I'm supposed to be studying for a final tomorrow and writing a final paper due Thursday, so naturally I decided to update my blog...

First, I'm going to post the pictures of the Military Museum that I promised at the end of the last blog post.

The car in which Franz Ferdinand was riding in Sarajevo in 1914.

His clothes from that day.

So that was last Tuesday.  On Wednesday we had class, like normal, but at night it was time for our last concert at the Musikverein!  We saw a brilliant performance of the Hummel Trumpet Concerto and Mahler's Symphony No. 5 by the Wiener Symphoniker.  It's safe to say that I'm going to miss that hall.  Wednesday was also Richard's 20th Birthday, so we all gathered in the flat after the concert and surprised him with a cake (that I baked, traversing strange Austrian ingredients and equipment - those are a few things I definitely WON'T miss).  It was a great way to end a great night.

Thursday we had the day "off" but I had my last lesson with my great teacher here in Vienna.  It was sad to say goodbye, but he's helped me find a new focus on my own solo playing that I definitely plan on continuing with back at Dartmouth.  After that lesson, the three of us went out for falafel lunch and gelato (at our favorite gelato shop - see the last blog post - which now has a wild strawberry gelato!  My teacher - who also thinks this shop is the best in the city - told us to try this flavor.  It's ridiculously expensive at 1.70 euro a scoop.  It usually costs 2.00 euro for a cone with 2-3 flavors.  But these strawberries only grow in a certain forest in Italy and are flown to Vienna from that forest.  The gelato is only available at certain times each year and it sells out really quickly.  Just delicious.)

Shannon and I then traveled to the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna to see the composers' graves sections.  We paid homage to Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss (Johann), and Schubert the only way we knew how: we walked from grave to grave playing our favorite pieces written by that composer from our iTunes.  We videoed it, but the file is quite long and would take a while to upload to Youtube, so if you want to see it, ask me.

The Austrian National Library - we visited this on our way home from the cemetery.

This past weekend, we traveled as a group to Budapest, Hungary.  It was really interesting to be behind the iron curtain once again, and I saw much more of that post-communist recovery in Hungary than I did in Prague.  We had a free day, and I made it my mission to go to the House of Terror, the museum detailing life in Hungary under two terror regimes (Nazi and Soviet).  It was a great museum.  As it was housed in the old communist secret police headquarters, not only did we see all kinds of exhibits, but we also were taken down into the basement to see the cells where prisoners were locked up.  It was a somber experience, yet also very informative.

Heroes Square in Budapest

Beef goulash

The Franz Liszt Museum

A statue of Stalin without his head - probably from de-Stalinization in the early 60's

The interior of the House of Terror

Part of the Berlin Wall

As soon as we got back from Budapest, our friend Elizabeth was here to visit from Prague!  We had a whirlwind tour of Vienna (mostly a food tour....).  It was SO good to see her again!  The big highlight from that weekend was our trip to Grinzing, a tiny neighborhood on the outskirts of Vienna.  There we paid homage to Gustav Mahler's grave by sitting there for an hour and a half playing the DSO recording of Mahler 2 (on the one year anniversary of our concert, no less).  We had some weird stares, but most people seemed to really appreciate what we were doing, actually.  In fact, a blind woman walked by at one point, led by another woman.  We heard her from down the row asking where Mahler was, and then she heard the music and got all excited "Mahler!  Musique!"  It was so touching :)

A heurigen in Grinzing

Now this is probably my one of my last serious blog posts about my time here in Vienna.  One concert left, a final recital, final test in music history tomorrow, and a final paper due on Thursday.  That's all I have left (other than the eating and souvenir shopping, of course).  I head back to the States on Saturday!  How time has flown.  I'm going to try, though, to take videos and pictures of the everyday things that I have seen and done for the past three months (including my flat...yes I know I've been saying that for two months....) and I already have in mind what my last blog post will look like.  So until then, I leave you with this video of a bit of Austria.  We encountered them randomly on the street on Sunday.

The End in Sight

Grüß Gott!  Now that I've been in Austria for....eight weeks (wow how time has flown!), I think it's time to begin my blog post with Vienna's customary greeting.  This phrase is used to say hello to anyone and everyone: people behind counters in shops, waiters in restaurants, people on the street.  And that's about the extent of my German.  Haha.  Not completely true - I've learned a little but of vocabulary (mostly related to food, but what else would expect?)

So it has been almost three weeks since my last blog post, and frankly I'm not so sure what to write about!  Our schedule has slowed up a little bit, and in our free days in Vienna we have had lots of time to explore the city and do all of the touristy things that we have been ignoring over the past two months.  No big trips or epic excursions, and unfortunately most of the touristy things I have done were places that forbade pictures.  So many of the pictures below are of food.  A word of caution: you probably shouldn't continue reading on an empty stomach.  Consider yourself warned :)

Anyway, now to recount the things that I've done.  After we got back from Prague, things went pretty much back to normal with concerts, history work, and practicing.  That Thursday, though, we took an excursion to St. Florian and Steyr, two places in Upper Austria.  St. Florian is an old abbey quite like Melk (see my post from Week 1) where Bruckner had lived and worked for years (and where he's buried underneath his organ), and Steyr is a town close by where Bruckner and Schubert often visited.

This is Bruckner.

This is Bruckner's organ.

And this is chicken cordon bleu!

 Our next big tourist event was that weekend, when Shannon, Remy, his sister Anne Caroline (who was visiting from Swaziland), and myself toured Schönbrunn, the summer palace of the Hapsburgs.  It was a magnificent building, on the level of Versailles in Paris, with history dating back to Maria Theresa in the 1700s.  What was coolest, though, was that renovation work was being done on one of the main rooms, and it was halfway done.  So you could see almost a before and after effect split down the center of the room.

Schönbrunn - the summer palace of the Hapsburgs

The pretzel was larger than my head.

Me, Remy, and Shannon at Schönbrunn.

We've also amped up our pastry and sweet (and occasionally real food) tour of the city as the final departure date looms.  Of course, these antics will be described in great details by the pictures below, so I think I'll just leave it at that.

A pastry called buchteln.  They're served piping hot from the ovens from this one cafe in Vienna every night at 10 PM.....and only at 10 PM.

Buchteln - sweet rolls filled with plum jam and dusted with powdered sugar.

Kaiserschmarrn.  Torn up pancakes served with powdered sugar, raisins, and a plum compote.

The next week we toured Sigmund Freud's office in Vienna where he lived and worked for most of his life until he was forced to emigrate to the United Kingdom during WWII.  Consequently most of his belongings (including the couch) are in London, but it was still cool to see such a historical place.  Later that week we saw a production of Die Fledermaus at the Volksoper.  This operetta is distinctly tied to Vienna, for it is performed every year around January 1, and it was a wonderful experience to see and hear.  Especially the older gentleman who threw up about two rows in front of us.

Freud's office.

Freud's waiting room.

These had to be some of the best sundaes ever, from Castelletto's in the First District.

We traveled to the Alte Donau island in the middle of the Danube River that runs right through the city on a particularly nice day two weeks ago.  The water was freezing, though, but nonetheless I can say that I have set foot in the Danube.  And then I found (and picked) reed rush growing on the river bank.  (For those of you nonclarinetists: reed rush is an abrasive grass used for clarinet reed work.)

The next big thing that we did in Vienna was tour the catacombs underneath Stephansdom.  We traveled down into the depths of Vienna, seeing ancient tunnels.  We saw the burial urns of the Hapsburg emperors whose entrails, hearts, and other organs were jarred and stored in various churches around the city - gives new meaning to spreading the wealth.   Then we traveled even further underground to an older part of the catacombs where we saw just pits and pits of bones, many of them remaining untouched since they were dumped there during the Black Plague during the 1300s.

This past weekend, the weather was beautiful so we walked around the city a bit and then traveled as a group to the Prater amusement park in the center of the city.  Being the wuss that I am, I was appointed the official photographer (yes, I did go on a few things, but nothing that would impress anyone so they're not even worth listing).  The next day, Shannon and I attended the most wonderful concert by the Vienna Philharmonic.  Wiener Philharmoniker tickets are sold by subscription only, so due to this we were only scheduled to see them once as a part of the FSP.  But Shannon and I were determined to see one of the world's best orchestras again, so we waited in line early one morning a week before the concert to see if any subscription tickets had been returned; we got lucky and bought two seats behind the orchestra in the organ loft.  We couldn't see a thing, but we didn't have to.  Their performance of Beethoven 3 "Eroica" was simply breathtaking.

Shannon, Anna, Danielle, and Amy on some crazy roller coaster at the Prater amusement park in the center of Vienna.

Wiener Philharmoniker offices!

The original sacher torte at the Café Sacher.  There's a reason it's the original - the best one yet.

Vienna Philharmonic concert - from our seats behind the orchestra in the organ balcony.

Our new favorite gelato shop!  Right next door to the place where we got the sundaes.

Today Shannon and I traveled to the University of the Arts in Vienna to hear another clarinet studio recital by students our age.  We had heard another recital during the second week of our program (I probably blogged about it....not sure though...), and we were really excited to attend another one.  Needless to say it was great.  Before that we went out to a lovely little Italian restaurant here in Vienna.  Since we're so close to Northern Italy, the Italian food is simply outstanding.  NOTE: Mother, I am eating food other than sweets and sugar.

Mushroom pizza at a wonderful Italian restaurant.

Crispy cannelloni with asparagus, ricotta, sun dried tomatoes served with a goat cheese cream sauce and olives. 

A white chocolate panna cotta served with strawberry and rhubarb compotes and streusel crumbs.

Today we visited the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum at the Arsenal (Vienna Military History Museum) where I got to see the car Franz Ferdinand was riding in when he was shot in Sarajevo in 1914 (starting WWI) and the clothes - complete with bullet holes - that he was wearing.  Pictures to come next blog post....I'm not near my camera.  Up next is a weekend trip to Budapest and more pastries and gelato!

Before we go, though, I need to direct your attention to this lovely video we made in front of the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera) for someone back at Dartmouth.

Mind the Gap, Please!

So I am going to begin this blog post the same way that I have began the past few.....apologizing for the lengthy delay!  Tons has happened since I last posted - in fact, I have been in four countries since that last post - so let's get started!

During our travel break over the Easter weekend, Shannon and I traveled to London to visit Rachel, a friend from Dartmouth interning there this term.  But unfortunately we had to fly there through the Bratislava International Airport.....simply put, my favorite thing in Bratislava was the duty free shop and the Haribo gummy candies sold there.  In any case, we finally got to London.  Over the next few days we wandered around the city.  We toured Westminster Abbey, the British Library, and the British Museum (where we saw the Rosetta Stone).  We visited Platform 9 3/4 (which was unfortunately under construction, but at least something was still there), toured a house where Charles Dickens lived, and saw the Tower of London (where we saw the Crown Jewels, the armor of King Henry VIII, and the spot where Anne Boleyn got the chop).  Other than that, we walked around the city and took in all London had to offer.  Food wise: Great Indian food?  Check.  Traditional Fish and Chips?  Check.  Pastries?  Check.  English High Tea?  Check.

Sadly, there were no tickets available for Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre....

Pure glee.  Enough said.

This is on all the street crossings so tourists don't get run over.

Rosetta Stone

Mmmmmmm.....the chocolate mousse in the middle was divine.

Fish, chips, and mushy peas!

"The perfect Sunday roast served with lashings of gravy!"

221b Baker Street - Home of Sherlock Holmes

High Tea: I am now a HUGE fan of scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam :)

Westminster Abbey isn't so well equipped for the wiring needed to broadcast the Royal Wedding...

Armor of King Henry VIII

We had to......

Changing of the guard at the Tower of London

We arrived back in Vienna late last Tuesday night, and on Thursday Dad came to visit!  He was in Germany on a business trip and decided stop by Vienna on his way home.  It was really, really great to see him, and even though he was only here 24 hours or so, we got an opportunity to walk around a lot of the city.  We had some gelato, went into Stephansdom Cathedral in the center of town, and generally had a good time.  It was definitely sad to say goodbye and made me more excited for whenever I get to come back here with my whole family.

With the State Opera in the background.....I think Dad was talking....

Then, this past weekend, our whole FSP took a trip back to Prague, something that Shannon and I were really looking forward to since we so enjoyed the city the last time we were there.  We made a point to find that wonderful bakery again and buy větrníky (those wonderful pillow doughnut things).  The Easter Markets were still set up and we even managed to find our way back to the vegetarian restaurant, taking some of our FSP-mates there.  But we also explored many news places in Prague: we walked over the Charles Bridge, toured one of the largest Jewish ghettos in Europe, cruised the Vltava, saw Mozart's Don Giovanni in the original theatre in which it was performed (the production was very tacky, but it was cool nonetheless), and heard the Czech Philharmonic.  Apparently Prague is also known for its jazz scene, so we also visited two jazz clubs while there, which was a really cool experience (Bill Clinton played at one of them in 1994).  All in all, I really love Prague and the Czech Republic and would love to get back there someday.

Don Giovanni in its original theatre

A clock in the Jewish ghetto

A traditional Czech meal of honey-roasted duck, dumplings, and red cabbage.

And I think there hasn't been enough sugar in the blog post, so one more picture is necessary.  Until next time, cheerio!

Hugely rich hot chocolate and a "schokobombe" from Café Demel here in Vienna - this was just two hours ago, and I'm still in heaven!