The end of blogging as I know it

Well friends, if any of you are still reading this.... I clearly suck at blogging. This just isn't a website I visit regularly. In fact, I usually forget it exists. So I'm just going to end the pain for you and for me, and finish this with one last fell swoop. Here's what happened at the end of my trip in Prague, Vienna and Budapest:

In Prague, I walked across the Charles Bridge, watched the Astronomical clock go off (really not all it's cracked up to be in my opinion- it koo koos a couple of times and the death dude raises and lowers his scythe, and then everyone claps....i.e. it's lame and touristy), and drank absinthe for the first time in my life. Which led to a very strange ghost tour where I was very drunk and the tour guide Ty McGhee grabbed my ass. So Prague was cool, but not my absolute favorite.

I wasn't expecting to like Vienna, but I was pleasantly surprised by this cosmopolitan city of culture and class. We saw the ballet at the opera house with a 4 euro standing room ticket, which was magnificent. I went to Yom Kippur services at the oldest synagogue in the city, but left after about 15 minutes because you can't see or hear anything from the women's gallery. I don't understand segregated synagogues- that is not something I'm used to.

The cool thing about Vienna is that we actually did do something that would make my trip tax deductible! Michael had a friend who had a friend that ran an acting studio in Vienna, so we sat in on some of their classes. The classes were teaching a unique emotional response physically-based method. Basically, they believe that different emotions are centered in different areas of the body, and if you learn to trigger those areas you can reach a true emotional response every time. Even though Michael and I didn't necessarily agree with the method, it was interesting. And finally my trip was truly tax deductible!!

Also in Vienna, I rode bikes around the city with Rob and Kristen. Here's an artistic picture of my foot on the bike:















On the train, Michael handed me his ipod and told me to listen to a song. It was Vienna, by Billy Joel, and it changed my world. I'll share the lyrics here:

Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me why
Are you still so afraid?
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do and only
So many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight)
Too bad but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself
That you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong
You know you can't always see when you're right(you're right)

You got your passion you got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...
Vienna waits for you.

And you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through

Why don't you realize...Vienna waits for you
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

That pretty much sums me up right now.

We were only in Budapest for a short time, but I visited the second largest synagogue in the world, the Dohany synagogue. It was an incredible place and a very spiritual experience. I also loved the baths. A perfect way to begin and end the trip, with a bath. And Hungary is a wonderful country.

So that was Europe. Summed up for you over a month after my return. In current affairs, I arrived in New York City last Friday, and started rehearsals for my fellowship for Minsky's yesterday. I am so excited and thrilled to be working on this show! I'll be here in New York until January, and then back in LA for the rest of the rehearsals and previews. All those of you in LA, please come see it in February!

So this is the end of this blog, as you or I know it. I hope you've enjoyed, I'm sorry I slacked off, and in the future, call or email me if you want an update! I'm always happy to talk.

Much love and signing off,
Elissa

Salzburg, the home of the Mozart chocolate

I loved the Yoho hostel in Salzburg. Because they let me throw toilet paper in the toilet.


Before I get to Salzburg, here's the current life update on me: I am currently at home in Northern California for a day before I hop on my plane to New York City. I had to come home to leave my car with my parents, and leave all the stuff that's been in the trunk of my car for the last two weeks since I moved out of my old apartment in LA. I am finding myself gloriously productive this evening, in terms of accomplishing the two things that have been on my to-do list for weeks....adding to this blog (I'm what, a month and a half behind?) and putting pictures on facebook. For whatever reason those two things are not things that I am ever interested in doing, even though I've had tons of free time in the past few weeks. But maybe now with the threat of no internet in my NY apartment looming, I'm feeling that things must get accomplished. In New York, I am going to be staying in the Astoria condo of a wonderfully generous friend, but since she doesn't actually live there, there's no wireless. I am praying they'll be an unlocked network nearby...we'll see. I am incredibly nervous and excited about being in New York until the end of the year, living by myself for the first time ever, and working on Minsky's. It's almost time to take the plunge...


----

So, on October 4, Michael, Kristen and I spent about 24 hours in Salzburg. There were two amazing things about Salzburg. The first amazing thing was meeting our friend Rob, who was our roommate the first night in the Yoho hostel. Rob is in the Navy, and was traveling by himself in Eastern Europe for about 10 days. He was one of the first Americans we'd met, originally from Fresno, and we all immediately hit it off. So Rob stuck with us on and off throughout the rest of the trip. Aside from Rob being the coolest dude ever, he's also a fantastic photographer, and I really appreciate all of the pictures he took, since as you know I'm not the best with photography. Oh, and Rob is also a constant supply of Mozart chocolates, which are hazelnutty goodness. So Rob is awesome.

The second amazing thing about Salzburg was the group we assembled in the Mirabell gardens to reenact the Do Re Mi scene from the Sound of Music. Really, my whole reason for wanting to visit Salzburg in the first place was to go on the Sound of Music tour. And it was amazing, especially our fantastically flamboyant tour guide, Peter. But it was a really rainy day, and so the beauty of Salzburg didn't have its full impact I think. What was amazing was what happened after the tour. We were in the Mirabell gardens, which is where Do Re Mi was filmed, and Michael decided it would be a great idea to reenvision the scene. We elected him as Maria, but realized that we would need a larger entourage if we were truly to embody the energy of the scene. So we asked two girls who had been taking our pictures if they wanted to join us in creating a video. They agreed to run and skip with us, even though they had their huge backpacks on their backs. Then, we cornered a Malaysian couple and asked them to join in the fun. I love how people are more willing to do something completely bizarre when they're in a foreign country. So Rob took the camera and we all lined up in the archway of greenery, prepared to skip our way towards the fountain. Michael was the designated leader.

Well, things went somewhat awry when Michael decided that Maria should suffer from back pain in the middle of our presentation. I tried to take over as Maria...

Anyway, to witness the glory, you can see our video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaRnITDhGjs

Enjoy.

Oktoberfestastic!

What up homies. So at this point, I'm trying to just convince myself that I don't have a blog. Or that I finished it. I guess this just isn't my thing. But do you know what is MORE not my thing? Quitting. I am not a quitter. Which is why I will never stop using lip gloss 18 times a day. I'd be quitting. And with that intro, we flash back to Octoberfest:

Oktoberfest, we decided, is Disneyland for drunk people. Which is not actually what I anticipated. I envisioned a large green field with huge white tents sprawled across it. And there definitely were HUGE tents. What I did not envision was a massive fairground complete with roller coasters, tons of food booths and joyously wonderful drunk Bavarians dressed in lederhosen and drindl. I cannot even tell you the joy of Oktoberfest. If I had the money, I would go back every year. Here are some pictures to explain:















This is Kristen and I with our first beer.



















And here's Christiane and I, she was our amazingly amazing host in Munchen.



















And here's Kristen and I trying on drindls.

All in all, I found the people in Munchen incredible. And there is so much to do. We went to Fussen castle, the castle upon which the Disneyland one is based. We learned all about King Ludwig (Ludy) and his preference for men (ok, maybe we decided that had been the case). We went to Dachau which was sobering, but of course necessary. And Kristen and I added to our bunch like crazy: this was the point when our friend Michael joined us, Christiane and her boyfriend Flo hosted us, we met their friend Blade, and we met up with Michael's friend Kelly. Such a joyous time, and I would go back to Munich in a hot second.