Side Excursions
Frozen Memory
My dream came true: Vienna, home of Mozart and the Lippizanner Stallions. That was enough of a reason to visit! A dear girl I met at the summer university invited me to stay at her flat in Vienna, promising to take me around to the hidden gems after her work schedule. During the day, I meandered solo about the city on foot and Metro, while in the evening encountered the ‘real’ Vienna. Besides playing on the grand pianos at the Steinway store, touring Mozart’s flat (where he wrote the Marriage of Figaro), shopping on the walking streets, beautiful parks, and eating schnitzel, Fani took me to wine tastings and restaurants and we attempted to get into the opera. In the evenings we rode the tram back to her flat, which was my dream flat come to life: slanted ceilings in an attic sort of way, art hanging on the walls, a bright kitchen with writing on the table, and skylights. The location just made me want to be a poor writer!!!!!
I had a life moment in Vienna: I got discounted tickets to see the morning exercises of the world famous Lippizaner stallions, the most elegant of horses. While sitting in the huge arena, watching the elegant horses ‘dance,’ beautiful architecture stroking my senses, classical music playing over the loudspeakers, and surrounding French art students making beautiful sketches, I became overwhelmed with the sheer beauty of it………and it became imprinted on my memory of forever. Etched in the folds of my brain.
