Palaces and Music in Vienna (Day 23 - GToE)

My second day in Vienna was just as busy as my first day and it was glorious! Again, I thought about bitch-slapping a tourist, but thought better of it.

First, let me talk a little bit about the ballet Romeo and Juliet from last night. I arrived nice and early for the 8pm show, had a bite to eat and a beverage, before settling down in my seat. My seat was way up in the rafters but with a little maneuvering I was able to see the entire stage. I predicted correctly that I would not be able to stay for the entire programme because I had terrible back pain and was utterly exhausted (I almost fell asleep a couple of times during the first act). I managed to make it through the balcony scene, which ends the first act. I then went back to my hostel. But for the little bit that I saw, it was amazing. Beautiful staging, costuming and dancing. I'm only sorry that I was too tired and in way too much pain to enjoy it as much as I wanted.

After a decent night's sleep, I was off to the races again. I jumped onto another hop-on/hop-off bus tour (my ticket was a 48-hour one), which took a different route than yesterday. Today, I went to the summer residence of the Hapsburgs, the Schönbrunn Palace. The 1,441 room palace is spectacular and rivals Versailles in France for its opulence. Is it any wonder that the peasants would occasionally have a uprising when you see the splendor of these palaces? The tour that I took only covers 40 rooms and comes with complimentary audio guides. The guides had nearly the same commentary as yesterday's Hofburg palace, which is unsurprising. I was so thrilled to see the room in which six year old Wolfgang Mozart played for and completely charmed the Empress Maria Theresa. Again, there are no photos allowed. GRRRRR. After touring the state rooms, I meandered a bit around the grounds, which are probably spectacular in late spring and summer, but are pretty uninspiring in late autumn. But it is less crowded during this time of the year.

Upon leaving the palace, I stopped by Belvedere Castle, which was the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy, now turned into an art museum. The Upper Belvedere houses great works of art from many of Austria's most famous artists, but particularly Gustav Klimt. Let me tell you something, Vienna loves Klimt! Now I know he's a hometown boy and they have every right to be proud of him and his paintings, but you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Klimt museum. The artwork in the castle covers of the different eras and was fascinating. Again, no photos allowed.

I followed up my two palaces with two music museums. The first was the House of Music, which is a unique interactive museum dedicated to music. The first floor features an exhibit on the Vienna Philharmonic. The second floor presents a "sonosphere" which allows the visitor to discover the nature of sound and music. The third floor features audio/visual exhibits of Vienna's best loved classical musician/composers (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Strauss, and Mahler). Finally, at the end of the museum you can pick up a baton and virtually conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Very, very fun, but not nearly as interesting as my final museum of the day, which was...

Mozarthaus!!! Mozarthaus is located in the only surviving Mozart residence in Vienna. This museum is really for the Mozart enthusiast (aka: moi). Mozart lived in this apartment from 1784 to 1787, during which he composed one of his most well known operas, The Marriage of Figaro. The museum encompasses three floors. The tour starts on the third floor which gives background information on Mozart and the time period in which he lived. The second floor is devoted to Mozart's operas and his death. The first floor is the actual apartment in which the Mozarts lived and focuses on the floor plan. But unless you really love Mozart (and I do), this museum might not be for you. I loved it!

Then it was time for dinner. As I hadn't had any lunch, I was ready to gnaw my arm off, but I decided that I would prefer a traditional Viennese dinner. Therefore, I decided to order Wiener Schnitzel (a very thin, breaded and deep fried schnitzel made from veal) and potato salad with apple strudel for dessert. Yum!

Following dinner, I headed back to Schönbrunn Palace (a mere 15 minutes away via the subway). You see, I was talked into purchasing tickets for the Schönbrunn Palace Orchestra which was performing tonight. Actually, they perform every night at the Orangerie in the Palace, but tonight was  special concert which was taking place in the palace itself. It was a little pricey (€55), but worth every penny. The orchestra consisted of 7 musicians (2 violins, a viola, a cello, a bass, a clarinet, and a piano), plus two vocalists (a soprano and baritone). The music presented was Mozart and Johann Strauss (the Younger). The first half is Mozart and the second is Strauss, and it all was wonderful. The orchestra features the best music of both composers and were superbly performed, plus the performers seem to be enjoying themselves as much as the audience did. During the Strauss portion, I wanted to get up and dance...there's a reason he's called The Waltz King.

A most amazing day.  Day 23 photos are on my GToE photo site.  Enjoy!