Museum Day!

So after Friday- a long day of studying up on arias, grad schools, GRE sample questions, diction practice, and breath exercises, it was time for a break. I've been saving the chance to see museums because they all cost at least 5 Euros and it's more economical to get a pass and see a bunch in one day.

After seeing the "Midday Serenade" in a cafe downtown (Emma sang throughout the program and was absolutely charming) Natalie and I went next door to the Armory. Now people have talked about this place and I had created a few images in my head about what might be inside, but nothing can really prepare you for thousands of swords hanging above your head. All of the armory displayed had been made in Graz in the late 1500's and early 1600's and needless to say their weapons took all manners of murder into consideration.

Naturally, armory leads to modern art. Well, not naturally, but strangely smoothly. The Kunsthaus/friendly alien/blue bladder which I have passed frequently in order to access the best ice cream in town, proved to be as... well... interesting on the interior as the exterior. The entance to the first exhibit is on a ramped escelator, in a tunnel, without any lights, moving towards a speaker from which an eerie singer's song is played. The museum was certainly a cultural experience. An experience of some kind of culture, that is.

For our final museum of the day, we returned to the Schloss Egenberg- the castle that we sang in a few weeks back. The castle houses a large collection of paintings and coins and has an exhibit of carved gold and glass from the 17th century. My favorite was a "cup" which consisted of an intricately carved duck which supported a huge, pearly shell, on which the artist had drawn a beautiful scene with ink.

We returned to the Studentheim exhausted, but after almost an hour of rest it sank in that I had indeed not sung all day. So... I went to practice.