January 27th is a special day. It's Mozart's birthday!!!
Dr. Hinckley so graciously gave us this day off, so about half of us decided to go on a Mozart walking tour. (Just a note, most Viennese don't know when Mozart's birthday is, and it's not a holiday either……just to clarify.)
We started at St. Stephan's Cathedral. (More pictures of Stephensdom to come :) )
The first stop was the House of the Teutonic Order.
This plaque states that Mozart lived here from the 18th of March to the 2nd of May, 1781. It wasn't a very long time, but apparently it was an important time in Mozart's life.
Some cool stuff that we saw on the way………
Color! Pretty flowers like these really cheer up bleak winter days.
Cool street with some cool stuff.
Too bad no one was tall enough to have fun with these mirrors.
According to our walking tour, "[Mozart] is thought to have spent the happiest and most productive part of his Viennese period in this building — certainly, he never lived anywhere else for nearly as long."
He composed "Eight important piano concerti, chamber music works, a horn concerto, the “Masonic Music”, the Goethe song “Das Veilchen”, the cantata “Davide penitente”, the comedy “The Impresario” and the famous opera “The Marriage of Figaro”" here.
We didn't go in because the admission is expensive and I've heard that it's not worth the money. Besides, we're going to Mozart's house in Salzburg, in April!
By the way, we found some cool things off of Blutgasse, or, Blood street.
Masks!!!
If you couldn't tell, I kind of like masks.
Next stop: Stephansdom/Kruzifixkapelle
In the Kruzifixkapelle, the remains of Mozart "received their final blessing on 6 December 1791."
Also, St. Stephens is were Mozart was married, and two of his children were christened.
Here's a random shot by St. Stephens. I kind of like this picture, because I didn't actually have to ask anyone to look at me :)
Next stop: Mozart's death place
He composed many operas here, including the "Magic Flute."
Next stop: Cafe Frauenhuber
Mozart performed in this cafe several times, and his last performance was here as well.
Next stop: Michaelerkirche
"The 17-year-old Joseph Haydn played the organ in this church in 1749 (he lived next-door in a small attic room), and it was here that the Requiem was played just a few days after Mozart’s death, in a requiem service for the composer." (Sorry, I'm too lazy to summarize/paraphrase)
I found out that panorama shots inside buildings look really weird, haha.
Next stop: Mozart Memorial
Now, Julia and I actually get to bid Mozart a good morning on our way to school, so this was a familiar site.
Julia had just come back from a violin lesson, so she played "Happy Birthday" to Mozart on the violin, and we sang along. It was great.
It's kind of cool, being able to see such a cool monument everyday.
After the memorial, we went to Cafe Mozart.
We wanted to eat here, but most of us decided that it was too expensive, and our group broke up here to get something to eat.
Some of us, though, decided to go see Mozart's grave.
Last stop: St. Marx Cemetery
(By the way, here is a cool building we saw on the way. It's like a skyscraper, but built on it's side.)
Now, a quick note. I got a little picture happy, because I love taking pictures of cemeteries! I would have more, but my camera died……oh well.
Becca found a dead bird. Fitting?
This was such an amazing way to celebrate Mozart's birthday!!
We love you Mozart!!! Happy Birthday :)
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