Austria: September 5, 2009

The rain cleared and the morning was clear and sunny, albeit colder and a bit windy. We walked to the Stadtpark (City Park) and caught the tour bus to the Stadtopernhaus (State Opera House). From there we took three bus tours of the city, (i) the “Ring” – around the old city , (i) the “Danube” – going into the new city and across the Danube, and (iii) the “Schonbrunn” - which took us out to the Palace . This gave a good grounding of the sights of the city. We ended up a Schonbrunn Palace, which we had visited in 2006. There had been many renovations inside, probably due to its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We took the audio tour of the Palace rooms which was much more efficient that going with a tour group.

We also went back to the Apple Strudel making demonstration. We then had lunch. I had Bratwurst and sauerkraut (when in Rome………eat what the tourists eat). Marisa has the apple strudel. We also took a tour of the park by train. This took us up to the Gloriette, which provides an excellent view of the Palace and of Vienna in the background.

Then it was a short ride on the underground to pick up our tickets for the evening concert and back to the hotel for a short while. We took a taxi to the Musikverein, Goldener Saal. Built by Kaiser Franz Joseph I in 1870, it contains the Golden Hall and it the permanent home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. This evening we saw a performance of mostly Mozart music, from popular symphonies and arias and some other pieces by notable Austrians, such as Haydn and Strauss, by the Wiener Mozart Orchester. Their signature is that they play in period costume from the time of Mozart. It was a very good concert, probably better than the previous one we saw here in 2006. It ended with the popular (and traditional) Radetsky March.