Vienna

It seems like forever since I last added to the blog, but life just continues as normal here in New Delhi.  The kids go to school, Greg and I go to work and India happens around us in a way that we find increasingly normal.

One decidedly *not* normal thing to happen though, was a wonderful trip I was able to take with Conor as a part of his choir group.  The choir at AES arranges for a trip to Vienna each year so that the kids can experience music in different ways. The trip includes an opportunity to work with the Vienna Boys' Choir, and to do a short private performance with them.  The kids also attended a workshop with the Vienna University music department where they worked alongside members of the choir and the strings ensembles. We also got to see an operetta in one of the oldest opera houses in Vienna and listen to a solo soprano performance in a church built in 1702.

This trip was something I had been looking forward to all year, as we were fairly certain Conor would be allowed to go (he is the only boy in the middle school advanced choir and they were visiting the Vienna Boys Choir after all!) but what was amazing was that the experience surpassed my high expectations. I loved Vienna! The people were nice, the public transportation was clean, convenient and on time, the food was fresh, the air was clear, the parks were beautiful and the group was as well behaved as you could possibly expect from 17 kids between 13 and 14 years old.  There was one other boy on the trip, which was really nice for Conor, because they allowed 5 kids from the school strings ensemble to join the trip.

Our first day in Vienna was cold! We left temperatures of about 110 to go to temperatures of about 45... guess which we preferred!

The kids were let loose to shop and explore in downtown Vienna... and they all came back ok!  We had one boy lose his wallet out of his backpack and one night of bad feelings because we assumed he had been the victim of a pick pocket in the busy shopping area.  The next day we heard from one of the stores that he had shopped in that he dropped his wallet there and another customer had found it and turned it in.  It was waiting there for him to pick up, money and all!  

This was my breakfast each day. I am not a person who normally takes pictures of her food, in fact I can't ever remember having done so before, but this was my absolute perfect breakfast and I couldn't help myself!  Fresh yogurt with berries and granola, mozzarella and tomatoes, bread and cheese, bacon and coffee.  It was all so good! 

Our first full day in the city was the day we got to spend at the Vienna Boys' Choir, and it was very interesting and satisfying day.  We started with a tour of the castle which is the home to the Boys' Choir, and the tour included quite a bit of history. Of course I have heard of the Vienna Boys' Choir, but I didn't have any idea what it is really. The castle houses a private K-12 school with a strong focus on music and the arts which is run as a non profit organization. The Choir consists of about 100 boys between the ages of 10 and 14, who are in the middle school years.  From Kindergarten to grade 5, the school has boys and girls, who are primarily from Vienna or the surrounding region because there is no boarding facility. The middle school is a boarding school for 100 boys, and accepts applications from around the world. The 100 boys are divided into 4 traveling groups named after famous Austrian composers Mozart, Schubert, Haydn and Bruckner.  All year, one of the four groups is traveling and performing.  When they aren't traveling they are in school, but the average school day includes about 3 hours of choral and music practice in a variety of venues around the castle. Between fitting in all of the choral practice, preparing for touring, and still maintaining a full course curriculum for all of the boys to complete each year even though at every given time 1/4 of the boys are not physically present at the school, the logistics for course planning must be a nightmare! When the kids outgrow the choir, they can stay on for high school but it again becomes a day school as they don't have the room to offer boarding for the older students. The high school is coed, so the only years there are no girls around are the middle school years.  The choir we sang with seemed very happy to have our group of 15 girls and 2 boys around for the day!

 

The music classroom for the Mozart choir.

The uniforms for the boys are made in house, and they have at least three different formal outfits. The one they wear the most is the blue sailor suit.

After the tour our group of 12 singers had a private lesson with the main instructor for the Mozart choir in one of their performance practice spaces.

After the private lesson went on for about an hour, our group was joined by the Mozart choir so they could practice together.  Our kids were blown away when they first heard the boys singing!

After the practice session, the Mozart group left to put on their blue sailor uniforms, and we were treated to a private concert in the "salon" room which we had toured earlier.  I am not sure the kids really understood what an amazing opportunity this was, and how the kinds of experiences they had were not typical experiences!

Attached are two short clips of our private concert with the Vienna Boys' Choir. Our kids were amazed by the beauty of the music coming from the 25 boys in the Mozart Choir.

 Here are two clips of our choir singing with the Vienna Boys' Choir Mozart Choir.

 

Conor looking out on the formal gardens behind the castle.

 

Our kids on the formal staircase in the castle.

 

After their very busy day we went out to a traditional schnitzel dinner.

Conor enjoying a trolley tour of Vienna.

Together at the famous St. Stephen's church in downtown Vienna. Part of this church dates back to 1304!

The group getting instructions for when and where to meet up again... still a little amazed we let 17 kids just walk off on their own in a foreign city!

While the kids enjoyed a few hours in downtown Vienna, I took the metro a little ways out to visit Schonbrunn Palace because I heard the gardens were amazing.  I didn't bother with the indoor tour, and just walked the grounds. I was able to clock a little over 5 miles walking around the palace grounds!

The lilacs were blooming! I walked very slowly through this section of the garden to be sure to breathe in as much of the sweet goodness as possible!

This is the view from the back of the palace, which looked fairly similar to the front.  I have tons of pictures from around the palace grounds, and may upload more later, but it just seemed a bit like overkill with all the green, formally manicured grottoes and sculptures in fountains. 

This is a picture from the National Library.  NY Public Library may have their lions, but Vienna has cheeky naked babies!

Conor and me at the winter palace, just a building we walked by on our way to the church performance.

Just a palace I happened upon on my morning run... not a bad place to exercise!

 

Seriously! Who wouldn't want to get out and run here?!?

I absolutely loved every minute of our time in Vienna. Travel to and fro was a bit of a pain in the patootie, but that only means that we should have stayed longer... something to keep in mind for next time!