Chapter 4 -DAY 6 - Vienna

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Today we had a full day in Vienna, the morning was a pretty full on schedule but between 1pm and 6pm we had free time to do what we wanted. In the evening we went the Sound of Vienna. In many ways Vienna is the home of classical music with names such as Mozart and Beethoven synonymous with the city.

THE HABSBURG DYNASTY
The first excursion on our schedule was a trip to the Schonbrunn Palace. The palace was a summer residence for the ruling Habsburg dynasty. The Habsburg name pops up all over Europe it would be fair to say throughout history they were one of Europe’s significant royal families. Franz Joseph had the glacier in New Zealand named after him to the tentacles of the family even extended to our shores.

It is a massive palace with incredible opulence. As people enter the grounds they are almost overwhelmed by the grandeur. Again we had a local guide who was excellent. She took us through the rooms of the palace that were open. The rooms all contained the original furniture so we could see the actual way the rooms were set up.

The Entry area of the Palace proper looks like cobblestones but it is actually walnut flooring made up of thousands of individual cobbles. This was done because the horses used to take people right inside the palace and the wooden floors were much less noisy when the horse walked on them.

The rooms were decorated with gold trim, priceless paintings, tapestries – the wealth is simply staggering.
Outside gardens are huge – like a private park, they were fantastic to wander around although the temperature was extremely hot – late 20s at 9.30am.

CITY CENTRE
From there we were driven back to the centre of town for a walk around and visit to the Habsburg Crypt where all the key members of the dynasty are buried. We walked down into the underground crypt which featured very ornate tombs, families - fathers mothers and children all at rest together. It was extremely interesting as we have heard a huge amount about the Habsburg dynasty as we travelled through Western Europe.
We then had a horse and carriage ride (4 per carriage) around the centre of the city. It was a fun and different way to see the sights. We were also lucky to see the world famous Vienna Riding School horses as they went from their stables to the arena.

The organised part of the day ended at about 1pm and we were free to wander around Vienna at our leisure until 6pm. We found outdoor cafe in piazza had a nice light lunch and a quiet beer. Then Jeanette went on a series of excursions to the shops in the area while I had a couple of quiet beers and watched the world go past.

We also got ripped off for the first time, Jeanette bought a charm that was supposed to be 43 Euros, the shop assistant just rang up 50 and didn’t offer change. It wasn’t until later we realised the price should have been 43. Not a huge issue but we will make sure we clarify prices before purchase from now on.
We walked back to the hotel though a very nice park, lots of people were out sunbathing, it was a very hot day. We had an hour or so relaxing in the hotel before going out for the evening.

CLASSICAL CONCERT
Tonight we had the opportunity to experience The Sound of Vienna -a light classical concert which also featured a little Opera and Ballet. The venue was the Kursalon Wien a historic venue where (amongst other things) Strauss first performed the Blue Danube Waltz. We had our meal at the venue. The concert was performed by one of the world’s best Viennese Waltz orchestras Salonorchester Alt Wien. At Intermission we had a glass of champagne on the balcony. It was all very nice! It’s not our sort of music but nonetheless it was an impressive evening.

The likelihood is we will only go to one classical music concert in our life – so it may as well be in Vienna at an extremely prestigious venue. Everyone had an enjoyable night, we have a few classical music buffs on the tour and they were over the moon. For us it was more about the overall experience.

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Photos

meeting Mozart
Classical music is very much at the heart of Vienna. Here a street performer does his best to keep the tradition going.

Schonbrunn Palace
Jeanette and i in front of the massive palace -it was used as a hunting Palace by the Habsburghs. The Palace has 40 kitchens!

Habsburg Crypt
One of the more ornate crypts on display

Classical Concert
A mix of music, opera and ballet