Nordic Skiing - My First Attempt

After mismatched schedules every weekend since Christmas, Christian and I finally went Nordic (aka cross-country) skiing this past Sunady. He, being a pro (well, good enough to have at least three sets of Nordic skis), was willing to oblige my desire to learn, so I met him in Krems bright and early Sunday morning. We drove a little further along the Danube before hightailing it up a mountain pass and cruising way past the middle of nowhere (and I thought I lived out in the country...) into the tiny town of Gutenbrunn. I think it only had one street. We went down into the basement of a building and were greeted by a jolly ol' fellow happy to give me skis, boots, polls, and a ski pass for the track we were taking for a grand total of €10. Christian waxed our skis (apparently the bowed section in the middle needs a different kind than the front and back tips) while I geared up, then we walked up a little hill to the start of our trail.

Coincidentally we went up about the same time as six other people, which was unfortunate because I started in the middle of them despite trying to wait for everyone to go ahead. This ensured that the ones behind me got to see me flailing my arms like I was back in the 90s doing the Funky Chicken and barely inching forwards. None of that effortless gliding you see in the Olympics, oh no. One of the first things that struck me, other than that I felt incredibly unwieldy despite growing up skiing, was that there were actually ruts that you were supposed to stay in.

So I shuffled along in my rut as the people ahead of me steadily pulled away. Christian told me the basics then took the approach of letting me figure it out for myself, though every time he looked back he was definitely repressing a laugh. It didn't take him long to suggest that I forget about the poles for a bit and just try with my legs. I made progress enough to graduate back up to pole usage. One of the interesting things about the poles is that you loop the strap around your wrist, as normal, but then place your hands over the straps to give you more leverage. You're also supposed to more or less let go at the end of each push, but I never quite got the hang of that.

I started getting in a rhythm eventually, enough so that I had caught (and passed!) the group ahead within three kilometers. After another two kilometers, Christian decided I could manage the 11 kilometer loop (the blue one on the map), so we trekked onwards.

It was really quite soothing once I stopped getting ahead or behind (or to the side of) the rhythm; I would just slide along through quiet forests and across blanketed fields at my own pace. My Nordic skiing pace is Grandma-speed, by the way. It also ended up being the perfect temperature, despite my skepticism when we got out of the car. It was a few degrees above freezing, which sounds, well, freezing, but once you got going you warmed up quite quickly and never went fast enough for the wind in your face to be a bother. Well, I never went fast enough.

Christian said that I got the hang of it surprisingly quickly and asked if I wanted to try skating (the tracks on the left side of the lane in the above picture), so I did. It was awful. I seriously thought that I was on ice with silk socks. I'm not much of an ice skater anyway, but I'm used to skis with edges, dang it! After flailing even more than when I first started, I decided I should just conquer one new technique for the day and let it fully sink in.

I was really disappointed when we came around a bend and were back in Gutenbrunn. I would gladly have taken another lap, but I had an afternoon dessert date with Günter, Anna, and company. We finished the course in 2 hours, though. Fast? Slow? I have no idea, but Christian assured me that he didn't expect me to be able to go that far in two hours. Still, I was constantly floored by the distance he could put between us with three little gliding strides. I need to come back to Gutenbrunn, too, as apparently they are quite well known (by whom? I'm not quite sure) for their Knödel, giant bread or potato dumplings.

However, although I was sad to miss that opportunity, the Topfencreme hit Erdbeersauce I had at Günter's favorite patisserie made it well worthwhile! I didn't think it was really something we have in the US, but Wikipedia informs me that it's called "Quark". Since I would expect to be served some duck if asked if I wanted any (under the assumption that the person offering was a bit of a quack), I would be surprised to instead have a plate of something similar to curd cheese. Okay, that sounds like a horrible dessert, I know, but this was whipped with cream and not at all cheesy and really quite delicious.

It's open Tuesday through Saturday, 7:00am - 7:00pm, and Sundays 8:00am - 7:00pm. If you have access to a car, a friend with a car, or you want to make friends with someone who has a car, go here.
Café-Konditorei Kadlec
Karl Bergerplatz 3
3443 Sieghartskirchen

Michael's Visit - Part II

Sunday promised to be just as cold as the previous day. Keeping that in mind along with the knowledge that we would be spending comparatively more time outside, we were a bit better equipped to face the day with our attire.

We started our morning with the Mariazeller Mass by Haydn at the Jesuitenkirche. A group from the university was going so we tagged along. The church alone is worth poking your head into as it's one of the most ornate Baroque churches in Vienna with spiraling marble pillars, gilded everything, frescoes, and an incredible trompe l'oeil dome that was painted on a flat ceiling but is wholly convincing as a dome - as long as you're standing at the back of the nave.

This mass actually had a full orchestra playing with three soloists, and of course the pipe organ. I've never been to any sort of church service with an orchestra performing before, and apparently they do that almost every Sunday here. Nevermind that mass was in German; the music alone was worth going for.

Afterwards Michael and I got lunch at Café Central. I tried the Vanilleschnitte this time, but I would assert that it does not measure up to the Klimt Surprise. Once we were warmed up again (the Jesuitenkirche was rather drafty) and had our fill of good food, we returned to Staphansdom to climb the southern spire so Michael could get a better idea of the layout of the city. Luckily the top room where you can look out was heated and there was hardly a cloud in the sky, so we had a great view. I also noticed this a little to the left of the Belvedere Palace (thus east of there, and perhaps a tad bit closer to the city center).

Looks Russian. Might need to go check that out.

We then drove out to Schönbrunn to walk around the gardens for as long as we could stand the cold. There weren't too many other wanderers out and it was a really pretty time of day to be there as the afternoon sun cast long shadows across the crisp winter grounds. Of course none of the fountains were running, and the pond in front of Neptune's Fountain was completely frozen over. There were signs posted about not ice skating there. I wasn't tempted.

We then strolled up (and by 'strolled' I mean 'hunched over to block the wind during the extended walk') to the Gloriette at the top of the hill behind the palace. We ordered some hot chocolate and split some Kaiserschmarrn, a traditional Austrian dessert very similar to funnel cake served with a berry sauce on the side. We closed the cafe down, feeling rejuvenated enough to give ice skating a go.

We went back to the city center because the Rathaus has a giant skating rink built in front right now. But that's not all. I had noticed movement through the trees in the park a few times while driving along the Ring and realized that there were ice trails through the woods! Yes, the city hall had one giant ice rink connected to a smaller rink by a fence-lined five-foot-wide path that meanders through the trees. But that's not all! To leave that rink, you either exit the ice completely, or you start on a maze of trails that weave through the trees and periodically come upon roundabouts, totally European-style, so that you actually have options of where to go!

Once again, I find myself incredibly impressed with the offerings of the Rathaus. As Michael pointed out, Vienna is used to entertaining people. Between the summer film festival, the  Christmas market, and now the ice skating rink, the Rathaus does not disappoint. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do this spring. The rental prices were also really reasonable, too. We skated for a few hours, then grabbed a quick raclette (which I knew about thanks to Lauren's French endeavors) to eat, then made our way over to the Hofburg for a Mozart and Strauss concert. A little on the touristy side (okay, a lot on the touristy side), but they play some of the most well-known pieces and we thought it would be worthwhile to get in a little music.

After the concert, we swung back to the house to pick up some of the others for a dessert at Burgerhof. And not just any dessert - I wanted Michael to experience Salzburger Nockerl. Luckily we had a round six people, which was a perfect number to split two of the desserts.

I think we may have been the only ones left in the restaurant by the time we left, but the owner at least did a double take when he saw me, so maybe he's starting to recognize me (we've been introduced, or at least shaken hands, three or four times now). But, as it was getting late, Michael and I just went back to the house after dropping everyone else off.

Monday was back to being overcast. I had to get some paperwork done at the U.S. Embassy, so I left Michael to explore the Military History Museum, then picked him up for lunch at the Naschmarkt. I wanted to take him to Kim Kocht, but we found out that it's closed on Mondays, so we ended up at a Vietnamese Naschmarkt restaurant which was also good. I was really excited to show Michael around the Naschmarkt afterwards, food that he is... except that it was dead. Literally, I've never seen it so empty before. About 65% of the stalls were closed and locked up, and we maybe passed ten other people in the entire place. Huge disappointment. But at least he found a few spices to take back to Becca.

But, as it was cold and we had some time to kill since it took us a quarter of the time I expected it to to wander the Naschmarkt, I decided we should take a spin through the Vienna woods. It always amazes me how abruptly they start at the edge of the city, and the hills climb up and give you a gorgeous view onto Vienna over the treetops (when it's not overcast).

I had to get back to work after that, so the rest of the afternoon was pretty low-key. We went to Palette for a final drink, then called it a night so we could wake up at 4:00am to drive through the snow to get Michael to the airport. I'm still just so thrilled that he was able to make it out to visit! Thanks again, Michael!

Michael's Visit - Part I

I got an absolutely fantastic bit of news over Christmas: out of the blue, really, Michael called to see if I was going to be in Vienna in early February. I confirmed that yes, I would be. Two days later he had a flight booked to come visit me on the tail end of his trip to Germany! Talk about a good friend :-)

So, two weekends ago now, I giddily greeted a sleepy Michael as he came through security (or lack thereof) in the Vienna International Airport. It was already late when he landed, and I had a full day planned for Saturday, so we opted to go back and get a full night's sleep (though of course that was also stunted by at least a brief overview of catching up; we hadn't seen each other since September and could have been better about staying in touch).

Saturday dawned brisk and overcast, as promised, but at least it wasn't snowing. Unfortunately the few days leading up to Michael's arrival marked the first significant plummet in temperatures all winter, so I was finally experiencing the bitterly cold wind that everyone had been warning me about. Not the best conditions to be showing Michael around in, but we made do with what we were given and took every opportunity to duck inside to 'look at things' (i.e. keep our fingers and noses from turning blue). I thought Café Demel would be a good introduction (well, I hoped that it would be though I'd never actually eaten there, only ordered hot chocolate at the bar), so we started there for breakfast. Brunch, really. I gave him a brief introduction to Viennese coffee culture, the tipping policy here, etc. over our simple but delicious kleines Frühstück. Ready to take on the day, we went back downstairs and happened to catch a few of the chefs decorating chocolate, which I hadn't seen before at Café Demel.

I would like to say that we then wandered the streets of Vienna far and wide, but that wouldn't quite be accurate. Rather, I showed him around to some of the highlights, we lingered long enough for him to snap a shot or two, then we bowed our heads back into the wind to make it to the next place of interest before we were frozen in place. I ad libbed a bit and added the National Library to our tour while we were near the Hofburg, mostly to get us out of the wind, but also because I love that library and it's very well priced (€4.50 for students) as far as things you have to pay to see go. My next goal is figuring out how to get access to the balcony level and the secret rooms behind some of the bookcases...

After sufficient time spent wandering the stacks we sallied over to the Dorotheum, the largest auction house in Central Europe. No purchases this grey Saturday, but it's always fun walking around in there; new things are constantly cycling through.

I did a quick tour of a few other main sites around the first district on our way to lunch, though the wind made it a decidedly abridged tour. Anyway, since it's one of my new favorite lunch places, I took Michael to Hansen, the restaurant under the Stock Exchange building. It was a slightly late lunch by Viennese standards so we had the place mostly to ourselves and were able to continue catching up at length.

Afterwards I took Michael to the Albertina in a bit of a roundabout way. We stopped off at Xocolate in the Passage des Palais Ferstel, because... well, is it really necessary to give a reason? Exactly. I also detoured over to Minoritenkirche, the Italian church built in French Gothic from 1276 to 1350. What's so interesting about this church?

Only that it has a life-size mosaic (yes, mosaic) replica of the Last Supper. It's so detailed that you can hardly even tell it's a mosaic when you're standing at the base of it. Napoleon commissioned Giacomo Raffaelli to make it in 1809, but he was abdicated before it was completed. Francis II bought it to install in the Belvedere, but it was too large, so he donated it to the Italian Church. Seems fitting, right?

I thought the Albertina would be interesting for Michael since it has a bit of everything, including a nice collection of Monet, whose work Michael is particularly fond of. There was also a Magritte exhibition at the time, and although surrealism is not my favorite style, it was incredibly impressive to see so many works by one artist amassed in one place. His exhibition alone may be bigger than the entire permanent "Monet to Picasso" collection housed at the Albertina; they displayed over 150 of his works. Here's one of the ones I did like:

Black Magic, 1945

It was well past dark by the time we left, so with one final look at the Albertina we headed over to pick up Anna for dinner.

I had made reservations for us at Le Loft in Hotel Sofitel. I had been wanting to eat there since I noticed the vibrant ceiling across the Danube canal from Schwedenplatz this past summer. I tried to make reservations before Christmas, but as this is apparently the hit new spot to eat in Vienna, they were booked for the next two and a half weeks. However, I was able to get the three of us in for Saturday night.

Stephansdom and the Rathaus lit up in the background, picture credit Mein Kaffee

The food was of course delicious, but the view is definitely what you paid for. I'm really glad that I finally made it here, but I think I'm still going to be opting for DO & Co for future nice dinner options; the food is equally delectable, perhaps even more-so, and the price is a lot more reasonable. Plus I always like having an up-close view of the magnificent Gothic architecture of Stephansdom.

Music Music Music (+ Making Some Music of Our Own)

I'm pretty pleased to say that I've recently been taking full advantage of Vienna's status as the City of Music. What better way to spend bitterly cold evenings (and afternoons) than by being out of the frigid temperatures and amidst some of the best musicians in the world?

The last Sunday in January I gathered a crew of music aficionados to introduce them to the wonders of the Staatsoper. There was a matinee of La Sylphide two Sundays ago, and even though I've seen it twice this season, it's hard to pass up a €4 orchestra-level place. I also like getting to know some of these performances a little better, going from waiting obliviously for what will happen next to eagerly anticipating the upcoming pas de deux.

I also finally figured out what this season's fire safety curtain says: "Permit yourself to drift from what you are reading at this very moment into another situation, another way of acting within the historical and psychic geographies in which the event of your own reading is here and now taking place; here - and now - taking the place of other ways of making passionate and energetic connections between us. Imagine a situation like that, in all likelihood, you've never been in." The performance was as good as ever, the dancing being my main interest, and Denys Cherevychko as James did not disappoint. This was also his role debut at the Staatsoper, and although he had a few missteps he made up for it brilliantly! I would imagine nerves could do that; the Staatsoper's no small place to debut!

Then, the truly ambitious (and not yet laden with work) Nick came with me to the Theater an der Wien for a second performance. To be completely accurate, it was a second and third performance because they were doing a combo of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and Rachmaninov's Francesca da Rimini, operas in one and two acts, respectively. Vassily Sinaisky, conductor for the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, was here to conduct this performance. Nick, an aspiring conductor, also taught me a thing or two about the position which was neat.

I had never been to the Theater an der Wien before, so it was neat being in a new venue here. As of course it would be, the theater was gorgeous! I opted to sit closer up this time in exchange for having a sliver of the stage out of view, but I had a really good view of the part of the stage I could see.

The performance was as good as I would expect from something staged in Vienna, although it was decidedly modern. It was very imaginative and made great use of the space (the half-orb would spin around and either circle into the foreground or the background for each scene), but I just can't help it: I much prefer a more traditional take on the performing arts.

Iolanta

Francesca da Rimini 

Photos courtesy of Theater an der Wien

Still, the singing was spectacular, especially Saimir Pirgu as tenor (Gottfried von Vaudémont and Paolo, respectively).

Then, Tuesday night, David got tickets for his classes to go to a Beethoven recital + recitation. It was at Ehrbar Saal, a little recital hall down a pretty random side street near Karlsplatz. I really love how many beautiful performance spaces are tucked away in this city in the most unlikely of places!

The program for the evening was:

Sonata for Piano and Violin in G major, Op. 30/3
Allegro assai
Tempo di Minuetto
Allegro vivace
(Jasminka Stancul and Christian Altenburger)

Recitation of August von Kotzebue's Die schlaue Witwe (The Cunning Widow)
(Maria Happel and August Schmölzer)

Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor, Op. 5/2
Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo 
Allegro molto più tosto presto
Rondo. Allegro
(Jasminka Stancul and Reinhard Latzko)

Sonata for Piano and Violin in A Major, Op. 47, Kreutzer-Sonata
Adagio sostenuto - Presto
Andante con Variazioni
Presto
(Jasminka Stancul and Christian Altenburger)


Another very well done performance in an intimate setting with especially agile piano playing! Also, fun fact, the first piece, published in 1803, was dedicated to Czar Alexander I.

Changing tune a bit on Thursday, I came into town after work to join Anna and crew for their latest discovery: karaoke at a café on Wipplingerstrasse. Apparently Anna had noticed people singing there a few times when walking back from Waxy Murphy's, so when they passed it the week before some of the other students insisted on going in and they all had a blast. It's becoming a bit of a weekly outing now because it's such a low-key, fun atmosphere! The bartender, Rudy, is hilarious and very friendly, and every night we've gone there have maybe only been ten other people there, tops. They have a surprisingly large collection of songs, too (Anna and I did a duet for Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places").

Most of the students here right now are music majors, so there are some pretty great voices in the group. It may also be part of the reason that we're so welcome, since I wouldn't say the same for 90% of the regulars there. Then again, the reason that this place is great is that no one really cares, and everyone sings along to all of the songs anyway. Too bad Rudy and his girlfriend-wife (we're not really sure; they've called each other both) are going skiing for the next two weeks.

Then, last Friday I had some time to kill before picking Michael up at the airport, so I went to the Konzert Haus to try and get into a Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky performance by the Viennese Symphony. Usually when you show up at these concerts about twenty minutes before the performance starts you can get some of the better seats that didn't sell for really good prices. My ticket that evening was €14.

I was really excited to hear some Russian music as it's not played terribly frequently in the city of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. This concert also featured Alexander Kniazev on cello and Vladimir Fedosejev conducting, both from Russia. They were performing:

Shostakovich's
Festive Overture in A Major, Op. 96

Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 126
Largo
Allegretto
Allegretto

Tchaikovsky's
Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64
Andante - Allegro con anima
Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza
Valse. Allegro moderato
Finale. Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace

Wow. That concert was incredibly moving! I wasn't familiar with those pieces before, but good grief! I particularly enjoyed Tchaikovsky's symphony. It had been a while since I had been to the Konzert Haus, but I grabbed a schedule for the season on the way out and flipping through it while waiting for Michael at the airport I saw that Valery Gergiev will be conducting the London Symphony Orchestra here in a few months! Tickets aren't on sale for it yet, but I think that's going to be a performance I don't try and show up for hoping to get a seat the night of...

Bis bald!

The Latest Culinary Discovery

I need to apologize to everyone who has visited me thus far. Mom and Dad, Lauren, Ashley (well, you didn't exactly 'visit', but it was still my responsibility to make sure you got the best Viennese experience possible), I'm sorry. Come back. Michael, you're in luck. On Saturday Anna, John, Nick, and I had possibly the best lunch I've had in Vienna yet. This even tops Kim's in my opinion if I'm to consider the location and atmosphere of it. Die Mutter had told me about a restaurant in the basement of the Stock Exchange building which she really likes, and unfortunately I only just got around to trying it. Fortunately, I now know about it (and may have to go back every week).

It's down a relatively inconspicuous set of stairs (I say this only because I'd never paid much heed to them before) at a Ring-side corner of the vast red-orange Stock Exchange building. We were a little perplexed when we walked in to Hansen and saw a large floral shop which opened up into a giant vaulted underground hall, but we didn't see anywhere else we could possibly have gone, so we kept walking to the far end.

Behind all of the giant potted plants there was a set of tables complete with linen and cheerful Austrians. We came in and seated ourselves, as is customary in Vienna, and were treated to a delectable lunch! Anna started with a sort of squash soup which I immediately regretted not ordering as soon as I tried a spoonful, then we both had risotto with scallops (and there was chorizo in it!), Ryan had a very tender cut of beef (though exactly which cut I'm not certain), and John devoured some freshwater fish that none of us recognized. Dessert was good too, as you might expect. Hansen's menu also changes weekly, which I love!

After lunch we wandered around the floral shop for a bit; they really had a great (and vast) selection of plants and plant accessories!

 I'd like to point out that my Mother is ahead of the game; she got me boxes like this (except with inverse colors) for Christmas last year

I'm thinking this would make a good Flow addition

It was an uncharacteristically pleasant day out, so we went to wander the Naschmarkt for a while. Nick, being from China, scoped out a few of the Chinese 'grocery stores' there and gave us insight into which ones are authentic. We helped John go veggie shopping, samples kababs, drank hot chocolate... it was great! Oh, and since this is supposed to be a 'culinary' post, I was fascinated by this little discovery:

Squid Squares! (okay, they're actually octopus, but I thought the concept had very catchy advertising potential)

We went back to the house as it was getting dark, I went out to grab dinner at the Zwölfapostlekeller with Joe, then we rendezvoused with the house group again to plan what to do for the night. There was a strong push to go to Travelshack, an Aussie bar next to Westbahnhof, so we did that. It was pretty laid back, if not a bit loud, but interesting folks there. And interesting drinks. There was one called a Fireshot that was especially noteworthy. I was driving so I didn't have it , not that I would have tried this anyway, but you basically take the alcohol in your mouth, the waitress lights it and shakes cinnamon over the flame to make it sparkle, then closes your mouth to stop the flame. Popular concept, I'm sure, but I've never seen anyone do one in person. Luckily (if you can call it that?), some of the group wanted to give it a go, so I was a witness to the fun.

We were there for a while, but I had a pretty long day planned for Sunday, so I didn't hang out too late. Saturday: Success!