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This was the most amazing day of my trip, let alone my life! I took a guided small group tour to Salzburg, Austria which included many unexpected adventures. I took the tour with a family traveling from Perth, Australia. Here is a picture of Vienna around 7:00am just before I got in the bus! The trip took side roads through Austria's lake district. Here is a photo from Lake Attersee. The next area in the lake district we went to was Sankt Gilgen. This is where Mozart's mother was born and where his older sister Maria lived the later part of her life. We were lucky to enter because most winters are too icy to drive down the small road leading into the town. The following photos are all from Sankt Gilgen! Beautiful town cemetery found in the center of Sankt Gilgen. Ceiling painting inside of town church. Statue of Mozart as a child playing violin. Photo in front of Sankt Gilgen landscape. After about 4 hours of travel, we finally made it to Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is made of two districts: old + new. The old town is tucked between the river and a mountain. The new town is connected by bridge. The entire city has 27 churches and is where Sound of Music was filmed. Gardens of Mirabell Palace. Location where much of "Do a Deer" was filmed, including Julie Andrews walking up the steps. Part of new Salzburg. Photo in front of Mirabell Palace fountain where parts of Sound of Music was filmed. This was also part of the Mozarteum University located in Salzburg. Imbergstiege steps leading to panoramic view of the city + St. Johannes am Salzburg. Photo at top of Imbergstiege with Hohensalzburg Fortress and Alpine Mountains in background. Food at New Year's Eve Celebration in Salzburg. For some reason, the DJ only played Uptown Funk. We are talking like 3 straight hours of me being around Salzburg and only hearing that song. The weirdest part? The towns people couldn't get enough. Don't get me wrong, Uptown Funk is a great song, one that will come up again a bit later, but 3 hours is quite a lot of funkin'. One last photo of Salzburg. Back in Vienna for the New Year's Celebration! New Year's Celebration is known as "Silvesterpfad" in Austria, and this photo is at the station in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral. Photo at New Year's Shop just outside of Stephensplatz. Some performers from the Vienna Philharmonic took the stage to usher in the New Year with Strauss waltzes and other classical favorites. It is tradition to waltz at midnight in Vienna. Luckily, I made a friend early into this party named Frances to whom I danced (yes, to Uptown Funk) and waltzed (Strauss Danube Waltz) with through the entire celebration. Truly a fantastic cultural experience and start to the new decade!!
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Today did not go as I had initially planned. I had planned to see Beethoven's Heiliginstadt museum, Haus der Musik, Schonbrunn Palace, and the Arnold Schoenberg Center. Unfortunately, the Heiliginstadt museum unexpectedly closed early (after I had walked 2 miles to get there), Haus der Musik turned more into a kids museum than anything, and the Schoenberg Center was shut down for renovations and their exhibits were moved across town in the Leopold museum. Although this threw me off, I was able to have more time exploring the city and talking to people which was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of the Schonbrunn Palace. Front of palace. Schonbrunn palace means summer palace, and is where the Hofburgs would live in the summer. Turns out, a very rich man in Vienna owns an apartment at the center of the palace where he lives throughout the year. The waiting time to get into the tour was 7 hours, so I took a walk through the gardens in back instead. Beautiful fountain in the gardens. Another fountain, just underneath the hill leading to the Gloriette. Gloriette. To get here, there is a long winding road going up a steep hill in the back of the palace. We were lucky to have clear skies and it was the first sun I was able to see in Vienna. Temperature was still about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. There is a cafe in the middle of the Gloriette that I did not go into (another long wait)! Not sure if you can click + zoom in on Weebly but here is a panorama photo of all of Vienna looking from the Gloriette. My morning began at Belvedere Palace. Belvedere has 3 main areas: Upper Belvedere (baroque), Lower Belvedere (middle ages), and Belvedere 21 (modern). My favorite of the three was Upper Belvedere and the following images highlight that experience. Beautiful ceiling painting in two-story room. Famous painting of Napoleon. I had seen it before in my music history textbook. Incredible to see in person. Highlights from the Gustav Klimt exhibit, featuring The Kiss, Judith and the Head of Holofernes. Outside of Belvedere there is a Christmas Market which transitions into a New Years Market on the 26th. Here, all shops are local vendors with organic foods and handmade clothing, ornaments, items etc. Can be extremely crowded depending on the time of attendance. Tried to get hot chocolate, but the German-only titles got the best of me yet again. Turns out they mainly serve hot chocolate with Rum. Quite the surprise, especially at 10am (4am for me, still getting over jet lag!) Apple Brezen. Essentially just bread with white chocolate, apple flavoring, and cinnamon. One heck of a breakfast! Helped with the lingering Rum taste as well. Here are some "quick hits" I saw/went to after Belvedere. Statue of Johann Strauss located in Stadtpark. Mozarthaus. Mozart lived the last part of his life here in Vienna. In a note to his father, he suggested that Vienna was the greatest place for his work and economic success. I also got yelled at for taking a picture of his original manuscript. Worth it. Austrian National Library. It is here that Adolf Hitler announced Austria to be part of the Third Reich on the balcony. Photo taken on the second floor of Albertina Museum, posing in front of the famous Wien Staatsoper (Viennese Opera House). I had an incredible experience at dinner. Seeking something not breaded or sausage based, I found myself at Akakiko restaurant in the Stephansplatz district. Turns out people need a reservation to enter this restaurant, but a kind family of two invited me to sit with them. Sitting across from them, I observed for the first half of our meal as they spoke only German and exchanged Christmas presents. I was able to figure out that they were mother and daughter. When my food arrived, the mother asked "Good?" to which I replied "Very! And yours?" From here, they spoke in broken English and we talked about how I am from America visiting for the holiday. They were from Vienna, but the mother grew up in south Austria. They had never met an American before, and we talked about the differences in cultures. We also talked about music and they had many questions for me about what I will be teaching in Torremaggiore. I was amazed by how kind and polite they were. It was great having people to talk to as well, as I began to miss human connection throughout my day. I ended my night with this piece of Mozart cake from Cafe Aida. Honestly, it was a bit dry. I'm not complaining by any means, but, I'd expect cake named after Mozart to taste as satisfying as his music is to the ear! Perhaps cake should remain cake, and music should remain music. Making it to Austria was confusing, scary, and a bit uncomfortable. The flights had great food though! I flew Buffalo-Philadelphia, Philadelphia-Rome, Rome-Frankfurt, Frankfurt-Vienna. Buffalo to Philadelphia was uneventful. I tried to sleep Philadelphia to Rome, but to no avail. The man next to me claimed most real estate and I just focused on finding some space of my own. During this, I watched three movies: Ad Astra, Apollo 13, and The Martian. I cannot tell you why I decided to watch stressful space movies while flying. All I can say is they were fantastic! I found out that my flight to Frankfurt was delayed when reaching the terminal. In the back of my mind, I was worried about not making it on the flight to Vienna but I had faith an original hour and a half layover would be enough time. We went over Switzerland and the Alps on our way to Frankfurt. They were magnificent. There are tiny towns all throughout the alps that must be incredible to visit. I had T-3 minutes to get off my plane, find the terminal, and board the next to Vienna. I sprinted through the airport not knowing my backpack was open and my carry-on items went flying. Somehow I made it right before they shut the cabin door and I was on my way to Vienna! My first experiences in Vienna were horrifying. First, my suitcase never made it to Vienna. Next, I got on the right train but was quickly approached by a drugged-out man wanting money. He didn't leave for 2 minutes! After reaching Wien Hauptbahnhof (main station), I realized all signs were in German and there was no WiFi to find my address (I am not paying for international service). Finally after searching for about 20 minutes, I found my place and got checked in. I needed to psych myself up to leave my apartment and get into the main city. The way I figured it, I had already experienced a lot of bad stuff, and it could only go up from there. It did. I found the main city, got dinner (sausage and french fries, I was so hungry!), and wandered the town. I soon realized that Vienna was the most beautiful city I had ever been in. The Gothic architecture of every building is just incredible. Turns out, Austria mandates that all new buildings must spend at least 10% of their total cost on the outside of the building. Arguably, the most amazing structure in the city is St. Stephen's Cathedral. Standing next to it, one cannot help but be awestruck by its glory. It is here that the main New Years Celebration is held (called Silvesterpfad). The best way I can describe wandering around Vienna is like walking around a huge Harry Potter World. The buildings look similar and down every alley there is something to be seen. The magic part is what ties the whole city together: music. It is the night before I leave for Italy and Austria and stress levels are surprisingly not too high! To those who don't know, I am leaving a little over a week early to solo travel in Vienna, Austria! This is a place I have always wanted to travel to because of its rich music history. I will be seeing places like the homes and graves of Hadyn, Mozart and Beethoven, Belvedere Palace, St. Stephen's Cathedral, Esterhazy Palace, and even a day trip to Salzburg. Vienna is also where I will be spending New Year's Eve!
Words cannot describe how excited I am to explore Italy and Austria, let alone gain teaching experience in Torremaggiore, Italy! Above everything, I am most excited to learn about these two countries' cultures. I hope that by the end of this trip, I will have grown to be a more culturally aware individual and educator, and that I will have only good memories to share to my family back home. Ciao America, a presto Europa! |
AuthorHello and welcome to my blog page! My name is Nicholas and I am a music education major with a minor in philosophy, my primary instrument is percussion, and my dream is to someday teach elementary general music. Through this program, I hope to increase my pedagogical repertoire and empathy when working with English language learners, to learn about myself as an individual, and to make an impact in the lives of the children in Torremaggiore, Italy. Feel free to browse through and return to my blog as I update it with my pedagogical and travel adventures! Archives
February 2020
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