Week 2, part zwei

Look at what I found! A blog entry that I started in Vienna, but never got around to uploading (needed to add pictures)! This is the summary of the second part of week 2 of the institute (which was in early July)! There were 4 weeks total, so these questions remain: will I get around to posting pictures from weeks 3 and 4? Will my favorite pictures from Venice ever grace this blog? I say a resounding YES to both questions (but when? I say a resounding "I have no idea")!

Thursday: Today we continued talking about the Abduction, and then went to the library established by Josef II. Until this point, there was no public library, but because he embraced enlightenment values, he created a library so that all could be educated. It’s exactly what I imagine MY library to be like some day!

After that, we went to the Demel pastry store, which catered to Sisi and other royals and has been around for like 200 years! We went to celebrate the 34th birth year of one of the institute participants, who is awesome and teaches music in swampy Florida (where you can apparently buy houses for 90K, which is confusing to someone from the bay area).

Friday: Today we went to the Instrument museum, where we saw Beethoven’s piano and a really stark portrait of the guy. The keys were incredibly worn down due to his deafness and subsequent banging on them to hear. We saw really cool pianos that were built into game boards and pieces of furniture.

Saturday: We took a train to Melk, toured the humongous abbey there and then took a boat ride down the Danube. The boat ride was awesome because we got to see lots of castles—some still functioning and others crumbling.

Me in Melk

The town was very small and cute. We ate a traditional German meal before we went to the abbey. The vegetarian option at the restaurant was stinging nettle ravioli, which were really good.

The inner courtyard and a long hallway of portraits.

The abbey was impressive in its museum exhibition design. Every room was distinct and loud.

The abbey had nice views of the town and the Danube.

The view of the abbey from the banks of the Danube.

From the river boat!

Sunday: We went to Schonbrunn, which is home to the second largest gardens in all of Europe (the largest are at Versailles). We toured the imperial apartments where we were introduced to Joseph II’s unhealthy approach to life, “You should work until you are exhausted”. That guy got up at 4 am and then worked until bedtime, not even stopping to take meals (they were brought to him). He was married to Sisi, who had hair down to her ankles (took 3 hours to do) and refused portraits after she turned the decrepit old age of 30 (she didn’t want to look bad).

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the apartments and it was a rainy day, so my pictures are sparse.

Of course, we did have to take a pastry break.

The gardens were opened to the public in the late 18th century (another enlightenment outcome).