SALZBURG, Austria – I had my first sentimental moment about leaving Salzburg last week. If I continue like this, I’ll be a wreck by the time July rolls around and I have a plane to catch. I’m not really sure what triggered it. I had just finished a bit of grocery shopping and was walking to the bus. The weather was gloomy, but it had stopped raining. Or maybe it was the music. I was listening to a playlist of mostly energetic songs, but some songs always remind me of specific things, and one of those came up, triggering some sentimental memories. But the sentimentality didn’t last. I had too many other things to accomplish, including my final midterm. (It’s the summer session at BGSU and I just finished midterms ‘hellip; a bit hard to believe). After a study session and history excursion on Friday, I headed to Vienna for what I expected to be my final weekend there this year. I finally was able to ride a RailJet train, which is the newest line of trains in Austria. It is the fastest ride between Salzburg and Vienna, going speeds of up to 200 kilometers an hour. I was pretty excited about this,’ but I knew the RailJet is frequently late. I have seen it with delays of up to 155 minutes, so I really hoped’ that wouldn’t happen this time. The train was delayed, but only by 15 minutes. This still made the journey faster than any other traveling options, but it was the luck of the draw. After arriving I changed my mind, deciding I will most likely return to Vienna for the Donau Insel Fest, which my friends’ band, Cardiac Move, is a part of, along with Snow Patrol, in a free festival weekend. I made this journey to Vienna so I could see the musical Spring Awakening auf Deutsch. The interesting thing about this is that Fr’uuml;hlings Erwachen (Spring Awakening) is originally a German play that was transformed into an American musical and then translated back. I was able to get tickets half off, thanks to a frequent-shoppers card I have from one of the grocery stores here, so my friend Jennica and I ended up in the second row. It was like a flashback to all of the shows I saw in New York City. My seat for Spring Awakening in New York City was tied with my seat for Gypsy as the worst of the summer, so my seat in Vienna was much improved. The cast was as well. Maybe it was because the words were back in their original language. Whatever it was, it was great. I had other plans for my weekend as well. I had a long list of museums and churches I wanted to see, but I knew I wouldn’t get too far because the entrance fees are pretty steep, even with a student discount. On Saturday morning Jennica and I started at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which is a collection of art collected by the Hapsburgs – the royal family. The main collection is northern and Italian paintings from roughly 1450 to 1650. We weren’t the most serious of visitors. I’ll blame that on the fact that we had roughly five hours of sleep because we had stayed out late to see The Third Man, a British film classic (from 1949) with Orson Welles. It takes place in post-World-War-II Vienna and is generally about the black market and the people who get caught up in it or are related to those involved. The Burg Kino shows this film almost daily. I did enjoy seeing it, but it was one of those movies where I questioned its purpose when the credits started to roll. Everything else I had planned was thrown askew thanks to the Life Ball, Europe’s largest AIDS charity event, which takes place on Rathausplatz and inside the town hall. The outdoor event includes awards, special guests and a fashion show. Jennica and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, which was the far edge of Rathausplatz around 1:45 in the afternoon. All of a sudden, we heard Katy Perry singing from the sound system. At first, we just assumed it was the radio being played for all of the construction that was happening. And then, after Perry’s voice started fading in and out and we remembered that she did just have a performance in Vienna, we realized that it was really her singing live. We hurried to try to catch a view of her, but we were too late. Instead, we were able to watch the rest of the sound check and most of the dress rehearsal for that evening’s gala. So, after Fr’uuml;hlings Erwachen ended, we returned to the event, hoping to hear Perry live for a second time. Things were behind schedule, so we were also able to see a performance by Roisin Murphy, an Irish singer, along with the fashion show. Neither Jennica nor I are big fans of Perry, but we sang along anyway, just enjoying the moment. So once again, I spent a weekend in Vienna without accomplishing much, but that’s really OK. Like Billy Joel sings, Vienna will still be waiting for me.