Today I followed in the footsteps of Marie Antoinette and made the journey from Austria to France (omitting, of course, the part where my family sells me into a marriage contract). My last days in Vienna were wonderful, though I'm also looking forward to spending a week--with my mommy!--in Paris.
Diana was scheduled for her third (and final) performance of Ariadne on Friday. Still sick! So instead, we went back to the Volksoper (where you can buy standing-room tickets in advance for 1.50 euro ... brilliant!) for an above-average production of Carmen. Seeing opera in Vienna has turned out to be the cheapest thing we've done! Between pricey museum admission--even with student rates--and afternoon coffee with dessert (we sampled the famous Sachertorte, which was delicious!) nothing has cost as little as the opera!
Saturday, Ben and I decided to attend different musical events in the evening. I had to get in line at 5:30pm for standing-room tickets to the 7:30 performance of Vincenzo Bellini's La Sonnambula. He is one of my favorite composers of art songs so I was very excited. Waiting in line was relatively uneventful. Ben, unfortunately, left with my glasses in his backpack and my texts weren't getting through to him. This time I had paid 3.50 (for very good tickets at the Staatsoper) so I filed into a second-row spot and--following instructions--tied my scarf around the railing to reserve my spot. I had about 20 minutes to grab some food before the show and I decided to run to the concerthouse where Ben was going and just try my luck to see if I could find him. On my way there I tried calling him using the number he had used to text me. I kept getting different people--and never Ben--speaking German to me then hanging up. The third time I tried a "hello" and the response was: "Hello, Vienna ambulance." I had accidentally called the AMBULANCE three times! I felt terrible and quickly explained that it was not an emergency before hanging up.
After the harrowing events of the evening (they were fairly traumatic, OK?), Ben and I met Ann for drinks. We went to a nearby pub that is located in the building where Beethoven wrote both "Ode to Joy" and his 9th Symphony. Pretty fantastic. Unfortunately, that also meant that after going back to the apartment and packing I didn't get to bed until 2:00AM ... and had to wake up at 4:45 to begin my trek to Paris.
I took the City Airport Train (CAT), which is BRILLIANT! The main station is not even a 10-minute walk from Ann and Tobi's and it's remarkably convenient. I checked in, printed my own boarding pass and luggage ticket, tagged my bag and sent it on the belt ... all from an electronic kiosk! Ann was absolutely right in saying it's kind of like "playing Airport"! Then I got on the train--which took me directly to the airport--and once there I had to do nothing but get on the plane. Wonderful!
I do want to tell you all about where we're staying in Paris and what we did to relax and settle in this afternoon, but I've already recounted quite a bit today. Nobody wants to read a post that's too long and I'm quite ready for bed considering the fairly sleepless night I had last night. So, until next time!
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