Festivals and Football!

June is somehow flying by in nearly cartoonish fashion.  I knew this month would be crazy, between putting finishing touches on my thesis, various end-of-school events and activities, and some fun visitors, but I still wish I could slow time down a bit to fully enjoy all of this.

The month started with our annual International Day at school, which this year featured booths from 21 countries!  We decided our theme for the USA stand would be 4th of July picnic, so we served BLTs, steak fries with dipping sauces, and root beer floats.  The root beer was definitely more of a hit with us Americans than anyone else visiting our booth, but we didn't exactly mind.  Here is a link to our school's video recap of the event as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-cfk6q7880 

Throwing a proper lingerie shower for Jelena in Vienna before some friends take off for the summer.  So looking forward to this wedding in October! 

It is also finals time at the Konservatorium Wien!  The conductor of our little choir at Modul is also finishing his studies, and part of that was conducting the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra at the Radiokulturhaus here in Vienna.  Three students from the Konservatorium took turns conducting various pieces in this super cool space, making for an awesome evening.

Two weekends ago the Wiener Kirtag took over the Rathausplatz, which also coincided with some pretty hot weather (and the last weekend I had to work on my thesis before the official due date)

The heat and bright sun didn't stop some dancers to the live music on a Sunday afternoon though! 

And then the thesis was officially submitted! Which means time to enjoy the summer weather with friends in the park under trees reading for enjoyment rather than schoolwork.

Being finished with schoolwork also means time for friends to get together and have proper dinner, this time we were the beneficiaries of Paul's expert Chinese culinary skills.

So so so delicious

Lovely view from the kitchen as well 

And now...it is World Cup time!  With the time difference to Brazil, games here during the group stage are at 6pm, 9pm, and midnight, which has been a bit of a test of our ability to all function on little sleep.  Not that we are out watching all of these games of course, but within our group of friends we could nearly create an entire bracket of World Cup teams, so we are all up for supporting each other as our teams play. 

Vienna also has all sorts of venues for viewing the games as well so we aren't getting tired of being in one place all the time...outside in what is usually the street...

Inside...(a crowd of Costa Ricans singing along to their national anthem)

A mix of outside and inside along the Danube Canal...

I sadly don't have a photo of the USA/Ghana game the other night, but we were out cheering with other Americans on a Monday night at 2am (or early Tuesday morning I suppose).  We're still technically in the first week of this craziness, looking forward to lots more!

Taking a break from the soccer viewing for a birthday celebration on the top of the 25 hours hotel.  I do love the evening view from up here.

And evenings catching up with friends under the nearly full moon along the Danube Canal

Of course all these summertime festivities also means the official end of the school year.  I think I'm down to single digits for the number of times I will be inside the school building as a student.  Thankfully I still have a few meetings and graduation preparation things, and of course my thesis defense next week, but I really am trying to enjoy this time as fully as I can.

My cohort from Spring 2012, it is crazy to think of how far we've all come since then.  I will take time to properly reflect on the end of my studies as best I can sometime soon, but that may take a while.

And perfect weather for our end of semester barbecue up at school, fingers crossed for weather this gorgeous for graduation as well!

Back to more end of semester stuff, more World Cup, and now I'm adding a bit of tour guide back into the mix for the weekend as my dear friend Ema comes to visit tomorrow morning.  I'm looking forward to additional reasons to be out enjoying this city I love so much!  

Playing Tourist

The past few months have been a crazy whirlwind of spending long days in various libraries and work spaces around town while still attempting to get in some travel and fun activities.  The last couple weeks seemed to be a concentrated version of that, first pushing myself to finish a full draft of my thesis to be submitted for feedback from my supervisor, and then having a friend come visit and running around doing all sorts of fun touristy things. 

The courtyard at the main University of Vienna campus.  While I always enjoy my time up on Kahlenberg, sometimes it is nice to enjoy a nice, quiet library space a bit closer to home.

We also had the Long Night of the Churches a couple weeks ago.  It turned out to be a beautiful evening, perfect for wandering into churches which we pass on a regular basis but may never have been inside.

Inside the Schottenstift

Votivkirche

And then last Sunday, Catherine arrived! She just finished her MBA back in Virginia, and had a break before moving to Atlanta to begin her new job, so she came to visit for a week.

The roses blooming in Volksgarten

The weather Sunday was picture perfect, so we started up at the top of Kahlenberg and walked down through the vineyards, stopping multiple places along the way all afternoon.  A very nice way to combat jet lag.

Catherine had never been to Prague either, so we decided to take a quick overnight trip up there as well.  We didn't luck out quite as much with the weather, although thankfully they were mostly just passing thunderstorms.  It did add a bit of drama to the whole experience.

Waiting out a rather strong wind and hailstorm, a bit of a bonding experience for all of us huddled under these outdoor umbrellas.

Looking out over Prague from the castle

Riding back through the Czech Republic and Austria

Thursday evening was the annual Sommernachtskonzert at Schönbrunn by the Vienna Philharmonic.  The weather was again a bit of a question mark, but the rain stopped just in time for the concert to begin and didn't start up again until we were on the way home!

Saturday we took the train to Salzburg for the day and finally got to see some blue skies again.  It was a quick day trip, but I really do always enjoy it there.  

Looking out from the fortress which still hosts some of my most favorite views anywhere, in all seasons.

And we did the official Sound of Music tour, although at this point if anyone just gives me a car I could gladly lead it as well.  But we enjoyed our bus full of Americans and our tour guide full of bad puns and sang along all afternoon.

One perk of the tour is that it does take you out into the lake district a bit which always looks as if you've jumped inside a painting or something, so gorgeous.

And then back in Vienna, spending another Sunday afternoon in a Heuriger, enjoying good food and good company.

Catherine left this morning, and now for me it's back to making these final thesis edits and getting things ready for some upcoming events, including our school's annual International Day this Thursday.  Time to get all of my red, white, and blue together and channel my American self! 

Milan

In the midst of all this crazy thesis writing and job searching and everything else going on, I got to take a quick break and meet up with my friend Elizabeth last weekend.  Elizabeth and I went to undergrad together, and she's spending a couple months working in the UK, so after hours of searching for the most cost effective place for us to meet (which was oddly neither of our homes) we ended up booking flights for a quick weekend in Milan!   

Flying over the Alps in Austria and Italy, totally unreal.

We had no real plan for the weekend at all, mostly just wander around, enjoy wonderful food, and catch up on life.  And we definitely succeeded. 

Well actually, I suppose there was one thing on the agenda, going to the top of the Duomo.  My grandparents had done this years ago and my Granny assured me that it was a spectacular view and great activity, which was definitely the case.

It really is so cool that they just allow you free reign to run around on the roof and look off all sides.  We also definitely lucked out with gorgeous, sunny, warm weather all weekend. 

While there are tons of pigeons around, I'm not sure what the odds are that one will fly through your photo and be quite this clear. 

A quick visit to the relatively newly opened Eataly in Milan, which while obviously an Italian thing, definitely reminds me of New York.

Saturday we began our day with a walk around the grounds of the Castello Sforzesco, which was originally a 14th century fortification, then turned into a castle and added onto from the 15th to 17th centuries, making it a quite interesting array of architecture.  It is now the home to several art museums which we decided we didn't really have the time to go into this trip, but we did enjoy wandering around the public spaces.

Behind the castle is a park, which happened to be hosting this preview of the Switzerland pavilion for the World Expo which will be held in Milan next year. 

This gadget/art installation contained a rolling ball which continually moved throughout, highlighting many traditionally Swiss activities and locations.  I was happy to have done most of the distinctly Geneva activities they showed!

A walk through the pedestrian shopping street back towards the Duomo.  We did do a bit of shopping, while we're not exactly on the designer Milan budget, we are on the Banana Republic/Gap budget, and they have those there! (we in Vienna do not, and I miss them)

Part of Spain's exhibition preview

 

Enjoying some delicious local meats, cheeses, and wine

And a little nighttime stroll

It was a marvelous weekend, getting to see a place I'd never been and spend time with a friend I don't get to see nearly enough.  Hard to believe we're nearly halfway through May already though, with all these things to do the weeks keep flying by.  I'll be trying to keep this balance of productivity and travel going a bit longer, although next up are some visitors to Vienna, so I'll be showing off all that I love about my home :)