MOZART MASS (Sunday)

Poor Little LuLu....her back leg (that was broken) has been shaved, and they also shaved both her front paws (for the IVs)...but she is eating well, and doing fine. LuLu is going to be fine (but Vipin and I miss her terribly!)





The group's first Sunday in Salzburg has always (at least for as long as I can remember) been the day for our Werfen Ice Caves Day Trip... but last year many did not go on this trip, opting for a Sunday in Salzburg. It's a difficult choice to make...spend the day up in the mountains or in the city attending church. So this year I rescheduled some things, and doubled up for classes on some afternoons so that EVERYONE could have the opportunity to do both! If participants choose to go on both of CSA's weekend excursions (this year Venice and Bavaria) then this first Sunday is their only Sunday in Salzburg. And what a Sunday it was....

The group met several of our CSA Faculty; "The Schnes" (Bill and Nancy Schneberger), Gail Fair, "Dr. D." (Marie Donaghay) at the Neue Heimat Strasse bus stop (the first week we refer to it as "The bus stop by the school/hotel"...and for the remainder of the program we just refer to it as THE bus stop - because it is the one we use most when going on the bus from Grödig into the city). They met early...8AM..rode the bus in, got off at the usual Mozartsteg stop and did some walking around in the city a bit before going to the Franziskannerkirche (my Mother's personal favorite church in Salzburg) for 9AM Mass. It was amazing, the Priest was swinging the incense around, the organ music was strong and beautiful...they enjoyed it very much. Then they continued on into the Dom Cathedral which according to one student was "the most incredible thing, well, you know experience, of my life" - and why not? Listening to a Mozart Mass in the Dom...the cathedral in which the music written was made to be played?!! How to top that? Why even try?? For music lovers it is a dream come true and a very spiritual moment..and not because they are in a church! For anyone else, it would be impossible to be unimpressed! The sound is so strong, it truly fills your body...all the way to and through your bones!

Then the group split up a bit and went their various separate ways for lunch...be it for torte and coffee (my usual choice), or an entire meal....to the K&K restaurant (with it's gourmet food) or a Bosna sausages at a road side stands....it's was all good, it was all enjoyed, it was what they wanted at that moment...and it was delicious! After time on their own for lunch, several of the students decided to go shopping (now, don't think I am lying any of you past participants reading this...it is TRUE, some shops are...believe it or not....OPEN ON SUNDAYS now in Austria...it's not like back in the day when the only place open for shopping was an Autobahn gas station - which we had no way of getting to!! -- Times sure have changed!), and some of the other students decided to go for it and join Dr. D. for a walk up to the fortress Hohensalzburg. Going to the fortress with Dr. D. is a wonderful experience because she is a true Historian...so you get the fine opportunity of learning all about a medieval fortified complex while hiking up....really get to know and understand why each 'thing' is where it is and what purpose it served in its day....so interesting and educational...quite a treat for those that did it. The rewards are many....including a cafe stop at the top and views of the city from every perspective!!

It was a wonderful day for all.

That evening I knew the group would be tired and ready for something, but at the same time not really in the mood to go out and about....therefore, the PERFECT night for a "The Sound of Music" movie night!! Stephanie and I got the DVD player and TV set up in the school and waited anxiously for students to show....but would they come? Some of them had never even seen this classic movie before...as in ever (which of course amazed us 60 or more times veterans--Stephanie actually knows more of the dialogue than I...and of course she knows ALL the words to all the songs!!) Finally, in came a few, they thought they would be the only ones but low and behold, an entire group of started coming in....bringing munchies, Chinese food (from a fab restaurant right in our very own Grödig), Gummi bears, chocolates, soda, etc. We were so ready for MOVIE NIGHT!

Steph pressed play and we were off!!! From the very start of the movie, with the bird's-eye helicopter views of the lake regions where the group had just been the day before to that first oboe in the orchestra tuning up....I could feel the tears swelling in my eyes...gosh that movie just does it to me!!! How many times??? I still cry...all my sisters still cry, my Mom cries...I think, perhaps anyone who has been to Salzburg must cry...it's the city, it does something to you...and the movie is about the Von Trapps and the city of Salzburg, and the Untersberg...and it is so emotional!! But even more so, as the movie continued and it was time for "My Favorite Things"... when the group started singing....forget about it!!! I was beyond Kleenex! What a fun night, what a fantastic group...the movie is soooo corny at times but they didn't care, we all sang and clapped and cried! PERFECT!!! Of course I pointed out places they had already been to and seen which were used in the filming of the movie...it was great! We all clapped at the end...just like it must have been back in the old days when that movie was shown in the theaters...in the 60's. Then everyone packed up their things and went home...to their new home.....Grödig.....another night under the Untersberg...dreaming of schnitzel with noodles!