Tales of a Foodie

It has been 10 days since my last update.....too long, I must apologize.  Seeing as I have an endless quantity of pictures of delicious food, I thought that today's title was appropriate.  But first, a quick recap of what has happened since I last blogged.

Last weekend, we traveled to Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart.  After a three hour walking tour and a lecture on Mozart's history, we had some free time to explore the quaint town of Salzburg.  The next day, we got to be observers at the Salzburg Global Seminar, where experts from around the world gathered to talk about the latest research in neuroscience/music and the future of live performance.

Mozart's Birthplace

This was delicious....

At the Salzburg Global Seminar - the seminar was held in a castle where parts of The Sound of Music were filmed. 

Last week was a pretty typical week here on the FSP - class, concerts, and the like.  Last Tuesday we saw the ORF radio symphony play Jongen's Sinfonia Concertante for Organ and Orchestra and Janáček's Glagolitic Mass.  On Wednesday, our clarinet teacher here in Vienna took Shannon and I to a studio recital at the University of the Arts where we got to see students approximately our age perform.  It was amazing to see what 4 years in the studio of the principal clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic can do (and quite humbling, at that).  Then on Thursday we saw the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra perform Mahler 1.  The weekend was free.  I cooked dinner for the whole FSP, which was a great group event, and then Shannon and I went off to hear the Brahms clarinet quintet (voluntarily, surprisingly).  It was a great concert, and we ended up sitting in the front row, literally a foot away from the clarinetist.

On Sunday, Shannon, Shivani, and I traveled into the first district of Vienna to explore the Habsburg treasury.  Not only did we get to see all the crowns and robes of the Habsburgs, but we also saw their collections, including the crown of the Holy Roman emperor, Charlemagne's sword, the world's largest emerald, and a bowl cut from a single piece of agate that is said to be the Holy Grail.  And then we went for gelato (what else would we do?).

This week is similar to last week.  Last night we saw the St. John Passion at the Konzerthaus, and tonight we get to see Mahler 6.  Thursday is a day trip to Bratislava, and this coming weekend Shannon and I get to visit Elizabeth in Prague!  We're so excited to visit her!

In other news, the toilet in the guys' flat is finally fixed after being constantly clogged for two weeks.  Apparently there was construction debris in the pipes, and it was in no way our fault!

Okay, time for the requisite pictures:

My first, and probably not last, Sacher Torte.

Topfenstrudel (a sweet cheese is in the middle)

Spinach spaetzle with a leek cream sauce and melted cheese on top.....certainly not low fat, but quite delicious. 

Sausages and sauerkraut - the sauerkraut was sweet, quite different than I was expecting.

Visiting the largest apartment that Mozart inhabited in Vienna - approximately the same time as John and Winifred Neville lived at Woodville, for those of you who know what I'm talking about.  It was interesting comparing architecture and furniture trends.

Some sweet poppy seed filled pastry thing.

A crown!

The world's largest emerald, cut into a vessel.

Some cool gold three thing that the Habsburgs acquired in some conquest or something.....I've clearly remembered a lot.