Miss Krenicki's Online Journal

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2011-03-03T08:43:00.001-05:00

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CAST LISTS

2010-11-14T18:28:00.004-05:00

I know many of you are wondering when the cast lists will be published, and it took me longer to put these together than I expected!

Please know, if you didn't get your first choices, it was because either there were MULTIPLE people who wanted the part (in one class, over 9 people wanted the same 2 parts!) or I knew you would do a good job handling an important other part. :)

MOST OF YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE PART! Please click on the link for your class to find out your part(s), and be sure to look through the whole list!

A CLASS:

B CLASS:

C CLASS:

D CLASS:

E CLASS:

Lateral Thinking!

2010-10-15T13:54:00.003-04:00

Today we practiced some puzzlers, and for those of you looking for the ANSWERS to some of the puzzlers, check these out ;)

One day a man received a package in the mail. Inside, he found a human left arm. He examined it carefully and then repacked it and sent it on to another man. The second man also examined the arm. He then took it out into the woods and buried it. Why should they have done these things?

The answer is listed here (you must highlight this to see it!): The three men had been together on a flying mission in the Pacific. Their plane had come down and they were adrift for many days in a dinghy. They had had some water but no food and were gradually starving to death. Eventually, out of desperation, they agreed to amputate their left arms in order to eat them. They swore a solemn oath that each would have his left arm cut off. One of the three was a doctor and he amputated the arms of one and then later of the other of his colleagues. Just before his turn came, they were rescued. However, his oath/promise was binding and he later had to have the arm amputated and sent to his colleagues for them to see that the promise had been kept.

Were there any other answers I was to post? If so, let me know! :) Have a great weekend!

Address for our Sister School!

2010-03-10T05:17:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! You will need to have the address to our sister school if you do not have the personal home address for your pen pal. Also, you should take your letter to the post office to have it weighed for postage. It will need more than one stamp to send out of the country. Depending on how heavy your letter is, it may need several stamps!

Remember, when posting a letter, you need to include your name and home address in the upper left corner of the envelope. Please include "USA" under the city, state and zip code.

In the "To" section, write the name of your penpal and then add this information:

(name of your pen pal -- the Chinese name, if you have it)
c/o Zibo No. 18 Middle School
18 Pannan West Road
Zhangdian, Zibo City
Shandong Province 255047
P. R. China

2/22/2010

2010-02-22T19:38:00.005-05:00

I haven't posted here in some time (and I cannot access the edit page from school), but it is a handy place to check on your work and assignments.

Tonight's homework is to read the short article "Games for Girls" and then respond to 4 questions. One question is a multiple choice, but the others require longer answers. Through this site, I'll help you look at your responses the way it might be scored on the CMTs.

First thing -- remember to answer all parts of the question. It sounds obvious, doesn't it? You'd be surprised how many kids forget to re-read the question after they think they are done. For example, if the question asks you to describe your perfect day and give examples of what you'd do on that day, be sure you (1) describe the day and (2) give examples. Chances are, one or two sentences will not answer it completely.

Secondly, answer in complete sentences. Yes, TTQA (turn the question around) even if it asks you to make a list. For example "This article explains how to bake a cake in three steps. The first step is....." and then give the three steps in complete sentences.

Finally, go back and re-read your response. Many students do not do this... why not? Is it because you think you don't have enough time? That may be, especially if you are being timed or doing your homework on the bus. During the CMTs you will be timed, but you may be surprised how much time you actually have. If you think you are done, but still have 15 minutes to go, GO BACK AND RE-READ what you've written. I suspect you'll find at least one thing to correct, provide more detail, or clarify (make more understandable).

Did you notice there are three steps listed here? Each of your responses is scored on a 0-1-2 scale. If you completed all three steps accurately, you'll score a 2 (the highest score) for your response. If you didn't complete ALL of the first step (answering all parts of the question), the best score you can get is a 1! That takes your score from 100% to a 50%! If you went back to re-read the question and your answer, chances are you would find the mistake and fix it.

Now that you were reminded of these important tips, go back and check your answers for tonight's homework. Would you score a "2" on each response? Now that you know what is expected, do your very best work. It is good practice for next week!

~ Miss Krenicki

PS -- I'll post the address for our Sister School tomorrow!

Welcome!

2008-10-08T22:57:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted here in some time, and it is now time to update this page! I'm heading to Dearborn, Michigan for the National Council of Geography Education (NCGE) conference. I'll be able to upload photos to this site, so please feel free to leave messages!

This weekend we have the opportunity to go to the Ford Museum in celebration of the 100 years of Ford! Can you believe there have been cars for 100 years?? Interestingly, at the end of the day on Wednesday, an article arrived at school to discuss the Ford anniversary! I'll be sure to share it with you when I return. I'll take a lot of photos, too, so be sure to check here for the photos.

We also have the opportunity to go to Motown recording studios! Most of you will have NO idea about the Motown musicians, so you should ask your parents :) Here is the website of the museum we'll visit.

I expect to bring my computer along with me, but in case I can't log in for some reason, don't worry! I return home on Sunday afternoon, so I'll update the site that evening.

Have a great weekend, and please kindly assist the guest teacher. Thanks!

:) Miss Krenicki

Demels in Vienna

2006-09-03T07:52:00.000-04:00

I am up early this morning, on a day we have off, because the wind and rain outside jolted me awake. Marlyne wrote to me, who was ALSO in Europe the same time I was, and we loved a place called DEMELS ~ the famous bakery/restaurant in Vienna.

Our discussion reminded me that I had a lot of photos of that place that I hadn't uploaded yet!

So, for the first time, I'm going to post photos of DEMELS (which, if anyone is interested in going, is in the Kohlmarket in Vienna, right near the Imperial Hofburg Palace).

Here is the view of Demels from outside, looking TOWARD the palace:

As it was about a million degrees outside, we decided to go inside for lunch.

On the way to the seating, we passed the bakery with viewing windows to see their latest creations.

Bill Clinton.....

What IS this creature?? It is funny though!

Here is the work space of the bakery:

What is she making there? Oh wait! Mozart cookies!

They were about 3 1/2" big each, and cost about $15 per cookie. We didn't buy any....

So, we went to the second floor and ordered lunch.

These are called "sausages" but are really like long hot dogs. In the little cup there is shredded horseradish and mustard to dip pieces of the "sausage" in..

Then dessert...

After lunch, we went down to the gift shop. Everything there was so expensive, even a little box of mints, we didn't buy a thing.

Photos of Vienna :)

2006-08-13T22:19:00.001-04:00

Here are my teacher friends, Heather and Audrey, while we were riding the tram!

Here is our room!

Near our classroom was this hotdog stand. Can you see how the hot dog fits in the bun??

Here are photos from Cafe Central ~ a famous cafe in Vienna...

Finally, here are two photos of Salzburg, Austria. It was just beautiful!

Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen....

2006-07-22T23:13:00.000-04:00

London is a fascinating city. It is especially good to visit when you have a friend who used to live there as your personal tour guide! It saves on orienteering and figuring out the transportation system, and lets you get right to the fun stuff fast!

After arriving in Paddington Station, I headed off to the hotel where my friend was waiting to meet me!

The first day we arrived, we took a walk down a posh street in Chelsea lined with designer stores. Dark cars with tinted windows were parked along the sidewalks while secret service security stood beside the cars while elegant women, in dress indicating they were probably from the Middle East, were directed into the shops. These were stores like Prada and Chanel, with door persons waiting to open the door for you. These stores had one item on a hanger, a pair of shoes, or a handbag for display in the window. Looking inside, there would be five garments hanging in the entire store. These places were WAY too expensive for the average window shopper. But, it was fun to walk down the street in dark sunglasses, looking into windows and seeing who was buying.

After an incredible visit to Harrod's of London, THE fabulous department store famous in London, we decided to make a reservation for High Tea in the Georgian Room, on the top floor of the department store. It is THE place to go for tea.

When we arrived, there was a gentleman playing a grand piano through the silk dogwood trees placed around the room. The art deco architecture and pastel decor made it feel like we were in a garden, rather than on the top floor of a department store in London.

While we were there, a group of people arrived and sat at a table behind us. They obviously were famous (well, at least one in the group was), and had their own security staff with them. The security staff sat at other tables around the room. People in the restaurant started taking out their cameras and snapping pictures of the mystery table. Well, they were a mystery to US, who didn't know who they were... we still don't! I did overhear the women at the next table asking the waiter if they could have their photos taken with So-and-So, and he said that it would be fine, after the guests had their coffee. I wish I had the nerve to ask WHO they were. Oh well!

After a quick taxi ride, we jetted off to Buckingham Palace. Here is a photo of the inside of one of the taxis. You can fold down extra seats on either side of the tv screen in case you have extra passengers. Pretty cool, huh?

I'd hoped to meet the Queen, as I had already spoken to the President of the European Union and the Chancellor of Austria, so I figured she would have no problem seeing us. She was at home, in fact! But, we did not have the pleasure of meeting her this time.

We did get to see her royal horses (I somehow managed to get a picture of the WRONG end).... and the carriage that took her to her coronation!

One of the funniest things we saw at the changing of the guard was the musical concert the guards play before the change is complete. They played a medley of Beatles songs! I tried to record it with my camera, but for some reason there is no sound. If I can fix the sound problem, I'll post the movie clip here!

On our first night, we went to the West End of town to see "WE WILL ROCK YOU" which is a show based on the music from the band Queen. It was really fun! I hope it comes to New York. In front of the theatre were four telephone booths ~ not only were they the cool red ones from England, but when was the last time YOU saw a telephone booth? It has been a while. I had to take a picture....

On to London....

2006-07-21T09:17:00.000-04:00

I left Vienna early to fly to Paris before going to London for a few days. The Paris airport is HUGE!

I have lots of photos from London because I wasn't able to go online! Here are a few to start:

Here is the Parliament Building:

We went shopping in Harrod's of London, a famous department store, and they were having a big 1/2 off sale! The escalators were so cool! Look how they were designed!

Here we are!

2006-07-21T09:15:00.000-04:00

Here is a photo of all of the teachers on our last day in Vienna! Thank you for the photo! :)

Kunsthistoriches and Rathaus

2006-07-21T06:50:00.000-04:00

I have not had a chance to catch up for a few days due to the hectic schedule we have kept out last few days in Vienna. There are a lot of photos that need to be uploaded off of the camera and into the computer, so as soon as we are settled in London, I’ll get to work!

One of the most interesting things to see is the Kunsthistoriches Museum in the Museum Quarter of Vienna.

Located right next to the Hofburg Palace, this grouping of museums are some of the most comprehensive in the world. The highlight is the exhibit of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian artifacts. I have never seen so many artifacts from these regions before! I wish we could go on a entire field trip here…. There were some VERY cool things to see. I was able to take non-flash photos in this museum, so there are some good ones that I will share.

MUMMIES!!

I have HUNDREDS of photos from this museum, and I will have to sort through them all to figure out which ones go together!

The Rathaus (don’t you LOVE that name? It is the city hall!) has a big movie screen over the front of it during the summer months. They show old movies, concerts on film, operas, etc. on the big screen in the evenings. Most films start after 9:45, when it is really dark. There are little vendors all around the sidewalks in booths shaped like teepees! In fact, many of them are just covered with cloth to keep the air circulating. Each vendor has food specialties from various countries. It is like going to the Taste of Connecticut ~ all kinds of things to sample. However, the portions are HUGE, so if you plan to sample things from different parts of the world, you may not want to eat earlier, or come back every night to have a new dish! We did not stay for the film (it was too late), but we had dinner out there. Across the street from the Rathaus is the Burgtheatre. They had a dance troupe doing a live performance, and there have been posters all over the city advertising them for a month. All of this activity made the area very crowded.

This guy has an interesting look on his face... does he not want his picture taken? Did he eat a lemon? I'm not sure....

Are those for me? Oh... you shouldn't have!

Next to the Rathaus is the Parliament building. The construction is definitely Greek influenced, and can be seen in the fountain in the front. Athena is standing there holding Nike (which you HOPEFULLY noticed on an earlier post :) ), and there are Greek philosophers sitting along the walls.

I will miss Vienna. There were still things I didn't have a chance to see or visit, so that will have to be on our next trip here....

I am on to LONDON, England for a few days! I will post again from there!

So long, Vienna....

2006-07-12T11:08:00.000-04:00

We had our last class today. In it, we had the chance to hear the projects that all of the teachers are working on! Then, this afternoon, I went to the Albertina museum (http://www.albertina.at/cms/front_content.php) which was really fun. Tonight we are all going to a final dinner at a restaurant/vineyard in the country. I will be sure to post photos about that tomorrow!

In the meantime, I've taken pictures of the area right around our hotel to give you some idea of what we see every day here :)

Here is our hotel:

These are the famous Strudlhofstiege (stairs) next to our hotel:

Does anyone need an "I love AUSTRIA" sticker? This stand sells them....

Here is the train I take everyday. It is the D tram!

This grocery store is right near our classroom. Do you see that column in the middle of the room? It is really a water fountain... if you look closely, you can see that water slides down it....

The Lichtenstein Palace is directly across the street from our hotel. There are beautiful gardens and a cafe there, too! Here are some photos of that building:

Look at this menu closely. It is also from the cafe in the Palace. Does anything look odd to you??

I will post more later!

Prague movie

2006-07-10T01:06:00.000-04:00

It takes quite a while to prepare these little movies, and they are often 'works in progress' as I have a few going at the same time.

Here is a video of Prague! I neglected to give musical credit in the video, so I will here: the music is, of course, by Mozart, and it is his Prague Symphony (Symphony # 28, Final movement). He wrote this music for this city, so it was the perfect choice for the movie. This particular recording is the Vienna Philharmonic.

Better late than never!

2006-07-09T13:47:00.000-04:00

Here is our SALZBURG movie :) You will recognize the tune, I am sure!

I am a doofus.

2006-07-07T17:46:00.000-04:00

Okay. Finally the video clip of my encounter with the Austrian Chancellor/EU President is ready. Too bad I FORGOT TO HIT THE LITTLE RECORD button when he was speaking to me. Why is that? Anyway, I did hit RECORD just after he passed us. You can hear the people applauding him, and when I turn the camera, you CAN see him from behind. The vice-chancellor IS in the shot, though.

I will cut up more concert clips (not tonight) and put them up for you to see.....

In the meantime, here is my clip. You may need to watch it twice. LOL

Historic Prater

2006-07-07T17:38:00.000-04:00

Here are some cool photos of the famous PRATER, the historic midway district in Vienna!

Wow. That looks mighty blurry....

July 6th

2006-07-06T14:53:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

We do not have much time left in Vienna, and we are trying to do all of the things we’d wanted to do and see while we are still here! Other groups presented parts of their assignments this a.m., and we had a lecture about “Women in the Enlightenment” relating to themes and characters in Don Giovanni.

This afternoon, we went back to Schonbrunn Palace to see the royal apartments. Words cannot express how unbelievable the Hapsburgs lived… no photos were allowed inside of the building so that they can sell the CD of photos, DVD of the palace, and/or the printed books. I have more photos of the gardens, though!

Interestingly, Andre Riou will be performing there this weekend. He is the violinist who does the Viennese waltz concerts on PBS. They had a huge stage set up in front of the palace this time, rather than behind the palace as it was for the concert last week. We happened to be there for the dress rehearsal, sound and TV check, so we saw him with the chorus and orchestra. We think the tickets may be expensive, though it will probably be broadcast on television. The grand ballroom in the palace was also set up with large cameras and lights, so they probably will have dancers doing the waltz to the concert outside (for tv, of course).

There was also a demonstration in the kitchens of how to make Austrian apple strudel, and we went to go and investigate. I got to help turn the strudel out onto the baking dish and brush the top of the dough  I am now an expert in strudel!
LOL Hey, I have the certificate to prove it!

After lots of walking around the grounds, and really all over the city, we have crawled back to our hotel. I could, seriously, take a nap! All of these adventures this week are starting to catch up!

This weekend (after my early class tomorrow morning) I’m going to the District Convention, and my roommate, Mrs. Webb is going with some other classmates to Melk. That is a very interesting town in the hills northwest of Vienna. There is a church up there that housed the Guttenburg (sp???) Bible before the Austrian government sold it to the USA to help pay for damages from World War II. It is an interesting story to research.

By the way, I saw this bike rack with the sign on the side... I thought you'd get a kick out of it....

Busy Day!

2006-07-05T18:32:00.000-04:00

(Fountain near Karlsplatz)

Today we saw a commercial for “Deal or No Deal” in German! We also saw “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” while we were getting ready for class this a.m. Way funny!

We started “Don Giovanni” today in class, and we had to present our group discussion project. Whew! This means we don’t have to worry about that part of the project anymore  Afterwards, we went to Beethoven’s house and heard a wonderful concert on the pianoforte, an instrument Mozart used that was the precursor to the modern piano. It was great to hear the instrument played in a famous landmark by an amazing performer.

Beethoven's house:

Then, we jumped on the tram to go to the Sudbanhof (the southern train station in the city) to spend the afternoon in Bratislava, Slovakia! We noticed on the map that the capital city of Bratislava was less than 1 hour away, so we thought it would be fun to see the castle and have dinner! Our Slovakian was not very good, but we managed to find our way to the castle!

There were gorgeous views from the top of the mountain. Interestingly, July 5th was a national holiday, so a lot of things were closed. However, our guidebook had a recommendation for a restaurant near the castle and we found it! It may have been the best meal we have had in Europe….

There was a lot of evidence of the Roman Empire in Bratislava. The city wall is still standing. Remains of a Roman Moravian church are right next to the huge castle on the hill. We were trying to interpret the Slovakian on the sign here… we determined that a church stood on this site from the 8th to the 12th centuries. We can’t tell how it was destroyed, but we thought it might just have fallen down with age!

We looked around the city a little bit before taking the train back to Vienna. We were impressed that we managed to keep to our schedule AND see everything we wanted to!

View of Bratislava from the wall around the castle:

Tomorrow we are planning to go to Schonbrunn Palace to see the art gallery there. We went to that site to see the Concert for Europe, but we didn’t want to lose our place, so we didn’t go inside. Now we have our chance! There are not many days left while we are in Vienna, so we are trying to do as much as we can in the short time remaining… Our professor is also trying to get us into the American Embassy for a tour before we are gone 

Are there any sites YOU recommend we see before we go??

Photo pages

2006-07-04T17:29:00.000-04:00

I am working on loading photos to a separate website, and I will post here the link as soon as they are ready! Thanks for checking!!! :)

Here is a photo in front of the Upper Belvedere:

This week....

2006-07-04T17:04:00.000-04:00

I feel like I haven’t been in touch much lately, but we feel like headless chickens! I’m going to post an update (with DANKE to Mrs. Webb for writing most of it!!), and if photos aren’t here now, I will put them in later  I’m in the process of loading more online, too.

THANK YOU, MRS. WEBB, FOR WRITING MOST OF THIS POST!! SHE ORGANIZED THE ENTIRE TIMELINE, AND I HAVE JUST FILLED IN A FEW POINTS/PHOTOS FOR YOU!!! THANK YOU, HEATHER! :) L

Vienna Highlights:

-(I know I mentioned this earlier, but thought I'd give an update :) We scored FREE VIP tickets to an outdoor concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. The concert was conducted by Placido Domingo and held on the grounds of the Hapsburg’s summer palace, and was called the CONCERT FOR EUROPE. We sat in the same section as the Austrian Chancellor, his wife, the Vice-Cancellor and his wife, and other dignitaries from the EU. The Chancellor is also the current president of the EU, and had a big meeting here in Vienna last week when President & Mrs. Bush (along with C. Rice and others) came for the meeting about Korea. Anyway, it rained most of the time but it was an awesome event filled with great performances. There were blankets for us (to keep) on each seat. I have video of the concert, and forgot to hit the RECORD button as the Chancellor spoke to me! I’m such a doofus. I remembered to hit the button as he passed, so you can see the Vice-Chancellor straight on. You CAN see the Chancellor from behind….oh well.

As part of the VIP pass, we were also invited to an after party which we attended very briefly due to the rain. We did see the Chancellor get into his car (we were standing RIGHT next to it), he waved to us and then drove away… It was a fun night, even though we were SOAKED when we got back to the hotel!

- We visited two great music museums. One museum was very modern with many interactive displays which illustrated the physical properties of sound. The other museum contained instruments dating back to the 12th century. This museum showcased Leopold Mozart’s violin and the Schumann’s piano which was later owned by Brahmas.

- We also toured the lavish imperial apartments where we learned a great deal about Emperor Franz Joseph and his beautiful wife Sissy. On of the most interesting things to me was that Sissy’s hair was so long that it took a whole day to wash it with Cognac and egg yolks. Then, it took two hours each day for her hair to be dressed by her servants! She had a 20” waist (21” after she had her children). The gowns look like they were made for a young girl!

- We went to the Musicverein, the golden theatre that is the New Year’s Day broadcast venue! We did not see a performance there, but they have a private collection of original manuscripts from Mozart that we had behind-the-scenes access to!

- We also spent time at the Belvedere Art Museum today. This palace is divided into two buildings with a stretch of gardens between the upper and lower buildings. They have been converted into gorgeous art museums. The Upper Belvedere (where we explored this afternoon) has works from Austrian artists, as well as works from Monet, Manet, VanGoh, and others. The highlight was the large collection of works from Klimt. Several of the pieces are now in the USA because of repatriation to the original owner’s estates. Many of the works were stolen by the Nazi’s during WWII, and are now just getting returned to their owners. The most amazing piece we saw today was “The Kiss” painting by Klimt. It was absolutely STUNNING in person.

- We went to the ballet at the Staatopera this week and saw Sleeping Beauty. It had GORGEOUS costumes, and the orchestra was fabulous. There was a ½ hour prelude BEFORE acts 1 & 2. We left before act 3 because we had a lady in front of us with puffy hair, and we could only see parts of the stage from around her head! We had a box seat (which was fun), except for the limited view around the woman…. So, instead, we went to the Sacher Hotel to have cake and iced coffee 

- In the Hofburg building was the Ephasus museum! How perfect?! I have lots of photos from the archaeological excavations, and will have to go through and label them…

Prague Highlights:

-Our entire group took an architectural walking tour through the city focusing on the buildings that existed during Mozart’s time. We started up on Castle Hill (almost every European city has something like this!), and walked down from there, over the river on the Charles Bridge, and came out on the other side of town. Our hotel room overlooked the street, and it was a good thing we brought ear plugs because the trolly cars passed by every 10 minutes!

-We took a guided tour of the Estates Theater where Don Giovanni was first performed. This theater is the only one still standing where Mozart’s operas were performed during his lifetime. Our guide was a delightful older gentleman with such a love for music and a funny bone. Several of us also attended a Mozart aria concert in the theater that evening. It was fun to hear/see a performance in that venue!

-We visited the country estate were Mozart wrote much of Don Giovanni. The estate still houses two keyboards once played by Mozart. I don’t blame Mozart for staying in this country house. The area is beautiful, and the country house was well-situated for cool breezes in the hills….

-We went to the Jewish Quarter including an old cemetery where over 100,000 people were buried between the 1400’s and the mid 1700’s. The cemetery is not very big, so the bodies are stacked in the ground as many as 12 deep! The grave markers are just piled up… it is a sight to see.

-While passing by the Kafka Café, I saw a newly married bride and groom sitting on the outdoor terrace with their photographer! I snuck a photo, so I will have to post it 

Sorry this email is so long, as you can see we have been very busy. Tonight we are watching the Germany vs. Italy game in the lobby of the hotel. It is BIG news around here :)

I'll insert photos in here later!

EU PRESIDENT MEETING AND PRAGUE

2006-07-04T02:36:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

I am sorry for the delay, and this will be a quick blog because I am posting on a German computer, and the keys are in different places!!

So, first of all, we went to the Concert for Europe on Friday night with Placido Domingo conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. It was at the palace (here is a view of the palace building)

Here is the Palm Garden building on the property.

The only seats that were there were reserved for VIPS... so we claimed a park bench with a blanket we borrowed from our hotel room and sat there for a while. To keep us entertained, they showed the Argentina v. Germany World Cup game....

Anyway, we made friends with security-official staff (by the way, these guys were NOT security... they kind of plopped down right near us to watch the World Cup on the big screens while we waited. I just thought it was funny to see them hanging out near us!), and by the time it was ready to start, not only did we have VIP tickets, but we also had tickets to the AFTER PARTY!! The very center section was for Presidents and other officials of Europe, but we had the FRONT ROW of the main section!

Behind us were all of the people standing behind the barricades...

Right where we were, the President of Austria (he is also President of the EU) walked right in front of me, wished me GRUSS GOTT (I wished him the same), he bumped into my knee, and walked to his seat! His second in command followed behind him.... I think I have video of this exchange (I was trying to get it going while he happened upon us)... I will see if I can post it later.

Here is the view of the garden from our seat...

After the party, we watched the President get into his car (we were STANDING right next to it!!), wave to us, and be driven off....

The next morning we had to go to PRAGUE. Gorgeous city. I will elaborate later, but here are some photos.

The Estates Theatre where Mozart conducted DON GIOVANNI

A bathroom on the corner...

Wednesday

2006-06-28T17:44:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for your posts and emails! I am reading every one of them, though the computer here keeps kicking me off.... just so you know! I relog in and see a few more each time :) Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad people are checking the blog out to see where our adventures take us!

This has been a busy week. Our classes have been busy with listening to Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. We also went to the Museum of Music this week ~ that was WAY cool. I wish there was one in the US so we could go on a field trip there. Really neat stuff. I will post the website to it here: http://www.hdm.at/

Some of the interesting artifacts included a painting of Mozart's family:

I think their website has more cool stuff, so you may want to try that out!

Tonight we went to the State Opera House and saw "Sleeping Beauty" the ballet. It was gorgeous. Beautiful costumes... I tried to sneak a photo, but it was too dark. Here is their website: http://www.staatsoper.at/Content.Node2/en/index.php

I took a photo of the orchestra pit, though!

Here is a view of the side cafe next to the theatre:

And then, we went to the Hotel Sacher for their famous SACHER TORTE!

I ordered an iced coffee with the cake, and it came with FROZEN whipped cream in it! Do you see it in the photo? It looks like a milkshake! Mrs. La would LOVE it.....

We had a private tour this afternoon of the museum in the Musicverein, a famous concert hall. On New Year's Eve, the Vienna Philharmonic broadcasts live from here!

While walking back to our hotel yesterday, we passed through the center square, and there was a church in the square. We went in, and there was the casket of a friend of Mozart....

Kind of creepy???? YES.

Here is the view from the outside of the square:

This is a view of the Parliament building in Vienna. I actually took this photo while we were on the tram! I had to take it because of what it represented... does ANYTHING here look familiar??? (hint... hint.... Romans....hint... hint... Greeks.....)

Tomorrow we have more classes and another museum tour.

Friday night there is a HUGE concert at the summer palace here in Vienna. It is being directed by Placido Domingo (your parents will be able to tell you who he is :) I am planning on being there, and it is going to be broadcast on TV around the world!

After that, this weekend we'll be in Prague. We won't be back here until Monday night, so I won't be able to post over the weekend!

Thanks for your comments!

~ Miss K

Our Budapest Movie

2006-06-27T02:31:00.000-04:00

Here is the WORLD PREMIER of our Budapest film! The music is a modern version of DON GIOVANNI (an opera written by Mozart!). We went to the Museum of Music yesterday afternoon, and they were playing this in one of the exhibits. We bought the CD! It is called MOZART LOUNGE.

Hit the arrow in the center of the little screen, and turn up your speakers!

Enjoy!!

Live from BUDAPEST!

2006-06-26T01:55:00.000-04:00

Live from Budapest, Hungary!

We have just returned from a three-day excursion to Hungary. From Vienna, it was about a three-hour train ride. We had our passports stamped as we left Austria, and then they were re-stamped a little while later as we came into Hungary. Hungary is not in the European Union, so they also retain their native money which are florints. Here is a photograph of what the money looks like, though a couple of HUNDRED florints equals one dollar. It made us look richer than we were! It was pretty, though, so we took a photo.

Our hotel was on the Buda side of the city. Buda is on the west bank of the Danube River, and Pest is on the Eastern side. Together, they make Budapest. On the Buda side, there is a large castle on top of the hill. A stone wall surrounds the castle buildings and small village. In the center of the district is a square with a large church, the Fisherman’s Bastion, and a part of the castle.

Our hotel was in that part of the castle! The large staircase reminded me of the grand ballroom in the movie Anastasia. The rooms were very small (they were taller than they were wide!), but had cool medieval windows overlooking a courtyard. I have a photo, but it appears very dark. It was not a fancy room, but it was in the perfect part of the city for exploring.

The Fisherman’s Bastion was a two-level structure. In the front was a large, copper statue of the first king of Budapest, Stephen.
The lower part of the structure had arches and columns, and was an area set up as a little restaurant for drinks, small sandwiches, ice cream, etc. A violinist would stroll through there and play for people at their tables! He was pretty good, but we heard a better one at a 600 year-old restaurant around the corner later that night. To get up to the second level of the Bastion, we had to pay a little fee, but the view was outstanding! We could see all of the Pest side of the Danube, as well as miles into the distance. We could have stayed up there all night….

Instead, we went to have dinner at that ancient restaurant. Here, a small string trio came and performed for the people who were dining. It was just lovely. They were a really good group, and after they performed, they came around to see if anyone wanted to buy their CD! We didn’t….

We were very tired from traveling and it had begun to rain, so decided to walk a little more around the castle area before heading back to our rooms. After an hour or so of rest and the rain had stopped, my roommate, Mrs. Webb, and I decided to go for a walk back up to the Bastion to see what the city looked like with the street lights and wet pavement. There was no fee to go in the evening, so we were up there admiring the view for a while!

Saturday morning we rose early to go to the famous market in Pest. This building was huge and had food stalls to purchase groceries, but also had a lot of little booths to buy Hungarian crafts and souvenirs.

It was a unique and interesting experience! I found some fun things, and bought a little bit of paprika to bring home! After shopping for a little while, and stopping for a cup of coffee, we walked to see some of the famous buildings in Budapest. Here is the Parliament building!
We saw the Opera House,
Liszt’s street, and then went to People’s Square,

before heading back toward Castle Hill. Back on the hill we had some Hungarian Goulash (it was GREAT!), and then walked up to the main castle buildings. It was just gorgeous! We had heard there was an underground labyrinth that was under the castle buildings. It had been used for storage (they had kept wine under there), but was also used as a bomb shelter during the World War and Cold War. It was probably used because the castle had been bombed and almost completely destroyed. It was reconstructed during the 1950’s.

The labyrinth was really creepy and dark, where water dripped down from the ceiling and might plop on your head. It was dark so you didn’t see it falling! Thank goodness for my handy-dandy LED light! Apparently, after 5 p.m. they shut off ALL of the lights (it was dark enough with the few they had!), and they will give you hand-held lanterns to find your way. No thank you! There was a group of German students slightly ahead of us who were trying to scare us…

A funny thing about this labyrinth was that around one corner it smelled like wine. Well, we had read that there were wine casks stored under there, so it was not too surprising. However, when we came around the corner, there was a FOUNTAIN of wine! It came out of the rock instead of water. No one was brave enough to try it, and then one of the students did. It was good! We had water bottles in our bags, so we tried a capful. It was hard to believe that it was good. We were thankful by the end of the journey under the city that we had made it out. Unfortunately, the exit brought us outside of the city wall, beneath the streets and gates! So, we walked back up into the tunnels to find the way that we came in.

Here is a photo at the castle:

That night there was a concert in the Matthias church which was in the center square. The performing group was from Montana University! They sang all kinds of music, including some of the Southern spirituals that the slaves would have sung. They were just great, and it was a free concert! I recorded parts of the concert, so if you’d like to hear it, you may download this link. If there is more interest, I have other groups of songs they performed, too! It is a little echoey because it was inside of a church.

http://rapidshare.de/files/24095533/Montana_State_3.WAV.html
(If you want to hear them, copy and paste this link in a new window)

After the concert we went back up onto the Fisherman’s Bastion for another view of the city before going to another restaurant for a little supper. We were wiped out from a long day of exploring, so went right to bed.

This morning we relaxed and each did some things that we had wanted to do before we left (I wrote post cards!). On the train ride back to Vienna, it was over 100 degrees in the train (the a/c was broken), and it was the longest 3-hours ever! Boy, were we glad to get off that train! Unfortunately, the hotel here in Vienna has had its a/c break down over the weekend, so it is not very cool here either. Oh well! At least it isn’t 100 degrees here 

We are studying the Marriage of Figaro this week, and I have some homework to complete tonight, so that is all for now! Thank you for keeping up with my posts! I have a BUNCH of new photos to post, but the internet keeps kicking me off. I'll update tonight! 

Schatzkammer ~ The Imperial Treasury... and Lippizaners

2006-06-26T01:53:00.000-04:00

I’m sorry I haven’t blogged in a few days, but there has been little internet access, and I have been away for a few days! I'll insert photos in here later, once they are up online ~ so even if you check here, make sure to check again in a day!

In the meantime, I’ll get you up to speed 

Last week we had a lot of work with our class, but in the afternoon we had a little free time. One night we had dinner at an outdoor restaurant that overlooked a wine vineyard. It took a hike to get there, but it was very beautiful. On the walk back, we passed Beethoven’s house!

Another day we went to the Treasury building, known in German as the Schatzkammer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schatzkammer) ! This was an amazing experience. The crowns, jewels, robes, and tapestries of the Hapsburg family and the Holy Roman Empire were all there. I will have to post more information about this unique and amazing place in its own blog, though if you follow the link posted above, there is some information you can view there!).

After we viewed the Treasury building, we came out right next to the Spanish Riding School. This is the home of the famous Lipizzaner stallions.

I had wanted to see the horses during the practice sessions (they are less expensive than seeing an actual performance), but we realized it was the last day they were going to be in Vienna until the fall! They close down the buildings for the summer because they take the horses around the world for shows. So, we found some last-minute discounted tickets and decided to go. What a cool building! I have little video clips of the horses you can download. I thought there was sound to the clips, but I was not able to hear anything here…..

After the show, we walked to the tram stop and there was Mozart’s statue!

On Wednesday, Mr. and Mrs. Bush came to town. A lot of the city was just shut down. Our hotel is right next to the embassy, so the helicopters and security was crazy. A lot of people went to the anti-war protest, but we stayed in and watched a video about Mozart, though we could hear the rock-concert/protesters from our window.

Here is the building where President Bush had his meeting:

More views of Salzburg

2006-06-20T09:08:00.000-04:00

Here is a cool photo of the little flowers in the rocks, and you can see the next mountain range of the Alps peeking up over the hill!

This is my roommate, Heather Webb, who teaches music in North Carolina. We made the climb together!

When we were back down the mountain, we took a river ride. This photo is of the next mountain over.

Back in Mirabell Gardens, I felt like I HAD to sing the "Do Re Mi" song from THE SOUND OF MUSIC....

While I'm talking about the Sound of Music, here is the view of the lake behind the mansion in the movie (remember when the kids fell in the lake??)

If in the blog from yesterday you wondered if that helicopter was upside down, well, you were right! I have NO idea why it was in the plaza.... By the way, this plaza is called MOZARTPLAZ, and it is next to the Glockenshpiel restaurant and horse fountain. There was a BIG screen tv there showing the World Cup games.

I took this photo of the SACHER TORTE especially for NEBO!

A visit to Salzburg is not complete without a trip to Mozart's birthplace:

And, of course, a few Mozart balls!

The hills are alive... with the SOUND OF MUSIC

2006-06-19T11:12:00.000-04:00

Yes, we just returned from a three day stay in SALZBURG, Austria. It was where the movie the SOUND OF MUSIC was filmed! I have lots of photos, but I will include a few here... I'll post a bigger blog tomorrow when I have a little more time :)

I actually CLIMBED to the top of the mountain in the SOUND OF MUSIC (well, there was a little funicular that took us up, and then we climbed the rest of the way). There was still snow up in some parts! Plus, there were tiny alpine flowers with butterflies...

Here is the view of the city of Salzburg (Mozart lived here!):

The WORLD CUP is BIG here!!!

Will post more later! :)

Later Thursday

2006-06-15T13:29:00.000-04:00

Here is the building where our classes are held every day. It was built in the 13th-century.

SIDE VIEW (that door behind the horse's head is where we go in!):

Front view:

Here are just some interesting pictures I took during our morning off.... By the way, Kelly, I DO have a photo with me in it! Usually I'm behind the camera. This one was taken TODAY at the University in Vienna. This lecture hall was built over 200 years ago. It is pretty new by European standards.

In case you forgot what I looked like..... Here is where the teacher would stand to teach the class.

But, if the teacher was boring (I'm NEVER boring, right?? ;) you might daydream out of the side window (where the light is coming in), and see this view instead:

Not a bad view, is it?

These little cars are all over the city. NO SUVs here....

These were taking in a little shopping area.... the stores were closed for the holiday, but the passageway to the shops was beautiful!

Thursday, June 15th

2006-06-15T13:19:00.000-04:00

Today is a religious holiday in Vienna. It is the Corpus Christy Festival, and that meant there were religious processionals and Mass in several churches. People were dressed in costumes. I did not go to see the festival, though many in our group did go and said that they took photos.

The World Cup for soccer is BIG NEWS all around here. The games are in Germany, which is very close 

Our classes did not begin until 1 p.m. today so that those who wanted to go to the festivals could go. This afternoon we had lessons about the rulers of Austria, and we attended our class in the University. The whole building was shut down, but the professor who taught us came to let us in! In the meantime this morning, I wandered through the town (which was pretty empty), and took more photographs. It takes a long time to get the photos uploaded, but here are a few to get you started!

This is one of the largest churches in Vienna. We can almost see if from all main parts of the city. Take a look at the colored roof tiles!

We went inside another church to see the VAULTS and DOME inside! Take a look at the number of windows inside the dome!

This hallway is in the building down the street from where the Austrian President has his office. We actually went INTO the building where the Austrian President was, but our group was so big that we could not all take the tour…..

This is a part of the RATHAUS (it has nothing to do with houses for RATS, though it IS city hall! HA HA HA!)

I have more photos of our classroom building to upload, but here is a restaurant next door. We haven’t tried that one yet…..

Right now I’m sitting in the window of our hotel smelling the beautiful linden trees…. The American Embassy is next door, and they are getting ready for President Bush to arrive here next week.. I’m sure it will be on CNN as there are many signs around the city to protest his coming here. I think there will be a lot of news coverage here on Wednesday!

I’ll upload more photos and post soon!

Wednesday!

2006-06-14T13:26:00.000-04:00

Here are some photos of some of the Roman ruins ~ do you see part of the under-ground aqueduct? Look carefully to the RIGHT of the photo!

This one, too!

In the Austrian National Library, there are remnants of the Roman Empire still here. You can see some of the tablets that have been mounted on the museum walls:

Here is a photo of the Winter Palace (which is now an art museum)... you can see our teacher on the lower right corner! He is a very smart man....

We are thinking of renting one of these cars. There are a lot of these around the city with different patterns, advertisements, and colors. What do you think??

Tuesday, June 13th

2006-06-13T15:26:00.000-04:00

Just now checking in!

It has been a long day. We started out this a.m. with a lecture in our classroom. The classroom is in the center of town, in the Ringstrasse, in an old 13th – century monestary that has been converted into guest rooms and lecture halls. We have to take a spiral staircase up 4 flights! After the lecture about architecture, we went on two walking tours. The first one was in the main part of the old city, including the university district. We passed by the house of the man who invented calculus…. We went in several churches, and though they seemed simple enough on the outside, the insides were just amazing. You wonder how such a thing is possible!

After a quick lunch of a HUGE hotdog stuffed inside of a long roll, we were back on the tour. We went to a palace just as it started raining… We must have walked 7-8 miles today. I am not exaggerating. Yesterday we walked a lot, but stood more (standing in a courtyard looking at each of the buildings while listening to the lecture). Even with that, someone was wearing a pedometer and she told us this a.m. that we had walked over 6 miles. Today was less about standing in one place, but running to keep up with the lecturers! Needless to say, we are wiped out and have blisters… ! The ground is cobblestone, so walking on it is tricky.

We went to the Austrian National Library today, and the building is unexplainable. Here are some of the photos:

Here is a photo of some Greco-Roman architecture:

We went to the opera and sat on the very top balcony, but we had the front row. The cool thing was that there was a little personal screen to give us the words in English! Thank goodness because our German is not that good yet!

Our first dinner.... this was the first course!

Vienna

2006-06-12T18:22:00.000-04:00

I made it!

It is just gorgeous here, but my computer battery is REALLY low, so I'll have to charge it up and post tomorrow. I have lots of photographs (of ROMAN architecture!) to share and some funny stories already :)

Thank you all for your messages! My email inbox was loaded! I won't have time to answer them tonight due to my low battery status, but I promise to check in. Look for photos in the next day or so....

It is after midnight here, as we just returned from the Opera, so I will make sure to check in later.

Auf Wiedersein!

~ Miss Krenicki

WELCOME!

2006-06-06T08:26:00.000-04:00

If you are able to see this page, you have found Miss Krenicki's online travel journal. Please bookmark this site, as I will update it regularly!

You are able to post comments and/or ask questions about entries on this site. If you would like to email me personally, you may reach me at: krenickilaura@yahoo.com.

Thank you for stopping by!

~Miss K

BY THE WAY!
This is the time in Vienna right now (it is six hours ahead):