The "cultural experience"...

On Wednesday I wrote a post and then accidentally deleted it all. It was late, I was tired--so I copped out and just posted a photo from my afternoon walk to Facebook. Now that it’s actively snowing out but promises to be beautiful tomorrow, I’m having a lazy morning/early afternoon of coffee, laundry, and blogging.

It’s tradition in my family to create nicknames or new terms for travel experiences: “Temples, Tidbits, and Tipples” in Japan, “Bikers and Buddhists” in the upper Midwest (long story), and the dreaded/hoped for “cultural experience.” As you can see, there are bonus points for alliteration. So in keeping with that tradition, I inaugurated “Museum Mittwoch.” How handy that the alliterative day of the week in German can be Wednesday instead of Monday, when many museums (and other businesses during winter, I’ve found) are often closed. This seasonal pattern of closing/opening might reach the level of “cultural experience” but it’s something I’ve long sinced learned to expect, so it doesn’t really capture the “oops, well…” quality of a true cultural experience. Rather than terming something an “accident,” “mistake,” “faux pas,” or in one case “near death experience,” calling it a “cultural experience” captures more of what it really is to the open minded. We learn more about each other from such misunderstandings and misalignments, provided there’s no ill intent or real harm done, than we do from many intentional experiences. 

Which brings me to the whole reason for Museum Mittwoch… “halb zehn” is half an hour before ten, not half past. Oops. Thankfully, this was not my first day at the archive, and so not a first impression. But it was still embarassing. So I apologized profusely in both languages and indicated in German that it was fine if I had to now wait until the archivist returned from her meetings, I would just go to the museum. The upshot of all of this, besides the pictures below, was that I learned some German rules and that the archivist has proven to be kind about the whole thing. She clarifys each time she mentions a time but has not switched to English on me, even though she can. She is patient and encouraging with my slow German and I’ve learned as much from her as I have from the materials so far. I will definitely be getting her a gift of some kind before I leave.

My gift to myself that day was the Museum der Modern (which sits directly above the archives on the Mönschberg) and has the most amazing restaurant, M24. Oh, and some amazing views.

The view from lunch at M24 (also, going for lunch definitely the right choice... dinner would bankrupt me).

The collection? So lala, but the space was incredible, as was the post-lunch stroll across the other side of the mountain, where I could see the Alps, which had been shrouded in clouds until that afternoon.

The "back side" of the Festung Hohensalzburg (as in on the far side of the Monschberg from the Altstadt).

 And then I found this lovely Linden tree, almost as if I were in the middle of a Schubert Lied.

And then here was the explanation... some middle school students planted this in 1931.

And I was much revived when I returned to the research. I’m pretty sure this mid-week jaunt is what gave me the energy to keep working the rest of the week. Once in Vienna, Museum Mittwoch will be a handy way to decompress after my seminar. Speaking of that, more on what I now know of Viennese students next time...

Hier kommt die Reiseportion...

Yup, now that I've arrived in Salzburg for the first month of my time abroad there are pictures (and some observations) to share. My first day and a half in Salzburg was spent recovering from the trip and moving from my university's house on the Monchsberg into my own apartment down in the Altsadt. Plus learning the way to and from those two locations. I have a pretty good sense of direction but scaling the Monschberg and traversing it can be... complicated.

Today was the first day I actually saw some of the city on my own and it's still as lovely as I remembered, although I am looking with different eyes this time. Where is there a good Apotheke? What seems to be the cheapest grocery store? Home goods? Most of this stuff is not in the Altstadt, so I walked over to the train station, observing the change in shops and price points. The best serendipitous discovery? The Asian market. Thank goodness.

Anyway, after running all the errands and acquiring my European cell phone, I decided to be a tourist for an hour. Oh, hello der Dom, I'm your new neighbor. No, really, I am less than 300 meters from it. Mein Gott, those bells are loud.

The best thing about waiting until twilight to visit was the eerie light in the typisch Baroque interior. The longer shadows accentuate all the carvings, the chiaroscuro of the paintings in each chapel melds into the encroaching darkness, and the candles seem to burn a bit brighter.

 And it makes the organ pipes shine in a charming way. You may also notice the Weihnachts decorations still up. I'm not sure why this is the case. Perhaps for the benefit of tourists? Or maybe they are traditionally left up through Fasching (Carnival)? Either way, it mean the nativity scene was still there...

The trees are real.

We two kings? At least it's somewhat historically accurate re: race.

The shepherds look like they walked right out of the Salzkammergut.

And after a really cold walk home, I made my first dinner in my new kitchen. Oh, how I have missed liptauer (the cheese spread pictured here) and gruener veltliner. You can get both in the U.S. but not without some trouble (and certainly not without paying a premium).

Now, to get to work.