When You're Having Fun...

...time flies.  I had forgotten to turn my watch forward a day at the beginning of May, and when I corrected it just the other day, I realized that I've been here 8 months, with only two to go.  I remember distinctly my thoughts before I left home back in September, thinking that this would be an awfully long time away from home, a challenging year, a year of working and learning, a year that would be integral to the foundation of my future.  I thought it would be a lot of things, and it certainly has proven to be that way, but the one thought that was furthest from my mind was that it would be short.  The first month, I think, was the quickest, as there was so much to do, so many trains to take, so much moving around, so many people to meet, and so much adjusting that needed to happen swiftly.  Right off the bat, I became friends with an awesome group of people, and so then the hardships were balanced with great times being around a fun crowd.  8 months, 36 weeks, 3/4 of a year - it's a good chunk of time, and it's just crazy how fast it's passed by.  

Last week I took an early train about two hours north of Salzburg, to the tiny Bavarian city of Passau on the Austro-German border.  It's famous for being at the confluence of three major rivers, the Inn, the Ilz, and the Danube, and for its Italianate baroque architecture.  I had spent a day there on my first solo trip to Europe while participating in a summer German immersion program in northern Bavaria back in 2009, but this time, I wouldn't be alone.  There, in one of the most random of places in this neck of the woods, I met my parents.  Mom & Dad were taking a 15-day river cruise from Amsterdam through the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary to Budapest, stopping at a new city each day.  It was surreal seeing them in Passau, of all places.  I met them in Lederhosen, of course, as they were on my turf, and we walked around the city for a bit.  It's really tiny, and I think we saw absolutely everything in under an hour.  We found a quiet street corner café and had some coffee.  I think the thing that surprised my parents most was how little coffee one gets, as compared to your average American cup, but, they really, really enjoyed it.  The café was sort of quirky inside, but it had two huge glass counters with sweets, one with cakes, and the other with a multitude of chocolate truffles of every flavor imaginable.  We actually liked the place so much, that we returned later in the afternoon and split three different cakes between us: a plum torte, a sort of cherry cheesecake, and a colorful liqueur-soaked cake that tasted a bit like cassata.  

Mom & Dad get a taste of my life for the past 8 months.

At midday we joined the the rest of the group from their boat at the Cathedral of St. Stephan for an organ concert.  The church has one of the most stunning ceilings I've ever beheld, and the organ is the world's largest cathedral organ, with nearly 18,000 pipes.  The organist started with a rousing Bach piece, jumped forward 300 years with a work by the French composer Marcel Dupré, and finished off with the finale from Widor's Fifth Symphony, which everyone knows and which really (literally) shook the building - it was incredible!  After the recital, we headed to a rooftop restaurant along the river for lunch.  Wiener Schnitzel, potatoes, and Weißbier - couldn't have asked for a more typical, or better, meal.  We headed back to their boat just across the street, and took some comfort in the shaded lounge chairs atop the deck and relaxed to the view of the pastel-colored houses across the way and the rush of the Danube as it flowed on to the east. A little bit later, and it was time to say farewell until I return home before the 4th of July.  

Stunningly beautiful and tremendously sumptuous sound in Dom St. Stephan, Passau.

Because of a few holidays, I haven't worked in nearly a week, so I took up some quality time here in Salzburg.  I've been to my favorite café here 5 times since they opened a little over a week ago, and the owner says I'm his best customer (which I'm slightly ashamed about, but it's SO good!)  I went with a few friends the other day, and the waitress already knew my order before I opened my mouth.  That's bad!  I hopelessly try and justify my going there so frequently, so I'll just say that because they were closed for 4 months, they could use the money, and, I have to get as much of this café culture as I can possibly take, because 2 months from now, there'll only be Starbucks back in the States!  Many of the museums in town opened their doors free of charge, and I took the opportunity to visit the Cathedral museum, which has the most ridiculous opening hours.  After months of hitting and missing, I finally got inside, and grabbed a pretty cool view of the place from the organ loft.  There were also some incredible treasures in there, like bejeweled vessels hundreds of years old, and vestments handmade in Spain of gold threads for one of the archbishop's elevation to the cardinalate in the 1700s.  A few days ago, I went to the local brewery, Stiegl, to pick up some gifts in their store.  Two friends came along, and we ended up in their courtyard beer garden for lunch.  I nearly ordered my go-to dish, Schnitzel, but they had a burger on their menu, and oh, how I have been craving one of those!  1/2 lb. of fresh, really fresh, meat cooked medium rare, cheese, thick bacon, lettuce and red onion - delicious!  Add some crispy fries and both a Weißbier and a seasonal Kräuterbier, and I was very, very happy!

The past few days Salzburg's been host to a regional brass music festival.  The bands were pretty amateurish yesterday, but this morning I caught about an hour of Salzburg's own Trachtenkapelle, a wind ensemble that specializes in the traditional music of the province.  There they were, dressed in the blue and brown Trachten from Mozart's time, playing Austrian military marches, Strauss waltzes, and even some Dvorak and von Suppé's famous Light Cavalry Overture.  It was quality music, a fun performance, and a wonderful venue set in the shadow of the great cathedral and the mist of the lively fountain in the Residenzplatz, and it's one of the things that I treasure about this place - a living tradition that attracts those from all ages, and brings them together (for free) to celebrate the Austrian way of life.  

Apologies for the atrocious picture quality - not sure why it's distorted here.

Franz von Suppé: Ouvertüre - Leichte Kavallerie

Guitar hero in the room next door has his final recital coming up before he returns to Colombia for the summer.  At this point, I think I'm going to pay for the ticket simply so I could hear how the end of his singular piece actually ends.  If he actually plays it through without erring, I can die knowing I've witnessed a true act of God, because that's really the only thing that'll pull him through.  In the meantime, as always, he's "trying."  

I booked a trip to see a great friend in England, my best friend comes in 2 days, 4 more days left of work, and a whole lot to do.  Time flies when you're having fun!