From June 5-7, our group took a weekend trip to Vienna, Austria. What an amazing place! David described it like this: Even the alleys had amazing buildings and architecture! It was a favorite of several students. We traveled by train, of course, to Vienna (about a 4 hour trip) on Friday and had a walking tour and a tour of the famous opera house. Then we had a wonderful meal at a traditional Austrian/German restaurant and went to a cool rooftop bar for drinks. On Saturday we had another walking tour and then free time to explore on our own. One group of students attended an American style football game and another group went to visit Schoenbrunn Castle, on the outskirts of the city. Finally, on Sunday, we played on the Danube River on kayaks and stand up paddleboards before taking the train back to Munich. There is so much to say about Vienna. I tried to put our adventures and sights into group for posts. There will be three when I’m done. Here we go!
Vienna State Opera House
The Opera House was built by Fran’s Joseph, one of Austia’s great empowers. It was build at the height of the empire in the 1800s, and sort of the “crown jewel”. The city is known for its love of music. Many famous composers and musicians have come here to study, compose and perform: Beethoven, Brahms, Johann Strauss and others. The Opera House holds 300 performances every year! Their season is from September to June and they put on a different show every night! That means they change everything - all the scenery, props, performers, everything, every day. They have three shifts of crew members working round the clock to get it all done. The tickets for seats sell out well in advance, but are much less than a Broadway show in a major city. Then there are the famous student tickets. These are for standing only. There is a special spot in the back of the opera house and you can buy a ticket for less than 20 Euros and stand for the show. It is okay to leave at intermission if you don’t want to stand for a 3 hour show. I learned that part of the reason for this system is the music schools in Vienna require students to attend a high number of performances. It simply would not be possible to afford tickets to all of them on a student income. So the standing ticket system and daily changing schedule helps accommodate that.
Beautiful lobby
Our tour began in the auditorium. In the background, you can see the crew and massive back stage area as they change for the next show that night.
This is the view of the theater from the best seat in the house - the Emperor’s box.
For all the seats (not the standing ones) there is a little screen that you can use to choose your language and it will have “close captions” for the words since performances are often in Latin or other languages.
The standing room area is on the main floor, way in the back.
Next we went to see some of the rooms that guests can visit during intermission. This room was filled with busts of famous composers with murals of their operas above them.
This cool couch was in one of the intermission rooms.
Another, more modern intermission room had this mosaic depicting all the action that goes on behind the scenes in a show to make it happen. I think in this one you can see an actor getting a prop ready on the left, the entrance to the stage, then some actors dressed as knights ready to go on stage int eh middle. To the right is a dancer practicing.
I’m a sucker for gift shops. There are so many fun things to see.
Beethoven kitchen timer
Ballerina jewelry stand
Ballerina ring holder
Walking Tour
Next, we walked around the city to see some of the major landmarks. We had a couple of these walking tours during our weekend, and still only saw a fraction of the sights.
First, a little history for background…. The Hapsburg royal family ruled the Austrian empire for over 600 years. Maria Teresa (in the mid 1700s) was one of the most influential rulers. She was the daughter of the emperor and even though she was a girl, her father wanted her to be his successor. He spent years traveling around his empire and the world convincing leaders to accept her as the next leader and having them sign a contract/treaty stating such. When he died, of course many of them changed their minds. Maria Teresa used many different methods to secure her power. She gained some military allies - I think Hungary came into play at this point, thus making it the Austrian-Hungarian empire. Her husband also had a title of some sort, but I don’t remember what. She had 16 children and only 10 survived. She used her children to marry other leaders and make alliances all over Europe. Thus, the Hapsburg family had influence all over. They also had a distinctive chin - it stuck out farther. This genetic trait can be seen in other royal families around the continent and traces back to this family. Maria Teresa ended up being a powerful, beloved ruler of Austria. Her daughter, Marie Antoinette was famously married to the king of France and beheaded in the French Revolution. I also learned that even though she forced her children to marry for political reasons, she herself had a very loving relationship with her husband. She did allow one of her daughters, her favorite, to marry for love.
Fast forward a few generations and you get to Maria Teresa’s great, great grandson - Franz Joseph. He is perhaps the most famous of the emperors of Austria. He ruled for 68 years (mid 1800s to early 1900s). He was a beloved leader and ruled during the golden age of Austria - building the Opera House and many other building seen around the city today. His name and symbol are on everything. He is also famous for his wife, Elizabeth of Bavaria. Her nickname was Sisi. More about her later.
This is a wing of the Hofburg Castle that is called the Albertina. That is Franz Joseph on the top riding a horse. The Albertina is a famous art museum.
This is the hotel Sacher. It is home to the famous Sacher Torte (or Sacher cake). The story goes that there were two bakers at two different hotels that had a “cake war” trying to be named the best cake in all of Vienna. Ultimately this place won. I had this on my first trip to Vienna in 2000. I was unimpressed. Other travel writers report that it is dry. The other contestant, also still makes their version of the best cake. The cakes are very virtually the same thing, but the other is reportedly more moist, and has a shorter line. We were able to try the other one, and it was very good. I’ll share about that in another post.
This is one of the great museums. There are two buildings directly across facing each other with a large park inbetween. This is the art museum and the other matching building is the natural science museum.
These rose gardens were outside the castle and were amazing! Roses EVERYWHERE!!!
All labeled about the kind of rose, there were lines of these circling the entire part area. It was huge.
This is the Rathouse - or town hall. When we were there, there was some sort of Vienna decathlon going on, thus the tents, lights and other things.
Another group photo, I think this was the Parliament building …but I’m not sure.
Pretty view of the cathedral at night from our rooftop bar.
We ended up walking along the river many times. Along both sides were elaborate graffiti murals. On the other side were also little cafes and places to eat.
Memorial to Jewish Lives Lost
This is a memorial to the Jews killed in WWII. It is a building made to look like shelves of books, but the spines of the books are inwards so you can’t see what they are. The artist said this represents the stories and lives of the people who died, we will never know what they could have become and what all their stories were. The doors neither open nor close, and the artist said that if people think it is ugly, that is good. What happened was ugly.
This is on the side of the memorial
Hofburg Castle & Spanish Riding School
This is one side of the Hofburg Castle. I’ll have a whole other post about castles in Vienna. But this castle is also famous for the Spanish Riding School next door - part of the castle. This is where they train the white horses to do the fancy routines. You should google it…it’s amazing. It takes 8-10 years for a person to become a professional.
There are lots of carriages around this area to take tourists on rides. I’m sure none of these horses are the special Spanish Riding School horses, but they add to the charm of the area.
This was the one place we could peek in and see the stables.
All the horses for tourists had these fancy covers for their ears. I’m not sure why…maybe it is a Spanish Riding School thing.
Roman Ruins
Right out in front of the Hofburg Castle, there are some uncovered ruins from the days of the Roman Empire.
More Sights
This column was made after a great plague swept through the land. The empower promised God if he survived the plague then he would honor God with a church and more. This is part of that promise fulfilled.
This is St. Peter’s Church. This is the church built by the empower in fulfillment of that promise.
Shopping
We had free time to wander around a fancy shopping district. Here are some fun sights.
Fancy Louis Vuitton store
Fashion in Vienna
This fashion store had these large ducks in the windows.
I found a really “ritzy” grocery store. It had two levels with a fancy curving staircase in the middle.
From the top of St. Stephen’s Cathedral
David and another student climbed to the top of the famous cathedral for some spectacular views of the city. That is a think in Europe - climbing to the top of tall buildings to see the view. Sometimes you have to pay, sometimes not. David says, “I’m always a sucker for climbing up to see stuff.” I’m a sucker for gift shops. So he climbs and I wander the shops…it works. 😆
Stolpersteine
Once again, we found these “stumbling stones” of remembrance of Jews and others killed in the Holocaust in Vienna. These photos were all taken on the same block as our hotel, just walking to the corner. I think it is important to stop and remember.
Fun Cars
Since I’m married to an automotive engineer and “car guy”, I have fun taking pictures of cars around the city.
These little cars were labeled “Hot Rod Tours”.
There were lots of these type of cars to take tourists on tours.
Rolls Royce
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