s embarrassing really. But the second the overture started, I knew I wasn’t going to be having that problem. 

            The orchestra and the singers were magnificent and aside from having to shift my weight uncomfortably back and forth between my feet (standing still for 3 hours isn’t as easy as I thought it would be), it was the perfect night. Between the two acts, we sat down in our standing places to have a rest. Not a bad view from there either! It’s Viennese tradition to tie a scarf over the rail where you’re standing to mark your place, so you always have to be sure to bring a scarf or ribbon or to do just that! That way, if you leave during intermission you know where your place is and no one will take it. Everyone honors that very well actually!

            The Opera house puts on a performance almost every evening! (Some friends went to see Otello Sunday afternoon!) Next time I attend, I’ll bring a snack and some homework for the line for sure!…and then pay almost nothing to see some of the greatest live performances available in Vienna! I definitely plan to see as many operas as possible. I can’t wait until later in the season when they do some Puccini operas (<3!!), Carmen, and Tannhäuser. 3 Euros and you’re up high in the balcony. But with 4 Euros, you’re on the floor level, and close enough to see the singers’ faces! It was unreal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDQLy84ad04

Bus Tour

Saturday morning I went on a 3-hour bus tour throughout several districts of Vienna. We passed many palaces, composers’ homes, and more modern areas of Vienna as well. The first stop where we disembarked to snap a few photos was on top of a mountain (in the Vienna Woods) where we could see all of Vienna including the Danube! Very beautiful. Woops, Danube got cut off a little...it’s to the left. 

     The next place we stopped was the Hundertwasser Haus by the modern artist who doesn’t really believe in the usage of straight lines. Even the street’s cobblestones were uneven! I felt like I was in a funhouse. Except trying not to trip every other step wasn’t the MOST fun.  (Bitte, straighten out the road, bitte.) Definitely want to come back here though! Lot's of cool souvenirs to poke through. (Still have the bookmark you bought me, Meg!)

     And finally we stopped at the Belvedere Palace. It was pretty cloudy at this point, so I refrained from taking any pictures, assuming (hopefully) I can return on a sunny, spring day! With a blue sky and actual flowers in the garden!

After the bus tour, I grabbed a kebab box from a stand and went OFF to the opera…(foreshadow, woohoo, bitte yeah!)

Haus der Musik

I can’t recommend the Haus der Musik highly ENOUGH. I’ve never had more fun in a museum in my life. And I mean it! I was extremely impressed by how interactive all the exhibits were, but mostly I was blown away by the high technology of it all!  We spent hours in there, and I would go back in a heartbeat.

[I know we're supposed to be assimilating to the Viennese way of life and everything, but I can't do that until I've squeezed all the touristy, museum-going, postcard-buying, and picture-taking urges out of my body. So until then, bitte!!]

 















On the first floor of the museum, we could “compose” our own waltz! You would do this by rolling enormous dice onto screens that could ascertain the number rolled and spit out a measure of music accordingly. 2 people would each roll a die to “compose” a bass line and a melody line respectively.  Super neat! Liesl and I proceeded to waltz to our own waltz of course. Some Austrian women applauded us, and we told them we were practicing for the TU ball on Thursday. (Speaking of, OH MY GOD!! SO EXCITED FOR THAT!)

      Here's the video of Liesl and me dancing. It took us a while to figure out who would be the man and who would be the woman. (haha!) So in keeping with my childhood role-playing games with Meg, I volunteered for the man's position. (I definitely wasn't leading though)...oh well! Still fun! Which is apparent in how absurdly happy we look dancing :)

On the second floor could be found every aspect of sound production and perception you can imagine. I mean there was even a room that simulated the sounds that an embryo hears in a womb for crying out loud! Exceptionally creepy, actually....

In other rooms we could record our voices and see the visual physics behind it, and we could distort them into train sounds or other weird things that I’m not even sure I can explain. I really liked all of the other rooms, aside from the 'womb room'...

 

And then on the third floor, we could wander through different rooms devoted to Vienna’s main men: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler, and Strauss…(in that order? I can’t remember. It is supposed to be chronological though…hopefully close enough.) It was tremendous! 

In the Mozart room, you could type in your name to a machine and it would  “compose” a Mozart symphony according to the letters of your name and their corresponding musical note letters. (or close to it). My melody didn't sound very good.  (And yet, I suppose there are worse things than having a fake “Laura” symphony composed by “Mozart” sound horrendous. Right??) Still....sad times. (I WANT MY NAME TO SOUND BEAUTIFUL, BITTE!!)

We had audio guides that would tell us about the composers' lives, homes, musical works, wives, and lovers. I took too many posed pictures with their portraits/figures for me to even want to post some of them. Besides, they're a little embarrassing. I was absolutely beside myself in the Beethoven room for one. No one needs to see that.


 And then to finish it of, I got to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic!! (Kind of.) The simulation was very cool; the players would even glance up and look at you from time to time. You had to be careful to aim the the baton at the sensor, which I discovered when some of my cadences got a little out of control. (very out of control). They even had a score for you to follow and selections of different well-known pieces to choose from (all in 2/4 so even if you just wave your arms uselessly they'll play at least SOMEthing.) I tried conducting the Danube Waltz as fast as possible just for fun, but the onscreen concertmaster stopped playing, yelled at me, and the whole orchestra refused to keep playing! (Game over?) It was hysterical!

Zubin Mehta gave me conducting tips!! (#casual, #himeg)

SO FUN!! AUSGEZEICHNET!

Ein Cappuccino, bitte!

        Hooray! Finally our German class went on a field trip to a Kaffeehaus!! We had to order our food in German and speak politely with our waiter, but the Sachertorte made it all worthwhile. What an excellent morning! It was in a gorgeous coffee house right off of the park of what used to be the winter palace of the Hapsburgs. Preeeetty neat.
        It was really spectacular to be able to talk to our teacher outside of class in a more familiar setting. And Intensive German where I'm fed delicious Mehlspeise and given warm, caffeinated beverages is my kind of Intensive German. Bitte schön!

Kunsthistorisches Museum

We were lucky to get a free tour of this fabulous museum a few days ago! Beautiful inside and out.