My Ashtonville: Vienna Sings!

Vienna!! Our nineth stop and undoubtly the "icing" on the trip so far. I expected it to be beautiful but it is so much more than that. The buildings are spectacular! The food is delicious! Art and classical music is everywhere and everyone looks like the belong in a story. Coffee shops are everywhere (and those who know me best know how much I love a good coffee shop) and the Viennese and tourists alike seem to slow down the pace to just "enjoy".

Again, by the time we arrived we are only here for a day and a half and that was our first mistake. No where near enough time. This city deserves a minimum stay of a week I think. Next time I won't make the same mistake. After finding our hotel we drop off our luggage and head off towards the old part of the city. It's not far - just a 25 minute walk to the centre (going downhill). We see the Museum Quarter, the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Art) and the Museum of Natural History but we don't have enough time to do justice to this magnificent museum so we just photograph it from the outside (see reference to first mistake). We also get to see the Hero's Square and take a stroll through some of the old city while scouting out our supper destination.

What did we get a chance to see in Vienna? The Danube River, The Vienna Opera House, St. Stephan's Cathedral, the amusement park with the Vienna Riesenrad (Ferris wheel) and on our final evening we also went to a live concert at Palace Auersperg - a 1 1/2 hour performance in the same room that many famous historical figures performed in during thier lives . The performance was set 1700's and the 11 member symphony were dressed in period costume. The music was of Wolfgang Mozart and Johann Strauss. In addition to just hearing the symphony orchestra we were treated to to 4 opera numbers and 3 dances - two ballet and one waltz. A bit of culture to add to the atmosphere of this wonderful city.

As I said before - not nearly enough time and it is time to say goodbye to Vienna. God willing we will be back for a second performance!!

Next stop Salzburg, Austria.