Light My Candle

Yet another scary Amazing Race moment this morning at the train station. We got there leisurely just before 10:00AM for the 10:26 train to Vienna. As we were getting our tickets to the Czech border, the ticket lady said the train was leaving at 10:01! We booted it to the platform, and jumped onto the train, which took off 30 seconds later. Another close call!

Vienna is lovely and westernized. Oh I´m so happy to be back in Western Europe. We actually had a hard time orientating ourselves and took 30 minutes of walking (partly in the wrong direction) to find our hostel. But we got there eventually. We´re staying at the Hostel Ruthensteiner, which is very clean and friendly.

I thought I might fall before I could see anything...

After settling in, Ancilla and I set off to see the city. We went to Cafe Centrale (supposedly an old haunt of Trotsky, where he used to do his plotting!) for a little break. This is an actual coffeeshop, not one of the potshops in Amsterdam! I tried melange (coffee with hot milk) and shared an apple strudel and sacher torte with Cil. This would turn out to be more or less our dinner for the night because right afterward we just happened to stumble into the line-up for standing tickets to the Staatsoper. We each paid €2 and got to see Puccini´s La Boheme.

La Boheme is very near and dear to my heart because as you might know I´m a bit of a Renthead. Our "seats" (they weren´t even seats because we had standing tickets!) were up in the balcony, and half my view was obstructed by this tall guy in front. I had to prop myself up on the railing and lean so far out I thought I might fall before I could see anything. But the show was amazing. There were a few times where I thought I might cry. It was a bit of a different experience than Carmen a few nights ago. This story is a lot more universal, in that it´s about love and how when you love somebody, it´s very easy to let the fear of losing that person consume you. I was quite proud of the fact that the character of Musetta was sung by a Canadian soprano. And Mimi was just brilliant. And I couldn´t believe that basically anyone could afford tickets to see this show. I wish they had a provincial theatre system in BC so that everyone could have the same access to cultural performances, not just the rich folks. I saw this opera the last time it was playing in Vancouver, and despite half standing and trying to balance on a railing this time around, it was infinitely better. It just made my night.