Vienna

This past weekend I got to cross off one of my top Cities to Visit. I met up with Sarah Bailey (an old friend who is currently working in England) and another one of her friends in Vienna. Not only did we explore all the historical and culture sights, but we also got to experience a number of the Christmas markets (Weihnachtsmarkt) set up around the city.

The best way to explain a Weihnachtsmarkt is like a craft fair on a grand scale with the added charm of Christmas magic. It's made up of a number of separate stalls selling Christmas ornaments, other crafts, food and drinks. Over speakers Christmas carols (all American) set the mood and the food stalls create an enticing aroma of fried dough and sizzling fat. In Vienna, the old Rathaus (City Hall) presides over the largest market in the city and is converted into a huge advent calendar with 24 windows opening - one every day - as Christmas approaches. This weekend I'm probably going to visit Dresden which is the sight (supposedly) of the very first Christmas market and draws up to 2 million visitors each Christmas season.

The influence of the Hapsburgs pervades the city and I felt my AP European history class coming back to me as we wandered. The Hapsburgs were also huge patrons of the arts and so there is quite a rich artistic and musical heritage in the city. Anything related to the old composers was my favorite. On Sunday morning we heard the Vienna Boys' Choir sing mass in the one of the small chapels. They were incredible!

Sadly, we were thwart in our attempt to see an opera in the famous Opera House. They show a different opera each night and offer a limited number of standing room only tickets (mostly for the benefit of tourists). Both Sarah and I had decided that was one thing we absolutely wanted to do during our visit. The opera showing on Saturday night was The Barber of Seville - one we were actually familiar with which was a bonus. Our guide book said that many tourists only stay for the first part of the opera and that you can grab their tickets as they were leaving. So instead of standing in line for over an hour, we decided to take this approach. However, for the first time Rick Steves steered us wrong and we were unable to get into the opera. Not to be undone, we noticed a sign for some kind of matinee show on Sunday, though it didn't exactly look like an opera (but being in German, it was hard for us to tell). So we showed up on Sunday and bought cheap tickets to what turned out to be a 1 1/2 hour narrated explanation of Wagner's music - I'd say it was 75% German narration and 25% real music. Not exactly what we expected! Regardless, it was great to see the inside of the Opera House and experience a concert there, even if it lost a little in the translation.

Other than that miscue, the rest of the weekend went very smoothly. We toured Schonnbrunn (Hapsburg's summer residence), saw the royal treasury which included the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor and wandered through one of the art museums. It was great to spend time with Sarah catching up! I've posted some pictures, but it was either gray or raining most of the weekend so they don't really capture the feel of the city. I could have easily spent several more days exploring Vienna!