Salzburg and Innsbruck

Hello Again,

All three of us are back in Veinna safe and sound after our wonderful exploration of other parts of Austria. We arrived in Salzburg in the early afternoon and found our hotel. After settling in, we set out to for Salzburg’s Altestadt (Historical District/Old City) On our short walk, my mom had her first encounter with the Alps. There were times on the trip that I wasn’t sure if she came to Austria to see me or the mountains because she was so excited about them, and understandably so. They were stunning. The towering snowcapped peaks were awe-inspiring.

Once we reached downtown we were all pretty hungry, so we went to a sweet restaurant with outdoor seating and my dad was introduced to Tapfelspitz, a boiled beef dish that he could not stop raving about. My mom and I had beef goulache, which was also quite good.  After dinner, we walked around the area a bit more and proceeded to stumble upon the Rodeo Drive of Salzburg, needless to say… we did a lot of window shopping, but it was still fun. After that, we walked a little while longer (and got gelato of course) because the weather was simply beautiful.

On Tuesday, we took an early train to Innsbruck and arrived there around 11. Our first stop was to see the tomb of Maximillion of Hapsburg, an emperor of Austria. Let’s just say ol’ Max thought rather highly of himself considering the tomb took nearly 40 years to construct and is so large that a new church (The Hofkirche) had to be built just to house the thing. The sarcophagus itself is enormous, covering some 60 square feet with 24 panel reliefs depicting scenes from his life on the sides and a bronze statue of faithful Max praying on his knees on top. But as if that wasn’t enough, the sarcophagus is surrounded by 24 larger than life-size bronze statues of family members, buddies, former Austrian rulers, and great rulers throughout history (i.e. King Arthur). If you couldn’t tell already, I, personally, think it’s… a little much. But Max’s goal was to become immortal by demanding such an extravagant burial, so I guess he got his wish.

Later that day, we took a horsedrawn carriage ride around the city and the driver pointed out a few more important sights. After that, we checked out St. Jacob’s Cathedral, which was one of many stunning cathedrals in the Renaissance/Baroque style that we visited. We did some shopping throughout the day for souvenirs to bring back to loved ones at home. Also, mom and dad finally got to buy their own coocoo clock. I remember my mom talking about wanting one since I was little, so she was really excited about it.  Then we got back on the train and headed back to Salzburg for the night.

On Wednesday, we made our way up to the Salzburg Fortress. I’m ashamed to say that I’m still not entirely sure what it functioned as, but for our purposes it was a giant white medieval castle on top of a mountain that overlooked all of Salzburg. The views of the city and mountains were incredible.  Upon coming down from the fortress, we went into the Salzburg Cathedral and walked through the Mirabel Gardens (as see in the Do Re Mi song in The Sound of Music) which was an appropriate precursor to… The Sound of Music Tour! Salzburg would not have been complete without it.

This four hour bus ride showed us (among other things) the two houses used for the Trapp family house, the gazebo that was used for “I am Sixteen going on Seventeen” and the church that Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer were married in. The church that they used is in a town in the lakes region of Austria where they make the best Apple strudel on earth. My family and I are not necessarily Sound-of-Music-Crazy, like a lot of other people I know, but it was a great way to spend our afternoon.

On Thursday, we spent a little more time in Salzburg before heading back to Vienna. I had seen a picture of St. Peter’s cemetery in a book and really wanted to see it, I know… me and cemeteries, (my roommates laughed at me when I told them) but this one was really pretty too! Just look at the pictures. This was also the cemetery that the family hid in, in the filming of Sound of Music. Then we finished up some last minute souvenir shopping and head back on the train.

I know that was almost a week ago and I’m just posting it now… I’m sorry. I’m not allowed to upload things to the internet at my apartment so I had to wait until I got back to school today. I’ll post about the rest of our stay in Vienna in a couple of days.  My parents both send their “Hellos” to everyone reading.  We’ll write again soon.

Love,

Caitlin (Mom and Dad)

mit Fotos

1. Me and Dad at the Naschmarkt

2. Me and Mom at the Flomarkt

3. Me and Dad Picnicking in the Burggarten

4. The Easter Market

5. The proud cook with her dinner

6. Me and Mom and the Opera

7. Daughter on Daddy's knee (at the Opera)

8. Mom and Dad staking out their standing spots

9. Me in 'my' opera house :-)

10. The Fabulous Cast

11. Me and Mom on the train to Salzburg

12. Me and Dad on the train to Salzburg

13. Possibly the most adorable picture of my parents I've ever seen :o)

Thanks for reading everybody. Talk to you soon!

Mom and Dad Come to Vienna

Hello All,

In this entry I write on behalf of myself as well as my parents, because they are here!!! We’re making sure to update you periodically because if I waited until after they left, none of you would read this post because it would be so long. We are currently sitting on the train to Salzburg for our four-day excursion and digesting the last few days together.

On Friday, after my rehearsal I made my way to the Westbahnhof train station where my parents were being dropped off from their bus from the airport. We were of course thrilled to see each other and there were lots of hugs and, surprisingly, no tears. From there we found my parents hotel for them to drop off their bags and wash up a bit., before going out to get dinner. We ended up finding a really cute traditional Austrian restaurant where I introduced my mom to Wienersnitzel, which she loved. My dad had scalloped veal, which he was also very fond of. After dinner, we got Gelato and walked around the Stadtpark, which is kind of like Vienna’s central park and was right across the street from my parent’s hotel.

After that, I took my parents to my apt. where they met my roommates and dropped off a couple of their bags. They didn’t stay long because everyone was pretty tired, so they headed back to their hotel and everyone promptly fell asleep.

On Saturday, I met my mom and dad at their hotel (they were staying there for one night because my roommates had not left for their trips yet) From there we walked downtown and I introduced my parents to the Naschmarkt and Flomarkt. They loved all of the fresh produce and Viennese junk (the Fleemarket is basically a giant garage sale).   Then we walked to the Burggarten outside of the Hofburg Palace and had a  picnic lunch on the grass. The weather has been so beautiful. I’ll let my parents follow me around anywhere as long as they bring this kind of warmth and sunshine along… but then they always do because they are my parents. Yak yak yak yak yak.

Because I owed them so big for bringing the good weather to Vienna and, you know, raising me and stuff… I then had an opportunity to prove my love to them, especially my mother. Allow me to explain. After our picnic we went back to my parent’s hotel to pick up their bags and move into my apt. for the week. After getting on the Strassenbahn (street car) to go to my apt. my mom realized that she did not have her purse! Upon this realization, I remembered seeing her purse sitting next to her on the bench of the buss stop. Upon reaching our next stop, I proceeded to jump off of the bus, and do the 500 yard dash in record time back one stop, all the while huffing “please still be there, please still be there, please still be there.” My mother was puffing the same words while running behind me, and my dad was bringing up the rear, both with suitcases rolling behind them.  And much to my asthmatic lungs delight, I found the purse still sitting on the bench. (Keep in mind, Vienna is known for its gypsies… our angels were certainly watching over us) So that was our major adventure and my major work out for the entirety of my stay in Vienna. We were all a bit worn out after that, so after we ate dinner (that I proudly cooked) we went to bed.

Sunday was really exciting. We went to Mass at St. Stephens Cathedral in the inner city for Palm Sunday and it was with the Cardinal! After a procession around the church, we gathered inside the tremendous landmark of Vienna. One of the most moving aspects of the service was the music. I know that my family and I are biased, but I know I will remember this for years to come. The entire passion was sung acapella, primarily with three voices as the narrator, voice and Christ with the 30-person choir singing the responses of the crowd. The combination brought each of us to tears at different times.

That afternoon, I took my parents to the café across the street from my apt to show them where I regularly skype (video chat) with them and Aaron. I stayed for about an hour and talked to Aaron, while they walked across the street to the Easter market that is hosted by the church near my apt. during the Lenten season. They have vendors with handmade crafts, toys, baked goods, scarves and bags.

Then that night, I got to take my parents to the Opera and it was nothing short of incredible.  What I thought would be another night at the Vienna Staatsoper proved to be my most memorable concert going experience. We went to see Donzetti’s L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love). What we didn’t realize was that Juan Diego Florez- a pretty big name in opera- was singing the role of the lead Tenor.  At the end of his act two aria, the audience applauded for so long that they demanded an in-performance encore of the piece. But it wasn’t just his performance that was wonderful; the entire cast was stunning. I suspect that it was a young production, because the cast chemistry was just awesome. It is a comedic opera and it was so clear that they were all having so much fun together. I told my parents that they got to see something that doesn’t happen everyday at the Vienna Staatsoper and I’m so glad that their visit allowed me to witness it as well.

So now we are on our way to Salzburg, where we will stay for 4 days, 3 nights, with a visit to Innsbruck for one day. I’ll be sure to write again once we get back. We all send our love.

Love,

Caitlin (Mom and Dad)

Exciting Times

Hello Family, Friends and Loved Ones,

How are you all doing? I’m well. I write this while waiting to go to class in about a half hour. This past week was a bit stressful at times, but was worth it when Bridget got here. Before she arrived, I had an eventful week musically. I had planned to perform in a solo recital at IES on Saturday and there was some unexpected preparation that was needed the week leading up to it. I had planned for several weeks to sing a Mozart concert aria, “Vado, ma dove?” that was coming along nicely, but I had also been asked to sing a duet with a girl in workshop with me. In summary, she was very enthusiastic about performing the piece, but was not the best about working out logistics for rehearsals and such. Therefore, it ended up demanding more time than I anticipated and I got frustrated with the lack of communication. But the performance ended up going well for both pieces and was certainly a learning experience.

On Thursday, I had signed up to sing in a Master Class with a guest instructor, Carolyn Hague. Carolyn is the head of the Lied department at the Conservatory in Vienna and is very highly regarded throughout the city. I sang Clara Schumann’s “Liebst du um Schönheit”, a piece that is very close to my heart so I was glad to sing it again and get new input. Working with Carolyn was wonderful. She challenged me to think of the piece in new ways and continue to grow in both my interpretation of the song and in general as a musician. In addition, by watching her teach I gained tools that I could use if ever teaching privately.   It was a very rewarding experience all around. Oh! And she went to University of Maryland!

If anything else hugely important happened during that week, I don’t really remember it because it all pales in comparison to my weekend. I got to see Bridget! For anyone who doesn’t know, Bridget has been my roommate at UNH for the last 3 semesters and will be again when I get back. We met during a freshman pre-orientation service program and she is now one of my best friends. Bridget is studying in Dijon (like the mustard), France this semester and was able to come to Vienna for the weekend. It was wonderful! We have been able to skype periodically since coming to Europe, but since we are used to talking everyday after getting in from classes, we had a lot to catch up on. As much as I love the people that I’ve become close to while here, it is not quite the same as spending time with a friend who I have that kind of history with. 

I picked her up at the Westbahnhof around 8 AM on Saturday morning. From there we went to IES so that I could change and warm up before my concert at 11, which went very well… but was long. We got out of the building around 2 and found a cute pizzeria to eat lunch.  She was pretty tired from her trip and the only thing we really wanted to do was chill and talk, so we basically went back to my apt. and did just that for the rest of the night.

Bridget does not have many opportunities to travel while staying in France, so I wanted to make sure she got to see Vienna too.  We kind of did a whirlwind tour of the important stuff. Sunday morning, we went to mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which was very cool. We are both really involved with our church at school, so it was really great to share that again.

Then we went inside the opera house so that I could at least show her the lobby, which is pretty impressive. Not much was open since it was Sunday, but we walked along the Ringstrasse (the street that is currently where the wall to the city used to be and encircles the 1^st district). There, I showed her the Hofburg Palace, Parlament and the Rathaus (city hall). Then we wanted to go to the Natural History Museum while it was still open. Unfortunately, they were closing in 15 minutes, so we ran through the exhibits at warp speed, but got in free, which was sweet!

By then it was about 6 30, and we were both cold and wet (the weather wasn’t great) so we went back to my apt. where Bridget packed up her things, we ate dinner and made our way back to the train station. I missed her the second she stepped on the train, but I am hoping to meet up with her in Paris for a weekend before I leave and we get to live together all next year. I feel so fortunate to have her as a friend. 

Monday, I was tired from staying up late/getting up early to finish an assignment for the Lied, but I had a meeting that afternoon that got me through the day. A couple of weeks ago, IES forwarded us an email from a woman looking for help on a project regarding peace activism in Vienna and Austria. I was curious so I emailed her back and we arranged to meet. It was incredible! Okay, let me explain. Jalka is probably in her 70’s and basically is her own non-profit organization. She traveled the world for almost 20 years and then became a psychotherapist, but then left that profession to begin Konfliktcultur. Her organization is centered around spreading the message that Peace is not simply the absense of war, but each individual taking the responsibility to actively create peace around them.

She has collaborated with other organizations on numerous projects, most notably working with the city of Vienna to implement peace activism education in language courses.  Her current endeavor, Peace Matters, is a four-step project. It begins by surveying youth about their current knowledge of peace activism in their country, which (not surprisingly) is very limited. She will then work to create an international online resource/institute that will create knowledge and dialogue between people of all different backgrounds. And she hopes to turn this online institute into a physical institute by 2015. Pretty cool, huh?

Okay, so where do I come in? Well, it turns out the fact that I speak English is no inconvenience. After she described the project, I told her I didn’t care what she asked me to do, I just wanted to be involved and offered to help with data entry of the surveys.  Jalka had this in mind, but also wants me to do more than just tedious jobs. She wants me to be really engaged and can use my English skills to do that. She speaks very good English, but has asked me to look over her translations for grant proposals and the website when it goes up.

If it is not already obvious… I’m so thrilled! There are just so many exciting aspects to this opportunity. First of all, my involvement in this project does not have to end when I leave Austria. Because so much of it is online, I can easily stay involved by helping Jalka make connections with organizations in the states to involve them in the dialogue. It would also be really great, if we could collaborate to eventually replicate her same study in the states. Beyond the project itself, there is so much I can learn from this woman, just by learning more about how she got where she is, and the logistics of how she carries out a project like this. She is a truly inspiring person.

My first task is to look over an application for a grant that is in English, and send it back to her in the next couple of days with suggestions. Then she said we will figure out what to work on next once my parents leave. It is all very fulfilling for me for me too because I have not had the opportunity to be involved in  community service while here. This has been really difficult for me, but I feel like this is the perfect outlet for all of those energies. I will surely keep you posted with how the project is going.

Here is her website if you want to learn more: http://www.konfliktkultur.at/

So now it is just a matter of getting through the next two days and being patient before my parents come! They fly tomorrow, and arrive in Vienna at 2 30 on Friday. We are all so excited to spend time together and for me to show them the city. We are also going to Salzburg and Innsbruck for a few days. It will be really wonderful. We’ll be sure to take lots of pictures during the week and I’ll write all about it.  Okay, time for me to go.

Until next time,

Caitlin

Images of Venice

1. Can you tell I'm happy?

2. One beautiful view of many.

3. Our hostel room.

4. One of those really cool things I can't afford.

5. Our breakfast each morning.

6. Beach!

7. My favorite canal/picture.

8. A cheesy photo that I asked Danielle to take of me so I could share it with you.

9. Vivaldi's House

10.Kerry, Nisha and Me on the Gondola.

11. Our Gondola driver and the top of Brian's head.

12. Cemitiri Island - isn't it pretty.

13. Cemitiri Island from the outside... I told you it was curious looking.

14. Demonstration of glass blowing on Murano

15. A picture of the plaza near our hostel.

A Stranger in Paradise… Me in Venice that is!

Hello Folks,

It is true, I have found paradise. I have officially fallen in love with the city of Venice. Not to be confused, West Virginia will always be the place where my heart feels home, but if I am at home in WV, Venice can be my heart’s vacation spot. From the second we stepped off the train I was absolutely taken by the city. Words (and pictures) simply cannot describe the beauty of this place. I think what I loved most though was not the beauty, but the sense of peace that the water provided. Vienna is beautiful, but it definitely feels like a city with loud noises and all the hustle and bustle. But Venice is quiet and calm. It was just the get away that I needed in the middle of a busy semester.

Danielle, Brian and I left Vienna around 9 pm on Wednesday night after a successful few days of mid-term exams. It turns out that half of our program was also going to Venice because of the cheep deal. (Only 38 euro round trip) The ride was uneventful and we all slept well. We arrived in Venice around 8 30 am Thursday morning ready to take on the day. After a short ride on the water bus, we found our hostel which was very cute. The room wasn’t huge but we had our own bathroom and it was the perfect size for the 3 of us. They brought us breakfast each morning too, which was awesome.

After dropping off our stuff, we were pretty hungry and went to a nearby restaurant to get our first Italian pizzas. The weather was nice enough that we could sit outside. While eating, we saw Kerry and Nisha, two of our friends from IES who were actually staying in our same hostel and we met up with them again later. Then… we explored. So the way the island is set up: there is the grand canal that runs through the middle, and 300 or so smaller canals that branch off of that and the rest of the streets are ally ways, some narrower than others. First, we just explored the area around our hostel, which was filled with shops and souvenir vendors.

Then we made our way to St. Marks Square, which is pretty much the center of the city. We went into the cathedral, which was So Cool! For the non-musicians, St. Marks Cathedral is where any number of major composers held the position of Maestro di Capella, including Monteverdi. This church was the center of Renaissance and early Baroque music much the way that New York is the center of Broadway music today. We talked about St. Marks a lot in my music history class and I have sung a good deal of Monteverdi in choirs at UNH so it was pretty cool to know that I was standing in the presence of greatness.

And then… we got Gelato (or Gelati in Italy) = Heaven! You all know my allegiance to Kimball Farm Ice Cream in Carlisle, MA, but Kimball’s still doesn’t come close.  Simply put, Gelati is pure joy on a cone.

Finally, we met up with Kerry and Nisha and went out for dinner where I got pasta and we had a quirky waiter. That night we were all exhausted from the trip and it was raining so we crashed early.

Friday was exciting. First we took a short trip to the island of Murano. Still a part of Venice, it is known for its glass blowing. In fact… that is the only thing that happens on this island. After getting off the waterbus, we saw a demonstration for 2 euro that was very cool. It is crazy the way that they can just whip shapes out of half melted glass in the end of a stick. Then we walked around the shops and looked at all the pretty things that we can’t afford.

On the way back to the main island, the waterbus made a stop at a curious looking island and I asked if we could get off and see what it was. It turns out that this island was called Cemetiri and you guessed it, it is the Cemetery Island for the city of Venice. I know, it sounds like it would be morbid, but it wasn’t at all. Actually, it was beautiful and one of my favorite parts of the trip. Brian was joking around asking if I had picked out my plot yet, because I told them that that is where I want to be buried. In all seriousness though, I’ve decided that this island is what death should look like. All of the gravestones were close together, as a community and every single one had fresh, bright, colorful flowers. The sun was shining that day and it just felt like such a happy place, not dark and dreary at all. I probably could have stayed there all day walking around, but I didn’t get the same sense from everybody else so we headed back to the main island.

When we got back we got some lunch and began shopping. I got myself a couple of shirts, and a painting from a local vendor of a canal.  Oh! And then we went on a Gondola ride! (I almost forgot) For about 16 euro each, we got a half hour ride down the Grand Canal and through some other smaller canals. On the ride our gondola-man pointed out some important palaces and… Vivaldi’s house! We realized that we were being super touristy by going on a ride, but it was totally worth it.

After eating dinner, we went back to our rooms to chill for a bit before trying to go out and do something fun that night. We came to learn that there is no such thing as nightlife in Venice. We eventually found an Irish pub… that closed at 12:30. Well… we tried.

By Saturday, we had pretty much run out of things to do.  There were certainly museums that we could have checked out but didn’t totally feel like trying to find them so we just kind of wandered for a while. That is easy to do in Venice; the cool part is… you always end up at St. Marks. One of the things that Danielle’s guidebook recommended was to take one of the waterbuses all the way up and down the Grand Canal, which we did. Several of us fell asleep on the ride but it was beautiful. At the end of the line we got off on Lido (like the pizza place in Westminster!) one of the other islands that some of our friends were staying on. We walked around there a bit and found a beach! That was exciting. Then we headed back to the train station, got dinner, and got on the train to go home.

3 days was the perfect amount of time to be there. We had enough time to see what we wanted to without feeling like we were cramming it in or getting bored. It was all nice and relaxed with no complaints whatsoever.

I still can’t quite get over it all. I will probably rave about this trip for months.  The best part is that I woke up this morning (Monday) feeling totally refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the semester.  Hopefully that will last, haha. My roommate from home, Bridget, is studying abroad in France this semester and coming to visit me this weekend. We are both really excited for it. Then, 4 days after she leaves, my parents get here to spend spring break with me. So there are lots of exciting things coming up. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing about it. I’ll be sure to post again soon.

Love,

Caitlin

I promise to put up some more pictures with me in them. Most of them are on Danielle's camera, so I'll try to get those from her soon. 

1. Oh! And we had really good Sushi.

2. View of Bratislava from the castle on the mountain.

3. Primate Palace- we couldn't take pictures inside

4. We matched... and it wasn't on purpose, freaky?

5. The epitome of our day...