I've got a lot of catching up to do on this thing! (Also, 3rd blog entry title from the SAME album. Come on, people. Take my bait for comments. Geez.)
Friday I had a German test that turned out quite great! Definitely made up for my not so stellar grade last week. After our German test our Professorin made us go on a scavenger hunt in the city asking various vendors about fruits, veggies, and flowers and than we had to meet at the Cafe Republic and order and pay in German. After lunch I couldn't find the post office so I asked someone in German where it was and I actually understood enough of what she said in German to find it perfectly! Yay Me! So totally not a big deal, but it
was a giant leap for me.
After dinner Pam and I went back into the Altstadt for the outdoor screening of the opera Der Rosenkavalier. It was a fabulous production from the 2004 Festspiele. I'm now in love with the soprano Adrianne Pieczonka. It was the most focused lyric voice I've ever heard and such a great performer.
Saturday morning the entire group took a tour of the Festspiele houses. Rocking. After that I had a ticket to see the Mozart Matinee at the Mozarteum. At the OLD Mozarteum, not the new Mozarteum or the Universität Mozarteum. I know people love Mozart around here, but I really wish they would stop naming everything the same thing. Once Kirsten and I finally found it we enjoyed ourselves. Quick side note: Did you know you have to pay for programs in Europe? The concert was with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg with conductor Ivor Bolton and soprano Ruth Ziesak. The orchestra played one of Mozart's Divertimento and his symphony in E Major. The soprano sang "Porgi Amor" and the concert aria "Bella mia fiamma, addio-Resta, oh cara." I left the matinee so happy! The music was all so wonderful and how can Mozart not make you happy?
After the concert I met up with some people and went to the fortress. The museum was a little lackluster and borderline boring, but the view was absolutely amazing and I'm easily amused so the cable car ride up and down was quite fun. All 30 seconds of it...but here's the view from the cable car ride down...
Later Saturday night a small group of people got together and we went to the StieglKeller. Stiegl is a beer that is made in Salzburg and is very popular. I decided to try another radler since the first one I had I hated and a certain girl, I mean Dave, told Pam and I to try a Stiegl Radler so we did and it was AMAZING. The special last night was a Grapefruit Radler (a radler is half juice/fanta and half beer so in this case it was half Stiegl half grapefruit juice) and it was so good. We than watched some of the Domingo concert on the outdoor screen, but left quickly in search of another bar that Erika had recommended to her. There wasn't anything too special about it so Pam and I opted for catching the last possible bus to our house instead of staying out too late, however, thanks to the excursion we got the bus at a different stop and in turn found out about the bus taxis everyone has been telling us about for 4 Euros from 2 Austrian teenagers who were most definitely drunk or high or something. Even amid their red, droopy eyes they were still very informative.
Sunday was very relaxing. No alarm clock? Amazing. BBQ with the hosts for lunch? Rockin'. Practice session at the college? Eh, ok, still frustrated about some musical things. Haselnusseis for a snack and reading by the river? Bangin'
Tonight I plan on trying out those bus taxis as I have tickets to a piano concert with Martha Argerich and Nelson Freire. The program consists of Brahms, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Ravel, and Schubert so it should be absolutely amazing.
Auf Wiedersehen!
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