Weary Train Traveler
Sunday June 17, 2007

Oh my everyone! I have my work cut out for me tonight since it’s been so long since my last post. Although I am really ticked off, I totally made a post for before I left explaining that I didn’t have time and it would be awhile but guess what only pretended to post…. UGH!

Time is just flying by since we only have such a short time in Austria. I have mixed feelings, because on one hand I’m ready to move onto something different (by different I don’t mean home, sorry guys!) but then again I am really acclimated to Vienna and my apartment here, what pastries are good, how to get around, my routine, and all the weird things like how to flush toilets (I’m serious guys, every time you think you have it down you spend at least 5 more confused moments in a public toilet trying to lock the door or flush) One other weird thing: there are always random things popping up on your sandwiches. At first, it was more normal, like tomatoes, mayo (which I don’t like), maybe lettuce, that sort of thing. Then it moved on to salami, bell peppers, etc. and then a hard boiled egg popped up, odd, but not a stretch, then I think Austrians just like to put any sort of veggie they can on there, because I started finding things as abnormal as a baby corn in the middle instead of something more ordinary. The surprises never end there. So I’m ready to move on, but I’ll miss the 2 euro operas and strudels a lot.

Ok, so Tuesday. We had class in a classroom both Monday and Tuesday to learn about Beethoven and Schubert and then many other famous Viennese composers, boring in a classroom, I know we’ve been spoiled, except not really because it consisted of Prof Waldman getting really into the music and pumping us all up about it. I’m in love with Beethoven by the way. He has such a tragic life that it makes you love him even more, not to mention he has many accounts of sticking up to nobles and saying things like “You are who you are by an accident of birth and I am who I am because of my own genius” when they would try and slight him. Fascinating life story, it reminds me of the kind of dark and twisted English Literature I like sometimes. I didn’t get as into some of the more contemporary artists we learned about, but we even composed a short song on a piano using a certain style we were learning about. Fun fun.

After class on Tuesday I went out and saw the graves of the Habsbergs. Actually, only parts of them since they put their hearts one place, their digestive organs somewhere else, and then there bodies where I went. Some of the giant metal coffins in the crypt were incredibly ornate, and they even had several baby coffins which was sad. I got to see Sisi’s tomb, so that was neat.

After being down there, I went a little ways to the outskirts of Vienna (which isn’t that out there) to the old arsenal and Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, or Military History Museum. It sucked that most of the captions were in German, but I got to see the actual car were Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated and started WWI, Prince Eugene of Savoy’s military outfits that would have fit an 8 year old (the one with the naughty women/lion statues), an old Turkish tent (they tried to invade Vienna for centuries, some Napoleon stuff, and some very, very, eerie Nazi pieces. I think that was odd for me, as someone who has only grown up seeing our side and not a lot of actual Nazi uniforms etc. They had a lot of things like a sign that dedicated a platz to Adolf Hitler, and then they had this type of art form called Actionism, which is notoriously violent and unpleasing serving a political purpose, and several pieces about Nazi occupation, which said a lot.

After we were done with the museum some guy who turned out to be a Prof. in Utah saw my UT bag and started to talk to me. He said quote, “Wow, UT, that’s a really good school, you must be really smart and really proud you go there.” Seriously not making that up. I felt kind of bad because he was introducing us to his family and the must in museum had kicked up my cold so I was snotty and sneezing all over the place. My bad Utah people.

That night we went to Café Landtmann that used to be frequented by non other than Sigmund Freud. I had a latte and read with a few other students. Great times. It was a wonderful night out, the kind we get only in mid spring in Texas, so it was very pleasant.

Onto Wednesday. We had class and went and observed Viennese Art Nouveau style, or Jugendstil. We walked around some buildings and went inside the Secession building which houses Klimt’s frieze of one of Beethoven’s symphonies.

After class we had an assignment to go look at one other building, and then after that I headed to the Natural History Museum. To be honest, I was disappointed. I mean the wealth the Habsburgs needed to collect all of these specimens and fine gems and rock is impressive, but a little dry. They did have the Venus of Willendorf, a famous statuette around 25,000 years old. Other than that they had a LOT of stuffed, dead, animals, which isn’t too exciting when I just saw most of them alive at the zoo last week. It was kind of creepy though, when I walked into that wing I was seriously the ONLY person there, just me and room after room of dead monkeys. I got out of that part pretty fast. In the rock section I knew what everything was thanks to the universal periodic table of elements.

Thursday. Prof Waldman went to Budapest for another conference, so we had a really fascinating guest lecturer in the afternoon. In the morning I went and had coffee at Café Museum and read awhile. This café has a famous interior designed by Adolf Loos. I then had a sandwich in Karlsplatz in front of Karlskirche, which was delightful to say the least.

After that we had a most fascinating lecture at one of Beethoven’s many apartments (Pasqualati House) and then went to Schubert’s birth house. Our lecturer had so many interesting things to say about their lives, especially Beethoven, that it was enthralling to hear him speak. I had kind of been having a bit of a down day for whatever reason, but I was one of the few who had tickets for “Tranzhommage an Queen”, a ballet tribute to the music of Queen choreographed by Ben van Cauwenberghs at the Volksoper. One word: WOW. I’m not even that into Queen music, but I had fabulous seats for 3.50 euros (it ended up selling out after I bought) and the music/dancing/stage setting was all fun, breath taking, pure entertainment, and in English too! Some of the songs were very moving, yet had such a comical edge. All of us who got tickets loved it! It was the perfect way to bring up my day. I could really see this type of performance landing in Austin one day, I feel like it would fit it. Pop culture meets ballet. Holla.

Well everyone is caught up on last week, but to be honest, I am so exhausted from Salzburg etc. and tomorrow I’m getting up early to go rowing/rafting on the Danube River to see the Danube Forest and talk about Ecology and the city. Get excited. So, I need to rest, I promise huge updates, but we are going a mile a minute here and I am sooo tired. More wine tomorrow, so yay for that. It is going to BLOW my mind when I get back to the states this fall and won’t be able to order alcohol with my meal. I think students who study abroad should get special privileges at 20.

Goodnight everyone! And I have plenty of interesting stories from Salzburg and a concentration camp we visited, so that is another reason why I am so incredibly tired, it was emotionally taxing at the least.

*Elaine