Vienna

My sister, Kim, met us here in Vienna last night and stayed through the afternoon with us. It was great to see her. She went back this evening to meet her Masters class, now in Salzburg.

We began today visiting Schonbrunn Palace this morning. Wow - what an awesome place! Afterwards we took the subway out to Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) to see the gravesites of several famous composers. Irby did not see this cemetery when he was a student in Vienna in '73, but I did as a student here in '75. His favorite composer, Beethoven, is buried here, and when we came to Europe together in '93, I enjoyed taking him to see this cemetery. In turn, he really enjoyed showing it to the others today. We came back to the town center, visited St. Stephens, ate a traditional Viennese lunch, and shopped a bit before returning to our hotel to rest before the evening concert.

The concert was held at the Kursalon, a beautiful Italian renaissance building in the City Park. It was built in 1862, actually quite young by Viennese standards! It is a stunning building, holding three concert halls, and hosting about 400 recitals or concerts a year. We were treated to a concert of Strauss walzes and a few Mozart pieces. The Salonorchester who performed have garnered international acclaim. There are only about 15 musicians, but they play with a full symphonic sound, and they are directed by the first violinist in the style of Struass himself. I've been to many, many concerts as a young girl, in college, here in Europe, and as a adult, but I don't remember when I've enjoyed one more than this! Viennese waltzes are one of my most favorites music forms - and this group certainly knows how to play them! The way that the musicians listen to each other creates a wonderful energy that they communicate to their audience - and tonight our adoring audience received two encores!

We are all doing well. Mother and Dad are really troopers. Alice, John, Irby, and I are pretty amazed at their fortitude! But we watch them carefully for steps, rails, etc., and any sign that the incredible HEAT is getting to them. Europe is experiencing a heat wave like they haven't had in years. We carry water bottles, fill them up often, and try to pace ourselves.

This afternoon we received a text message from Matthew and Jordan - they have made it to Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon). We talked to them shortly before they left for the airport yesterday morning. Their trip was safe, but of course, very long - nearly 26 hours with layovers. They were glad to be on the way to the hotel. Benjamin has called us twice this week to check on everyone. We had an international plan put on my cell phone, and we're so glad we did. It's like the kids are next door, not halfway across the world; it's amazing that technology has made such a thing possible. It's a FAR cry from the 70's when we had to go to the post office and wait for more than an hour for the operator to (hopefully) connect us with our party OR the voice delays of just a few years ago even after direct dialing was possible.
We are off for now!