Time to breathe

I don't have a lot of pictures to post considering we just arrived in the world's smallest and most deserted town. Ottobeuren is beautiful, and believe it or not, I am thrilled to be ending our tour with this place. I think I can speak for everyone in saying that we all need a break from the walking tours and hectic city life of Europeans. It's very emotionally draining to be on not only a very tight itinerary with pressure to all major landmarks in a specific time frame but to be sharing these experiences with the same people day after day. We could all use a bit of a break. :)

Tomorrow evening will be our second to last concert at the Ottobeuren Festival - it will be awesome! The choir is really coming together (as it always does on tours like this) and our music is a great representative of what we're capable of. I'm excited and slightly sad that these will be my last concerts with this group. My time at CSUF wouldn't have been the same had it not been for choir. I am positive the last concert will be a very special one.

On Sunday, a group of six of us will take a train from here up to Leipzig and make it just in the neck of time for a mass service in the St. Thomas Cathedral - Bach's old church! From there, we'll visit the town, take a day trip to Prague, and head up to Berlin for a few days of craziness. It will be nice to finally have days off from itineraries. We can actually sleep in if we wanted! Perish the thought!

So tonight? My hotel room (which is abnormally spacious and not only has a couch and a desk but an extra bathtub... sweet!) overlooks, I swear, the only restaurant in town where the soccer game is playing. I'll listen to the Germans scream at the television while I cuddle up to episodes of (my favorite television series) Lost (which I conveniently brought with me in my carry on). What a nice evening it will be!

Until then,
<3 Allie

Melk, Salzburg, Innsbruck - Go!

Wow! Well, as expected, WiFi in Europe is much harder to come by. I apologize for the major delay! And now the fun part - trying to recall all memories from the past week.

Let's see. The first evening of Vienna ended well with a visit to Mozart's statue, Johann Strauss's garden, and dinner at the Mozart Café in the square.

The girls and Goethe.

Me and my pal Mozart.

The beautiful gardens surrounding Mozart's statue.

The next morning was even better - The Schönbrunn Palace! This is the palace of Marie Teresa, the mother of the famous Marie Antoinette. I have never in my life seen a palace so glorious. I've been to Versailles but this beats it by a long shot. 

Kristi, Kristen, Cheslea, Saousan, Bex, and I at the palace.

One of my favorite pictures of Vienna and the back of the palace - absolutely stunning view!

Next day - Melk before hitting Salzburg. At this point, I am so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open. I feel silly and sad for missing this guided tour. I believe that in each and every room I was in, I found some sort of ancient chair to sit in and close my eyes. So I'm not really sure what to say about this place except for the fact that it was a monastery of some sort. Anyway, it really did have another glorious view and a BEAUTIFUL cathedral that the choir sang a song in. One of the most unforgettable performing experiences I'm sure I'll ever have.

And finally... Salzburg! The city I have been dying to see! (Considering I'll be living there for another 4 weeks - needed to make sure it was worth it). And let me tell you. 

I am so in love.

I don't think I have ever loved a city more. Possibly London, but they are quite neck and neck at this point. Kristi and I did some exploring and not only ran into Mozart's birthplace (which the choir later toured the next morning) but found that every corner was a new surprise. The buildings have such immense history - it's hard not to let your eyes pop out of your eye sockets. Every which way that you turn is either a beautiful historic building or a scenic view of the greenest hills you've ever seen.

 

 

The bridge overlooking parts of the city - one of the most beautiful spots!





Kathleen, me, Bex, Kristen, and Kristi on the bridge        The Mirabell Gardens - part of the Sound of Music!

As if we weren't nerdy enough, a group of us woke up early the next morning and were determined to re-film our own version of The Sound of Music in the same exact spots originally filmed in the gardens. The plus? It was absolutely POURING rain. No tourists or other people roaming around got in our shots. Though we were drenched, we considered it a blessing. This was, by far, the highlight of the trip. Film to be streamed on YouTube in the near future!

The crazy group - Dave, James, Saousan, Tyler, Chelsea, me, Kathleen, Joe, and John

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying our time in the beautiful city. :)

Today we have arrived in Innsbruck. This is yet another town that I pretty much slept through. I missed half the tour because I passed out on the bus. Not sure what is so special about this city yet though it's quite pretty. It's smaller, a little less "city" like, but a nice *relaxing pause* in our crazy itinerary.

Absolutely beautiful.

Until then,

<3 Allie

Guten Tag!

I have officially landed and made it to Europe! After 12 long hours on two different planes, the CSUF University Singers made it to Vienna, Austria and though jet lagged and/or sleep deprived, we were given the opportunity to explore the city all day today. And my goodness - what a beautiful city it is!

The view from my hotel room window (which opens and is arguably a complete safety hazard!)

Kathleen, Saousan, Chelsea, and I sporting our white jackets :)

The home of Hundertwasser - an abstract artist interested in colors, un-angular shapes and crooked lines.

We took a guided tour around the city center and visited St. Stephen's Cathedral as well as the Wien Mozarthaus - Mozart's house in Vienna! He lived there a total of 3 years and composed works such as Le nozze di figaro and Der Schauspieldirektor (the one I will be performing in August) while residing there. Absolutely amazing!

The outside of Mozart's apartment - his floor was the first floor.

Girlies in front of the entrance. No pictures were allowed to be taken inside. :)

When visiting St. Stephen's Cathedral, we happened to stumble upon a service occurring at the same time. 

What a beautiful cathedral!

The church where Mozart's Requiem was first performed 5 days after his death on December 10th. He was humming the alto line the eve of his death and the score was finished by his student Franz Süssmayr.

Our first lattes, café, and bier in the heart of the city. Perfect way to relax in the afternoon!

Tonight - off to Mozart's statue in the Hofburggartens followed by Johann Strauss's garden in the Stadpark. Possibly a trip to the opera house. :)

Until then,

Allie <3

A bit anxious...

Okay! Here it is! The beginning of the journey on this summer's trip.

Well, I sort of lied. I haven't actually left yet. But I got too anxious staring at my blank blog so I decided to give it a head start with an entry a week before my departure.

I must admit, I am awfully nervous. I'm excited, but mostly nervous. It's beginning to slowly hit me that a) I will be making a home out of Europe for quite some time and, b) I haven't the slightest idea how to do that. Small things such as grocery shopping or relaxing and enjoying summer vacation here in California haven't really come into play yet. Why buy food when it will go bad anyway? Looks like me and lean cuisines are going to be good friends this week (now that I've finally bought a microwave in my new apartment!)

So for those who haven't gotten on board yet - I'm traveling around Europe for eight weeks this summer for musical, cultural, and pleasure-ful (is that a word?) excuses. After the CSUF University Singers choir tour around Austria and Germany, I'll take a trip to Denmark, Sweden, and England purely for fun. After a month of this nonsense, I'll head back to Salzburg, Austria to begin the FAVA Mozart summer program.

While I'm there, I will do my absolute best to blog as much of my trip as possible! I do hear there is such thing as free WiFi somewhere in Europe... last time I was there it was pretty hard to come by. But I think I'll have better luck this time around. :)

I hope you are able to stay with me on the journey! Not arriving until the end of August seems much too long to go without networking with friends and family. I know how horribly homesick I will be. I admit, this blog is partially selfish. I'll use it as an excuse to remain in contact with everyone back at home. But for now, I'll claim that I am doing this for purely educational and informal purposes. :)

See you in Vienna!

Until then,
Allie <3