Ketchup, among other things

Last week was very busy (hence, I haven't blogged for a whole week). Besides having classes, we took a tour of the Wagenburg, the carriage museum, which was very interest. My favorites were the leopard-skin sleigh and the children's carriage pulled by trained sheep. We again toured the the Schonbrunn gardens and stopped by for ice cream before going home. I saw three operas last week--two in Stehplatz and one sitting outside in the plaze of the Staatoper. I saw Madame Butterfly, Don Carlo, and Die Fledermaus. My favorites were M. Butterfly, during which I cried most of the second half, and Fledermaus,which, as always, is hilarious.

On Friday we took a trip to Eisenstadt, a town about 2 hours from Vienna, and the hometown of Haydn. We took several tours talking about Haydn. My favorite story was hearing about his death. He wanted a big ceremonial funeral, but because the Vienna was occupied by the French when he died, he got only a modest one. Years later, the head of the Estherhazy family wanted to give Haydn the burial he'd wanted and also to instill his body in a church rather than a grave yard. But when they opened his coffin, Haydn's head was missing. A Professor had taken in for research. When the authorities asked for the head back, he gave them the head of a different old man, which was then buried with Haydn's body. Only in the 1950's, when his head, after being passed from doctor to doctor, was donated to the Vienna Music Society, was his body reunited with his head. Interest, yes?

Saturday we went to the Prater Funpark and rode the famous giant ferriswheel. The view was beautiful and the sky was very clear that day.