 |
| The Wienese Waltz |
 |
| The Austrian Orchestra |
its very late already but i justhave to write and describe all ive seen today...its been a loong but really fabulous day..veery cold...10 degrees only but the wind..my my..it near blew me off my feet..
i woke up at 8 and at 9 set out around the city with a guy called Bika...a 19 year old kid from Asia who is studying in latvia and tours around in his free time..he has visited 7 countries already and gave me the best tips on how and where to buy tickets and save money lol places to visit..things to do !
it was good i had company so i could gradually enter the touristy world of map reading...our hostel is about 40 mins by walk from teh city centre ..ive walked like 10 km today..my legs hurt..
and we walked it..just so i could get a hang of the city...we went to the Schönbrunn palace which is a summer palace built for the empress Maria..then we went to the Wiener Staatsoper or the state opera house...and the st stephens cathedrale..they were both so beautifulll...we visited the local market which was very nice...all sorts of things to buy and eat..the austrians seem to like chinese and japanese food a lot..there are a lott of asian shops..i finally found maggi ! ha...there is no maggi in belfort! so i stocked up for my life back home..
then i got a lot of walnuts and dried apple and strawberries to munch on...they were yum...for lunch i had a falafal sandwich ! extra spicy...:P
then we headed to this building called Hundertwasserhaus builty by a quirky architect who started out as a painter..its apparantly an example of expressionist architecture...it was really cute...colour colour...
it was 4.30 by then and was turning dark...bika left for the train station because today was his last day in wien and i went to nearby shop and bought a wien 24 r pass which allows me to use the subway the bus or the trams for 24 hrs....and it s 6... euros...but then its pretty useful...
so i sat on a tram and went to the city central and made a concrete decision on if i want to see a classical concert and spend a bomb on it...i decided i wanted to so i paid 24 euros and got myself a ticket for the Mozart and Strauss concert for the night. the BEST decision ive made ever !
it started at 8.15 and i got directions to go there earlier so hopped from subways to trams and got there 15 mins in advance..
as soon as i entered the building area i knew i was in a different world..this is the building where mozart and strauss played all their lives..it was all lit up and it looked so beautiful at night..
inside was a "cloak room " !! ha ! lol...just like the ones ive read in the books ! im sorry i sound stupid but then it is a novelty....well they took 1 euro to just keep my coat..theives..
i totally stood out...someone should have told me that opera house means fancy dress party !! everyone was in their best silks suits and diamonds...i was wearing jeans..ha! :D
then amidst the crowd i saw another girl much like me..standing out for being too normal...
so we got talking...Laura from Australia..travelling europe for 7 weeks..it was both our first classical concert ever and were both very excited..
so our tickets actually was for the back seats..the least expensive..but then the person who shows people to seats said follow me...we got seats right in the front !!! he said don show anybody ur tickets...these are free anyway...enjoy. his good deed of the day..our luck !
so we sat inbetween red lipstick clad ladies and old italian men who bowed to you when they say thank you...lol..it was such a thrill...
the opera hall itself was soo beautiful...gold chandeliers and wood all around...there is an imatation of this hall in japan but supposedly the acoustic is not as good as this one and nobody knows why...the theory is that the wood here in the wien opera house has absorbed the music over the many years from the maestros and so the acoustic is even better...:P
the music then starts...i can not describe it...i just sat open mouthed...i could not believe a buch of people were creating it...cd s have cut us off so much we take a hit when we listen live....it was a 14 member orchestra along with dance and opera singers...
oh myy godd...the music was soo beautiful..it sometimes just made me wanna cry and at other times tap my foot...
amma i have understood why u sigh over all the tamil carnatic concerts u attend...it transports you into a different world...
i heard opera for the first time and i must say i like it a lott ! i dint understand a single word because it was in german but laura explained a lil to me...it had cute stories to it..and the singing..unbelievably good..both male and female opera singer...in the end they sang a duet..and it had something to do with love...i know because you could just make out from the way they were moving and the way they looked at one another..it was soulful...
then there were 3 dances..wienese dances..:) accompanying famous mozart tracks....it was superbe ! im putting up videos which just have to be watched with loud volume...
im glad i was not sitting alone ...laura was equally astounded y the fact we were actually there in that room listening to something like that...
after each of theor performances there was loud applause and the finale a standing ovation...they deserved it...
it lasted 2 hours...the best 2 hours of my day...
i definitely want to come back to austria someday just to listen to that again if nothin else...
tomoro im doing some more touring around and ten around noon im meeting laura so we can look around together...im planning to hop onto a tram and just ride along all around the city...tomro is my last day after all...and whenever i see someplace interesting ill hop off visit eat whatever..hop on another and go someplace else...
until 4. then i come back to the hostel and get ready cuz my train to Salzburg is at 6.14 and ill reach salzburg at 9....
oh and today whicle walking around i met a couple travellers who i had met on the train to Wien..they live in Innsbruck and gave me their contact number and said i can call them when im there and they ll show mw around. so yay..i have company in innsbruck now...also they said its snowing there..already..sigh..
ok now..im going to sign off cuz tomro is a long day too...dunno wot is in store for me..cant wait !
will mail tomoro from SAlzburg !
love
aishu
No comments:
Post a Comment