I Left My Heart in Vienna

The weather upon the return to Vienna had markedly improved and the sun was beginning to peek through. Regina caught up on some sleep and I hit the town. I decided to return to Stephansplatz because I loved it so much the first time. I did some window shopping, bought a currywurst recommended by Liz, bought some of the young wine at Wein & Co., and traipsed around in the twilight. Later that evening I met up with Regina at the hostel bar where we prousted with more travelers who suggested we hit the Schönbrunn the following day.

Our last day in Vienna seemed to last forever. We took the UBahn to the middle of nowhere to see Beethoven's grave in Zentralfriedhof. Three hours and snow, wind, and rain later, we found it. I was not surprised I discovered Falco's grave before I found Beethoven's though. "Rock Me, Amadeus," the relic of my childhood, forever remains. Although we covered a lot of territory, we went Schönbrunn Palace, had a lovely dinner and dessert at the cafe and explored the expansive palace grounds as the sun set. We returned to Stephansplatz for one last hurrah--I can't get enough of that place and Regina wanted to purchase some wine. Wine in tow, we returned to the swanky gelateria, only to discover in one week tht the establishment was under new management. They still had the delicious tartuffo chocolate-hazlenutty delicious gelato I'd had the previous time, so I was pleased. After delightfully decadent Viennese treats and a Campari cocktail we lingered in the streets of Vienna before retuning to the hostel to cram our belongings into our luggage once more. Upon packing, we made our last venture into the hostel bar for 1 Euro Ottakringers and shut the place down and waited for our 3 am cab to take us to the airport. The trip home seemed to last forever and when I returned, jet lagged and sleep deprived, I was bitch slapped back into reality by a life-size stack of quizzes and papers to grade and my own reading to catch up on. But every time I reached for my Starbucks refill in chilly Cincinnati, I remembered the taste of the frothy Viennese melange walking down the cobblestone streets, and smiled fondly. Someday, I shall return.

Graz: Where I Went to a Conference and Was Almost Arrested

The train ride to Graz was amazing. The Eurail traveled through the Alps taking us to southern Austria (Styria), famous for pumpkin seed oil and traditional cuisine We arrived and were promptly lost once again in the rain. We checked into our less than stellar accomodations of the Jugend & Familiegästenhaus and headed out into the rain, got lost again, and eventually met the musicologists for a wonderful dinner at GlocklBräu. I met a lot of lovely ladies from England, Austria, and Germany, and was excited for the promise of meeting more international conferencers the next day. GlocklBräu provided me with some real traditional Austrian fare--my first Wienerschnitzel breaded in toasted pumpkin seeds, a side of potato salad, and a maßt of the GlocklBräu bier. Of course, I could only manage half the meal, since the Wienerschnitzel was the size of my face, but oh so good! After a tiring day of train travel and meeting internatonal musicologists, I headed back to the hostel to get some sleep before presenting my paper early the next morning.

We were greeted at the 1st International Conference for the Students of Systematic Musicology with much pomp and circumstance. My paper was surprisingly well-received considering it fit into the second category of the Austrian conception of systematic musicology--i.e. interdisciplinary methodologies drawing on aesthetics, gender, etc. I got to hear a lot of papers using my conception of systematic musicology and sparked some ideas how I can incorporate these methods into my dissertation research. One of my favorite presentations of the conference considered house music as a South African phenomenon, presented by Thokozani Mhlambi from the University of Capetown. He danced during his presentation, which was pretty cool! Later that night we were treated to a wine and cheese reception and a jazz performance. I met peple from all over including Poland, Croatia, Italy, Mexico, Finland, etc. It was the musicological UN.

On day two in Graz, en route to the conference from the hostel, I got a ticket from the bus police for not following proper procedure and had to pay 60 Eur. Ugh. However, I soldiered on and enjoyed another day filled with conference papers, hung out with some witty Brits, drank a lot of coffee before heading off to our swanky send-off party at the super cool Murinsel where we had a delicious dinner and drinks with new friends. I wished we could have stayed longer if only to have more conversations with these fascinating people and to explore the town some more! But, I had left my heart in Vienna and had to retrieve it. Off on another four hour train ride to return to Vienna.

The few pics of Graz are here.

Full Moon Over Salzburg...and the crazies were out!

The four hour Eurail to Salzburg was beautiful, but upon arrival I understood why Mozart was crazy. We shared our train cabin with a 20-something guy from Australia who had been traveling Europe for months and looked exhausted and travel-worn (i.e.--he needed a good sleep and a shower). The views from the train were gorgeous, even though it rained most of the ride to Salzburg. Once we got there, the weather had cleared up and we discovered that Salzburg, like the U2 song, was where "the streets have no names." Seriously, not one street was labeled until we got closer to our lodging. We wandered and finally found the Institut St. Sebastian, an old church with female dorms, where we planned to stay for the two nights. Upon arrival, the receptionist had left the maids in charge of handing out room keys. They asked to see our passports and gave us our sheets and a towel and upon our asking about payment, they giggled "gratis." We put our things away to discover one of the younger professors at the Mozart Universität was staying in the room with us...apparently she takes the train in from Berlin to teach piano once a week at the university. We dumped our stuff and hit a small cafe called Cappucino next to the Institut to get our bearings. We headed off into the evening only to discover that a) Salzburg is a very small city and b) there isn't much going on outside of the cobblestone streets near the Salzach River. We found a place with döner kepab, had dinner, and courtesy of Rick Steves (our travel guide for a good portion of the trip) we got lost again and then with the help of a few native Salzburgians and my ever-improving German, we found our way to the Augustiner Bräustübl, a bierhaus where monks brew the beer in the basement of the monastery. Sound too good to be true? No way. This place was like you died and went to beer heaven. If you've ever been to a German bierhaus, or even a psuedo bierhaus such as the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, KY, you know that the inside with the long picnic tables and mugs afloat is a pretty huge space. Well imagine climbing atop a small mountain at night to find a monastery built into the mountain, climbing down several flights of stairs to discover that this place is at least four times the size! Freaking gigantic. And the beer is a ritual. You must get a stein, wash it from a spicket, take it to a serious-looking Austrian woman and buy your beer ticket, and then take your ticket to the beer-pourer and try not to slide your way out of the room with the sudsy, beer-drenched floor. When you successfully find an empty table (which was difficult the night we were there) proust away! However, drinking amazing homemade beer, with the love of Christ stirred into the hops, wasn't enough fun for us. We apparently intruded in on a tänzverein meeting--complete with the inaugeration of the new dance group's president. There were high school age girls dancing, ballroom dancers swinging to "La Bamba," and everyone wearing Drindls and Trachts...complete with silly-looking shriner-esque hats with sequins and/or feathers. Enjoying the complete cultural experience, we raised our glasses "Proust!" We ended up taking an hour long bus ride back to the Institut as the bus took us in a giant loop in the wrong direction.

The next day, I awoke unable to breathe and feverish, probably due to the cold draft coming in from the Institut's old window directly above my head. I had plans to climb the Alps, go to the Mozart museums, among other things, but I felt like shit and it was pouirng down torrential rain. I slept in and took a shower, encountering a strange woman from Tyrol had moved into the room next door to us and was confused about her key. I tried to explain to her in my shoddy German that she needed four keys instead of the three she had, but we were both lost in translation and she had no desire to let me loose from the conversation...I got to listen to her close to a half hour before she let me get ready to see the Mozart museum. She looked like a crazy person. Hair leaping off her head in every direction, wearing Christmas colored plaid pajama pants and a silk flowered shirt. She talked faster than a native New Yorker with an accent thick from the back hills of Austria. I eventually backed away and got ready to leave. Feeling a little better, I trudged through the museum and took a ton of bootleg photos for my students and bought some postcards from the gift shop. The rain got even more torrential, so I decided to pick up an umbrella, although to my chagrin, every single umbrella in Salzburg has a picture of Mozart on it. I finally found a boutique with various umbrellas, all of which appeared to be solid in color. So I grabbed a black one that was cheap and hit the road. When I opened it in the street, I discovered I was duped...the plain black umbrella I purchased blossomed into a bust of Mozart. Oy vey! I met up with Regina where we found a weird little restaurant with Rick Steves's photo in the window. We decided to dine there in homage to Rick who guided us toward great alcoholic beverage on the trip (the heuringer and Bräustübl). I had a delicious Hungarian goulash with a giant semmelknödel (wheat dumpling) which was seriously the size of a softball. Amazing. Regina a plate full of wurst. We then went to a hokey Cafe Mozart with snobbish waiters and ordered dessert. Reg got the apple streudel and I ordered the Mozarttorte, which is similar to the Mozartkugeln sold throughout Salzburg. The chocolates are made of almond paste, marzipan, and pistachio and covered in chocolate...and the torte was similar, although it had green frosting. Freaking fantastic! We then wandered the cobblestone streets before heading back to the Institut.

I decided to stay in and get some more rest so I would be healthy and ready for the conference in Graz, but Regina wanted to go to a smoky jazz bar. I was about to head to bed when I heard some banging on the outside door to our room and having just seen the crazy Tyrolean woman, I assumed it was her and did not want her coming in and yapping my ear off for another hour. The knocking got louder and soon was coming from the crazy woman's room. I was seriously confused and I got up to see what all the commotion was only to discover CTW (Crazy Tyrolean Woman) had stuck her key in the inside of the door, locking Regina out. Reg was pissed and CTW began apologizing profusely in her undeterminable dialect. Salzburg had officially lost its charm. Perhaps it is more picturesque in the summer when the hills are more alive and are not dangerous mudslides. We got our free hard roll and tea from the Institut and were off to catch our train in the morning before CTW appeared and held up our plans. She felt so bad, she fashioned a nesting box made of Salzburg travel guides to give Regina, and I received a phallic looking flourescent green magnetic pen. Score! She gave us her address and insisted that if we ever ventured into Tyrol that we could stay with her...aww. Upon our leaving, the Institut only charged us for one night instead of the two. Actually, the one night charge didn't even appear on my credit card until the following week...the mysterious Institut St. Sebastian. I opened my Mozart umbrella and walked toward the train station, anticipating Graz and the new adventures I'd experience there.

Salzburg pics are here. The weather did not cooperate in the taking of lovely photos.

I <3 VIENNA

Oh beautiful Wien! The flight wasn't too bad, although ridiculously long. From Dayton to Atlanta to Düsseldorf and finally to Wien! Upon getting completely lost in the airport trying to find some public transport to the hostel, Reg and I took a bus to where we thought the hostel was located...only to discover in the pouring rain that there were indeed 2 Mariahilfer Straßes. Nice. We arrived at the Wombats Hostel (a clean, American-friendly place where we had a private room) with wet pants and hair, but ready to see what Vienna had to offer us. Immediately upon putting our stuff away, I met a girl Liz who lives in London and was staying in Vienna for the weekend on holiday. Regina and I invited her to come see Carmen at the Volksoper with us, since she wanted to see an opera while she was in town. The exploration began in search of traditional Austrian fare. We found a restaurant where the waiter spoke little to no English, so I got to test my ordering skills in German and succeeded. I had a nice hearty meal of roasted chicken and potatoes and leitungswasser (tap water--the water is from the Alps, so no need to spend 3 Euro on the plastic bottle really). After dinner we walked around town and met up with Liz at the Volksoper where we saw the worst production of Carmen I've ever tolerated in my life. It wasn't so much that the entire thing was in German--I've heard the spoken text in German before, but the amateurish production and staging made it all the worse. Thankfully, we decided to hit up Club Flex afterward, a hot underground club next to the Danube. Drinking cheap Ottakringer bier and contact high from all the weed in close proximity, I had conversations with people in German, French, Spanish, and English (hot gay doctor from San Fran)...even some Turkish guy was trying to talk to me. We were almost like royalty in the club...everyone was so pleased with the election and shouting "VIVA OBAMA" at us! We decided it was time to head out around 4 am once the polizei showed up because some guy had a ball of crack next to the Danube and was pissing all over the stairs. AH EUROPE!

The next day, we made sandwiches from fresh Austrian turkey pastrami, mozzarella and fresh bread and took the UBahn to Heilgenstadt, walked around Beethoven land, then took a bus to Kahlenberg which sits atop a mountain near the emergent Alps. Once at the top, where it was freezing, I had melange (Viennese special latte, which is more steamed milk than coffee and absolutely delicious) and hiked down through the wine vineyards in search of the local Heuringer (traditional Viennese wine tavern). We ended up somewhere in Nussdorf and as soon as another Beethoven house appeared, we had found the Heuringer. Only, we had to wait another 30 minutes for it to open...so we hung out on a street corner since we were exhausted from our hike and eventually got to taste the sweet neue wein (new wine) that they just harvested! Of course, I bought two bottles...it's made from a blend of three grapes specific to that part of Vienna and tastes AMAZING. I've never had wine that tasted like it dances on your tongue before! I don't claim to be as much of a wine snob as some of my friends, but this wine tasted so BRIGHT! Seriously amazing!

Monday, we headed to Karlskirche, where we were greeted by Mozart concert ticket sellers at every turn, and then to Stephansplatz to see the huge Gothic St. Stephan's cathedral and the trendy shopping district and horse-drawn carriages. I walked along the Vienna's musical mile while Regina was enjoying a nice Catholic service and kept looking at the mod Haas Haus. We found a fabulous gelateria and had gelato that looked like art for lunch and then took the UBahn to Belvedere Palace, which was amazingly gorgeous. Inside, I indulged in the Gustav Klimt exhibit, which was not as expansive as I'd hoped it to be. We then hopped the UBahn to the Staatsoper, where we scored standing room tickets for 4 Euro to see Barber of Seville. The opera was fantastic, as it was accompanied by the Vienna Phil, singers were fantastic, and the staging, while traditional, was great. After the opera, we went to Cafe Sacher and indulged in their world-famous sacher torte, which was delicious! We walked around the Rathaus (City Hall) and saw the vendors setting up the Christkindlmarkt. Even the Rathaus was dressed up as an advent calendar...and I was thankful even though back home in the states it appears that the Religious Right appears to be in control, that I at least have the option to worship who and/or what I wish...not so much in Austria. On the way back to the hostel, I fell in love with the döner kepab and I'm actually craving one right now. Then to the hostel bar, where we met and partied with many other travelers and got some free Ottakringers.

After three full and glorious days in Vienna, I was tired, I had blisters on my feet, but I still felt ready to take on the world...or at least the rest of Austria.

Here are the pics from Vienna. Enjoy!

Back from Blogging Hiatus

I haven't updated in what feels like forever, but I am back. I anticipated blogging during my travels to Austria, but I was running around so much and having a great time I decided not to spoil it with things such as keeping my blog updated. So I filed away all the adventures in my mind to share when I had the time, and I found myself with a couple hours...so now you get to read about my Austrian travels and adventures. The conference was a success and I was glad to have met so many new international friends. I cam back to piles of grading and my own work to deal with...but it was all worth it. I made it through another quarter of perilously lengthy term papers and finals week grading mania. I am pleased that the majority of my students did very well in the course and hope they continue on this path as we begin our journey through the 19th century this winter. I'm excited about the holidays as well, I fly back to Syracuse on Sunday for a week and am ready to enjoy a really white Christmas!