Time Never Rests

Okay, so it has been way too long since my last blog post, and I apologize for that. Since arriving in Vienna and having our IES orientation last Saturday, we've gone nonstop with classes, concerts, day trips, tours, and music lessons, finally having some free time today.  Thus far, we've seen the following concerts:

Sunday: Strauss Elektra
Monday: Mahler Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"
Tuesday: Beethoven Symphony No. 2, Copland Clarinet Concerto, Shaw Clarinet Concerto, Ginastera Dances
Wednesday: Modern Chamber Music, since 1918
Thursday: Percussion in Concert

All of the concerts were extremely interesting and wonderful in their own special ways, and while some were certainly better than others, they were all great introductions to music in Vienna.

And now for some pictures (I still haven't bothered to take pictures of my flat....sorry....they'll come eventually).  We also discovered an incredible gelateria here in Vienna close to every concert venue and our classes, which hasn't really been good.  We've been twice since Monday!  I have pictures of the gelato somewhere....I'll dig those up for the next post.  Don't forget to click on the pictures to make them larger if you want to see more detail!

The Belevedere Palace in the 3rd District of Vienna

My first (and only to date) Wienerschnitzel - breaded, fried pork

The Vienna State Opera - the location of our first concert

Spices in the Naschmarkt (the open air market)

Viennese street food - a kasekrainer (colloquially termed a "pus finger") - pork sausage stuffed with cheese

The facade of the Musikverein

A blurry picture of inside the Musikverien - from Tuesday's concert

The Baroque Abbey church in Melk

A painted ceiling inside the Melk Abbey library that has only been cleaned once (just with water) since it was painted in the 18th Century.

Inside the Abbey Church

Dessert!

We hiked to the top of a mountain overlooking Dürnstein (a town in the Wachau Valley, an hour outside of Vienna).

Part of the group on top of the mountain - we climbed over ruins dating to 1142

Me on the climb down

Touring a Wachau Valley heurigen (winery)

Dinner at the Huber family heurigen

So that's about it for now.  Tomorrow we leave bright and early for a weekend in Salzburg (the birthplace of Mozart), and then come Monday we start the whole cycle of clarinet lessons, concerts, and class all over again!

What time is it?

Yesterday I arrived in Vienna.  The flight landed at approximately 8:20, and while in the process of picking up luggage and waiting for a taxi, Shannon and I saw five other people from our program - it was nice to see some familiar faces!  The taxi driver worked magic and packed three people's bags into the back of a car, and we went off to the IES Center, where we'll be having most of our classes (which, interestingly enough, is directly across the street from the Konservatorium).

We spent some time walking around the city and then had our orientation beginning at 2.  And then we moved into our apartments, which are absolutely beautiful!  Brand new insides, clean, great.  Pictures to come eventually.  Unpacked.  Bed.  Finally.

Now my major issue is that I have absolutely no idea what time it is here in Austria.  Yesterday we were 5 hours ahead of the United States.  But Austria switches to Daylight Savings Time later than the United States.  So just to add to our jet lag, we lost another hour.  I can't figure out what clocks changed and what clocks didn't change, and the fact that I fundamentally don't know what time it is here isn't helping things.  Hopefully I'll figure it out before I have to be somewhere at 9:30....

Until next time.