Ja! Wien ist fabelhaft!

Yeah! Vienna is Fabulous! [that was german this time]

This is going to be a long blog- just a warning. My trip to Vienna to visit friends, Paul Dab, Kevin Rilling, and Laura Michaelson was absolutely fantastic. I loved vienna- and even more, I loved getting to see my old dear friends and make so many new awesome ones :D Let the photos begin!

Tuesday: Left from marseille, connected in Munich, flew into Vienna. I wish I could paint because the view from my window flying into Vienna was absolutely stunning. I looked out on the sun as it sank behind thick burgundy clouds casting a fan of glowing light across the gray mountains that sat as faint, yet strong shadows in the distant evening light. The ground below looked like a vast patchwork quilt of weaving light and dark greens, oranges, and browns. As we lowered and neared the ground I could see that each of these strips of colors were different rows crops. It was simply stunning.

I met my friend and fellow percussionist, Kevin at the bus station and we made a little treck through subways and trams until we arrived at their awesome apartment. Those lucky boys-- they have someone come in and clean their house every week! She even does their dishes!! ridiculous. After chatting and "reunioning" for a bit, me, kevin, and paul went out to grab some dinner. We were momentarily lost, but soon the boys found where they wanted to go- and I got to have my first Viennese beer. hehe

Wednesday: I got to tour all around the city seeing a few museums and cathedrals, then seeing the center where my friends do their studies. Its amazing how old and ornate everything is in Europe- their study rooms are like ancient palaces! I met up with my other friend, Laura there and we were instantly gossiping all about blair and people back home. haha it was good to be with a gal from blair again!

What amazed me about vienna was how much music there is there-- it seemed like everyone had some instrument strapped to their back or was on their way to see a great performance. I wish that there were this much music in Aix, but each city has its advantages and disadvantages. All I know is that I really do want to go to Vienna again someday, perhaps to study music for a bit. German didn't exactly come easily to me, but I wasn't there for very long either. I was thankful that pretty much every single person there spoke english (we americans are so lucky.)

Here we are touring the sites around Vienna!

This included going to a market where I got to try Dragon Fruit! It was like a hot pink kiwi! mm!!

Wednesday night we went out to a restaurant that specialized in wine. I got to try a couple types. I swear, I don't ever drink like this in the states- wine and definitely beer aren't really my thing, but.. when in vienna! I got to meet a bunch of paul, kevin, and laura's friends. It was a ton of fun! We went out to a bar that seemed to be a club! We danced a whole bunch and had fun... and then found our way home verrrry slowly. The regular buses had stopped running so we had to wait for the very slow night buses. Took forever and was FREEZING [insert thanks to my mother for mailing me my heavy coat!!]

Thursday:

I attending a private conducting class where Paul was playing the piano for the conducting student. It was interesting to observe! Then we met laura for some grade A chinese food! was delicious!

Then paul, kevin, and I met up and went to tour the Haus der Musik where we saw a big Vienna Philharmonic museum and a very interesting interactive sound/visual museum.. it was.. entertaining to say the least!

My friend, Paul, and Bernstein's Jacket :)

Listening to a sound room thing? weird.

They had an interactive conducting video! I got to conduct the vienna phil! :D

That night we went to hear the Cleveland symphony perform. They performed two of Debussy's Nocturnes and Liszt's Faust. The interesting part about this concert was that we took advantage of something very typical in vienna, but not so known in the states: the standing room. Its this area in the back of the concert hall where you can get tickets for very cheap, fight for a way to the best view, and stand to hear the concert. Being short has its advantages, as I got to snag a spot right up front.

The hall where the Vienna Phil performs usually-

Here's the standing room area in the back of the hall- before it filled up.

On the walk home, we passed the opera house where they were performing Marriage of Figaro that night- here's the giant video screen the have set up in front of the opera for people to go and sit out and see the opera for free from the street! Even though it was a frigid night, there were tons of spectators sitting and watching from the sidewalk!

At the concert, I ran into a blair alum that I knew who performed my string quartet last year- Ben Deitrick! I had no idea that he was living in Vienna and he had no idea that I was there to visit, so it was really a great surprise! The whole gang of us went out for a bite to eat after the concert-- we had lots of laughs along the way!

Here we are representing the VU sign:

Also noted- like in hollywood where they have the walk of fame- they have the walk of fame for composers in vienna! here's bela bartok :)

Friday:

Paul, Kevin, and I woke up early and headed to the train station to get tickets to Salzburg. We all pretty much passed out for the entire train ride there, though I tried to stay awake as long as I could to see the absolutely gorgeous fall colors that covered the hills. Once we got to Salzburg, we headed out of the trainstation and eventually got our bearings.

We found the old town, walked in the big stone entrance, and there was the house where Mozart was born:

We spent the whole day exploring the town, seeing cathedrals, getting lost a bit, having a fabulous Italian/Autrian/Indian/French lunch [where the kind owner gave us free bubbly water after I asked him if water with gas or without was cheaper.. I guess he pitied us poor students].

Here was a man playing the didgeridoo in front of a big cathedral- he was rakin' in the dough too! Quite a performance-

We made a really steep hike up to the city's fortress that sat perched high on a hill.

It was well worth the hike- the view and the sun set was spectacular!!

We had so many laughs along the way too, it was so much fun.

After a quick dinner,we found ourselves out of time and seriously running to catch the train out of the city! I don't even know how we caught it, but we did.

Saturday: Paul and I hit the town in search of a score for Rhapsody in Blue as well as a halloween costume. We found the latter, but no gershwin score :( Oh, and then paul made me very happy- he took me to Subway for lunch!! I know I know, I'm a terrible american for wanting my home comforts, but I have been craving a subway for far too long! haha

Then we made our way to a palace called Schoenbrunn where we walked all around the beautiful gardens and up a big hill to get a cloudy but great view of Vienna.

In the evening we went to catch another fabulous Cleveland symphony concert- but the standing room this time was packed!! We heard a gorgeous performance of Beethoven's 4th piano concerto and then a thrilling performance of Shostakovitch's 5th symphony. It was fantastic!

Saturday night was halloween and it was epic and SO much fun and I'll just let the photos speak for themselves here. There were so many fabulous new friends that I was sad to be leaving, though we all vowed to keep in touch. For my costume, I was a blue bird! Nothing too creative, but I did like the mask. :)

Thats me and a friend-

Group of friends, some old some new!

My dear friend Paul :)

ben- alum from blair I ran into in vienna- and a new friend Jodie!

It was just getting silly by this point.

And even more tired by this point...

Sunday morning I had to get up very early - 6:15am- to catch a bus and then my plane in the cold, gray, raining air. But all went smoothly and soon I landed in a bright, warm, and beautiful Aix. I was sad to leave vienna, but definitely got the rest and laughter that I needed.

Miss you all! Auf Wiedersehen!

-Dani