Adventure #9: Vienna

Christmas in Vienna… sounds idyllic, right? And in many ways it was. However, even the most beautiful and Christmas-y places can only come second to being home. When I talked to Daddy on Christmas Eve I made a deal to never not be home for Christmas again… and I’m so OK with that.

In coming into Vienna from Salzburg I felt a bit like I returned to reality. Tourism being far and away Salzburg’s #1 industry, they cater exclusively to us and make everything clean and beautiful and perfect. This coupled with the ubiquitous Julie Andrews and Mozart make it seem a bit… Disney. Branding its own sort of charm, Vienna contrasts as a working, bustling city independent of edelweiss and schnitzel and even little Amadeus (though they certainly play their roles). It certainly is lovely, even the humblest of buildings have ornate carvings and are beautifully colored. So much history and culture are crammed into this town I feel like we barely scratched the surface. In hindsight, getting a city tour would have been nice. Pictures can be found here and highlights are as follows:

Schonbrunn Palace: Austrian version of Versailles (which we’re planning on seeing while we’re in Paris so I can compare and see who wins). Here, I discovered a new fascination with the Hapsburgs as well as a new fascination with fabric-covered walls. Especially damask. LOVE damask.

MAK: We readily admit and accept that we’re not exactly museum people. Despite appreciating art, I feel silly and self-conscious in museums (though I should admit I got a B in Darius Spieth’s Art History 1001 at LSU, I mostly blame that grade on the class being at 7:30 a.m., a time almost as ridiculous as the professor’s name). I never know: How long am I supposed to look at painting? What am I supposed to be thinking? Or am I supposed to be feeling? Am I supposed to be noticing the composition or the medium or the style more? Do I need to learn about the historical context to better appreciate the work? Or does all this depend on the artist or style? Do the answers to these questions even matter? But I overcame this neurosis at the MAK Museum of Applied Art in Vienna. I like the Applied Art genre because it, like advertising, embodies creativity that has a purpose, a characteristic that quiets the battle between my right and left-brain. Furniture, jewelry, textiles (my favorite), pottery, you get to celebrate its form AND function. Well, that checked off our Viennese museum (an adjective that gave mom trouble, she kept saying “Vietnamese,” haha).

Christkindlmarkts: Scattered all over the city, we had planned on seeing a few of these Christmas markets but enjoyed some bonus ones that happily popped up in our paths. They were lovely and I like the opportunity to compare them to the French ones (Austria has more punch options and obligatory mugs), though I think I’ll allow Strasbourg to keep its “Capital of Christmas” title. Tried more Gluwein (once with rum and another with amaretto) and ate some Bratwurst like a hot dog, which may be the Austrian answer to the “best thing I ate” question. The sausage is just good. Concerning sweets, after having it three different ways, I think I’m maxed out on the Austrian default dessert Apple Strudel.

Midnight Mass: For both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we had a nice dinner (only one served strudel). Austrians typically celebrate more on Christmas Eve with opening presents and following a large dinner with midnight mass. So, we did the same. Though we had to stand for the crowd, I feel so lucky to have been in St. Stephen’s Cathedral (aka the Stephansdom) for Midnight Mass. To be celebrating one of the most important Christian holidays in the most important church in one of Europe’s important cities was a singularly unique and special experience.

An Austrian priest wrote “Silent Night” in the area around Salzburg in 1819. They even commemorate where it first played. Because of this, and the fact that it’s a great song, Austrians love and sing it ALOT. Though they obviously sang it in German it was nice to hear something so familiar during a Christmas experience that bore little resemblance to any of my previous. But my holiday was good, though different and I thought often of everyone back home. I love you, I miss you, and Merry Christmas.

Adventure #8: Salzburg

OK, so Mom and I have officially started our Christmas European vacation. I'm short on time and internet is touch-and-go so in lieu of actual posts I've fleshed out the pictures gallery with more informative comments. Click here and enjoy!

I found it a little strange to see her again, I guess I've gotten so used to my life here having the two worlds merge took some getting used to. But after a few hours we (well, mostly me) were talking away and everything was back to normal. In general, I like Austria. It's beautiful, the people are nice, and their side salads are ten times better than the French.

p.s. I've also finally loaded pictures of my town at Christmastime. I meant to do an actual post, but never got around to it... so here they are!

p.p.s. Just discovered that I had a little movie clip on my camera from The Sound of Music Tour. A clip of the snowy landscape for which the bus tour conveniently provided background music.

They Wish You a Merry Christmas.

I couldn't resist sharing this with y'all. Plus I realized I hadn't posted anything in awhile but don't feel like actually writing... The video is one of my CP (1st grade) classes trying to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Even though my awful voice overpowers them a bit they're cute, right? My favorite kid is William (no idea what his real name is), third row back in the gray striped shirt. He reminds me of my brother as a kid, except William smiles and can count to ten! Will post something more informative and substantially blog-like soon.

Adventure #7: Strasbourg

I did a project on Strasbourg in Madame Richard’s French II class at SJA. (OK, I was totally going to link to an article in the SJA website news archive, but they’ve deleted so many of the past articles that use to come up when you searched my name. This lack of digital proof of my one legacy in life really disappoints me...) Honestly, I remember very little about that project except for the timbered houses and something about sausages. But even though my memory failed me a bit, these two things ended up contributing to why Strasbourg is probably my favorite trip so far. The group we had was great, the city was adorable, the markets were so fun and the weather even held out for us.

Strasbourg, claiming to be the “Capital of Christmas,” doesn’t host one big Christmas market but rather a handful of many tiny ones scattered throughout the city. Stand after stand selling Christmas-y things like crèche figures, ornaments, lights, decorations, etc. And surprisingly, I didn’t get tired of them, the stands didn’t repeat themselves too often in what they sold, and many of the markets centered around different little themes. But the best stands were the ones selling food and hot drinks. The perfect setting to walk through the stalls and grab a little thing here and there to eat or drink. At the markets, I ate galettes (like a crepe but for meats and cheeses), knacks (sausages!), beignets, and pretzels, but the best was the fruit on a stick, especially the clementine, I’ve eaten an average of maybe three clementines a day here since they’ve been in season, they remind me of Louisiana satsumas. At the market they put the slices on a stick and then dip them in dark chocolate. I think this just may be my new answer to the “best thing you’ve eaten” question, at least in the “on a stick” category. To drink, all the hot drinks, like warm pulpy orange juice with nutmeg and cinnamon and honey, blueberry nectar that was delicious but made me look like Violet Beauregard for like 3 hours, and the piece de resistance vin chaud (red or white hot mulled wine), with all kinds of spices that smells just as good as it tastes… very Christmas-y!

Our hostel was far out of the center of town and walking back to it Saturday night proved to be a big adventure… And since we spent most of our time at the markets, we didn’t really get a chance to see much of the town itself, so I’d definitely like to revisit it. This may be the trip for that last weekend with Joy! Oh, I almost forgot about the lights... Sadly, my camera battery died on our last night there so I don’t have too many pictures of them (not that they would come tout that well anyway, too bad there’s no “Christmas market” setting on my camera). But you can see the ones I do have here. Every street had some sort of decoration, and they had a gorgeous huge Christmas tree. (Trivia time: While googling the city, I learned that the first Christmas tree supposedly popped up in Strasbourg.) I noticed the French (maybe most Europeans?) don’t use stars are angels as tree toppers but little spear-like finial things. I kind of like them, another option in the angel vs. star debate, though I’ve always been on team star. Maybe I’ll keep my eye out for a nice one for my future Christmas trees. Something interesting that, as an old lady, I can use as a prompt to tell long-winded, repetitive stories about that one time I lived abroad...

Some of us decided that we should visit every town in the world at Christmastime just to see if Strasbourg can really claim the title as the “Capital of Christmas.” But until that happens, I think I believe them.

Hopefully Great Expectations.

Even though I’ve been here over two months (went by fast, right?) I still have my “Wait, I’m in France?” moments. Especially when I realized that this past Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, marked one year since I applied to this program. I remember rushing to get my application finished and to the Post Office with my aunt and uncle still in town for the holiday. I wasn’t even sure about my chances of getting in, much less what it would be like to actually go. This summer I had no solid expectations, other than what I thought I would like or miss (and it turns out, I don’t even miss ice that much at all). When people asked me if I was ready, and I would answer about plane tickets or living situations. Now that I’m here I don’t think I really could have imagined or prepared. Other than the physical and practical suitcase-related things, there’s not much you can do to prepare for taking a step like this. You have no idea what it’s going to be like until you’re mid-stride. I think this trip, this job, this experience, (or whatever I should call it) is something you can’t really prepare for, because when you prepare or plan or try to imagine what they’ll be like it never ends up being what you expected, for better or worse. Even little trips and things here tend to change at the last minute. Some of us were joking just today that it’s pointless to plan things because they usually end up changing, though most of the time it’s for the better.

Take this past Thanksgiving for example. I had little expectations (mostly worries) that we wouldn’t have enough food, that my dish would be a bomb, and that our tiny little apartment would be the worst possible venue for a party of at least 15 people. But Friday night was definitely a success! Everyone seemed to like my jambalaya and had a good time, it was a great group of people: Americans, French, British, Swiss, Spanish sharing a meal and having such a nice enough time that no one seemed to mind sitting on the floor. Everyone brought something different to contribute. I took a few pictures to share with my family, since I got to see some of theirs!

I hope my expectations keep getting surpassed for the rest of my time here. Including spending Christmas away from home for the first time, teaching, and a possible new side job!