Days 9 & 10: Vienna and home

 Sunday (Day 9) was a full day for me in Vienna. I woke up in my comfy bed at 5.30 (the Hoxton Hotel is deliciously awesome btw) and lazed for a bit, hoping that I’d snooze again.  When that didn’t work, I got cleaned up, checked out of the hotel, stowed my bags, and hit the city on foot.  I had a few destinations in mind, but mostly I wanted to wander.

First stop was breakfast.  I was hoping to find a nice casual café, but after too long wandering with no luck, I stumbled upon the Sacher Café.  They’re a super-touristy venue with a hotel, a restaurant, and a very famous chocolate cake that my dad still goes on about.  I had a very expensive (and surprisingly bland) breakfast of pastries, egg, smoked salmon, and cappuccino.  Thus fortified, I set out for the National Library.

Monument to the end of fascism. Maybe it's a little premature? 

H has an Atlas Obscura book about a bunch of cool places to see, and The National Library piqued her interest with its secret doors and passages.  I wandered the great hall, examining illuminated texts, reading about how Austria views its own history, and seeking out the passages.  I didn’t see any secret passages, but I saw lots of bookcases that doubled as secret doors to hidden rooms for storage and scholarship.  And a couple of amazing globes!

After the library, I spent too much time trying to find some interesting shopping.  Vienna is full of shops, but they were all closed for Sunday.  The city’s deep catholic roots and trade union workers’ rights efforts continue to keep most retail closed on Sundays.  The only exceptions I saw were the schlocky souvenir shops.

Lunch was Wienner Schnitzel.  My waiter asked me if I wanted fries or a salad as my side.  I thought the potatoes would be too heavy with my fried veal, so I ordered the salad.  It was a potato salad.

After lunch, I took an English-language The Third Man tour.  The Third Man is one of my favorite movies, and this tour takes us underground through the very sewer stairs that Orson Welles used and into the sewer tunnels where the movie was shot.  It wasn’t too stinky!  The tour was really only about the intersection of The Third Man and the sewer system (the guide glossed over all the superterranean bits, but it was still pretty rad.  And, we got to see the spot in the tunnels where Harry Lime was shot!

After the tour, I had a realization about shopping – perhaps the museum gift shops would be an exception to the closed-on-Sundays rule.  And I was right!  My first stop was to the Albetina, a modern art museum.  The had a few great exhibits going on.  The first was one about the New Gothic movement of the turn of the 20th century.  It featured a bunch of artists that I was unfamiliar with, but also one that I know deeply – Katthe Kollwitz.  It was really interesting to see her work situated among her contemporaries, and I was fascinated to see how the Albertina’s interpretation of her work differed from MOMA last summer.

From there I checked out a few other museums before landing at Mozart House. This building houses Mozart’s last apartment in Vienna, but the whole building has been turned into a museum.  It was pretty neat to walk through his rooms and look at his scores.

Then it was time for dinner.  I had Viennese for lunch, so I thought I’d end my time in Europe with a nice Italian meal.  I found a solid restaurant and had a delicious mushroom ravioli with bresaola.  And a green salad.  And a glass of wine.  And a negroni.  And lots of water. After walking over 25,000 steps, I needed to rehydrate.

Dinner complete, it was time to get myself to the airport hotel for my last night in Vienna.  I talked with H and S on the way to the hotel, and I was in bed with the lights off by 9:30 pm.

Eastern Europe: Days 1-3: getting to Olomouc

Day 1

It's time to start another trip, this one to Eastern Europe to bring an experimental theatre I helped create to a small tour through the Czech Republic!

Today is a Saturday.  Last Sunday I threw my back out and wasn't sure that I'd be able to make the trip.  As recently as Tuesday I was using a walker to get around the house.  I've seen three different doctors who have helped me try to get ready to make this trip.  I'm still not feeling 100%, but I feel well enough to give it a shot.  So, I packed my bags, a back brace, a lumbar support bracket, and headed to LA to begin my flight.  

My flight from LAX to Amsterdam was uneventful.  Bringing a bunch of wireless microphone equipment through checked security definitely triggered the additional screening, but it wasn't a hardship and by the time I got on the plane, everything was fine.  The lumbar support bracket worked like a dream, and because I had booked an aisle seat, I was able to stand up on occasion to move around.

Day 2

We landed in Amsterdam on time, and I had a few hours to kill before my flight to Prague.  I used the KLM lounge, which let me sit down, stretch out, and not have to worry so much about my bags.  The flight to Prague was easy, and once I got to Prague, I met up with B, G, and K for the 3 hour drive to Olomouc.  L was supposed to have met us, but he got caught in some travel snafus and wasn't able to come in until much later.

The drive through the Czech countryside was lovely.  Rolling hills, bits of creativity along the way (a sculpture of cars and shipping containers, a trio of silos painted to resemble  wooden soldiers).  The most exciting moment was when we saw that an ambulance helicopter had landed on the other side of the road to transport someone who was in a traffic accident.

We got to Olomouc in the early evening, and met E (who had taken a bus from Vienna).  B, G, and K turned in for the night while E and I grabbed Czech food at a traditional restaurant. 

Day 3

I woke at 4.30, jet-lagged.  I rolled over to check my phone and learned that H had broken her wrist while I was sleeping.  I quickly facetimed them and got to chat before H turned out the light.  

I was up, so I read, got cleaned up, build the RF rack (which I had to disassemble for transport), and got some work done.  At 11, everyone but B (who was recovering from injury and also had to prepare a talk) met to walk into town.  We spent the afternoon wandering through the city center, poking our heads in churches, looking at public art, and grabbing refreshments.  In the shade it was cool, but the sun was pretty intense.

Late in the afternoon, we met B for his talk.  K, E, & G listened to the talk, while L and I snoozed in the hallway.  After the talk, we went to check out the venue, and I passed a poster for our show!

Then, D (our faculty host at the U) took us for another Czech dinner, where we ordered WAY too much delicious food. I had duck with purple sauerkraut, potato dumpling, and a fresh tomato and cucumber salad (and a homebrew beer). No one ate all their food, but it was delicious!

Fed and tired, we took cars back to the hotel and settled in for a quiet night before we head to the theatre tomorrow morning!

Day 13: Home

On the plane!

I’m writing this from the plane high over Greenland.  It was pouring rain when we woke up this morning in Amsterdam, but by the time we were ready to take off from the airport, the sun was out and the day was lovely. L and I had one final meal before boarding!  When I post this, you’ll know I’m back and safe.

Day 12: Utrecht to Amsterdam

Last day in Utrecht.

I woke up around 7am in the hotel in Utrecht and lounged in bed a bit, exchanging texts with S who was wrapping up her day and getting ready for bed.  It was rainy in Utrecht, so I wasn’t in any hurry to go outside. Once the big bursts of rain passed, I showered, packed up, and headed out to photograph the city in the post-rain glisten.

L got up a little while later and we met at the same smoothie placed we enjoyed yesterday!  Fortified for the morning we first went to Speelklok, a museum dedicated to machine-powered musical instruments (think grandfather clocks, calliopes, music boxes, carillons, etc.).  We caught a tour just as it was starting, and the guide was able to play a bunch of the machines.  The tools are works of art and clockwork masterpieces.   One of the machines is a huge calliope/wagon that can be controlled via midi!  

After the Speelklok, we had amazing pizza (seriously, one of the best pizzas I’ve had outside of Italy), wandered around a bit more, and then grabbed our bags from the hotel before hopping on the train back to Amsterdam.  We accidentally boarded a quiet car, which a very polite young Dutch man reminded us of.

Back in Amsterdam, we immediately marveled at how dirty the city is compared to beautiful Utrecht.  This pile of bananas was waiting for us right outside the train station.

Our walk home took an hour, and when we got home, we spent some time packing for tomorrow’s flight home.  Then, we put shoes back on and headed out for a dinner.  We ate light at a tapas place not too far away (cheese plate, tomato salad, spicy grilled shrimp) and then grabbed an ice cream cone on the walk back.  

Now, as I type, we’re sitting in the living room for our last night.  Feeling tired, ready to snooze and get some good rest for our big travel day tomorrow.  Can’t wait to see S and H!

Day 11: Onwards to Utrecht!

This morning no one set their alarms, but we were all moving around by 8:30 or so.  I cooked a bit breakfast (eggs with feta, tomatoes, and basil; sauteed potatoes, and brussels sprouts sauteed with prosciutto).  K flies out today for Copenhagen and B is going to hang with her.  L and I packed an overnight bag and hopped on our bikes.  We rode across town to return them, then walked to the Amsterdam train station to hop a train to Utrecht.  

On the train.  We were told that 'only tourists travel first class,' but we're both delicate flowers.

Utrecht is a medieval city that's now a university town.  It's only about a 25 minute train ride from Amsterdam, but the pace is slower.  

The market in the main square had about 50 vendors.

Beautiful canals, and a slower pace.

A cloister at the university.

The main university building.

More canals.  More pretty.

The Smooth Brothers smoothie store was super tasty, very refreshing, and very swank.

The church is beautiful, and there was a small choir practicing while we were there.  I closed my eyes and let the reverberation wash around me.

The church started out Catholic, but when the protestants took it over in 1580, one of things they did was smash the faces of all of the figures.  No golden calves!

L and I walked around town for a few hours until we could check into our hotel, and then we took a siesta for a few hours, enjoying having our own space and privacy for the first time in a week and a half.  I caught up on some email and had a siesta.  We met up after a few hours and ambled to dinner.

The whole town is full of these beautiful flowers!

Full of canals, but much chiller than Amsterdam.

Seconds before I took this photo, the kayakers ran straight into one of the pontoon boats. Seconds after I took it, the kid on the pontoon boat fell off the boat and into the water.

Dinner was at a Greek restaurant.  It started with a shot of ouzo, included spanakopita (a first for L), and then a lamb and orzo dish that was delicious!  After dinner, we wandered town, stopping for a cocktail, two cannoli, and some beautiful streets.

After dark in Utrecht.

This underground tunnel led to a nightclub.

Day 10: Final performances and shifting plans

I woke up early this morning and had a sunrise run before B, L, and I rode across town to meet their friend A for breakfast.  We had a nice visit before heading over to the theatre at mid-day.  

Last night we decided that we were going to cancel the late show tonight and focus our energy on making a quality film of the event.  So, after a breakfast and a ride through town, the company gathered in the theatre to plan for the event.  Interview the Dead is an audience interaction play, where audiences ask questions of dead people who are played by the actors onstage.  We met to talk production strategy and to write questions for the film.  

After that talk, we had a strong run of Anatomy of a Home with a pretty full house and a very engaged talkback with the audience.  One of the things that R mentioned at the talkback was that when he chose to move to Amsterdam from Beiruit, he did it with full understanding that the food in Amsterdam was not great.  It was nice to hear that acknowledged, since so much of the food we've had here has been fine, but not amazing.  Similar to Venice?  Maybe it's a canal thing.

After the talkback, one of the design students that I talked to on Monday came by the mix position, and we had a nice talk about some of the design elements.

Between shows, H, K, R, L, and I went for food at a pretty decent Italian place.  There was a quartet of Dutch teens who were already drunk and singing loud in the restaurant.  The rest of the customers and servers all exchanged knowing glances and eye rolls.  The kids weren't hurting anyone - they were just having a good time.  

Fortified, we returned to the theatre to get ready to film.  The filming went off without a hitch.  Each character got to speak, and when it was done, we struck in about 20 minutes.  Then, we all headed to a bar for a beer before heading back to our apartments to do the next thing in our life.

Day 9: opening of both shows!

After a bit of a lie-in this morning, L, K, and I headed into downtown and across the water on a ferry to Noord (literally, 'the north') and then to the Straat Museum.  

The Straat (literally, 'street') is a museum dedicated to Street Art and Street Artists.  Instead of bringing existing street art pieces into the gallery space (which can be difficult to manage if the pieces are installed on public or private property, like, say, graffiti or yarn-bombing), the museum commissions street artists to create pieces for the permanent collection.  In that respect, it's less of a museum of street art and more a museum of street art-ISTs.  But, it was beautiful - big and colorful and meaningful!

After we left the Straat, we rode to the other ferry port and headed back south.  K broke off to have some rest this afternoon, and L and I went to a Malaysian restaurant for lunch.  Then, we hit a record store before heading to the theatre to get ready for the first performance of Anatomy of a Home.

The first performance went well - we had a small house, but they were engaged and they all stayed for a post-show discussion with R after the show.  After Anatomy of a Home, L and I took a walk with another friend of his, stopping for a snack of fries with curry mayo.

We returned to the theatre for the first performance of Interview the Dead.  The house was small, but the audience was engaged and full of questions.  H's pet tiger Flash enjoyed the show too!