Vienna, Day 18: Palace Ball

Donnerstag, 31 Jänner

Today my apartment mate, Danielle, and I finally checked out the "Cat Cafe," Cafe Neko, for lunch. It was hidden in a quaint side alleyway, and the cats were SO friendly.

However, the excitement of the day lay in the awaiting the TU (Technical University) ball. When in Vienna, do as the Viennese do... WALTZ.
           As always, things turned out to be a little bit of an adventure. My first dress choice was rejected for being too short (at thigh length), so I started out the night walking home in my heels. Definitely felt badass as people stared at my decked-out flower-in-hair outfit. The taxi driver on the way back definitely raised the price per mile as we neared arrival at the Hofsburg Palace. Finally in, the place way like a night on the Titanic: glamorous, shiny, expensive, but magical. Each room had its own music playing: the main ball room had waltzing, tangoing, other rooms salsa and rumba, others jazz and swing, and my favorite: a form of Viennese Contra Dancing. The great part is I recognized all the moves even though I couldn't understand the directions!! A truly magical night.

Live orchestra!

Crazy crowded dance floor

This conductor very fun to watch; very upright and rigid and Austrian.

Can't say I took more pictures of the rooms; too busy dancing!

Vienna, Day 17: Rathaus Tour

Mittwoch, 30 Jänner

Today started out with a Rathaus (Town Hall) tour with my German class.

That small figure on top of the spire is the Rathousemann, a standard bearing solider with size 66 (European) feet.

Roofing gilded with real 22k gold.

Italian glass style Chandelier.

Festival Hall, the largest in Vienna for a long time. Used to be gilded with real gold, until the many guests scraped it off.

Hall of deceased mayors (called Burgermeisters!!)

The highlight however, was riding these old fashioned, non-stop elevators. My elevator buddy and I decided to ride it ALL the way up, and when it got dark and no more floors appears, we got a little scared. I was pretty convinced the compartment would flip upside down, like a carnival ride. Fortunately, the compartment just rotates neatly around an axis, and we descended, waving to the other through the grates.

Later, I tried a cake from the bakery around the corner. It was whipped creamy goodness, but some of the cake tasted soaked in rum (middle layers), so I didn't finish it (still don't like the taste of alcohol). But, the nutty and cake parts were top-notch.

Vienna, Day 16: Naschmarkt Treasure Hunt

Dienstag, 29 Jänner

Today, our German class met at the local Naschmarkt (which is across the street from where I live, wohoo!), and were assigned certain items to buy for the class, in German of course. My group got breads, so I ordered ein Laugenbrezel (a kind of plain pretzel) and einen Topfengolatsche. The latter was zehr schmecken, with raisins and sweet, creamy filling.

When we brought our goods back to class at the IES center, we had a bit of a feast:

Later, I returned to Kleines for lunch with a friend, ordered this delicacy of a sandwich. Sehr schoen!

On the way though, we cam across a space-futuristic ATM building, with neon blue sliding doors and this crazy staircase and elevator:

I'd feel like mail traveling through that glass elevator tube...

On another note, this is a quaint alley we found nearby:

Finally, I made my first sucessful paga (crispy rice). Wohoo!

Before...

...and after. Scraped clean.

Vienna, Day 15: Mahler

Montag, 28 Jänner

Today started out normally, with my daily oatmeal, and proceeded quite uneventfully until I came across some interesting landmarks on the way to my first internship meeting:

Cafe Schrodinger.... wonder if his cat is inside?

Undoubtedly, though, the highlight of my day was the Königliches Concertgebouworchester Amsterdam's performance of Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 2 and Mahler's Symphony No. 1. I arrived rather flustered, later than I anticipated after a wrong turn, and soon discovered there were no more standing room tickets left. However, there were tickets on stage with the orchestra for the decent price of 25 Euro. I took it, and I found myself right behind the trombones, listening to one of the best performances I've ever attended. The clarity of the hall was incredible, even from behind the orchestra. I could hear every woodwind solo, every note of the violin soloist, Leonidas Kavakos (who I saw perform at Cornell two years ago; how funny?), and this unbelievable, enveloping bass section sound (plus tuba in Mahler). What's more, is I got to walk by the orchestra members as they warmed up back stage, and even ran into the conductor after an unheard of standing-ovation at the Musikverin. Beyond words, really.

Before the players....

Noticed this as I waited for the concert to start... now what do hobos play?

And after the performance. Unheard of standing ovation, which lasted around 10 minutes.

Vienna, Day 14: Musikverin

Sonntag, 27 Jänner

Started off my day with a perfectly formed omelette, complete with a cumquat in the middle (which apparently taste like orange marmalade):



Later, I went on a self guided tour of some of the city's major landmarks, using my guide-map given to me at orientation. It was bitterly cold, the kind that makes you snotty and your hands completely numb (not helpful for photo taking), but the sights were totally worth it:

Votivkirche, a neo-gothic church constructed in commemoration of the failed assassination attempt of Franz Joseph I. 

Can you imagine, an entire cathedral build just for you?

A Vivaldi dedication.

Parliament

Parliament, with an Athena statue gilded in gold

Volksgarten

Roman ruins! The original founding site of Vienna.

Yet later, I attended a concert of Mozart's last symphonies (No. 39, 40, 41), conducted by world-famous conductor Simon Rattle, at the renowned Musikverin. 6 Euro for standing room. Not bad.

There Mr. Rattle is, in front with his crazy white curly hair! Bilbo Baggins, anyone?

Finally, we went out to the Operncafe, which happened to be open until this late hour (on a Sunday!), for a bite to eat. I ordered a most delicious Nusstorte, a nutty cake that reminded me of the wafer-like Manner candies around here. Most delicious cake I've ever eaten: