Hello friends.
I have been trying to get this blog running for a few days now but due to technical difficulties and the unforeseen effects of jet lag I have been unable to get to this until now. As some of you know I've never been outside of the country before. Ever. Not even to Canada though I've lived my entire life in a state the borders it for several hundred miles. I have been lucky to be able to to go on a trip with my fiancee, Katie. We are both from Dillon, Montana- a small town that seems even smaller now that I've seen what a city with almost 2 million people living in it truly looks like. I don't mean that in a negative way at all- my eyes have just been opened about a hundred times their original size in about 2 days.
But let me back up a little. Out mutual friend Danielle, or "Guido" or sometimes just "D" as she is affectionately known, deserves a huge shout out from Katie and I. Not only did she help me frantically finish packing the night before we were supposed to leave, she drove us to catch the bus at 2:30 am Missoula time. Thank you, Guido!
And thank you to our neighbor, Bob, who is watering our plants and getting out mail for us while we're gone, and our dear friend Caitlin Hepburn who is also helping watch our place and moved our bikes for us. Thanks guys!
After boarding the bus we then had an 8 hour ride to the Seattle airport. Holy cramped up knees, Batman. After going through security, we had a few hours wait before boarding the flight to Paris. Katie and I took the opportunity to eat a final burger and fries for lunch. As we took off for Paris, I was very excited but also very tired. I had no idea how much more tired I was going to get in the days to come, however.
Our flight on Air Paris had fantastic food- chicken chicken catchatori, bread and butter, smoked salmon with couscous, cranberry-orange cake, and champagne. All free of charge. And then after dinner brandy. Mmmmmm. And there were little movie screens built into the back of the seats with lots of movies to watch and music to listen to. I didn't get too much sleep even though the flight was about 10 hours long.
When we arrived in Paris it was pretty cloudy, so I couldn't see anything on the way down. However, it cleared up during the afternoon and when we took off for Vienna I was able to get a great view of the Eiffel Tower. It was incredible.
When we arrived in Vienna after a 2 hour flight, it was a mad dash (but more like an angry waddle for me) to the luggage claim. Thankfully, everything was there safe and sound. With me I brought a computer, a projector, a tripod, a video camera, a Canon DSLR and a flute. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention what I'm doing in Vienna for the next 5 weeks. I am studying abroad with the University of Montana doing music and digital art performances. I have a music minor in Flute performance, and
a Bachelor of Art in Media Arts in Integrated Digital Media. I will be performing with the Flute Choir and the MELEe Computer Music Ensemble. I do live video art with the ensemble as the members perform original compositions.
We are staying at the Vienna City Hostel. It is a small but clean place with a free breakfast every morning that includes meat, cheese, bread, and hot cereals. It is close to a U-Bhan (subway) stop that we take everyday to get to the IES center in the Palace Corbelli. This is where the classrooms and performance areas are. There are also practice rooms, a library, and beautiful ornate Baroque paintings and sculptures everywhere. Which is just like the city itself- decoration upon decoration as far as the eye can see. So far we have visited St. Stephen's Cathedral, Karlskirche (St. Charle's Church), the Griechen Beisel, the Kunsthistorisches Museum (or KHM), Hundertwasserhaus, the Belvedere Palace, The Imperial Palace, and tons of other beautiful places I will be describing more at a later date with pictures.
I hope this finds all of my family and friends well, and I think of you often! I will be very excited to see you all in a few weeks.
Peace and Blessin's,
CMR
