Red + White - Lard = Delicious
I once read that a person gets very few truly memorable days over the course of a lifetime, and while my life thus far has been thoroughly enjoyable, my truly memorable days are truly few and far between. However, after today, I have another to add to my list.Today was our last official day of orientation, but it was not so much much orientation as much as it was a day-long tour of Niederoesterreich (Lower Austria,) the province surrounding Vienna. The group met this morning at the Rathaus at 8:15am...yes, early, but worthwhile. Although, I do find it important to mention that as I was waking up at 7 and st
umbling towards the shower, my roommate stumbled in the door on his way back from the disco and to his bed...puts a new spin on the phrase "dancing the night away." Right. Anyway. We left on a tour bus for the monastery of Melk, which has been on the site for about 1000 years. The building itself, however, is only around 300 years old, as it was rebuilt during in the Baroque style during the 1700s. It is gorgeous (see photo) and very cheery looking, particularly against the brilliant blue of the Austrian early autumn sky (again, see photo).The tour of Melk was really good. Our tour guide, while not as cute as my librarian friend, really knew h
er stuff. She took us through a little exhibit and gave us all sorts of interesting tidbits, such as in the Emperor's Corridor, where Napoleon once stayed (not as a guest), the stoves in the rooms were heated through little doors leading into the corridors so that the important people would not have to see the servants. Huh....who knew. We also got to see the Marble Room, which was the dining room used by visiting dignitaries, and the beautiful library, which, frankly, looks like every other baroque library I've seen in Austria (not such a bad thing, actually...) The views from the terrace were lovely, and the inside of the church was incredible. Again, baroque churches are all quite similar, but again, that is not so bad!After visiting the monastery (where, by the way, a TA is stationed for the year....luc
ky), we had lunch in the town at a cute little hotel. Then came the 2 hour long river cruise up the Donau. Whee! The day was gorgeous - 70 and sunny - and the river was a beautiful shade of green (unlike the last river I spent significant time looking at.....). The several castles, churches, and villages nestled upon distant hills and in green valleys that drifted past only served to enhance the mood. On the boat I sat with Jo and a girl named Kim, with whom I also have a lot in common (such as the fact that next year she will be attending one of the four grad school programs for which I am applying - the Georgetown MAGES program....strange), and a girl named Kelly. For once I took pleasure in playing the tourist and taking lots and lots of goofy photos. It felt good to giggle.We arrived in the town of Duernstein after 2 hours on the boat. Duernstein is a typical medieval
walled town, and it has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its pristine condition. The village is absolutely charming, and somehow it has resisted most of the trappings of a tourist town, despite the fact that its 400-some residents greet 1.7 million (yes, million), tourists each year. Yikes that's a lot. Anyway, we had another adorable guide here, who took us to the town Rathaus and through the church and cloister, which had some interesting sites. I think my favorite was the rather interesting contraption depicting the death of Christ. It wasn't a painting, and it wasn't a statue. Rather, it was a life-size diorama. Seriously. The scene was located in this little nook, and it had been constructed (out of wood in the 18th century) to look like it went further back than it did (ah, baroque optical illusions, how I love thee...). I can't really describe it....check out the photo.We had about 45 minutes after the church tour before our bus departed, so a group of us headed to a cafe for some Kaffee und Kuchen. In my case, that meant a shot glass of water (literally...it's a very odd sensation, tossing back a shot of water) and half a piece of Sacher torte, split with Kim. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM and since we weren't at the actual Hotel Sacher, it was about a third as expensive (always a plus!)
We then departed th
e lovely village for a winery about 30 minutes away, where we received a tour of the wine cellar and the wine-making facilities. It was very interesting, and this tour guide was the best of the day. His enthusiasm for his job rivaled that of my favorite librarian, and it was a joyous thing to watch. :-D We saw the fermenting casks for all the various vintages, the old bottles of wine that they break out every year to see if they are still good (some are over 50 years old!!!), and learned about the wine-making process. The most interesting thing was the ginormous (6000 liter) cask of white wine that had a relief sculpture of a pope (I don't know which one) on the end of the cask!! Amazing. (Photo is Jo and me in front of the humongo casks of wine.)After the tour, we were treated to an extensive wine tasting dinner/snack, complete with Austria's finest cheesemaker's finest cheeses. We were also treated to an Austrian delicacy: pork spread. Essentially, pork spread is lard with bacon bits in it, and it is one of the more disgusting things I have ever tried in my entire life. Ew. The wine, however, was delicious, and needless to say, a good time was had by all...luckily for us, we had a bus driver to cart us all back to Vienna!
We arrived back at the Rathaus at around 10pm, at which time Kim, Kelly, Danny, and Jennifer (two Ph.D. candidates here to study music), and I decided to head to a cafe for a final nightcap
before heading to bed (photo is Kim, Jen, and me.) I had my first run in with the Wiener waiter who refuses to come to your table, so we essentially sat there for an hour, just taking up space and wireless internet, until he finally came over and took our order (wine was the beverage of the evening.) Now, I'm back in the apartment, updating this and fiddling with all my photos from today. I got some good ones. If you are interested in seeing more than the ones up here, let me know and I'll tell you where to get them online.Tomorrow: sleeping in!!
posted by Carly Fowler @ 8:37 AM
2 Comments:
loved the pix--the scenery & your new friends!
where are the rest?
Wiener waiter...hahaha...cause he was a weiner for not coming to the table right?
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