New Year's Eve

"PartySlava" is the slogan to attract visitors to the New Year's Eve celebrations in the center of Old Town. For the last few days, I have noticed an unusual number of tour groups walking around Old Town, especially many groups of college-age students. I don't know if they are here for New Year's celebrations or just the usual stop-over on their way to/from Prague-Vienna-Budapest.

The crowds in the early evening included lots of young families. Unlike Times Square, it was possible for ordinary people to walk around and enjoy the sights. This is a shot of the food stands re-opened after the Christmas market, with the Opera House in the background.

Hviezdoslavovo námestie is the location of a large band shell erected yesterday for concerts this evening. Another has gone up over on the adjoining Main Square. Different musical groups took turns performing all evening. Here's a short clip of some very young children performing Slovak folk songs with a lot of help from some older musicians.

Here's another video clip of the plaza, this one taken from the front entrance to the historic Opera House. That music in the background is a Mexican mariachi band taking its turn on the stage. It did not have quite the authenticity I hear in southern California, but heh, it's cold here!

For my New Year's Eve excitement, I saw a program of five short new contemporary ballets, Bolero and more, at the Historic Opera House. It was a festive evening, with free champagne at the intermission and even door prizes. After the intermission, the new company director "choreographed" a brief ballet for the audience to perform while seated, filled with arm-waving, thigh-slapping, and clapping. What a hoot for the cultural elite in evening finery. The Ballet's web site for the new ballets, with photos, is here: http://www.snd.sk/?ballet&predstavenie=bolero-a-viac

Here's my shot of the final curtain calls from Bolero, which uses a chess-game motif.

After the ballet, I heard another band in a rousing rendition (in English) of the Village People's "Y.M.C.A.," but I didn't get my camera out in time to record it. I gather that fireworks were set off over the Danube at midnight, but I didn't have the stamina to brave the crowds and the cold, so I settled for hearing them.

Happy New Year, everybody!

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Popolvár

I made one last visit today to the new national theater to see the 5:00 p.m. performance of another children's ballet. Popolvár is a two-act work based on a Slovak fairy tale, incorporating pop music and dance with classical ballet idioms. I continue to be impressed with this company's success at introducing very young audiences to classical ballet, with a mix of athletic moves, fast-paced stories, and lavish production values.

I was surrounded by three generations of families, including very young children, who screamed with delight at the broadly drawn characterizations of Slovak peasants, royalty, banshees, and a dancing chicken who stole the show. I saw some empty seats in the balcony, but not many. My ticket in the second row center of the balcony cost only 100 SKK (about $4.00), with the print program another 40 SKK (about $1.60).

No photos during the performance, of course, but this photo array was in the lobby.

Throughout the lobby, understated Christmas trees were still on display - very classy, highlighted against the marble floors and walls everywhere in this beautiful theater.

Before the performance, I noticed another installation that seemed like a sculptural work of art itself, but without any attribution. This is on the first landing leading up to one of the lobby cafes open before the performance and at intermission, just visible in the background. That orange costume in the top right corner is from a display of historic costumes from the opera and ballet.

For more information on the ballet: http://www.snd.sk/?ballet&predstavenie=popolvar

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Student dorms

I took a city bus out today to take a look at the student dormitory complex, housing 30,000 University students. These were built in the 1960s by the Communists. The dorms are in an area of Bratislava known as Karlova Ves, west of Old Town.

The high-rises visible here are just a few of the maze of buildings in the housing complex. It's a small city in itself, with a nightclub on the right and two bus lines that wisk students into town for classes. The drinking age here is 18.

A row of small shops catering to students is opposite the bus stops.

Just to the south of the dorms is one of the city's largest cemeteries, Slávičie údolie, which translates roughly to Nightingale Valley. Here, two flower sellers are set up on the sidewalk and seemed to be doing a brisk business today.

I see teams of street-sweepers everywhere in this city. Here's a group this morning cleaning up the access road to the dorms. The cemetery is to the right.

At the eastern end of the access road to the dorms is the headquarters of Slovak National Television. This unremarkable high-rise is reportedly the tallest building in Slovakia, at 108 meters. Nowadays, the two channels show things like "National Treasure" dubbed into Slovak.

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White Christmas

It snowed for a couple of hours on Christmas Eve, so we're having a white Christmas.

This is a view of the north side of Hviezdoslavovo námestie, looking west, with St. Martin's Cathedral in the center. It's below freezing, so the snow did not melt overnight.

This looks to the east. The guards are on duty at the entrance to the U.S. Embassy, as always. Otherwise, the place is mostly deserted, except for a few dog-walkers. I woke up this morning to the clanging of the trash collection truck emptying the bins at my apartment building. That was a surprise. In my city in California, the trash collectors would definitely have a holiday on Christmas Day.

I found a live broadcast of a Slovak Christmas mass on TV this morning, but my attempt to tape bits of it failed miserably. It's cold outside, well below freezing. The fact that everybody kept their coats on during the service was not encouraging. I grew up in a cold climate, but after two decades in California, I've become a complete pansy. I was also surprised to see an ultra-modern church with an electronic keyboard instead of a real pipe organ.

I have been channel-surfing to see what holiday programming looks like here. I get about 50 channels, with several each in Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, German, Polish, French, and even one in Russian. I'm at the point where I can recognize which language I'm not understanding during my surfing! In English, I get CNN-International, BBC-World, EuroNews, EuroSport, and VH1. Several movie channels regularly show American films dubbed into Slovak and other languages. I was pleasantly surprised that Hungarian national TV last night broadcast the complete (British) Royal Ballet's Nutcracker. No dubbing needed for that.

Have a nice holiday, everybody!

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Christmas Eve

Christmas is a major holiday here, with three days declared as national holidays: December 24, 25, and 26. In the U.S., only December 25 is a national holiday, although many offices close early the day before. According to the government's most recent statistics, the population is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic (68.9%), with atheism second (13%), and all others in the single digits: Protestant (9.1%), Greek-Catholic (4.1%), Jewish (0.04%), unknown (3%).

The Christmas Bazaar officially closed yesterday, so I was curious to see what was left. The performing stages have already been removed, but the booths are still there. One hold-out on Hviezdoslavovo námestie was still open selling food.

The Bazaar on Main Square was completely closed down - just some families, dog-owners, and tourists out for walks.

The Delikateso on Main Square was open today, and quite busy. Almost all the other restaurants and cafes in town are closed today. McDonald's is closed today and tomorrow, re-opening December 26. The main restaurants at the Radisson and the Hotel Danube (the luxury hotel by the German Embassy) are open for the duration.

Almost all the stores are closed, too - no last-minute shopping marathons of the kind familiar in the U.S. The jeweler just south of Main Square is open today for last-minute gifts, if your shopping list includes Rolex.

The jeweler is in the pale green building that workers were scrambling to finish back on November 23, the day before the Bazaar opened. The restoration is beautiful, although understated - no contrasting colors on the decorative trim, e.g.

I didn't make it to Tesco today, but judging from all the people carring Tesco bags, it seems to be open. I did see a few interesting things there yesterday. Outdoor tubs filled with live fish drew a line of buyers.

Live fish also were being sold yesterday from a huge vat on Main Square. I've seen live lobsters sold in the U.S. in stores, but never live fish, certainly not from such huge vats. "Kapor" on his sign translates to "carp," a fish considered a delicacy in central Europe and even China. Midwesterners never eat carp, for reasons I won't explain on a public blog.

Tesco sells live Christmas trees, but Slovaks seem more interested in assembling their own decorations from evergreen boughs and other items. This was outside Tesco yesterday.

In the Now-I've-Seen-Everything category, three American Indians were outside Tesco yesterday, playing what I would characterize as New Age. And talk about coincidences! "Cherokee" on that sign overhead advertises the clothing line carried by Tesco.

I recorded a brief clip of the music. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Indian music I heard as a child at the annual Pow-Wows in Blackhawk State Park. Different tribe, I guess.

I had planned to sample the holiday music at all the churches here, either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. When I have mentioned this idea to colleagues, I've been warned that the churches are so jammed that some people stand outside to hear the service. With daytime highs in the 20s, I might rethink that idea. Fortunately, Slovak television broadcasts all the services live tonight and tomorrow.

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Religious freedom

Some of my students asked me how celebrations of Christmas compared with what I was seeing in Bratislava. I noted that the U.S. has plenty of green and red Christmas decorations, but we also see a lot of blue and silver recognizing Hanukkah, especially in larger cities and stores.

I have seen this mix of Christmas and Hanukkah colors in only one place here, the Radisson SAS Carlton Hotel, on the left, just east of the U.S. Embassy.

Menorahs can be seen in the windows of the Radisson's main restaurant, suggesting that the blue lights in front were not just an accidental decorating choice.

As part of an international hotel chain, it's understandable that the Radisson would demonstrate such religious open-mindedness. But there is a delicious historical footnote here. On March 25, 1988, Communists officials watched from the windows of this very hotel, then called The Carlton, at what is known as the "Candle Demonstration."

This peaceful demonstration for religious freedom is recognized as the first anti-Communist protest leading up to the fall of Communism in late 1989. Estimates vary, but anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 demonstrators filled Hviezdoslavovo námestie in front of the hotel. The Slovak secret police tried to block entrance into the square, used water cannons to try to disperse the crowd, and arrested 100 organizers, anti-Communist dissident Catholics. The demonstration had been publicized on Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America.

A large engraved rock on the ground here commemorates the demonstration. It is in front of the Church of Notre Dame just east of the hotel.

Here's a better view of the Church, which includes a monastery and dates to the mid-18th century. That tall statue on the right is yet another example of the dizzying layers of history here. The inscription, in Slovak, says it is a tribute to the Soviet Army for liberating a grateful Bratislava.

Here is a clearer view of the Soviet statue. I could not find any inscription with date or attribution at the site. I wonder why this hasn't been moved to a less prominent location.

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Ministry of Education

The Slovak Ministry of Education has just posted a new English-language web site about some of their programs.
http://www.minedu.sk/index.php?lang=en

I am very pleased that I was able to play a modest role in its development. Earlier this fall, staff at the Ministry asked the Fulbright Commission staff if they could recruit a native English speaker to copy-edit their draft materials so it would read well in English. I was delighted to help, and it looks like they made most of the changes I suggested.

Several Slovak universities have developed English-language curricula to attract international students. You can learn more about those under "Study in English" on the right side of the site.

Train stations

I saw two more Austrian train stations on my trip from Bratislava to Salzburg. After arriving from Bratislava at the Vienna Sudbanhof (South Station) , I took a regional train west to the Hütteldorf station on the western side of Vienna to pick up the train west to Salzburg. A ticket inspector came through the regional train on the return trip, the first time I've encountered one in the Vienna public transportation system.

Hütteldorf is a charming little station, with just a few tracks. The beautiful interior is impeccably maintained. The escalator goes up, but you have to use the stairs to go down. Fortunately, the station is so small, my train left from a platform on street level adjacent to the terminal, so I didn't need them.

As with all the Austrian train stations, there is an outdoor smoking area on the platform, with bi-lingual signs. Smoking is prohibited completely at the Bratislava and Prague stations, even on the platforms. All trains are completely non-smoking now, although a few outdated signs for smoking sections have yet to be removed.

At the Salzburg station most tracks have easy access at street level. That escalater goes up, while stairs are for going down, but I didn't need either. Burger King is at the station, while McDonald's has an outlet on the main shopping street in Salzburg.

The tourist information office at the Salzburg station will sell you a travel pass or a Salzburg Card so you can take a city bus into town. The Salzburg card is valid for unlimited public transportation, as well as free admission to most of the tourist attractions, and I recommend it highly. This office takes credit cards, and the clerks speak English. The city buses are right outside the station, and several lines go straight into town. Couldn't be easier.

Tourist tip: My favorite web site for figuring out train schedules is the English-language site of the German rail system. The rail schedules for all the European train systems are in their database, and it's very easy to use. The prices they quote are actually higher than I paid at the ticket counter; perhaps they are adding a service charge for buying tickets from the site. Click "timetable-tickets" in the upper-left to use their search capabilities:

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/trains/trains_ice.shtml

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Painted buildings

Many buildings in Salzburg sport exterior paintings and murals, but they lack the nuanced detail and sophistication one sees in Prague.

This building is on one of the shopping streets west of the river.

This decoration in three-dimensional relief is over a store near Mozart's birthplace.

This painting is over a church side building near Festival Hall.

This archway leads to a courtyward on the west side of the river.

Here's one more on the archway over the street.

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War memorials

I saw two very unusual war memorials in Salzburg. Austria, of course, was on the losing side of both world wars in the twentieth century, so perhaps they are not eager to be reminded of that part of their history. In the first, they fought to defend the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with their allies in Germany. In the second, Austria fought with Nazi Germany.

This contemporary memorial is on the eastern end of the Mirabell Palace grounds. A single plaque quite a distance from the monument says in German that it commemorates 250 victims of "euthanasia" in 1941 in Salzburg. This was apparently one of several sites where Hitler had ordered the use of carbon monoxide to exterminate undesireables in hospitals. The only inscriptions on the memorial are the dates 1941 and 1991.

One of the strangest exhibits in the Rainer Museum up at the Hohensalzburg Fortress is devoted to the soldiers from Salzburg who fought in WWI. This is the poster explaining it.

All of the signage in this exhibit was strictly in German, unlike the other signs at the fortress, which were in German, English, and Italian. I wondered if the museum directors did not want international visitors to learn too much about their role in that war. The exhibit takes up several large rooms in the museum, showing uniforms, documents, and other artifacts.

One room was dedicated to a large plaque naming the Salzburg soldiers who died in that war, with wreaths and candles.

This exhibit reminded me of the Confederate Cemeteries in the U.S. The families appropriately want to mourn the dead, but this was the wrong side of the war. It also seemed peculiar to place this exhibit at the Fortress, so popular with international visitors. I saw no mention of WWII in Salzburg.

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Sound of Music

Another huge attraction, at least for American tourists, is The Sound of Music, the 1965 Rodgers and Hammerstein film shot on location in Salzburg and neighboring areas. Reportedly, the Austrians didn't know about the film for a long time and were puzzled at the interest of tourists. They know now and reminders are everywhere. In my hotel room, one channel is devoted to round-the-clock showings of the movie. It's fun to watch for locations you have visited during the day.

You can pick up a list of film location shots at the city's tourist information office on Mozartplatz, complete with the bus routes you need to reach some of them. Commercial sightseeing tours are also available.

This is Residenzplatz, just west of Mozartplatz, filled with booths for the Christmas Market. The Residenz building in the center is the one used in the film to hang the Nazi flag and show a parade of Nazis marching on the diagonal across the square, taking over control of the city.

The fountain in the center of Residenzplatz is covered for protection in the winter and Christmas trees are for sale here. Maria splashed in this fountain in the film on her way out to the Captain’s villa for the first time.

This is the Horse Pond, built at the end of the 17th century to provide a watering place for the Archbishop’s riding stables. Maria and the children dance in front of this in the scene singing "My Favorite Things." This is in the northern area of the city west of the river.

The gardens at Mirabell Palace, on the east side of the river, were the location of some of the "Do-Re-Mi" scenes. Of course, the film was shot in the summer.

At the far western end of the Mirabell Gardens are statues the children mimicked in that scene.

The final concert was shot at Festival Hall, carved out of the side of the mountain below the Fortress. I could not see the inside, as there was a private party when I visited. This is the south side of the Hall where the Nazi commander races up in his car to make sure the Von Trapps do not escape.

You then see the Nazi car stop at this set of stone steps leading into the Hall.

The film has many beautiful aerial shots of the city. I climbed an outdoor flight of steps behind Festival Hall to take this, looking to the south at a view familiar from the film. The Cathedral is in the center, with the Franciscan Church to the left.

Even though this city seems to have a church, cathedral, or abbey on every block, the church used to film the wedding scene is in the little town of Mondsee, which I was not able to visit. Leopoldskron Castle, which was used as the back of the Von Trapp villa, is a bus ride south of the city. The gazebo in several important scenes used to be located there, but it was moved to a park south of the city by Hellbrunn Palace.

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Hohensalzburg Fortress

High above the hill on the west side of Salzburg is Hohensalzburg Fortress, the most distinctive landmark in pictures of the city. This location was occupied as early as 700 A.D., with construction of the current Fortress commencing in the fifteenth century.

You can see the Fortress from everywhere in the city. I took this from the east side of the Staatsbrücke Bridge in the center of town. The towers to the right are the Cathedral on Domplatz.

To visit, you take a cablecar to the top, a short fast ride with a spectacular view. An historic railroad up that mountain dates back to the late nineteenth century and you wonder what travel was like in the centuries before that. Here is a shot of the cablecar tracks with the Fortress at the top. I took this in the courtyard outside St. Peter's Abbey.

The fortress is a huge, rambling complex of buildings, a self-contained city. Here's a view of just some of the complex, looking to the southwest.

The views are incredible from all directions. You can see why this was a good place from which to defend the city from foreign invaders.

Another Christmas Market is set up in the area between the buildings, but it is only open on weekends.

The Archbishop of Salzburg lived well here. This ornate furnace is in what used to be his apartment. Informational signs throughout are in German, English, and Italian.

Kohler it's not, but at least the plumbing was indoors.

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