Emily's Exploits

I don't know how to announce something like this. Pregnant girls use ultra-sound pictures, engaged couples show pictures of the ring... So here it is? Coming April 2014: Your favorite blogger will don the brightly-colored muumuu, and sing lots of songs about Jesus, with THIS choir! www.mormontabernaclechoir.org More details coming soon... I start choir school in January!

Don't know whether or not to be proud of that, but it's a milestone. Right now I'm in the last place on earth that you'd want to be on a Saturday night. In the Library. I took a nap earlier, so now I pay the consequences and I'm here to do some homework. But the sad news is that I left the right binder in my backpack in my apartment! (that's what I get for having all black binders and not color coding) The good news, however, is that now I get to blog (as I surreptitiously eat my cornbread muffins. Mmm Mmm good. ) One of my favorite parts of being a vocal performance major is GETTING TO PERFORM! So today the girls and I (anyone who's in the major along with Dr. Reich, our professor) went to Allyse's bridal at the University Mall to try on performing gowns. What's awesome about being a soloist is that you can wear whatever you want, and if it's flashy, you look cooler. So I found this dress. The price? I mean, it looks like it could be around $30...

When Joseph went to Bethlehem, I think he took great care To place his tools and close his shop and leave no shavings there. He urged the donkey forward, then with Mary on its back And carried bread and goat cheese in a little linen sack. That Easter Morn, a grave that burst, proclaimed to man that last and first Had ris'n again, and conquered pain. I wonder, when he comes again, Will I be ready there To look upon his loving face And join with him in prayer? Each day I’ll try to do his will And let my light so shine That others seeing me may seek For greater light divine. I’m sure he’ll call his little ones Together ’round his knee, Because he said in days gone by, “Suffer them to come to me. ”

While in Florence, Michael took us to the Uffizi Gallery, the first art gallery ever! So here are four of my very favorites. Leonardo da Vinci: Unfinished Adoration of the Magi Sodoma: Christ amid his tormentors This one made me cry. Sorry for the poor quality- the original was beautiful. Lorenzetti: Madonna and Child enthroned between 8 angels Giottino: San Remigio Pieta I love the sad, expressive faces of the apostles gathering around Christ.

I owe Amy big time that I even saw any of these beautiful paintings! It was the Sunday that we got to Milan, and I was exhausted from our train trip, it was raining outside... and I wasn't too excited to go out into the city. But I really wanted to make the most of my day, so we headed to Brera, one of the most famous art galleries in Milan, and we got in for free! I've only posted a few of my favorites that I saw there, but I'll just let the paintings speak for themselves. Guercino: Abraham reprimands Hagar Batoni: Sacra Conversazione (Brera, Milano) Giampietrino: Madonna col Bambino (Brera, Milano) Hayez: Il bacio (Brera, Milano) Induno's Triste presentimento (Brera, Milano)

Sorry- here's the link to all the pictures from the previous two posts :D HERE

SALZBURG After finishing our German final, all 10 of us students hopped on the train to Salzburg!! The place where the Sound of Music was filmed!! Our trip thru the countryside was fabulous. I am in LOVE with Austria. The grass was so vibrant and green with patches of daisies, there were rolling hills everywhere with little villages and churches, we saw a gorgeous sunset... I simply cannot put it all into words. I cried as I looked out the window when we got toSalzburg. That's how sappy I am.  We saw the  Hellbrunn palace owned by some sort of bishop, and he put in all of these fun water powered mechanical things, as well as water that squirts you unexpectedly from random places, like out this deer's antlers! It was built in the 1700s and was powered by water then, and still is today! It's fascinating.  The people in the town wore those cute hats and traditional coats, and there was a cute market, and the huge castle complex at the top of the hill that was built in 1077, a...

More pictures from my adveuntries with Michael, Julie, Mom and Grandma can be found here .  False reports today led me to believe that it would be sunny and warm. Thanks a lot.  But now I can just look outside at the grey sky, drink my Almdudler - and everything will be just fine.  Favorite Things about Today's Adventure on Walking Tour 6 with Rebekah:  Pascualati Haus:  This is the site where Beethoven composed many great works, including his only opera, Fidelio . It had a lovely view toward Votivkirche and Universitaet Wien (I don't really know if those structures were up at the time Beethoven lived there). There was a small museum with a pianoforte (it had 5 pedals on it!!), some manuscript facsimilies of Beethoven's music, recordings of several of his works, some busts... but you can see for yourself by going here: PICTURES! Votivkirche: This Neo-Gothic edifice was beautiful and tranquil. It is surrounded by Freud Park (yep, named after the one and only Sigmund Freud. V...

I was in love with Klosterneuberg at the beginning of this week, and now I think Prague may just have stolen the title. It was that amazing. So, we missed our first train to Prague due to inconsistencies in some of the S-bahns in Vienna (GEE WIZ!)- but four of our group left for Prague at 1:58 and the other six of us left at 3:58. In the meantime, we explored the art in the Upper Belvedere Palace, which was probably my favorite art collection that I've seen since coming to Vienna (and that's saying something, since I have seen TONS!). They had the old, and the new... let me see... "Tod und Ma:dchen" (Death and Maiden) by Egon Schiele (1915) (I'm singing a song called "Der Tod und das Ma:dchen by Schubert right now so I thought it was very fitting) "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt (1907) Hilde und Franzi Matsch, Children of the Artist, by Franz Matsch (1901) "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" by Gustav Klimt (1907) "Landschaft bei Meisenbach...

Bowing and Being Graceful Me and Laura Ladies on the Steps Red Carpet Action One Entrance to the Hofburg Posing... Candid Shot- Ty and Me

Click on the Photos for a bigger picture! AMAZING! I'm talking to Jared, another one of the musicians I danced with. Bernhardt: One of my dancing partners. He plays the violin and studies math. Me, looking up at Mattias, utterly in awe of his musical genius. Britain, Laura and I were all quite taken by the charm of these Austrians! ;) My Friend Elisabeth caught this candidly as we were dancing- just so you can see a full shot of my dress- and the shoes that I bought! I also love the chandelier in the background. From Left to Right: Naomi, Rebekah, Me, Carli Isn't it gorgeous???

I realized just now that I write A LOT of blog entries. But it's just because I have stuff happen to me that is amazing!  Yesterday I went shopping with Naomi (neither of us ended up buying anything)- and we were on the hunt for a good deal, or a good HAT! And we found the most charming hat shop with hats of all shapes and sizes. I didn't take many pictures because I was too busy admiring the fur ones, and looking for one that resembles Britain's cap- but suffice it to say that we will be going again just to look at it. The shop is called Oberwald and it's on Kartnerstrasse- and many hats are hand made! Definitely a shop to visit if you come to Vienna. (Mom, Grandma and Julie, WINK WINK!) Then we went to the Staatsoper with Becky to see Giselle  (click for a quick video), a ballet (apparently it is the ballet of all ballets- Giselle is a highly sought after role that takes a lot of skill)! I have never seen a ballet other than the Nutcracker, so it was great to see some...

There is simply not enought time to document all of the exciting things that happen to me while I'm in Vienna. However, the more significant things that happen make me feel like a rockstar, and MUST be blogged about. Last night I attended the dress rehearsal of Theater an der Wien's production of Partenope , an obscure Handel opera (The Messiah guy). Just click on the link above to see some production photos. This show was nuts! GOOD NUTS! They moved everything to present day- making the queen a wealthy woman who does yoga, goes swimming by the pool, hosts lavish parties, has a personal trainer, and has many love affairs in the meantime. The music was exquisite. This was some of the best singing I've heard in Vienna since I've been here. Christine Schafer, soprano, starred as the title role, David Daniels, one of the leading counter-tenors in the world was also in it (a counter-tenor is a man who has trained his voice to be able to sing entirely in falsetto- so he almos...

So much happens in the course of 12 hours. It's insane.  I woke up and ate breakfast with my host sister and her friend. It's nice to have people in the house again. Then I left the apartment to go on Walking Tour #3 around the City of Vienna. Keep in mind that today is possibly one of the coldest days that I've ever felt in Vienna. And not only is it cold, but the wind is biting while we walk around in the city searching for landmarks. Quite honestly, the city of Vienna itself is a museum. Every time you turn the corner you see a sign on a building that says "Mozart lived here from 17-- to 17--" or Beethoven, or Shumann.  CRAZY! One of my favorite places was the church of the Order of theTeutonic Knights- built in the 14th century or something- it had lots of crests of knights on the walls within it. Then there was a story about how Richard the Lionheart was crusading and on his way back to England he was captured and held ransom in Vienna, and the ransom money ...

Quite a few exciting things have happened to me in the past few days- let me try to recount them with some brevity.  CHURCH: On Sunday I attended the Vienna 1st Ward, which was entirely in German. I don't know about you, but 3 hours of listening to German can make you a little LOOPY. I thought it was hilarious- Sacrament meeting was last and all 10 of us were sitting together. It was fast and testimony meeting and so all these sweet Austrians were getting up to bear their testimonies. You could really feel the spirit, but we had just attended the opera the night before, so we were PLUMB tired.  I sat between Britain and Rebekah. Rebekah was giving Naomi a back scratch, and they were going vice versa, down the row from me, Joseph had completely fallen asleep. Amy was also asleep behind me. Britain was nodding off so I eventually just told her to put her head on my shoulder... and then from behind, Laura started giving me a back scratch... It was really just a sight to see all these ...

The paper size is weird. It is skinnier and longer than American 8 1/2 x 11, so some kids in our group bought folders that will actually hold their homework and things. Women wear ridiculously huge fur coats during the winter, and some big fur hats. But they do look mighty warm! When you walk on the street, people don't try to move or make way, or avoid you. Its up to YOU to move and get out of THEIR way. I suppose having lived in Provo for a while, I'm just not used to everybody bending over backwards to make me happy. haha jk. Everyone smokes. I'm sure my lungs will turn black by the time I leave. I hate to think that my clothes and other things are being engulfed in the smell of smoke. But sadly, I'm getting quite used to it. The showers are strange. Well, acutally- it's because of the water heating system. There aren't vast stores of warm water before you go in to take a shower, so often, you will be forced to hose yourself down with warm water, turn the wat...

Attending the Staatsoper's performance of  Un ballo en maschera  was an absolutely amazing experience.  First of all, I was in standing room ( Stehplatz) . It cost me 4 euro. You file in, and are very very close to one another. There are bars to rest your arms on if you get tired. There are tiny screens every other person, connected to the bar, on which subtitles are played (either in German or English).  There were two 15 minute  intermissions- between the first and second act, and between the second and third. It was really good they did that because I would have fallen down dead if I couldn't have sat on the ground!! Between acts the lead singers would come out for a curtain call! It was insane! And the audience was wonderful. There were lots of "Bravo"s when people really liked certain arias-- which is something I am not used to. And everyone paid very good attention to what was going on, and definitely, you could tell that the applause was sincere. My favorite ch...

One of my classes is called "Experiencing Vienna". We are required to take 8 self guided tours through the city, using a map and information written by my former German teacher, Professor Keele. He's a great man with tons of knowledge about history and the culture of the German and Austrian people.  We are supposed to document some of our feelings about this whole walk and the things that we learned and enjoyed.  For many things that we did there are pictures .  For some things, I may just have to write about them. I will use my blog to keep track of that.  Right next to Rupert's Church (the oldest church in Vienna) was the Morzinplatz, where the Hotel Metropol housed the Gestapo  headquarters during WWII. These headquarters were destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945. And I ask myself: How on earth did Rupertskirche survive this attack completely untouched? I can only think that it is by the grace of God that it was preserved.  Two blocks further from the Gestapo  headq...

I got to class an hour early because I forgot to look at my schedule! Silly me... haha but it was worth it. I need lots of time to just sit and think.  I'm noticing a trend, and that is that I'm not very good at getting to the Strassenbahn or U-bahn at the right time. I always miss it and have to wait for a LONG time! Like this morning when I got to class, and last night when I went home. And today it ALMOST happened to me and Carli, but then it was stopped at a red light and we caught up to it! It was like a miracle!  Carli and I had some adventures today. Including eating our FIRST apple strudels! We found a nice cafe and ate them RIGHT up.  Lots of our adventures are pretty well documented in the new photos that I posted on  Facebook .  Go check 'em out!

What an adventure! I hardly know where to begin. It is now 19:27 in Wien  [VEEN] (or 7:27 pm for those who don't want to figure it out... haha) and somehow I'm beyond tired-- but I know I can't go to bed without writing this blog!  My flight to Frankfurt was pretty uneventful. Good food on Lufthansa Airlines. I got to watch Wall-E. Yay for Thomas Newman (my favorite film scorer).  And I loved watching the sun rise up over Great Britain! I rarely ever get to see the sun rise , except over a mountain... and hardly ever do I get to enjoy it. That was really nice. I was lucky to have a window seat.  Getting off the plane was fun. The crew gave each woman a red rose before we walked down the steps and off the plane to get on a shuttle that would take us to the terminal, where I went through customs... tried to act like I knew how to speak German... and it didn't really work between "Danke", "Entshuldigung Sie, bitte.", "wasser" and "ya/nei...