On Saturday, We woke up and went on a bus tour through Vienna that IES provided. It was very interesting, however, I did fall asleep between the second and third stops due to the exhaustion from the previous night and the soothing motion of the bus.
On the tour, we went up into the hills, through Grinzing and into this cool town with an awesome view of Vienna. There was also a great little church but we couldn’t go in because of a wedding.
Our second stop was at the Hundertwasse apartments. These apartments were constructed by Hundertwasse an architect who believed that buildings should mirror nature and be organic in the sense of being of the ground. Therefore, he did not use right angles and everything is curved the way the ground would be and arches the way a cave might. It looks really cool and does look sort of “one with the earth.” It also made me think of the hobbit houses that were built from hills. Anyways, while they do look cool, apparently it’s a pain to live there because you have to have all of your furniture custom made to fit the anti-right angles.
The final stop was the Belvedere, although we did see things between the stops like the United Nations Building (which I inevitably slept through). Seeing as I had already been there, my excitement was not as exuberant as before. However, it was still cool to see it again and have everything explained by a historian with a German accent.
Schubert's House
That evening, Amanda and I went to church at St. Augustine’s. Now this is no regular church. Granted, none of the churches here are regular. However, this one was particularly special because instead of doing the mass parts like we do at home, a full orchestra, choir, soloists, and organ perform masses by famous composers. In this case, they were performing Mozart’s Große Credomesse. It was incredible. All the chandeliers were lit, there was incense wafting about, chant, Jesus, and Mozart, all in one. Now, I wasn’t able to fully understand the homily and such but I was able to determine the reading, which made me very proud. It's also easier to follow the Mass because of all the sitting and standing. After about an hour and a half, Mass was stil going on and Amanda and I were a little confused until we realized that it was the feast day of the St Augustine and the Archbishop and his posse were all there saying Mass at St. Augustine’s Church. So after a long procession of chant, we left.
Then we went to friend’s apartment for a nice homemade meal. We ate and then went out for a fun night on the town.
On Sunday, some of us went to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs. We were originally going for the zoo but I was like, I’m not paying 10 Euros to see a baby Panda when we can walk around the gardens for free. So that’s what we did! They were kind of extraordinary. They were vast and each part of it was neatly groomed and beautifully maintained. We climbed up to the top of the hill where we had an awesome view of the palace. Apparently, Maria Theresia, the Hapsburg Empress, like to have dinner up in the building on the hill at the Gloriette. However, she was too fat to walk up there so she had people carry her up the hill. And let me tell you, it was not an easy hill to climb without a heavy woman on your shoulders or wherever she rested. She also liked to have animals milling about in front of her while she ate so they would have animals walking around the gardens while she ate. Then they would have to lug her and her breakfast back down the hill and put the animals away. This ritual would happen every day during the summer. It’s no wonder the Empire collapsed!
Schönbrunn Palace
The Gloriette
That night, we went to the Rathaus for another free concert. It was a broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s concert featuring Strauss Family waltzes and polkas. The conductor was my favorite because he looked so happy during the pieces and he just exuded joy. He was very expressive and just made you want to move. They also did really cool things during some of the waltzes. For two of them they did ballet sequences, for the Blue Danube they showed videos of the Danube from its spring to its mouth, and my favorite was during the Wiener Bonbons Waltz when they showed videos of people making candy and cake. Yummy!!! It was a perfect evening in Vienna!!!
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