We started nice and early, and headed for Eisenstadt, where we visited Esterhazy Palace, and heard more about Maria Theresia and her family. Seriously, they were EVERYWHERE. I don't think we went a single place on the entire tour without hearing Maria Theresia's name.
Anyways.... Eisenstadt? ADORABLE little European town. Esterhazy? Surprisingly unexciting. I don't know... I guess it was all of the grand places that we had already been that caused the simple Asian-inspired decor to be less than exciting. (Sidenote: Asian-inspired... in Austria? I don't understand either.) The cool, part, though, was our informal concert in Haydn Hall-- acclaimed for it's seemingly perfect acoustics. We even attracted an audience of other tour groups that requested an encore! (Thank you, thank you very much)
Here are some pictures:
Esterhazy.
Again. Such beautiful architecture.
Courtyard.
Little miss Jo. Posing with the Asian decor. (Oh hush, ya little racists, she did it on her own. I took a picture because it's adorable.)
What did I tell you about the ceiling pictures? They have pretty ceilings.
Haydn Hall.
CEILING.
Prima :)
Ceiling. Again. (I told you there were a lot...)
Ceiling. But seriously, guys. This is so cool, is it not??
After this wonderful little adventure, and a beautiful lunch at a café in Eisenstadt (and some well-deserved gelato), we jumped back on the bus and took off for Baden and the Ave Verum International Choral Competition. (sounds legit, huh?)
Once we had checked in at about the crappiest hotel ever, we headed for Baden. In Baden, we were greeted by an adorable local, Sabina, and led to the park in town, where we were greeted by a bunch of different local groups performing for us. However, my jet lag chose this exact afternoon to slap me upside the head, so... I may or may not have fallen asleep on the grass nearby. (Okay, I did... let's get real. And apparently, there was some little local boy staring at Molly and I as we slept... charming.) And then we got* to go see the opening concert for the competition.
*Note. This was the longest/weirdest choral concert I've even seen. And I'll admit... I slept for about half of it. I know, I know... I should have payed attention. But my little friend named jet lag was not done tormenting me. So I slept. And the gods of choral music did not smite me down, thank you very much. So, Ha!
But then, folks, then we went to the opening party for the competition. At the local casino. And guys, I was officially carded (technically, I was passported) and allowed into a casino. Yep. It was legit.
And then. Then I got to sleep. :)
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