All day Mozart event! I printed a walking tour off the internet. We visited the Mozart House, the only one of 13 apartments where Mozart lived that still shows traces of his life. Beautifully done. We walked by the Stephansdom where thousands of people were waiting for Otto von Habsburgs funeral. We saw the procession and Habsburg's family walk by. I know my American students had never seen anything like this. I was puzzled to see my dear fellow Austrians pay a man the their respect, a man they had not wanted while he was alive. I suspect a great deal of nostalgia and a love for wearing uniforms played a role. We went on to see Mozart's unknown grave on St. Marx cemetary, a rather eery place where funerals took place only between 1784 and 1886. In the evening, we went to a Mozart and More concert in the Malteserkirche.
Today we took the bus with Italians, Spaniards, Germans and Americans (as well as a South African) to Vienna Woods, Mayerling, and the subterranean lake in Hinterbruehl that served as a mine, a place where the Nazis built the first jet, and a "working place" for concentration camp prisoners during WW II. Another interesting bit of Austrian history that I did not know. I could not believe that they had the Mary Vetsera's coffin at Mayerling. Unreal!
After we got back, I went home and took a three hour nap. Very necessary!
Off to grading now.
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