Guten Tag Sweet Friends!

I arrived in Vienna yesterday and I have to say, it may be my fav European city yet. It is so tourist-friendly and the city itself is magnificient!! I told a young lady who was working at the info desk, “there’s nothing ordinary here; every building is monumental and fabulous.” And it’s true! Everything, at least in the city center, is just glorius. And not just the buildings, but the gardens that surround them as well. Flowers are everywhere! Even the store front windows are amazing.

Arriving at the airport, I was immediately impressed. As I said, everything is tourist-friendly, so finding the exits and the CAT train was a breeze. The new CAT is a non-stop airport to city transfer that is 16 minutes and only 12 euros. It takes you straight to the heart of the city where you can easily transfer to a subway, bus or tram to your hotel. It was the easiest arrival/transfer I’ve had, and when you’re traveling solo these things are important. I’m staying at a very old but distinguished hotel called the Bristol. It’s directly across from the opera house and very centrally located. It’s very old school and charming and the service is excellent. My room was ready when I arrived at 10 AM (woohoo!) so I checked in, dumped my bags and hit the city.

I started with a guided tour of the Vienna Opera just across the street. A lot of places in Europe are closed during the summer months of July and August when Europeans take their vaca and hit the coastal towns. The opera house is no exception; there are no performances until September and there were a lot of improvements/repairs being done as well. But, it was a fun and informative tour of an extraordinary space. It is the busiest opera house in all of Europe.  A season consists of up to 50 different operas and they never perform back to back shows. So during a week, you could see up to five different shows; no back to back performances are the same. The back stage is one of the largest most complex I’ve ever seen. Well, it would have to be to house up to five different shows in one space with each show having numerous sets for each act. It’s crazy backstage. I don’t know how the set crew keeps it straight! I sat in the Imperial Box where seats start at 1000 euros, saw the exclusive imperial intermission room where admission starts at 500 euros; but don’t worry, they have cheap seats too! Seats start at 10 euros so anyone and everyone can experience the opera, even me. Just not in July or August.

I then walked to the Hofburg palace, the winter residence of the Habsburg dynasty for over 600 years. It’s an amazing complex of buildings, now museums and government offices. Most of the buildings were never occupied by the royal family. I toured the Imperial Treasury where I saw a very small sampling of the royal treasures. Included are not only the crown jewels but also a unicorn horn and many holy relics such as the dagger that pierced the side of Christ, several pieces of the true cross, a piece of the tablecloth from the last supper and a fragment of the cradle of Christ. All of these things I rank right up there with the unicorn horn. Relics were a very powerful tool and could easily be verified for the right amount of money. Nuff said.

Then, I toured the Imperial Apartments, where Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Sisi lived, as well as the Sisi museum. As explained by our guide, Empress Sisi was made famous by her death – she was assassinated at the age of 60 by an anarchist in  Geneva. While alive she was somewhat of a recluse and was not well thought of by the people; but her death and subsequent movies about her life, made her legend. From what I learned from our guide she was manic depressive and a binge eater. She was 5 ft 8 inches tall, weighed about 110 lbs and had a 20 inch waist!! She was very vain and very determined to keep her waist small and her weight down, but she loved sweets. So she would binge on ice cream and then fast for days drinking only juice or milk. She also had a gym set up in her apartment where she could exercise every day. This was unheard of for an Empress. She was quite the sportswoman as well. But she was given to depression and became very reclusive. One of her sons committed suicide and after that her depression worsened and she wore black constantly except when she was vacationing in Greece. Corfu was her favorite and she went there often to recuperate. Anyway, it was a fascinating story and the tour was very enjoyable.

Afterwards, I went to Cafe Central, a very famous Viennese coffee house, for coffee and an apple streudel; and although I only ate the inside of the pastry, it was quite yummy. Very thin slices of apples, raisins, cinammon and not too sweet – very good! I strolled on through the city to the Parliment building and City Hall. As I said, every building here is magnificent with beautiful fountains, gardens, mosaics, and baroque architechture. I walked through the Volksgarden and enjoyed the thousands of roses in all colors. I was reminded of my friend Valerie who loved yellow roses and who passed away far too early. It made me think of her and of Memphis and all the roses I used to grow in my yard that are long gone now. It was beautiful.

At the city hall, I discovered that the international film festival is running through the end of July. There is a huge screen set up in front of the city hall with hundreds of chairs for viewers to watch select films in the evening. Also there is a wonderful food court set up for dining. Now, this isn’t just a food court, it’s like mini restaurants complete with seating, decor, waiters, lighting and every food imaginable! Everything from grilled calimari to pasta to Persian food along with coffee, fresh fruit infused cocktails and desserts.  I had an iced coffee and learned that tonight’s show would be the St. Petersburg orchestra performing a variety of classical music, but the show would not start until 9:30 PM, so I moved on. I made my way to St. Peter’s church, one of the most amazing Baroque churches I’ve ever seen. Seriously, this place took my breath away when I walked inside. There were many people sitting in the chuch and what looked like a film crew. I thought there must be a wedding, but I learned that it was the debut performance of the Moscow Boys Choir that started in 10 minutes!!! Score! I grabbed a seat and waited. At 7 PM, about 20 very young boys in tuxes came out and took there places in front of the magnificent alter. When they began to sing, I felt like angels had just descended into the space. It gave me chills and I began to cry. Tears streamed down my face as I listened to the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard. It was the conbination of their voices rising up in this most beautiful place and the candlelight and the fact that I was in Vienna and how lucky I am; it was all that that brought me to tears.  It was amazing. I stayed until the last note was sung, made my donation and slipped out the back. I was wiped out by the experience. And, I was hungry!

I made my way back to the city hall to grab something to eat and watch the St. Petersburg orchestra perform on the big screen. I found a place that made fresh juices, so I ordered a green juice and walked around. Finally, as the film began, I grabbed a seat down front and enjoyed a movie under the stars of Vienna. It was a night to remember!!

Today I’m going to the Belvedere museums and the Schonbrun Palace, the summer residence of the Habsburgs. The weather is junk so it’s a good museum day. I hope your day is anything but junk!! Ciao!