Pikovaia Dama (The Queen of Spades)

 

The public watches for free outside the Vienna State Opera. "You know three cards..."

Hermann, a young soldier without a fortune and a compulsive gambler, falls in love with Lisa, the grand-daughter of an influential noblewoman from Moscow, the old Countess. Rumour has it that when the Countess was young and beautiful, she met a famous alchemist, the Count of Saint-Germain, in Paris, learnt from him the "secret of the three cards" in exchange for a night of love, and used it to win back her great fortune. She later disclosed it to her husband and a young lover, but was warned in a dream that when a third man tried to wrest it from her she would die. Hermann is mesmerized by the tale. He succeeds in conquering Lisa, thus gaining access to the Countess's chambers, and threatens the Countess to make her give up the secret with the result that she dies of fright. But her ghost reveals the three magical cards that will enable him to win: the three, the seven and the ace. Lisa is so horrified at her lover's actions that she commits suicide, while Hermann rushes off to gamble on the secret combination. He wins with his first two cards and, intoxicated by his luck, proclaims his nihilistic outlook: life, he says, is a mere game and only death is real. Then he plays against Prince Yeletski, Lisa's former fiancé. Instead of an ace, Hermann's third card turns out to be the queen of spades, the counterfigure of the Countess, and he is ruined. Her ghost returns to mock him and he takes his own life in despair. [Synopsis from someplace on the web.]

Aguriturismo Corte San Girolamo

 

The farm where we stayed in Mantova, Italy. A very old farmhouse though we actually stayed in a newer building.

A Barber in Sabbioneta

My new barber in the walled town of Sabbioneta, Italy, charges ten Euros for a haircut and beard trim. Not bad. Airfare may be an issue. As is language. I vigorously waved off the shaving brush that he touched to my beard to suggest removing it completely. Perhaps ten Euros is the tourist price: he holds the customer with one hand and the ten euro note with the other.

Austrian Flowerboxes

You may rest in peace as long as someone pays the rent.

Reflections on Venice

Venice is different. Different in so many ways I cannot begin to enumerate them. Strange that such a city can even exist.

From the window of our hotel room, I watch a garbage scow docked in the canal. A worker pulls a two-wheeled garbage cart to the scow and tosses the overflow into the hold. Then a crane on the scow lifts the cart, positions it over the hold and releases the bottom of the cart to dump its contents. More workers bring more carts and the process is repeated over and over.

Throughout the city men pull two-wheeled carts loaded with food or goods. How else could anything be delivered? Want some furniture? A piano? Expect it to arrive on a two-wheeled cart.

We wander through the Jewish section. People eating outside next to a canal, many wearing yarmulkes. Small alleys with small shops. Jewish restaurants. Shops offering Jewish art. Jewish education. Jewish travel. We notice a small tent at the edge of a square: several rabbis, lay people, religious documents. A sacred ceremony, we pass quietly.

A small shop on a busy walking street, operated by one old man. “I have a question”, she said. “Well, ask your question and I will do my best to give you an answer.” “No”, she said, “I have a question about your prints.” “Oh, well, that is different.” So he closed the door at the entrance to his shop and turned the sign. After some discussion, he showed her an old book from which some of his prints had been copied. He stopped her hand from touching the book. “I show, you look.” This book has no price. No book, no business. In the back of his tiny shop, he has a tiny office: a chair in a corner facing a tiny desk piled high with books. He has been doing this for a long, long time.

Old tourists hauling their luggage. An old man struggles to haul huge pieces of luggage up the steps and over a bridge, his wife carrying a couple small bags. I hope he doesn't die. He goes into a shop, comes out, then hauls the luggage back over the bridge, retracing his steps. She follows. I hope he doesn't die.

Venice is a quiet city. Airplanes seem to stay away. There are no cars or trucks. Certainly there are vendors and tourists and the sounds of motorized boats and the sounds of water slapping against boats and buildings. But step away from the canals and even those sounds are gone. The voices take over. Voices from apartments above. Voices walking past. Footsteps. Echoes of footsteps. And silence.

Safely Home

Arrived home safely at 11 last night. The worst experience of the entire trip was JFK airport and the Northwest-Delta circus. Surprised by snow on the ground this morning and all Margaret's dead flowers. Happy to be home and eager to get on with Fall work. Thanks for following our trip. It was so nice to know that people at home cared to read our blog.

Last day in Italy

We are on the final leg of our trip. Today was devoted to travel. We got on the Autostrada before 10am and reached the hotel around 1pm. Returned our car this afternoon at Malpensa airport and staying this final night at a small hotel just a few kilometers away. We will leave at 12 noon for New York and arrive home to chilly Minnesota a little after 8pm, God willing.

This has been a really fine trip but we are eager to get home to see everyone there.

Still traveling...

We are at Villa Monteleone in Gargagnago, Italy. Our spacious room has a large terrace overlooking hills covered with vineyards and olive trees. Today is cool and rainy, the first significant rain of the entire trip. Yesterday we visited Sirmione where Margaret felt compelled to do some power shopping. Thank goodness, that impulse does not take over too often. We are going to see more of Lake Garda today. Tomorrow we will travel to a small town near Malpensa Airport (Milan) for our final night and preparations for the trip home.

Final Day in Venice

Today we arrived at the side entrance of St. Mark's shortly before Mass and gained admittance with no line and no cost. After a short Mass, we walked around the church for as long as we wanted and even into the sanctuary. Nothing like the reports of ten minute tours!

Later in the day, we took a ride on a gondola and did some shopping.

Tomorrow we will travel by train to Verona, pick up a car at the airport and move on to a quieter part of the trip.

No idea whether the next places where we are staying provide Internet access or whether they charge exorbitant fees. So we will just have to wait and see.

Venice

Our eight hour train ride from Vienna to Venice on Sunday took us through some spectacular scenery. We shared the compartment with a very young couple from Australia and, during the last part, with an Italian lady who was very critical of the U.S. health care system, George Bush, the Iraq war, the ignorant people of Florida etc. Upon learning that Dick had a cold, she reacted in fear of the H1N1 virus and said that everyone coming from the U.S. should be quarantined for 13 days. Welcome to Italy!

The first evening in Venice, we rode the vaporetto the length of the Grand Canal to San Marco. Daylight was fading and the full moon was over San Marco Cathedral. A perfect picture of Venice. Later that evening we had drinks with George and Rita, friends from Roseville, who were completing their Mediterranean cruise. How nice to see good friends from home.

Today (Monday) we toured the Doges' Palace. Thanks to reservations made via the Internet, we walked right to the front of a long line. The rest of the day was spent exploring Venice.

Our hotel charges 3 euros for 15 minutes of access to the Internet so we are minimizing our usage.

Trip to Tata, Hungary

Carla, daughter of friends Kathy and Tom, has been teaching in Tata, Hungary for the past year. She invited us to visit and was kind enough to meet us in Vienna. Finding our way to Tata would have been difficult without her help. We spent a wonderful day -- visited her apartment and met Boo, her cat. Then we walked through the town and to the lake where we had a nice lunch at a very good Hungarian restaurant. We continued around the lake to the castle and her school, encountering a number of her students along the way. After a little shopping, we returned to her apartment and to the train as our day in Hungary ended all too soon.

The hotel where we are staying in Vienna is just around the corner from the opera house. On Friday and Saturday nights the opera is displayed live (with German subtitles) on a huge outdoor screen. As we write this, we can hear the opera in the background.

We attended Mass at St. Stephen's Cathedral this evening. Celebrated by a young bishop and many priests, lots of incense, beautiful music. Choir with instrumental accompaniment.

Tomorrow we leave very early for Venice - eight hour train ride. Hope to get some pictures posted soon.

Tata

We are off to the Westbahnhof to meet Carla, then to Hungary for the day.

Thanks to the GPS we have been driving a lot of back roads and even drove up to the Czech Republic yesterday. Many of the villages have a sign like this one that says "Grüß Gott" or "Greet God" -- something like Praise the Lord. Shopkeepers frequently greet customers with these same words as their way of saying "hello".

Another village, another castle!

Another village, no castle.

Between villages are many shrines.

Another typical village with a church taking over the road.

Today we visited Melk Abbey.

Vineyards and orchards along the Danube.

A typical small village on the Danube. Notice the castle ruins in the upper right.

We are now in the small village of Maria Taferl, high above the Danube. The B&B at which we are staying does not have Internet so we are getting access through a hotel down the street. Because the signal is weak we have the netbook in an open window -- the moon above, cars passing below and a barking dog across the street.

 

On Saturday we attended Mass at Maria Hilf church, just a few doors down from our bed and breakfast.

We were quite distracted during Mass by a hand holding a crucifix that was sticking out from the pulpit! Notice the spotlight illuminating the hand. We have yet to learn its significance.

On Sunday we had an unexpected opportunity to participate in a procession celebrating the harvest and blessing the farms. The parade formed outside the church and proceeded through the fields to several farms.

At each farm we prayed and sang and a cannon was fired three times.

A shrine was set up in front of each home.

During the procession we became acquainted with this family.

They invited us to join them at the celebration in the church courtyard. A free meal of sausages and bread was served. Beer, wine and soft drinks flowed freely. Freshly fried "farmer" donuts (huge) and shots of schnaps had to be purchased. The band played during the meal. Of course for this procession, most of the people were in traditional dress but we were amazed how many people, young and old, wear traditional dress daily.

The HohenSalzburg fortress dominates the old city of Salzburg.

We took the funicular up the mountain and toured the inside of the castle.

A street inside the castle.

A view of Salzburg from the castle.

The first picture here is a view of Salzburg and the second one is the Mirabel Gardens.

 

 

On Thursday, we drove to St. Gilgen on the Wolfgangsee. On the way out of Salburg, Margaret found the home for the elderly where she would like to spend her final days!

This is the Rathaus (city hall) in St. Gilgen.

Notice that we are starting to dress alike!

We are staying at a bed and breakfast in Salzburg that is on a bus line and this is the view from our balcony - dairy cows next door and sheep across the street.

 

We spent our first night in Eitting, Germany. Eitting is a small, picturesque village with many house-barns filled with dairy cows right in the town. This is the village church and cemetery.
 

We are alive and well in Salzburg, Austria. The flights to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Munich were smooth and problem free. (For Margaret, that meant three anti-anxiety pills rather then the prescribed one.)

We are having to use an Internet cafe so we will post a few pictures from time to time.

 

Dick admiring our Mercedes.