Fezs are cool...

...but not as cool as Istanbul. Or Constantinople. Or Byzantium. Or New Rome. Seriously, folks, make up your minds...

The many long centuries of regime change have led to an interesting mix of culture... or layers more like. More on that, though, in another post when I have better internet. For now I have a post dedicated to my mother: tiles that look like quilt patterns (plus one stained glass window).

These are Iznik tiles and the most prevalent colors are turquoise, blue, and white (early 16th c.).

Wall niches are a popular feature to decorate with tiles in this way.

Flowers are a very common design in addition to the geometrics. Tulips make their way into the designs after the rule of Sultan Ahmet III, who had them planted all over the city at great cost. They're in bloom right now, in fact...

The focus on turquoise, white and black, as well as the geometric pattern, means these are probably Seljuk tiles, so more like 15th c.

And the stained glass is just as lovely...

Wall quilt... literally.

And gold, because the sultan's could afford it.

These were all taken in the Tiled Pavilion, which was once a part of Topkapi Palace and is thought to be the earliest surviving non-religious building in Istanbul (1472). I highly recommend visiting the Istanbul Archaeology Museums--even just this was worth it. Never mind the tiled decorations of the Ishtar Gate (Babylon) or any of the other Central Asian, Egyptian, and Greek/Roman antiquities. It's also the shortest line for the Museum Pass (winner for the longest goes to the Aya Sofya).

Spring Break! (but not exactly wild)

The last few weeks have been rather hectic, I have to say. Aber alles gut. I have settled into a groove with my classes in Vienna, just in time for a two week Oster Break. I also finished the revisions on an article that is now forthcoming in an American music journal back home. (Hallelujah!) Yesterday marked the end of my class in Salzburg and I also Skyped with my students back home to discuss the study abroad program with them. Between the inquisitiveness and, dare I say, sweetness of the students here and the excellent questions and enthusiasm from the ones still in California, I was reminded exactly why I love my job so much. It didn’t hurt that the class gave me chocolate on the last day (and a fantastic bracelet that will probably make it into a picture soon). All in all, a good couple weeks worth of work.

The best part, though? My brother came to visit!

Sibling self-portrait with Hofburg.

I think we’re both glad he’d been to Vienna and Salzburg before, because I unfortunately had to leave him to his own devices some of the time. I did manage to “clear the decks” enough to play around in Vienna, though.

We went to see both the Kunsthistoriches and the Natural History museums (the two official museums created by the Hapsburgs).

"American and Australia" on the facade of the Natural History Museum.

Maria Theresa's incredibly inbred dog. Stuffed.

The Natural History Museum was really my brother's excursion, but I enjoyed the paintings that decorate the inside of the museum...

Famous archeological sites in Europe.

Important cultural sites from all over the world.

Likewise, the trip to the Bestattungsmusem (Mortuary Museum) was really for the anthropologist among us, but I still am amused by this contraption...

An "economy" coffin introduced by Joseph II... one of many unpopular Josephinian reforms from the late 18th c.

Haydn's death mask.

 We also went to the Lower Belvedere Museum to see both some modern and Baroque art and strolled around the third district a bit...

Karlskirche

One of the original Jugendstil metro stops at Karlsplatz.

And oh hey, a picture of me since I actually have someone else around to take them!

A traditional Easter Market.

With traditional Easter eggs.. hollowed out and painted with a dizzying array of designs.

I’ll never know why he decided to join my class in Salzburg once we got there, but “Brother Baber” as he is now known to my students, was definitely a welcome presence. Once he toddled off again for his last quarter back home, I finished up both my archival work and the class in Salzburg and the whole crew--program director, his wife, and the assistants--went out for a wrap party (plus a birthday).

The venue? Hanger 7… aka where the owner of the Red Bull franchise keeps his toys. Like these…

The bar and restaurant, located in the hangar, is sehr hip. This would totally be a good place to bring a date you wanted to impress. I didn’t really care about anything other than the fact that I finally got to have some avocado. In a dessert no less!

Anyway, now I’m off to do some travelling myself. In fact, I am writing this post from the train between Salzburg and Vienna. I'm headed somewhere warmer than Austria, where we just had a late spring snowfall (just for the California boy). I’m also excited because it’s a country I’ve never been to before! Want to know where? Stay tuned…

Der Semester Ihre Freizeit; Die Professorin Ihre Freiheit...

Given my fascination with all things fin-de-siècle, it was inevitable I would wind up at the Secession building. It is, after all, the magnetic north of modernism.

The fact that it happened to be on the first really sunny day in Vienna? That was totally planned (and executed in spite of my still stuffed head). See, there's this thing the Secessionists had with gold...

Informally known as "the golden cabbage" the leafy golden dome glows very prettily on an otherwise fairly austere building. The gorgon heads (and the snakes creeping out of the facade here) are not so pretty, but are tributes to Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom and also a patron of arts. The slogan translates roughly: "to the age its art, to art its freedom."

As austere as the temple-like entrance might seem, along with the nearly all-white palette, everything about Joseph Maria Olbrich's design is organic. So, the petals in the background above and the creeping, flowering vines below...

All of this design is typically Jugendstil (what is elsewhere called art nouveau or English arts and crafts). I saw a bunch more of this today at the Museum of Applied Arts, or MAK. But on my first weekend I had to see the Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt, which resides in the Secession building's basement (the rest is still a functioning gallery space for contemporary art, as it was always intended to be). One of the current displays is an up-close and personal look at the frieze from a raised platform (it's usually well above eye level) and an explanation of its recent restoration. This is the only picture I was allowed to take, of the personification of Poetry (the copy made during the restoration). There couldn't have been a better start to my time in Vienna.

Last week, I promised pictures of my trip to Gumpoldskirchen for some wine tasting at Weinbau Schabl. When heading to any winery here you have to make sure it is "aus g'steckt"... that it's open, or more literally, that the "stick is out." This thing...

This tradition of seasonal openings relates back to the practice of selling the "new wine" at a food and wine establishment called a heuriger (imperial decree mandated that they also sell food). Since it was still during the warm spell, I thought some time in the countryside might be nice. And boy was I ever right. It was glorious and sunny... for about three hours.

I tried some local varietals... the Zierfandler and Rotgipfler, both dry whites (the "rot" in Rotgiplfer is the red tips of the leaves). I also had a friendly conversation (auf Deutsch) with the vintner's mother. I will definitely be coming back to visit this particular family business, though probably not for a bit. It is now sehr kalt again. We had some snow and are still experiencing below freezing temperatures and wind... like, Chicago style wind. So for now, I'll just think about being all cozy in the weinbau, nasching on homemade tidbits and drinking some Rotgipler while I hide from the cold snap.

Bringing it home...

I'm always grateful when I finish a week during the semester. Whether good, bad, or just done, I tend to wallow a little in that lull. So far I've checked "home-cooked food," "TV show of the moment," and "aimless tumblr scrolling" off the list of usual options. And then it occurred to me that blogging should now number among my Wochenende rituals.

Given that this was my first week teaching at the Universität Wien and the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, a reflection is in order. Thing number one I've realized... my American students have been holding out on me! The students in my Bernstein seminar all rapped on the tables when it was over (the academic version of applause). Where's the love guys?!

Aside from my now inflated expectations, interacting with a new group of students is always equal parts mild terror and excitement. And a double portion of each if I happen to be teaching a topic near and dear to my heart, which I am in both cases. The mix was a bit off this time, though, probably because I know this is a one-time gig in each case, so I really didn't have much in the way of nerves. Also, it's been a long break for me, so I was anxious to be back in a classroom!

Language did not seem to be much of an issue either, although I know I'll have to keep my eyes and ears open. I think the plan of pairing folks off and having student-led discussions on occasion will prove to have been a good idea. And powerpoint... but for different reasons than usual. I know that when I'm struggling to comprehend German, it often helps to see it written down. Also, writing into a powerpoint slide (or on a chalkboard) slows me down, which is good.

Best moment so far? I think this one actually qualifies as a "cultural experience"... we started with Sousa and New England Psalmody in American music today, kicking off the first unit on "tradition." They caught on pretty quickly to the conflation of politics and religion in Billings' Chester, which led to  an observation along the lines of, "that's so American." Of course, there are Lutheran chorales that feature similar rhetorical tactics, but this student had a point that she supported with the detail that every American president always finishes speeches with "God Bless America." We could agree that a custom like that almost becomes empty of meaning... it's just cultural background noise. Except they denied having a similar background of religiosity in their public discourse, until I pointed out that they have an "Easter Break" coming up... something which American universities wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. I will have to be careful that we don't dissolve into a tit for tat trade in stereotypes, but I think it will be a good experience all around. The "we don't have slavery here... that's American" issue has already come up. Handy that, as next week's topic is spirituals...

Anyway, I've also had some time to sightsee, so there should be a picture bomb sometime soon. Possibly after I return from a trip out to Gumpoldskirchen tomorrow. Time to engage in what I am reliably informed is a Viennese tradition from early spring on... Südbahn wine. That is, the wine procured at heurigen in the towns south of Vienna. A good way to kick off the weekend!

For now, I leave you with a hint as to the very first site I visited...

Venedig!

Thanks to the benevolence of the director of our study abroad program, I was able to join the students at the end of their Italy excursion. After ten very productive days at the archives, I took the train to Venice for a long weekend (including Valentine's Day). In pedagogical terms, this was a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate to a couple of music majors how Venetian polychoral music and the chants of the office work in situ. We attended Lauds and toured San Marco in the quiet hours of the early morning before joining the rest of the group for a trip to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim is all modern art, mostly from the first half of the century... so I got to visit with some of my favorites.

In personal terms... this was the perfect mini-vacation before the plunge into the semester. So have some pictures! Warning: do not expect the typical dozens of pictures of San Marco and the Rialto Bridge... I already did that a few years ago. This was Venice my way... slow and slightly random.

I have to admit the lion of St. Mark, which you find all over the city, still gets me. Even when they've been loved to death, like this half of a pair on the north side of San Marco.

But instead of hanging around St. Mark's I went to pay my respects to this dude.

And I guess Diaghilev can come too.

He obviously gets enough adoration from the dancers, though, even now. Tokens of respect.

From Il Cimetario, which gets its own island, it was on to Murano home of the glass blowers and some of the best public art ever. This one was new since the last time I visited.

And with about an hour of daylight left we (myself and the two students who were tagging along) decided to head all the way out to Burano. On the way we passed a lot of rowing teams out for some exercise. And a lot of sandbars like the one in the background which let you know exactly how shallow the lagoon actually is.

Also, some regular folks' houses.

Besides the lace, Burano has these incredible brightly painted buildings. And yes, that's snow on the ground in some places. Winter's last statement in these parts.

The custom's house (aka why Venice had so much money) circa sunset and...

...an example of how some Venetians spent that money.

And on the last evening I made one last visit to San Marco for some cafe coretto (coffee with grappa) on the piazza.

Slightly worn around the edges, but still beautiful. I'm not sure when I'll be back.

And on the way home I was welcomed back to Austria by the Tirol. You know you're back in Austria when...

Orientation

TGIF... and also, thank goodness I'm finally settled in my new apartment in Vienna! It was not a particularly easy train/subway journey from Salzburg but it did go exactly as planned. It was also the second time this week that I had gone back and forth on that same train. On Monday I took my Redlands students on an excursion to Zentralfriedhof and the Haus der Musik in Vienna to talk about music, memorials, and museums and how they all help to (re)construct identities (particularly national identity) after conflicts. As fun as that was to share with them, however, the excursion was dual purpose--I also needed to attend orientation for the Fulbright grantees at the Austrian American Educational Commission. The experience was informative and I enjoyed meeting my cohort. Also, the location--in the Museumsquartier--was incredible and I can see myself spending a lot of time bouncing between the hip restaurants and stores and the two modern art museums there. On the flip side, I have a feeling that I will be known as the Typhoid Mary of the Austrian Fulbright program since I brought a full blown Schnupfen with me. Cultural experience #1 of the week: learning the words for decongestant, expectorate, cold, and tissue. They are all handily onomotopaeic.

Now I'm back to stay for the Sommersemester at the Universität Wien and the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (what used to simply be the “Hochschule”). And I'm still orientating. Cultural experience #2 was unfortunately a trip to the urgent care clinic for what has become an ear infection. Guess what? There is no such thing in Austria. Sehr awkward. Our program director suggested, in regard to the Fulbright experience, that "if it doesn't hurt at some point you're not doing it right." I don't think this is what he had in mind. Luckily, things are looking up--some quality time with a couple of other Fulbright women stationed here on Sunday and Mahler on Monday! Hmmm... Mahler Montag. That could work.

As a farewell to Salzburg, have some pictures of my "office" in Salzburg and some of the rest of the city I was just starting to call home...

 My time at the Salzburg Festspiele archives was ideal from a research standpoint and fantastic in terms of acquiring some more German (the archivist was patient with me even though she could have switched to English more often than she did... I'm grateful she didn't). It also came with some pretty sweet views...

Lots of natural light makes spending hours pouring over really boring letters much easier to deal with.

I could also see the backside of.... 

...this fountain. The Pferdschwemme... as in they used to actually water horses there, hence the rococo equine "pin ups."

The walk home wasn't bad either. About 10 minutes, past the Great Festspielhaus,  Peterskirche, and the Dom.

The Kapitelplazt (with the Jedermann statue, after Hugo von Hoffmannstahl's play) was how I knew I was close to home.

Plus, I could always shortcut through the graveyard at St. Peter's...

...which is beautiful even in the snow.

And for now I'll leave you with a picture of me having dessert. Can you guess where I went for Valentine's Day? (Answer in the next post...)

Ciao!