Day 4-
After our beautiful time in Salzburg, I and the rest of my peers could not wait to see what the future towns and cities of our trip had to offer. With much excitement, we boarded the bus and headed to the town of Melk, Austria where we would visit the Melk Abbey. I hadn’t heard of the abbey before looking at the itinerary, so, to satisfy my curious mind, I looked up a picture of the place. When I first looked at a picture of the abbey on Google (shot on a gorgeous sunny day), I didn’t think the actual building could be as astonishing since it was quite a dreary and rainy day. But, I was soon proven wrong. As we drove into Melk and saw the abbey in the distance, everyone’s jaws unanimously dropped in awe. The detailed architecture and combination of colors was nothing like any of us had ever seen — it seemed like a forbidden palace, too delicate to touch.
We arrived at the Abbey and took a detailed tour of the site with one of the most passionate and well-spoken tour guides I have ever encountered. She spoke of the abbey’s history, specifically the core values of the monks that have served there for hundreds of years and the significant individuals that resided in the abbey’s guest rooms (one being the previous Empress of Austria, Maria Teresa Hapsburg). Our guide also led us through the abbey’s marble hall, used for dining and events, as well as the library which is home to thousands of books and intricate wooden carvings.
After the tour of the abbey’s rooms, we moved to the most beautiful part of the site — the abbey’s church. Unlike the other cathedrals we saw in Salzburg, the Melk Abbey Church was covered in intricate gold detailing. The place was so sacred that we weren’t allowed to take photos like we were in other places. Although disappointing that we couldn’t share personal pictures of the church, I found something very honorable about the rule. There is something very special about having to see the church in person, because there is no possible way to capture all of its beauty within a photograph.
To top off our experience at the abbey, the employees invited us to sing inside the church. Personally, I was quite nervous for this impromptu performance. I woke up with a terrible cough that day and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do our repertoire (including a solo) justice in the beautiful space. However, once I took in the beauty of the church and thought about our tour guide’s immense passion for the abbey, I knew that it was an honor to sing in this gorgeous and historically significant place, no matter the quality of my voice at that particular moment.
Melk was an incredible town, but it was only the first part of our eventful day. After exploring the abbey, we continued our journey to Vienna, where we arrived in the evening and prepared for our performance at Karlskirche (Charles Church) later that night. Once we entered the city, I knew that Vienna would be my favorite destination of our trip, and it was. We initiated our glorious time in Vienna with an hour long concert in one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. No church in Europe fails to disappoint, but Karlskirche’s exterior architecture surpasses everything else in Vienna. Although the space was freezing cold (so cold that Ms. Cie’s hands went numb and accidentally played wrong notes on her iPad piano app), we gave an incredible performance to local Austrians. Our performance in Karlskirche (full of jaw dropping acoustics) will be something that I will never forget.
-Amanda Wilhoit (Senior)
Day 5-
Today was by far my favorite day of the entire trip. The morning was spent touring the historical sites of Vienna with a local city guide, and in the afternoon we were given nearly six hours to explore the city within our chaperone groups. I am an avid journalist, and I insist on writing down my day’s happiest moments. When I sat down in my hotel room this night, I had too many wonderful moments to record. To spare you from my immensely long list of memories from this day, I will share my favorites and elaborate on those few!
1. Vienna Summer Palace
The majority of our morning tour was spent at Vienna’s Summer Palace — an incredible sight that was home to Austria’s ruling family named the Hapsburgs. On this tour we saw the outside garden of the palace which is filled with roses in the late spring/early summer, dozens of greek statues and a gorgeous hill with another structure on top. We then entered the palace where we toured a dozen of the Hapsburgs originally furnished rooms, each with a different purpose. Two of my favorite rooms were the ballroom, where large galas and events were held, and a bedroom furnished and decorated with blue asian pottery. A fun fact I learned in the ballroom is that the Hapsburg family would choose candles based off of how much they liked their guests and how long they wanted them to stay at the palace. If they wanted the event to end quickly and to get rid of their guests, they would burn shorter length candles so that the room would get dark quicker and their guests would be forced to leave. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the day because we learned so much about the Hapsburg family, especially Maria Teresa, who was the only empress that ever ruled the empire.
2. Japanese Choir’s Church Performance
When roaming the city, we had the opportunity to pop in on another traveling choir’s performance. This group, from Japan, sang in the St. Peter’s church of central Vienna, and was hands down the most beautiful choral ensemble that I have ever heard. It was incredible to be able to hear another group that worked immensely hard just like we did leading up to this trip, especially in such a beautiful and resonant church.
3. Rude Austrian Waiter, Great Cappuccino
During our free time, my chaperone group also chose to stop at a pastry and coffee house that was recommended by Pascal (our right hand local man throughout the trip). When we entered the cafe, not a single waiter acknowledged our presence. So, after a group of people finally finished their coffee (the place was PACKED), we sat down on our own. A waiter finally approached us and I asked for a menu, but he replied with a firm “No menu. Coffee, tea, water.” We were quite alarmed to say the least. So, with much fear, everyone at the table quickly asked for a cappuccino and nothing else. Despite the rude service, I am very glad we decided to stop, because that was one of the best cappuccinos I have EVER had. Plus, we finally built up the courage to ask for a pastry that we noticed on a nearby table which, surprisingly, he let us order and was incredibly delicious. (It was a cheese pastry, almost like a flaky, fluffy cheesecake.)
4. Dinner with Entertainment
After a long day of exploring within our individual chaperone groups, the whole group met up for dinner at a restaurant within the building of the Vienna Opera House. Although the food (vegetable soup, pork schnitzel & apple strudel) was delicious, the best part of the meal was the restaurant’s dinner entertainment. Along with our dinner, we were accompanied by an accordion player who not only knew numerous iconic songs on the accordion, but also sang to us! As a group, we burst out into song when he played La Bamba, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Do Re Mi and many other classic sing along. But, the best part of the night was when he played a Russian song that one of our lovely chaperones knew, and they sang a beautiful duet for the entire group.
5. Pascal’s Favorite Gelato Shop
Even though we had dessert at the restaurant, our guide for the entire trip promised to bring us to his favorite ice cream place in Vienna as our evening activity. So, as a group, we walked the narrow and intricate streets of the city and made our way to Pascal’s favorite gelato shop. I got some delicious raspberry gelato, but it wasn’t the gelato that made the night so special. During our visit to the shop, the people on the trip bonded more than ever. It was this night that I not only learned more about Pascal’s interesting life and his travels, but also became closer to many choir kids that I didn’t know on a personal level before we left Michigan.
- Amanda Wilhoit (Senior)
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