On Winged Words...: Stille Nacht…

Day: 5

Countries: 2 Cities: 3

Vienna, Austria à Salzburg, Austria

Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht…

Thursday 24 December 2015

Merry Christmas Eve!

I woke up today to a snapchat from my sister (which showed the Christmas tree at home with all the presents underneath) and the realization that it was Christmas Eve. And I felt a tad bit more homesick than I have yet on this trip or even this year so far. Now in this moment is when I kinda wish I was home. But we will Facetime later today and tomorrow. And in the next 2 weeks and then even beyond we have so much excitement in store! Peace, Lord, please. Please, Lord, peace.

We are on the train headed to Salzburg now. 10:04 am. We had a bit of excitement in getting here though. Started off trying to catch the train that left 25 minutes earlier than the one we ended up on, but that train was jam packed even more than the backpacks we were carrying 3-weeks worth of stuff in on our backs. We got on that train only to take the next 10 minutes trying to find a seat before realizing there were none and then trying to get off; we barely made it off in time before the train pulled away from the station. A dose of stress for the day but we made it. Then we went back down to the OBB (train) office and made reservations for this train that we are now on, just to be safe. And now we are on the train. So we made it. And all is well that ends well, right?

Writing now from the hotel bed on Christmas morning. Didn't take the time yesterday to finish writing. Yesterday was a good day. Yesterday was the first day that really and truly felt like Christmas/Christmas Eve. Until now, I’ve seen the décor and heard the music, but I haven’t felt the holiday spirit. But now it’s Christmas and it feels like Christmas.

I spent most of the train ride yesterday writing a “Christmas” blog post, editing pics, listening to music, and closing my eyes. And looking out the window (that is, when I wasn’t closing my eyes J). The scenery is so picturesque. Kinda like Grenoble but with Austrian style countryside houses in place of French countryside house... Blue skies with white clouds sifting through like powdered sugar left behind by Christmas cookies taken from a blue plate... Mountains climbing in the distance, layered in the background like torn pieces of dark construction paper, almost like those art projects we’d do back in elementary school… Dull green fields rolling with cows—cows! like you’d see driving down the highway in Wisconsin—cows just moseying about… And the type of houses with the brown trim and porches with the heart-shaped cutouts you would expect. So that was our view.

We got to the train station in Salzburg and then quick dashed and snuck onto the then-departing metro. We were very wary and on the lookout hoping no one would come by asking to see tickets. They didn't. Thankfully. And two short stops later we were at our stop. We walked down the street in the chilly but sunny afternoon, past a few small restaurants, a store here and there, some houses; and then there on the right our hotel with it’s own trace of Austrian charm. It's nice enough. Our room is clean and has a small bed for each of us. And it also has a pretty great view of town and the mountains in the distance when you peek your head out the window (which I did when I opened the window because it was a tad too hot in the room).

We got ready super speedy quick so that we could make it down to the center of town for our tours that afternoon. We made it to Mirabelle Square and saw Bre and her friend off at the tour stop, and then meandered through the little Christmas Market at the end of the street. Then we looked all over for an open cafe, stepping into one of the only opened establishments, asking for and being denied a menu, and then having an old man at the bar tap us on the shoulder then grunt and point, I think indicating the direction we should walk so we could find food. And sure enough a block or two over we walked into a cafe that was pretty good. And it was probably good we ate more of an actual meal.

Then we made our way to the meeting spot for the second time, this time so we could meet up for our own tour, the Silent Night Tour (because just outside of Salzburg is where Silent Night was originally written and what better place to spend Christmas Eve if you can’t spend it at home?). We made it in time and climbed on the last bus leaving for it, which just so happened to be fairly empty because a group of twenty cancelled last minute. But that was kinda nice for our bus that it happened that way. More space and breathing room, didn’t have to wait as long to leave. Anyway. Our tour guide was a little old German man who told us about the story of how Silent Night came to be written, and who pointed out the sights along the way. He punctuated every sentence with either a "yah" or an "ok". Which was kinda funny in an endearing sort of way. And we learned about another hidden gem: the Christmas cousin to the Sound of Music (which was filmed here in Salzburg). So the Sound of Christmas is this unknown sequel, complete with Julie Andrews and John Denver skiing the snowy slopes and singing random Christmas songs. Kinda funny/interesting. Go look it up just so you can have a good laugh and see why you’ve never heard of it before.

We continued to make our way to Obendorf, the Silent Night’s hometown. Not quite dashing through the snow necessarily, but we passed by lakes, through cute, small, little towns, and in the shadow of rolling mountains, all under the light of the setting sun. So pretty.

And now, apparently the story of silent night: Joseph Mohr was a priest in the early 1810s and he is the one to put pen to paper and come up with the lyrics to “Silent Night”. He randomly met up with composer Franz Gruber one Christmas Eve and good old Franz agreed to come up with the tune for Mohr’s lyrics. And then the organ in the church was apparently broken or something so they created and played the song with guitar, which worked out for them because that’s the instrument Joseph Mohr played anyway. And the duo debuted “Stille Nacht” in all it’s glory on Christmas Eve in 1818. And then other traveling, singing families heard it and carried it all over the world, to German and America. And it became one of the most popular, best-loved Christmas songs ever.

And thus we went up the mountain to Obendorf and got off the bus and walked to the area with the little chapel built in honor of the two musicians after the original chapel flooded. So we walked through the chapel and as we were waiting in line we randomly met people from Madison, WI—small world. And then we toured the little Christmas market, got some mulled wine in little “Silent Night” mugs, a couple postcards and stamps, and then finally it was time for the concert mass. They sang songs in German and a speaker occasionally said some words to mark the occasion and talk about the meaning of peace in the words; his words were then translated into English. And at they played “Stille Nacht” in its original intended version. And just before 6 it was over.

But it was really nice. I'm glad we went. How neat!? To hear “Stille Nacht” in the original place on Christmas Eve?! It was something a little Christmassier, something special to mark the day and make it more than just another traveling day. I'm glad we did it. This is definitely a Christmas I'll remember forever.

We got back on the bus and came back to the main part of Salzburg, then tried to figure out the dinner situation. Almost every place was closed. And the few restaurants that were opened were pretty booked with reservations. We walked and walked in the cold and couldn't find anywhere. We walked into one place that was lit up and they only took reservations but said maybe in an half hour or hour. We kept walking but our only other option was a Korean restaurant (which we could have had and been like the family in the movie A Christmas Story J).

We ended up back at that Costa restaurant we first walked into; we waited for a while, but then they found a spot for us thankfully. We chose tomato soup (because it was the cheapest thing on the menu) but it was really good, and we splurged on some fancy Prosecco. And then we were going to splurge and just get torte for dessert, but they brought out like a whole three dessert sampler plate, to our pleasant surprise. A chocolate raspberry cake, a chocolate chocolate cake, and apple strudel with some whipped cream. Delicious! Not too shabby for a Christmas Eve dinner.

And then after we got back, I Facetimed with my family, which was really nice.

A small Christmas Eve miracle that yesterday all worked out well. J

And now it's Christmas morning and I'm showered and dressed and caught up with writing ‘till we can head out for the day. Merry Christmas!

'Twas the Night Before Chrsitmas