Adventures in high and low places

I can't believe it has been so long since I last wrote a blog entry! It seems like just yesterday was Thursday, when I sat posting pictures on Facebook and wondering whether I had something interesting enough to say to write a blog entry about. I guess I decided that between Wednesday and Thursday, there wasn't enough to write about. Friday morning we left early, and I left my computer behind, Saturday we came back, went right out again, and at 12:30am all I could do was fall into a deep sleep. Sunday morning I was up early for a much needed skype date, and a tour of the Staatsoper. Which is how we get to Sunday night...the first night since Tuesday that I've really had time to update this thing.

I like taking adventures. My adventures aren't incredibly adventurous, but I like just going in a direction and seeing where it takes me, especially when I am by myself. On Wednesday, I took an adventure and I was in my element: sitting in the sunlight in the grass next to the Mozart stature, listening to a street player play Mozart, and reading my Mozart article in German for class! On Thursday, I took an adventure to the Danube Island to try to find a bike to ride down the island. I was unsuccessful in completing the bike trip (actually, in finding a bike alone!), but no worries, because the last week I am here, I will be finished with German class which means I get to have the entire morning to myself every day of the week until I leave! Bike ride here I come. I want to see if I remember how. I forget the last time I rode a bike. Don't worry mom, I'll get a helmet too.

On Friday, my adventures got more adventurous and more awe-inspiring, however, I did not plan this adventure or take it by myself! This weekend, our IES professors planned a trip for us--an overnight trip to upper Austria, the countryside, where we got to learn about Bruckner and Mahler and the places they lived and worked. I could talk all day about how amazing this trip was, all the new facts and stories I learned, and the beautiful things I saw. If you want to know more, I'll have to tell you in person, but for now, I'll try to highlight the uh....highlights!

After stopping at St. Florian and meeting the organist who plays on the same Harmonium Bruckner played on, and lives in the same quarters, we travelled to quaint village called Steinbach am Attersee. In this "village" there are a few existing things: nature, a hut where Mahler composed his 2nd and 3rd symphonies, and a few beautiful village cottages. Among them, nature was the most beautiful. No words can really describe what this place looked like. If you live in State College, I hope you know that you have never really seen a mountain anywhere near PA. This place had mountains! Our hotel was right in the middle of it all--with the sparking clear lake below us and the ridiculously high mountains behind us. Steinbach am Attersee is notorious for rainy weather, but we were incredibly lucky. We even got to go for a beautiful morning boat ride on the lake on Saturday, while we listened to Mahler's 3rd symphony on the cassette player on the boat! Life couldn't get much better.

Gustav Mahler was such an interesting fellow. I've always told people that my favorite classical music is Mahler's. Something about it makes me want to get out of my seat, makes me want more, and want to know more. Luckily, we had two Mahler scholars travelling with us, and I totally got my fill of information about Mahler, at least for now. Mahler had such a hard time being satisfied with the answers he had to the questions about life. To me, being at Steinbach am Attersee was so fulfilling. I thought to myself, 'nothing in the world can beat this feeling of peace and spirit at this moment.' But Mahler, on the other hand, was the opposite. He sat and sat in the same exact spot I sat this weekend, and just got frustrated with trying to figure out how to bring the world of the spiritual and humanity and connect it with the world of nature. Things didn't work out in his mind. Questions were left unanswered until he died. And you can most certainly know of his frustrations if you simply listen to his music.

We also got to visit Bad Ischl, another lovely part of Austria. I have this wonderful memory of dressing up in a dirndl for my "heritage day" in elementary school. Seeing countless people walking around in dirndls and lederhosen--traditional Austrian clothing--makes me still want more and more of this country. I think I love being in the Austrian countryside more than I love Vienna. (!!!) I never called myself a city girl, and I thought when I met Vienna, I might have a secret love for the city. But no, this weekend has showed me how much I really love nature and, (as Mahler wanted), being 'away from it all.' I love the peacefulness. I can't take my eyes of the mountains, and I take pictures of every different flower I see. In love? I think so.

My adventures since Tuesday didn't stop here. But unfortunately, being on the edge of the Alps did! I am back in Vienna, and still having a wonderful time. I have new topics I want to share, so I may just start a new entry.... Read above!