wien.

that's vienna.

worldtravellers.

vienna was a blur of happiness, schnitzel and gilt. gilt as in gold-coated statues at every turn...but also buyers-remorse guilt after my shopping spree. now that I think about it, the Hapsburgs probably had some gilt guilt after the whole World War I thing.

the air felt like spring. vienna's history as one of Europe's cultural centers is definitely not locked in museum cases, and the monuments were crawling with joggers. zigzagging through the topiary gardens and circling the Parliament fountains.

monkey boy. possibly one of my favorite pictures ever.

my host parents picked up Vienna Philharmonic tickets (!!), so we went to the Sunday matinee. the hall was small enough that there were seats on the stage itself. i really hoped the couple sitting next to the timpani were deaf prior to that morning, because after the show they certainly were. the Sibelius concerto has an aggressive percussion part.

hit the contemporary art museum. market street. hapsburg palace. coffee break. mozart monument. the line for the Sacher Torte cafe (an adventure in itself). parliament. schnitzel break. the crown jewels museum... my host family are professional tourists, in a non-fannypack way. we walked so much that one of the soles of my boots ripped off, and yet there was almost no complaint from any of the kids. being an honorary member of the rämö family? they are all travel rämbös, it was all i could do to keep up.

(i really miss making bad puns, finns either don't understand or just don't want to understand).

viennese art, with finnish art in the background.

post-museum cake break.

not everything in vienna is marble.

market street at dusk.

vanhojen tanssit

that means "old dances". the most anticipated event of this winter.

all over Finland, the "day of the olds" is the day that the second-years push out the matriculating seniors and become the top of the school. it begins with a week of elaborate skits mocking the graduating class, crazy costumes and the sky raining candy. thursday of that week is probably the best day of the year for hair salons all over finland. and then that night half the town watches proudly (or shrieks "prinsessoja!!!" over and over...) as the second-years present their dances.

we practiced the humppa and the waltz and the tango for two and a half months, and for this coming-of-age thing our whole lives. but when the band wheezed to life, i realized that we were entirely unprepared for how huge ball-gown skirts are. there was hardly space to move, and i had horrible visions of catching my heel in someone's ruffle and starting a jewel-tone domino effect down the long line of pairs. my partner kept licking his lips nervously and trying to watch our feet.

this is only a third of the crowd.

the band.

my lovely friends.

and our partners.

beautiful.

father-daughter dance after the main presentation. Vallu has some moves :)

everyone survived, though, even the over-enthusiastic twirlers. the only lasting damage is that i think i'll be singing this song for the rest of my days.