Can life get better? I submit that it cannot!

My life is a fairytale. I wake up every morning, push back the princess curtains, and eat my breakfast in my adorable and completely European apartment overlooking the Danube. Then I go to school and learn about art, language, and architecture. After that, I get to make music for a few hours with my wonderfully talented friends. Today I went to the Kunsteshistorisches Museum (art history museum) with Amy, Shea, and Emily, and saw the Saliera (Cellini), and a whole room full of original Breugel paintings. I need to go back to see the Vermeers and Rembrandts. After the museum, I went home, changed, and then Britain and I made our way down to the Naschmarkt to meet the others for dinner. What happened next was like something out of a movie. Let me preface this story by saying that Joseph has connections, and has made friends with the casting director at the Theater an der Wien - where Mozart conducted the premiere of The Magic Flute. How cool is that?!?! So, tonight Mr. Schwarz was kind enough to invite all of us to the final dress rehearsal of Handel's Parthenope. We met in the lobby after dinner, and pretty soon Mr. Schwarz came and whisked us around to the back of the theater. We got to go backstage, and into the theater where we got to sit in the fifth or sixth row - for free. None of us really knew anything about Parthenope, except for a shady synopsis that Britain and I looked up on Wikipedia, so we had no clue what to expect. It was so incredible!!! It was a modern staging, which I didn't know if I would like. I loved it! It was sooooooo well done. There were two counter-tenors, which was exciting, and the Mezzo was fabulous. The acting was so good! And the set - unbelieveable. There were all these elements that twisted, and evolved. It was also very funny, which was exciting, because it could have been pretty dry. At the end, there is supposed to be a duel, but they staged it as a boxing match, and it was so funny! There was also a scene where Parthenope and one of her many romantic prospects were doing yoga. It matched the music exactly, and was so clever. The Mezzo and the Tenor rode off on a motorcycle at the end. Awesome! During one of the intermissions Mr. Schwarz came and told us abou the set, and a little bit of what it takes to put on such a high quality show, which was fascinating. We are also going on a behind the scenes tour of the Theater in the next week or so. How many people get this kind of opportunity?!? Not many. I'll post pictures of the theater tomorrow. It's very intimate, and I think it's my favorite of all the theaters that I've been to here. But wait - there's more! As if all of this awesomeness isn't enough, I'm going to a ball on Tuesday. It's called the Elmayer Kranzchen ball. It's held in the Hofburg palace. I'm so excited! Here is the website. Well, that's all for now! Auf wiedersehen!