Castles, Old and New (Relatively Speaking)

As of this past Thursday, I have officially completed my first course! I even got a nice certificate to show for it. Tomorrow, I will be starting the B1+ German course, which is the next level up, and by the end of September I will (hopefully) be well prepared for my classes at Marburg.

Castles Old

Surrounding Dürnstein were these vineyards, with the ruins on the hill overlooking the town.

As I mentioned in my last post, I went on a trip to the Wachau Valley last Sunday. We took a train to a town called Krems, before taking a bus out to Dürnstein. It was a beautiful town along the Donau, and we had a picnic along the shore before beginning our hike to the Ruins Dürnstein.

The ruins date back to the 12th Century, and are known for being the location where King Richard the Lionheart was jailed by Duke Leopold V of Austria. Along the hike up to the ruins, there were various plaques and figures explaining the history of the location and the story of King Richard.

The Ruins Dürnstein up close.

I immediately recognized the name because of, wait for it, Disney’s Robin Hood cartoon. For some reason, I remembered that the “Good King Richard” in the movie was animated as a lion as a reference to his nickname. Despite the association of King Richard with Robin Hood, the story of Robin Hood is only a legend — there was even a plaque along the trail that talked about it.

This was the view from the top!

We were fairly lucky; the weather forecast predicted rain, but we had clear skies and a nice breeze for our hike. Once we reached the very top of the peak of the fortress, we took a break, ate our snacks and looked over the Wachau Valley. We could see the Donau, the town of Dürnstein, the vineyards and not-quite-mountains, and in the distance, another castle.

We took a different route from the castle back down to the town, where we spent some time wandering the streets. Then, we headed back to Krems and had some time to get ice cream before catching the train back to Vienna. I was so tired, I fell asleep on the train ride back.

Going to the Opera (Kinda)

The Vienna State Opera House is a building I’ve become very familiar with since coming to Vienna — I walk past it every day while heading to class, and can see it from the classroom window. I even included a picture of it in one of the first few posts on the blog. But I’d never been inside the building. Not until this past Monday, at least.

The entire building was beautiful.

The last IKI event of the month was a tour of the opera house. Once we were inside and paid for our tickets, we picked what language we wanted our tour to be in. I, of course, joined the German language tour group. The tour guide spoke pretty fast, but I was able to keep up with most of it.

I wish that I could actually go and see a performance here, but it certainly won’t happen in the near future. The tickets are exorbitantly expensive, and have to be booked months in advance. But at least I was able to tour the building!

Africa, but in Vienna

Following the tour of the opera house, several friends and I all went to the Africa Days festival. We’d heard about it from a person in a restaurant we visited with IKI. Throughout the month, the festival was holding different events on each day. We went on the last day of the festival, mostly because of the free admission.

Inside the festival were many different stalls selling things from clothing to drums to wooden figurines to tea. There was live music, and a giant circle of food stands with traditional African dishes. At several of the stalls, they were selling crocodile! I settled on something cheaper, and got a samosa. It was really nice to hang out with everyone, especially since some of them were going back to their home country at the end of the month.

Castles New

A view of the palace

We didn’t have class Friday morning, so I decided to visit one of the most iconic landmarks of Vienna: Schloss Schönbrunn. The place was packed, and I’m glad I didn’t save it for Saturday. I actually crossed paths with the same group of Canadian tourists 10 separate times, starting with the train there.

The palace is roughly 300 years old, which doesn’t make it “new,” but it is certainly not as old as the castle in Dürnstein. Its most famous residents were Maria Theresa, and later, Franz Joseph and Sisi. The audio tour detailed much of the history of its residents, with most of the rooms set up as they had been in the time of Franz Joseph. It was gorgeous, but unfortunately pictures are not allowed inside.

Samantha is a 5 year old

This was me actually making my second cup.

This week’s BCA group event was perhaps my favorite yet. Benjamin took us to a ceramic workshop! He taught us how to use a pottery wheel, and we each took a chunk of clay and worked it into a cup or bowl.

It was so much fun. Honestly, I think in the ideal timeline, I would spend all my time making pottery. I wish I’d had the chance to do this before now, and plan to do this again in the future. Maybe not in Vienna (though we come back next week to glaze them). But definitely when I get back home.

I embraced my inner five-year-old’s need to get her hands messy.

I ended up making two cups. When I was done, I played with the leftover clay, and made a tiny fortress wall (though it couldn’t actually be fired, due to the amount of air trapped inside). I don’t have a picture of that, however.

Also not pictured: the smears of clay that (inevitably) ended up on my face.

I’ve decided I’m going to close out my posts from now on with a music recommendation. What I’ve been listening to this week: Maschin by Bilderbuch.