A previous exchange student with my family in Australia (who we'll call 'Sally' in this blog for privacy) invited us to watch her sing at Melk Abby in Austria. The choral event was in a part a celebration after a week of high-standard singing classes. We looked forward to seeing my friend and hearing this special performance. However, getting there proved interesting...
As long term travelling companions can attest, there are times when you can choose to freak out at a situation or to band together in good humour and hope. This drive proved to be such an opportunity.
Google maps and our GPS advised that a few hours of driving down from the mountains lay before us. However, as we drove this timeframe seemed to increase endlessly as we encountered blocked major roads (fallen trees, rocks, accidents), a non-flexible car GPS, country roads that ended in farm driveways, and a freakin' large storm that blew several trees down onto the road in front of us. Amazingly - although half an hour late to the concert- we made it up to the Melk abbey alive and soaking wet, just in time to hear Sally sing in her group.
[Jahda: we later found out that another lady at the concert was driving when a tree fell on her car. She was late because they had to prise open the jammed doors so she could get out. How she got to the concert I'm not sure?! Or maybe it was a friend of hers? Either way, we were in that same storm!]
The interior of the Abby is one of the most magnificent I have ever seen - with interior decorating that rivals St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Within the gold-decked chapel the singers finished off with songs using some solfeggio notes that transported us to a state of bliss. (You may want to research 'solfeggio' as it's really interesting.)
Afterwards we met with my old friend and shared in an Austrian banquet and we were introduced to the rich, delicious food that makes Austria a great place to eat food! We regretted eating so much cheap supermarket roasted-meat-on-bread earlier.
The days that followed were fun and full of music as we joined my friend's family in Tulin, Austria. Her father plays the piano accordion and the normal (more difficult?) accordion and he taught Jahda a little bit. We recorded musical tunes and a family sing along on Jahda's iPad so we could keep some of these fun and beautiful Austrian tunes with us.
[Jahda: Once again I will ask, how did people ever travel before the days of iPads, GPS, and the Internet?]
We also enjoyed dinner at a nearby farmhouse where the food was fresh from the farm and very traditional - cured meats, cheeses, dips and breads. The big meal here is lunch and the dinner is a lower-key affair.
Sally then took us by train to her apartment in Vienna and showed us around the city for two days. We talked until 1am one night, unable to stop the sharing and flow of ideas.
Vienna appears to really cultivate the arts. At night in Summer there is a 'world buffet' of food venders outside the parliament house and there is free opera screened on a big screen. On the opposite side of this large area the grand opera house stands and, as we've mentioned in a previous blog, the buildings in Vienna continue on with row after row of elegant and stately looking buildings.
We strolled around the cathedral and walked passed the Hapsburgs' winter residence and imagined Franz Joseph l and Empress Sisi appearing on their balcony and addressing their subjects. We also strolled around the gardens of a palace inspired by Versailles (seriously, the Europeans really had a thing for Versailles!) and mused at a lone security guard trying to keep local students and tourists from sitting on the grassed areas spread all around the palace. Armed with just his whistle, a stern voice and animated gestures, he seemed to be making a reasonable go of it.
We walked past the Sacher cafe where the Austrian chocolate cake, the Sacher torte, was invented. Then avoided horse poop from the horses pulling carriages through the cobblestoned main squares (Sally wasn't so lucky, scooping suspicious liquid into her sandal - a minor hazard of living in such a great place); and spent time sitting all together on a canal with our feet over the edge as we joked and checked out the rare display of Viennese graffiti and ate gelato.
Too soon it was over and we found ourselves back in the stunning mountains driving towards Slovenia - a great visual cure for our sadness at farewelling Vienna.
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