A Night at the Opera

Our hostel in Vienna had lovely views - we were staying on the sixth floor (thankfully there was a lift). It was hot, hot, hot when we arrived, and after dumping our stuff we made our way into town. We wandered vaugely (quite of our own accord) for a couple of hours, finding ourselves eventually at an information centre, where we asked about what was on at the opera/concert halls/etc. The chappie said that there were a couple of options, but as it was already almost 6pm we would be lucky to find tickets anywhere. However, he suggested we set off for the Volksoper just to see, as they were performing Mozart's 'Die Zauberflöte' - the Magic Flute. Owing to some iffy transport options, we didn't make it to the opera house until 20 to 7, and had no hopes, really, of nabbing seats. Still, one may as well try, and we were pleased to find that we could still have two student seats at €8 each. Nice, we thought. Not bad. We scoffed some snacks that we had (still dinner-less) and trotted in to find our seats. We were directed upstairs, and were shown into an Opera Box. A genuine, red velvet, really-o, truly-o, swank Opera Box. We were stunned. We settled ourselves in, wedged our elbows firmly in the velvet ledge, and quite enjoyed the opera. Our programme had a wee outline in English, so we could follow what was happening, and one could mostly tell, anyhow. It was very enjoyable.

Our next morning began at the Schmetterling Haus (Butterfly House) in the grounds of one of the Viennese palaces. We took hundreds of photos, and particularly admired a huge orange and brown moth - it was as big as two hands together. We liked it too, as it was sitting still and was easy to photograph! We went from there intending to visit an art museum nearby which holds sketches by Albrecht Dürer, but it turned out to only show these occasionally and not as a permanent exhibition, due to preservation measures. It was a bit pricey to visit otherwise, so we strolled downtown, finding a really cool shop which had postcard sized prints of just about any artwork by any artist you could possibly think of - great to flip through. We continued through town, but the weather had turned chilly, so we went back to our hostel for a nana nap and to make use of the free internet (yay!). On returning to town we found the box office of the Konzerthaus (one of Vienna's beautifully ornate concert halls) and investigated attending a performance that evening - we decided to try a concert of some more modern composers (Debussy, and three others we had not heard of). Killing some time meanwhile, we went up to the Dom where we were keen to do a tour of the catacombs. We joined a small group and headed underground with our guide, an Austrian with an intriguing grasp of English - he seemed to have grasped the greatest peculiarites of various accents and used them to great effect, in mysterious and sepulchral tones. We looked first through the modern rooms, where the clergy of the cathedral are still buried, and then moved on to the older tunnels and rooms where the bones of victims of the plagues are stacked. Our guide kept striding on in front very fast, and turning corners abruptly - I think he was quite enjoying himself, and hoping to scare us. It was very interesting, anyhow, and we were glad to have seen one. We headed back to the Konzerthaus (this time taking care to have some tea first!) and enjoyed our experience of listening to the music and admiring the hall. We were in good seats again - 9th row back from the front, on the centre aisle. It was a slightly different style of music to that which we are accustomed to listen to, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. A good experience.

Our last day in Vienna was begun with a visit to Schloß Schönbrunn, the imperial palace of the last great ruler of Austria. Robyn's Nana had lived in the palace shortly after the war, so it was especially interesting as it had a personal connection for her. We chose to do the Grand Tour, and spent some time walking through the state and family rooms with audio guides. The rooms are beautiful - ornately decorated in baroque, rococco and Chinese styles, and not at all gaudy. The history of the Franz Josef and Sisi, the last ruling couple, and their predecessors was fascinating. Once finished inside we went to see a demonstration in the Palace bakery of an apfel strudel making session (with free tasting!). It was very impressive watching them prepare the dough - it is stretched so thin you can read a newspaper through it. And the end result is equally impressive. . . After this we made our way behind the building to the grounds, where we started in a hedge maze, racing each other to the centre, where there was a raised platform. Robyn got there fully five minutes before I, and had a lovely time watching me rush to and fro below her. After this there was a couple of labyrinths. One had all sorts of activities to do at points around the course: a see-saw that activated a fountain - the harder you rocked, the farther up the water spouted; a dance-board-glockenspiel; wobbly stepping stones; and a set of stepping stones across water which, when one stepped on certain stones, squirted water at ones ankles. Robyn enjoyed watching me find this out. It was all very well laid out and maintained. 'Twould be a great place to take kids. That evening we sampled our first Austrian schnitzel at a little eatery. We shared one - they are huge!

Our last morning we spent an hour on the Viennese train and underground system, going in circles. We were attempting to find the correct station from which to travel to Salzburg, and were crossed between hearty amusement and despair when, finally on the train, we passed the station from which we had begun. . .