Cultural Things!

The past few weeks have been BUSY. School has been the same as usual, but as spring comes closer and the realization that our time left in Austria is now below the 3 months mark (!) my friends and I have begun checking things off our bucket lists! Here's a sampling of some of the stuff I've been up to over the past couple of weeks.

Heurige Visit: Vienna is in the part of Austria famous for wine. We're between the Wachau valley and Styria, both known for producing delicious wine, meaning it's cheap and wonderful. With this wine culture comes a beautiful thing: Heurigen. Heurigen are seasonal restaurants, usually located in somewhat remote areas, and they time their openings based on the local wine's production cycle. Therefore, when you go to a Heurigen, you get very fresh, very cheap wine! They are often family-owned, small establishments and generally offer a selection of cheese and meat plates to go along with the wine, rathe than cooked hot meals (because let's be real, the wine is the main attraction). 

My friend Annie lives in Krems, a delighful city on the Danube River, right in the Wachau, so a few weeks ago, a group of us gathered at one of the biggest and most popular Heurigen in the city. This was my first Heurige experience, and it certainly did not disappoint! The building looked like an old mill converted into a restaurant, so it was very rustic and cozy. The wine was incredibly cheap (I spent less than 4.50 on four glasses!) and super refreshing and delicious. The Austrian specialty wine is called Grüner Veltliner, and it is fantastic. If you ever find yourself in Austria, you MUST try it. Michelle and I shared a cheese assortment platter and a meat assortment platter, and it was the perfect compliment to the wine! 

Michelle kindly took care of the pickle for me...

Annie's Aufstrichtsteller: a variety of spreads for the bread

For dessert we had "Rotweinkuchen"--aka heaven on a plate. Saying that it was amazing would be the understatement of the century. I would actually get in a physical fight over this cake. One person remarked that they could bathe in it. It was that delicious. Most cake in Austria is really dry but this was super rich and moist and perfect. The Heurige had really relaxed atmosphere, so we could sit there for as long as we wanted. We hung out for about three and a half hours, enjoying each other's company and "awwing" at all the adorable babies that were also there. The whole evening was delightful. Call me a mega-fan of this aspect of Viennese/East Austrian culture!

I need more of this stat.

The Musikverein: My friend Johanna teaches at a specialty Gymnasium, for musicians, and she sings with their choir. Their orchestra and choir had a concert a few weeks ago and she invited a bunch of us to attend! the concert was in the Musikverein, the most beautiful concert hall in the city, if not the country, if not Europe! This is the site of the famous Vienna Philharmonic New Years Eve concert, broadcast all over the world. I can't imagine what it was like to perform there, but I would expect it's kind of like American high school kids getting the chance to play in Carnegie Hall (if not even more awesome). What's really great about the Musikverein is how small it is--so the sound travels really well and the music has a great rich quality to it. I really enjoyed the concert itself (those kids are IMPRESSIVE) and just the experience of finally going into this hall I've seen pictures of so many times! I'll be going back in a few weeks for a concert with my parents!!

Easter Market: You'll remember the magnificent charm and perfection of the Christmas Markets from previous blog gushing, so you can only imagine how delighted I am that some form of these babies is back: Easter Markets!!! I wandered through one of these markets with some friends last Friday, and they really are quite similar to the Christmas markets, with little huts selling drinks, cheeses, meats, pastries, and all sorts of fun crafts, but of course the crafts are Easter-themed! Probably the coolest part of the market we went to was the display of painted eggs. The tradition in Germany and Austria is to hang these eggs on trees using ribbons, kind of like christmas ornaments. The eggs were beautifully decorated and so bright and colorful and creative--I wanted to buy them all. 

If only they had a "teaching assistant" placard.

I can't wait to visit more Easter Markets in the next few weeks. There's on at Schönbrunn, which is already perfect and beautiful, and an Easter market can only make it more so. Until next time!!