A group of us visited the Hofburg and saw the Sisi museum and the Silberkammer. It was fun to see all the dishes and silverware the nobility used. In the museum about Sisi I learned that she was stabbed to death. I was surprised to learn this, but everyone else I was with knew that already.
Becca and I had dinner with our Hausfrau and roommates again. It is always an event because it lasts for several hours. Frau Papis told us stories about her husband’s mother and his grandmother. We laughed quite a bit. We learned that Hopscotch is played not only in America, but also in Austria and Japan. After dinner Becca and I had a great time learning basic phrases in Japanese from our roommate Riko. It was an adventure trying to learn Japanese through the German equivalents.
Guten Abend = Konbanwa, eins = ichi, zwei = ni, drei = san, vier = si, fünf = go.
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| Becca, Camille, and Riko ---asian pose |
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| Becca and Camille---american pose |
Our friend, Sarah, came to visit us and to get experience doing research in original records. It was great to see her. While she was in Vienna we met Felix Gundacker. Herr Gundacker has compiled several record indexes for the city. He has also written several books.
For Austrian History class we went to the National Library. They had a large pre-1850 book collection in a room that reminded some of us of the library from the movie the Beauty and the Beast.
A few of us stayed in Vienna over the weekend and went to an old mine. We took a train and a bus to get to the mine. During WWII some prisoners from Mauthausen were relocated to the mine to build airplane parts. The mine was a prime spot for the little factory because it was so far underground it wouldn’t get destroyed by bombs. We got to take a short boat ride around part of the mine where it was flooded. We were told that part of Disney’s 1999 version of “The Three Musketeers” was filmed in the mine. I wonder how Disney found out about the mine and why they did it there…
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| Mary, Riko, and Camille |
Becca, Sarah, and I walked around the first district and visited several churches. We went to Karlskirche, St. Michael’s, St. Augustine’s, Stephansdom (St. Stephan’s Cathedral), St. Matheus’, St. Peter’s, and Annakirche. It was interesting going to all the churches and seeing the different styles they were built in. Some of the churches were filled with tourists while others were quiet and peaceful. We even got to hear someone playing the organ in a few of the churches. I have a greater appreciation for organ music when I’m in sitting in the beautiful churches than if I were to listen to it in my apartment.
The Christmas market in front of the Rathaus opened on November 12th. Opening day was packed, but we looked around anyway. I tried roasted chestnuts for the first time. They weren’t horrid, but I don’t think I will eat them again. I bought a giant schoko Krapfen (similar to a doughnut). After walking around the market for a bit we went back to our apartment for hot chocolate.
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| Christkindlmarkt in front of the Rathaus opening night... |
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| Becca, Mary, Camille, and Sarah... good thing I was wearing my Berlin hat because it was super cold out! |
Becca and I had dinner with our hausfrau and roommates again. Our roommate, Baiba, brought her friend Kristaps Bergs to dinner. He and Baiba are doing a concert together in a few weeks. We started dinner around 8:00 pm. We started with a soup then moved to the main course of a salad, roasted potatoes, carrots, and ham with a chive sauce on top. We had a nut cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. It was very good as always. After dinner Becca and I hung out with our roommate, Riko. We got to listen to her play the piano. She is so good! It was cool to see her fingers fly across the keys as she played. Becca and I both played a bit for her, but she is way better than we are. Riko played “Waldstein” by Beethoven. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ5QKjmkinU) I love that song! It reminded me of Caralynn because we both used to listen to it a lot.
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