June 21 - Voices of the World

Our morning mission was to travel to Schonbrunn Palace, not only as tourists but as performers with a 10 am concert scheduled in front of the palace. (http://events.wien.info/en/8gm/voices-of-the-world/)  So we were up early (I'd call it 0-dark-thirty, but daylight is evident at 4:00 am and even today our "good morning" call was not until 6:30), putting on costumes and makeup.  With the heat we've been having, we opted for wearing a black and white top with our black travel knit tanks and pants rather than the turquoise sweater.  We were pleasantly surprised when the morning was a bit cooler than it has been, although the temperatures were still headed well into the 80s.

On the bus we were met by our city guide, Sabina, who narrated as we navigated through the city to the summer palace, making good time even though it was 8:00 am commute time on a Friday morning.  

We arrived at 8:30 and began by touring the palace (oh, and once again no photographs allowed inside), which was to take an hour, giving us a half hour to warm up before we sang.  But by 9:30 we were only about halfway through, and we were slowed having to wait for groups ahead of us to finish and exit a room before we entered.  So when we spied an exit, we opted to break out of the tour in order to have adequate time to prepare for our performance.

The performance was organized through Voices of the World, and we were to be met by a professional photographer to take our official tour portrait.  But the only official-looking person with a camera was jogging around the palace following two runners and another man with a boom mic.   When they circled a second time we realized it was likely contestants from The Amazing Race TV show, so we'll have to follow their next season to see if we can be heard rehearsing as they ran by!

We found a shady spot to the left of one of the two staircases that curve up from the ground floor, and gave our performance to a very enthusiastic audience.  As we were finishing, two women from Voices of the World arrived.  The day before, when we realized what the next day's schedule would involve, we had attempted to change our performance to 10:30 am in order to have a bit more time to prepare, but we never heard back.  They never got back to us about it, but they assumed we just made the change on our own.  So we sang a few more numbers for them and also took pictures with several members of an Asian tour group who had stopped to watch us.  The Voices women provided us with souvenirs of the event--note pads, pens, and buttons.  

By the time we finished it was nearly time to go back to the bus, but Sabina arranged for us to have ten extra minutes for the gardens or the shops.  Once back on the bus, we continued with a city tour, partly on the bus and partly walking.  

Among the sites were a building affectionately known as the Golden Cabbage.

Here's part of the royal palace.  There was a rule that no two rulers could use the same suite of offices, so each new one had to add on to the existing building and it grew quite large as a result.  Now one part is a library, another part was made into apartments, etc.

The Opera:

Then we were given the option to stay downtown or return to the hotel, and everyone chose the latter because we wanted to change clothes into cooler attire.

After a late salad lunch while figuring out what I wanted to do for the afternoon , I took the subway back downtown.  While it was walkable, I decided to save my walking for getting around once I got there.  I decided to get my dessert first (life is short!) and headed for the Demel coffee house that our tour guide last fall had recommended.  The kitchen has a glass wall so you can observe the pastry preparations and I watched as one chef applied rolled fondant icing to a rectangular sheet.  There was a cake with a soccer theme that was complete, and two chefs were designing another cake complete with drawings and a model.  

I found a table and opted for the truffel torte (completely chocolate--cake, icing, and decorative cocoa powder ridges along the top) and an iced coffee.  Viennese coffee shops are definitely not like those in the US.  They are meant for lingering, so I ate leisurely but then decided I'd better get on my way.

From there I went to the Albertina Museum and passed the Lippizaner stables along the way.

The Albertina was advertising "Monet bis Picasso", an exhibit of paintings from a private collection donated to the museum spanning impressionists to abstracts, truly from Monet to Picasso with others in between and extending to Joan Miro.  I've decided I want to be an impressionist painter when I grow up.  In this museum photos without flash were allowed!

A precursor to Monet's large water lily mural paintings:

   with detail of some of the lily pads.

And sometimes it is true that  you can't see the forest for the trees:

Tonight we had an option to go to a Mozart concert, so on the way back from the subway stop to the hotel I walked through a market in Landstrasse's wide median and picked up a pumpkin seed studded multi-grain roll at the bakery and a small wedge of creamy cheese at the Kase shop, and that was my dinner, with plenty of time to shower and change (lots of showers on these hot days!).

The concert was held in the Musicvereins Gebaude Concert Hall, the one where the famous New Year's Day concert is held each year.  

The musicians were all dressed in costumes from Mozart's era, complete with wigs--must be very warm.  We were trying to figure out how many are women, since they are all dressed as men.

The concert was completely Mozart, with numbers from some of his operas like the Magic Flute, the Marriage of Figaro, and Don Giovanni, with excellent solists, as well as other popular pieces like Eine Kleine Nacht Music and Rondo alla Turca..exceot the final two numbers were Strauss, first the Blue Danube Waltz and, as on New Year's Day, the Rodetzky March. The conductor led us in clapping in time with the music, directing when to start and stop as well as the desired volume level.  It was a wonderful evening of music featuring two of the home-town composers.  And we got a souvenir CD too!

June 20 - To Vienna by Road and River

This morning we left Salzburg on our way to Vienna, but we soon had a stop in Mondsee to see St. Michael's Cathedral which was used for Maria's wedding in the Sound of Music movie.  It was chosen because the convent chapel where the wedding actually took place was very plain, plus the nuns would not permit filming there to prevent it from being a perpetual tour stop.  After we listened to an explanation of the church, we gathered on the steps below the altar to sing "It is Well with My Soul" and "Let There Be Peace on Earth."  The church had excellent acoustics and each song ended with a lovely reverberant ring.  We then had about a half an hour or so to stroll through the town or stop for coffee at a cafe.

Tenors up front for It is Well With My Soul:

During the ride, Erich talked about taxes in Austria, which range from 36% to 55%.  Basic health insurance is included, but if you want additional insurance (and better treatment!) there is an additional cost.  He talked about the wealthiest Austrians:  the owners of VW and Porsche along with Feix Baumgardner, head of Red Bull (which is headquartered in Salzburg) and most recently of stratospheric jump fame. 

Our next stop was near Linz at one of several highway rest area cafeterias--ours was Rosenberg.  It has several buffets where the charge is based on the size of the plate or bowl for specialty salads, fruit salads, regular salad bar, plus there was a custom pasta bar and several entrees, soups, and beverages.  You choose what you want and they add it up at the cashier on your way to a table.

After lunch it was a short ride to Melk, where we boarded a cruise boat for a ride along the Donau (Danube) river to the town of Krems, with lots of castles and churches on the banks along the way.  It was very relaxing.  We had reserved tables inside but there was opportunity for a breeze on the decks.  At Krems we boarded our bus and continued on to Vienna, arriving a little early--before 5 pm.

At 6:40 we were back on the bus, on the way to our Heuriger dinner, a traditional wine with buffet meal.  For us it was similar to a beer garden but with wine instead--we were outside at picnic tables in a garden setting.  The location was near the Vienna woods--der Wiener Heurige Wolff, aka Buschenschank Wolff, in Neustift am Walde.  

Heuriger serve new wine, of the most recent vintage, and our table had plentiful carafes of both red and white.  Rather than going to a buffet, a wide variety of platters was brought to the table:  appetizer cheeses, pickled vegetables and salads, then platters of meats and sausages and schnitzel with assorted fried veggies (mushrooms, zucchini and eggplant).  And for dessert we were each served a plate with both cheese and apple strudel.  unbelievably, it was my first apple strudel of the trip.  When we arrived a brass oompah band was playing, then during dinner we were serenaded by an accordionist who played tunes from a variety of countries. 

Little did he know how much we would sing along!  He took a short break, then returned to have us try yodeling and all sorts of dancing, from the chicken dance to Greek (Zorba-style) dancing to a French can-can for the women to Russian cossack dancing (men only).  He was great fun, as was reflected in the paper money collect in the top folds of his accordion.

Rheba tries yodeling:

    The back row of dancers:

    The cossacks, with overachiever John Runyon:

It was time to leave all too soon.  Our tour guide Eric had promised to make sure we all got back to the hotel and that he would lean each one up against the wall next to their room.  I don't think anyone had that much wine, but we were all happy!

June 19

Today was a real contrast of topics.  We left the hotel at 7:30 am on a bus trip up to Eagle's Nest, near Berchtesgaden, with local guide Barbara.  On the way she filled us in on all sorts of information about Hitler, since Eagle's Nest was established as his retreat from his home (Berghof) in Obersalzburg (he didn't sleep there but went up on day trips), and the Trapp family of Sound of Music fame.  With regard to the latter, Barbara distinguished betwen the story told in the movie and what really happened.  She would point out things like the convent where Maria was a novice and teacher, which, unlike the movie, is also where she was married.  And we saw, from a distance, the home where the Trapp family lived and several locations where scenes for the movie were filmed, including the opening scene which was shot last due to a long wait for good weather.

Red dome of Maria's convent in Salzberg:

Meanwhile we were driving up to the Eagle's Nest, first to Obersalzburg, where we switched buses to a local one that makes the trip up the steep and winding mountain road.  The road is actually one-way, but the buses are timed such that there is a pullover where the downhill buses can pause while the next uphill buses come through.  During the drive to Obersalzburg, Barbara turned into Herr Barbara and told us exactly when and where to do things:   "You will not make video when I am talking about Hitler.  You will not take pictures here, you will take pictures when you reach the top.  At the top you will not buy souvenirs.  It is a beautiful day--you will enjoy the view and you will buy your souvenirs back at the bottom...."  

Eagle's Nest from afar (look above the second of the large pines from the left):

After the war, the area was used for many years as an American Armed Forces R&R spot, but now all the buildings are gone.  Only a restaurant remains at the peak.  To reach the top, you walk through a 407 foot tunnel (a brief cool respite) and then 407 foot ride an elevator up through the mountain.  The Eagle's Nest sits on a ridge with an elevation of 6017 feet.  The views are gorgeous!

Somehow in the shuffle my camera wasn't with me up at the top, so I had to use my iPhone camera.

But I vaguely remembered that it had a panorama feature, which I figured out and put to use.

I later located my camera which had somehow ended up under the seat of the bus.

After about 45 minutes of free time, we made our way back down the mountain, pausing part way for the uphill buses, and taking time in the souvenir shop at the lot where we changed back to our bus (figured we'd better do what we were told!).  Then it was back to the hotel with 45 minutes for a quick lunch before we set out with Barbara on our city tour.

Our walking tour took us first through the Mirabell Gardens, where we located the spot where we would give our concert at 4:00 pm.  

We then crossed the Salzach river (BTW, salz is salt, in case you hadn't guessed, very important for the local economy in earlier years)on a foot bridge to the Old Town area.  We wound our way through mostly pedestrian streets (and any vehicles such as delivery trucks and taxis that use the pedestrian streets are required to stop for walkers) seeing Mozart's birthplace and Doppler's house,

(Doppler, like Mozart, also has his own candy brand:)

the Dom, or cathedral,

 the old cemetery that was a model for the hiding scene during the Trapp family's escape in the Sound of Music (which was filmed in a studio).

The tour ended at the Mozart House, where the family had moved as it grew out of their original residence.  Having visited that last fall when I was here, and with our performance in less than two hours, I skipped the house and walked back to the hotel, stopping for ice cream along the way because once again the temperature was in the 90s.  Our tour guide said that a record high might be set this week.  But better sunny and hot than cool but rainy, which is the more usual state in Salzburg.

There was about an hour until we would meet to warm-up before our performance which sounds like plenty of time, but not if you need to first cool down (which was not easy since the hotel air conditioning had only one temperature no matter where you set the thermostat), then shower and wash hair, do makeup and dress.  And it wasn't easy to put on knee-high hose and the turquoise sweater with the heat.  In fact, the sweater didn't go on until we were ready to head out the door.  For the concert we were able to stand in a shady spot and we collected an audience throughout the performance.  

One of our chorus members, Trudi Thompson, speaks fluent German so she was able to tell them about the chorus and the songs.

They were quite moved when we sang Where Have All the Flowers Gone in German (Sag  Mir Woh Die Blumen Sind) and from that went immediately into Let There Be Peace on Earth.  

After the performance we mingled a bit with the audience, then went back to the hotel to change into "farmhouse casual" for our dinner, which was at an actual farm in the Salzburg countryside (Salzburg being the name of the city as well as the surrounding province).  We were greeted by some family members and escorted into the barn, offered elderberry or obstler (apple and pear) schnapps, and met the other residents: several cows including Simone (all the animals had names), mother pig Rose, some rabbits, goats, donkeys....

   The rabbit with its own local food:

   Rose the pig and one of her offspring in a dark photo:

All of the food was homemade.  We ate outside at nice picnic tables initially filled with jugs of apple juice, apple wine, elderberry juice and water.  

Soon wooden platters of homemade cheese, cheese spreads, and sausage, and home-raised prosciutto, tomato, onion and red pepper slices arrived, along with baskets of poppy-seed covered breadsticks.  

That would have been a wonderful dinner, but it was just the start!  Then came bowls of kraut salad and mixed salad, and soon a pan of sliced pork with carrots, potatoes and gravy.  

Just when we couldn't eat any more came a different and interesting dessert.  It was similar to French toast--bread triangles with plum jam and walnuts, coated with egg and fried, then sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Somehow we made room for them!  

Burgi, our host, explained that they had added this business of dinners and other events, mostly on the weekend but also by special request for tour groups during the week, in order to be able to make ends meet because farming alone was no longer enough to provide a good income.  They have a separate building with a big kitchen and dining area which we were able to see after dinner.  

Then we bid a fond farewelll and waddled back to the bus.  The challenge would be staying awake long enough to pack and take another shower....