Arrived in Graz

So today was the day: Atlanta to Philadelphia to Munich to Graz. I finally arrived at about 1pm in Austria or 7am Eastern Time.

I met a couple who sat across the aisle from me from Phily to Munich. As they were finding their seats, I saw their violin and viola cases and immediately knew they were musicians. We started talking and realized we were headed to the same festival. Of course we soon tried to figure out if we knew any of the same people. We played the “6 degrees of separation: Musician edition” and found out we had a number of friends in common. Wonderful.

When we landed after our overnight flight to Munich, what’s the first thing I see out of the gate? A Winston Cigarette Shop. Honestly, I can’t even remember seeing anyone smoke them in the city that they’re made in, but go out of the country and apparently they’re all the rage. I would have taken a picture, but felt like I should keep up with the group I had found. The next corner was a Camel cigarette shop. Apparently the Germans like their cigarettes.

Alte Post Studentenheim

As I waited for my connection to Graz I sat back and enjoyed the sounds of different languages drifting in out of my hearing. I couldn’t help but smile as I noticed how cool it all sounded. Not to sound cheesy, but it really sounded musical. In my defense, I don’t think there’s a better way to describe it. I have no idea what the people were saying, but I think I recognized French, German, and maybe Spain/Spanish, and another that sounded eastern European.

Now that I’m all checked in, I’ve been surprised to see a number of people I know including a few people from Oklahoma (who knew!) and another girl from a chamber festival I attended in High school. With the last one, it took us a moment to figure out where we knew each other. Because that was only like 10 years ago since we’ve seen each other (eeek!). Man, now I feel old.

When I was in the check in line at the Studentenheim, I realized I hadn’t exchanged my cash to euros. The people checking us in told me that there was an ATM right around the corner. I couldn’t miss it.

I hate it when they do that. I totally missed it.

 All in all I’m rather proud of myself for finally finding what I did. But, I still had to ask one person on the street, go into a pharmacy, and then after finally recognizing a bank, entering and asking 2 other people for help and directions. Sigh. I have a feeling this is going to be the modus operandi while I’m here. My survival German class is tomorrow. Thank goodness.

By they way, this is the alley of the street I’m living on. When we pulled up in the bus, my jaw dropped. This is the "dorm" we're staying in? Yeah, okay. 

After settling in, with camera in hand, I went around town and tried to find some dinner. I realized I hadn’t eaten anything all day (and night?) and was starving. However half way through town I realized I couldn't wait and needed to eat something pronto. I stopped inside a bakery and bought some sort of baked bread filled a nutty slightly sweet center. I’ll be better about keeping track of what I’m actually eating, but whatever it was, it was tasty. 

Well, I just found out I have seating auditions on Thursday, so I'm off to go practice!