It has been almost 2 days since our plane landed from Vienna to Sea-Tac and it doesn't feel real. The jet lag has nearly faded, and travelling across Europe feels far more distant of a memory than it should. 3 days ago I was wandering through downtown Vienna, looking for that one noodle place I had seen at the beginning of the trip and promised to come back to. A week ago I was in St. Peterskeller, the alehouse that Mozart frequented in his youth, eating the food he ate and hearing the Opera he wrote. Nearly 3 weeks ago I was walking the halls of a Jewish work camp wondering what would have been my fate if I were a German citizen during WWII. 4 weeks ago, I got off a plane and took my first breath of Viennese air. That was a wild 4 weeks, and I have learned so much about the music I play and the cultural circumstances that cultivated it. I learned so much that the best way to get it all out is in list format, so here we go. I learned:
- Stay to the right while riding the escalator
- Free water is precious
- Spoilers are incredibly necessary for a good opera experience
- Beethoven's masses are better (in my opinion)
- Street food is always the better food
- Holocaust studies needs to be taught in every school in America
- Free beer still tastes better in Europe
- Write down the name of your hostel BEFORE you get lost
- Don't perform the marriage of Figaro uncut
- It is easier travelling from west to east than east to west
- Clapping takes about half a year to die down
- Go our of your way to get some fiber
This trip was super fun, and I sincerely hope not to lose the friends or memories I made along the way. I am very thankful that Dr. Powell and Dr. Brown, along with my parents and PLU all worked so hard to make this trip happen, and I can't wait for my next opportunity to find myself halfway around the world experiencing the best of the best.
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