We have officially arrived in Vienna! At the end of our time in Salzburg, we were able to visit where Mozart was born. There is a museum there now so we saw many things that belonged to him including his first violin. Afterward, we took a tram up to Hohensalzburg Fortress. Here we saw suits or armor and breathtaking views of the city. Early Sunday morning, we traveled to Vienna.

Dr. Baldwin helped us learn how to use the public transport system called the U-bahn which we will be taking to each of our rehearsals. Yesterday, we began rehearsing for our concerts. After lunch as a group, we had free time to explore the city. With a group of friends, I traveled to the Vienna Central Cemetary to see where many famous composers including Schubert, Strauss, Brahms and Beethoven were buried and memorialized. It was a really cool experience to stand so close to such influential figures. In the evening, several students attended the opera and others a sold-out concert at the Konzerthaus. I went to the Konzerthaus to see the Mariinsky Orchestra.

After the concert, Dr. Baldwin helped the students at the concert get backstage and meet the conductor, Valery Gergiev. Another group of students snagged standing room tickets to Puccini's Tosca at the Wiener Staatsoper—for only three euro! We are looking forward to starting our class today and discovering more of what Vienna has in store for us! 

-Briana