"Where is she?" You may all be wondering. Have I fallen victim to some horrifying space monkeys, or perhaps a rare Austrian land-shark? Truth is I've just been pretty busy with trying to work out little errands, as well as school and socializing. This past Monday (26.10.09) however, I got a small break from everything as it was Austrian's National Day.
In front of the town hall
Because it was a day of specialness, the Parliament building was opened to the public so me and some other international students went to go marvel at the awesome architecture. Think I'm over exaggeration? Behold:
Because it was a day of specialness, the Parliament building was opened to the public so me and some other international students went to go marvel at the awesome architecture. Think I'm over exaggeration? Behold:Man fighting a horse, a statue necessary for all government buildings
The line to get in was pretty long, and mostly involved us standing outside in a huge crowd and attempting to push toward the entrance with the rest of the people. I felt like I was attending some kind of grand opening or a concert of sorts.I told Habib to look pensive, instead I think he went for terrifying :-P 
Saddly once inside the building my camera died quite rapidly, so I only managed a few photos.
On the other hand there were parts of the building that were so very current looking it made for a fantastic contrast. After touring around we went to Volksgarten (which is a large park) that was packed with people, stands, and...military vehicles. I don't know if it's because La Crosse isn't big enough to have a huge thing on the 4th, but I found it really odd that the military played such a large part in their national day. Don't get me wrong, I know there's some military involvment, but here there were tanks and planes people could check out, and many many booths that had info about the military (I think, it was all in German). Around 3:45 I maddly dashed off to try and find the Opera Ring, which was hindered in part by the fact that I went in the wrong direction. However, I did eventually find the building, which only led me to the next task of trying to find where to buy standing tickets (3 euros). I was actually tempted to just stand outside, since there's a huge tv screen showing the performance, but Claudia and Tita were waiting inside for me so I perserveared. Which leads me to my next point, Austrians are so un-shy it's a little frightening. I'm so used to the Finnish tactic of only talking to strangers when necessary that when I finally asked a woman if she knew where the tickets are sold, that her willingness to help was a nice suprise. While taking me to the booth we even chatted and bit and she helped me buy a ticket before leaving with a smile and a wave.
Standing tickets are just what they sounds like, you stand, for 3 hours. I didn't think it would be possible for me to actually do that, but time went by pretty fast. Also, has anyone here seen Swan Lake? Because I left that performance very very confused. I had thought there was only one main man and woman character, but it turns out there were three of each. However, even with the lack of plot, I really enjoyed it. The dancing was increadable.
What I feel should be noted is, there was one part where I had to supress much laughter. Towards the end the prince (I think) was trying to get the swan lady back, but the bad guy (he was wearing black, obvious bad guy) jumps between them and starts swishing his looooong sleeve arms in a sort of figure eight pattern. It might be the infused wildlife lectures, but all I could imagine was a big old swan rearing, flapping its wings, hissing and saying "mine! My female! Mine! Mine!" The image was....interesting
But most importantly, Halloween has a slight influence here. Some bakeries sell tasty Halloween treats, such as a square of white sponge cake with a layer of chocolate creme topped with apricot jam and covered in marzipan. Including a small sugar black cat.
Saddly once inside the building my camera died quite rapidly, so I only managed a few photos.Me forgetting flash doesn't alway make for good photos. 
The inside of the building was pretty cool, in that there was all this fancy scrollwork, statues, paintings, and more importantly, doorknobs shaped like snakes.
The inside of the building was pretty cool, in that there was all this fancy scrollwork, statues, paintings, and more importantly, doorknobs shaped like snakes.
Mom if you're paying attention, I want these for my birthday!
On the other hand there were parts of the building that were so very current looking it made for a fantastic contrast. After touring around we went to Volksgarten (which is a large park) that was packed with people, stands, and...military vehicles. I don't know if it's because La Crosse isn't big enough to have a huge thing on the 4th, but I found it really odd that the military played such a large part in their national day. Don't get me wrong, I know there's some military involvment, but here there were tanks and planes people could check out, and many many booths that had info about the military (I think, it was all in German). Around 3:45 I maddly dashed off to try and find the Opera Ring, which was hindered in part by the fact that I went in the wrong direction. However, I did eventually find the building, which only led me to the next task of trying to find where to buy standing tickets (3 euros). I was actually tempted to just stand outside, since there's a huge tv screen showing the performance, but Claudia and Tita were waiting inside for me so I perserveared. Which leads me to my next point, Austrians are so un-shy it's a little frightening. I'm so used to the Finnish tactic of only talking to strangers when necessary that when I finally asked a woman if she knew where the tickets are sold, that her willingness to help was a nice suprise. While taking me to the booth we even chatted and bit and she helped me buy a ticket before leaving with a smile and a wave. Standing tickets are just what they sounds like, you stand, for 3 hours. I didn't think it would be possible for me to actually do that, but time went by pretty fast. Also, has anyone here seen Swan Lake? Because I left that performance very very confused. I had thought there was only one main man and woman character, but it turns out there were three of each. However, even with the lack of plot, I really enjoyed it. The dancing was increadable.
What I feel should be noted is, there was one part where I had to supress much laughter. Towards the end the prince (I think) was trying to get the swan lady back, but the bad guy (he was wearing black, obvious bad guy) jumps between them and starts swishing his looooong sleeve arms in a sort of figure eight pattern. It might be the infused wildlife lectures, but all I could imagine was a big old swan rearing, flapping its wings, hissing and saying "mine! My female! Mine! Mine!" The image was....interesting
But most importantly, Halloween has a slight influence here. Some bakeries sell tasty Halloween treats, such as a square of white sponge cake with a layer of chocolate creme topped with apricot jam and covered in marzipan. Including a small sugar black cat.
It. Was. Delicious. 
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