Playing Catch-Up

Hi People!

Since it feels like forever since I last posted, I feel like I have a lot to catch you up on...

Wednesday, January 26, 2007

Just as a note, for the German-speaking folks out there. Did you know that Janaury is called Jänner in Austria? I just think it's interesting.

So Wednesday was really exciting. I left for center-city earlier than usual because I wanted to pick up the ball tickets and visit the Naschmarkt. It was really easy to find Karlsplatz, where the Technische Universität is located, but it took a lot longer to find an ATM and then the actual building. It would have helped if I had looked up and seen the big gold letters that clearly state "Die Technische Universität Wien." What can I say? I'm used to things being on eye-level. But because we were from IES, our tickets were only 20 Euro, which is extremely cheap for a ball. We got tickets colored according to our genders (girls got mauve, boys got blue) and a little booklet on the ball. It was going to be held in the Hofburg, the imperial palace. Wow, huh?

Once I had tickets and money, I got to adventure over to the Naschmarkt. There are permanent stands there that sell every kind of food you can imagine. They have cheese stands and fish stands and meat stands and spice stands. I was there a bit early, so not everything was open, but it also wasn't very crowded. All around Vienna, people are wearing these really nice scarves, and I've been lusting after them. One of the girls from IES bought hers at the Naschmarkt last week for only 5 Euro. I'm not quite as good at haggling as she is, because I paid seven for mine, but I did manage to talk the guy down a bit. Mine is a gorgeous turquoise, and even though it doesn't quite match my coat, I wear it all the time! (All the time being the two days since I bought it.)

Since I still had time before I had to be at the Leopold Museum for my German class, I walked over instead of taking the S-Bahn for a stop. I'm pretty sure this wasn't my greatest idea ever because it was really windy and cold and my fingers were numb by the time I got to the Museum Quarter, where the Leopold is. My class was visiting there to see the Expressionist paintings it houses. They had several from the Blue Riders, who are really interesting. I didn't care much for the Expressionist paintings and sculptures, but I tend to like Impressionists better. However, Kandinsky's painting was interesting. When the guide was pointing out different shapes, I could see them. Did it make sense overall? Not at all, but it was interesting all the same.


If you look at the upper left quadrant, you can see something that looks kind of like a horse jumping and the rider crouched over his neck. This form is in every painting that Kandinsky did.

I also liked the Blue Riders' works. They used bright colors and simple, almost childlike, shapes. The paintings we saw also actually had blue horses in them, which may play into why I like them so much. I can't find photos of the paintings we saw in the Leopold, but take my word for it that they were sehr toll.

Sidenote: Did you know that in the EU, an artist has to be dead 70 years for the copyright to end on his work? That's why we weren't allowed to take pictures of the art in the Leopold, most of the artists haven't been dead long enough.

Another sidenote: The whole tour we took was in German. It was interesting, even if I couldn't understand every word. A lot of people not in our class (like just random citizens or tourists) joined us, and at times the guide had to tell them to chill out and let us answer. :-)

We were given a free afternoon once the tour was over, and I took the chance to try Skyping at IES. I found a really good little area, where I get decent reception and and is relatively private. So I chatted with Mom and Matt until my batteries were getting low. Don't worry Pooks, we'll chat next week sometime.

Since it was so cold, I decided to skip the Opera and head home. I don't really feel bad about this because Don Giovanni is still playing a few more times before it leaves. Besides, I needed to come home and do some work so I could have lots of fun at the ball!!

Ball posting coming tomorrow...I need sleep <3 Amanda