Snow and Ice

Tonight was the night for ice skating in front of the City Hall. Skating there is a tradition--I have to go at least once a year if I live in Austria. Being that today was the second to last day, I made sure I went.

It was snowing steadily, which just added to the overall atmosphere. The City Hall is probably my favorite building in Vienna. At night in the snow, all lit up like a firework display is when it looks its best; therefore it was in top form tonight.

Christopher met me and we skated around and around and around. The DJ had cheesy apres ski hits and oldies playing. In the picture I am on what they call the Traumpfad, or dream path, which runs on the sidewalks through the park in front of City Hall. The path has always been my favorite part: in amongst the trees, away from the really loud music and crowds in the main rink. The only thing missing from my evening was a mug of piping hot Glühwein (mulled wine), which probably would have been the last of the season. The part of the night I could have done without was my unspectacular crash right on the path...I'm not sure what happened, but all of a sudden I was sprawled on the ice, tripped up by my own lack of balance apparently. I'd say that Sasha Cohen and Co. have little to worry about in terms of me taking their places on the Olympic team.

Friday night I attended a concert, during which two famous opera singers and a concert pianist performed. Their names are Marjana Lipvosek, Martin Burgstaller and Anthony Spiri (an American!). Marjana is a true diva with fire engire red lips and cascading robe to boot. It was such a pleasure to watch her, because one could easily tell that she gets such joy out of doing what she does. Her aura was magnificent, as Christopher said. Burgstaller, on the other hand, was as stiff as a corpse--someone made the comment that it appeared as if his arms had been cut off because he never moved them. He seemed very austure and aristocratic, which just sort of added to his overall stiffness. The pianist was great fun to watch as well--he was sooo into it, rocking back and forth and from side to side, throwing his tails out behind him, making grand gestures as he played.

The concert was at an off-the-beaten-path auditorium and it wasn't full...apparently events at this place are never full, although the musicians are of extremely high quality. Bernd, Christopher's boyfriend, says it's only empty because people prefer to say they saw the same act at one of the big name concert houses in town. Seems silly to me. Bernd did say that the audience was a veritable who's who of Vienna society, including the president of the national television station ORF and the press director of the Salzburg Summer Music Festival, etc. etc. I didn't recognize any of them myself...I'm not so up on Austrian societal figures. Nice to know that I'm in the with the cream of the crop though. :)