Blast from the past!

Monday began our first week of our regular schedule of classes. We had our first real class in the Institute and then we had the rest of the afternoon off. I ended up meeting my friend Maggie from high school that happened to be in Vienna for a few days and we had a great time! I haven't seen her in a while so it was so fun to catch up and have some good conversation. Her and I and my friend Meredith who is in my program decided to do standing room for the opera at the Staatsoper (the real Vienna Opera House) and got to be on the main floor with a seriously great view of the stage for only 4 euros. We saw "La Fille du Régiment" (The Daughter of the Regiment) and it was SO GOOD. first off, it was amazing to be in that venue. The way that it is set up is so different from any other theater that I've seen in that it has a main floor with regular seats and standing room, and then the next four levels are just boxes, and after that there are two levels of balcony. Each person, whether sitting or standing, gets their own little screen where you have the subtitles and can select the language that you want it to be in. That alone was really cool, but the opera was amazing! There was not any weak singers and the opera was so funny. I hadn't heard anything about it before but it's actually probably one of my most favorite operas I've ever seen. After the opera Maggie and I went to a bar and talked more over a couple glasses of wine. I felt very fancy but it was really just so much fun to hang out with her.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't have class till 1:30, but on Tuesday I still left with Jessie when she needed to go to class and just worked on homework all morning. In the afternoon I had class and then after class Jessie and I went to where Maggie's hotel is in the 3rd district to meet up with her for some dinner. However, she said that she would meet us at the subway station, but when we got there we realized that there were multiple places that she could be, so we wandered around the block several times for about half an hour and got pretty lost before finding some Wifi and getting in touch with her. Finally we figured out where she was and went to find some dinner. We went to the restaurant Salm Brau, but in order to get there we walked through the Belvedere Gardens, which are absolutely beautiful. I can't really describe how much beauty there is there because it is really too amazing for words. The grounds are beautiful and it makes you feel like you're living in a fairytale. I took a bunch of pictures, so hopefully they will be posted soon and you can see for yourself. At dinner I ate Schinkenfleckerln, which is a baked Austrian pasta dish with ham and cheese, which was delicious but HUGE. Still had room for gelato though, of course.
Today was really cool because our class visited the apartment that Mozart lived in the longest when he was living in Vienna. It was so humbling to think that I was walking where Mozart had walked and was in the rooms where he composed some of his greatest works. We got to see some original manuscripts and learn more about his life, and I knew that he was a genius before today, but it's really hard to grasp just how much genius he really had until you realize that he could listen to entire symphonies once and then right down every single part almost exactly correct. It was so inspiring to go there and I hope that when I am in Salzburg I can see his birthplace and childhood home as well. After visiting the Mozarthaus, some of us went back to Schönbrunn to walk around in the gardens since the last time we were there it was raining and not the nicest time to be outside. Today though was a gorgeous day and the perfect time to explore. We walked around a bit and then just ended up sitting in the grass and taking in the view, and maybe a little nap in the sun as well. It was so nice to just relax and really absorb the scenery, since almost every day it seems like we've just been going and going without being able to really take in what we're seeing. After the gardens we ate a really great Italian dinner at a restaurant called Della Lucia, which also has great daquiris and amazing desserts. For dessert I had a strawberry crepe with vanilla and strawberry ice cream and it was so amazing. I say that about everything, but it really was so good!
Tonight we're home pretty early because we're exhausted. Gotta fuel up for tomorrow! Gute Nacht!