The Good Life.

I have to admit,  without really trying too hard,  we've been able to see a few things here in Wienerland that pretty much sum up the entire experience.

 Ahem.   Let's list them,  shall we?

Spanishe Hofreitschule

Schönbrunn.
(on several occasions.  Concert,  buggy ride,  zoo....)

The State Opera

(twice,  once for Madame Butterfly and then for a Mozart Concert)

The Musikverein

(a Mozart Concert,  but I seem to think we went twice,  but my memory is dim)

....and then Monday night to the Volksoper to see
"Die Fledermaus".

Great fun,  even though it's in German (well,  Austrian German)  and a little hard to understand,  it was a blast.
Became abundantly clear why they started at 7:00 p.m. since the thing is in three acts,  and I was starting to zone out just ever so slightly by the third act.   No Wagner for me,  thanks.

Very hard to take photos in an opera house,  so that was just about the best I could muster.   The Volksoper  (or people's opera)  isn't quite as fancy as the State Opera,  but the performance was every bit as good.
Seriously.
I did not have any problems whatsoever with having relative pitch.

It can be a blessing or a curse.   It just depends.   There have been times when I've wished to be completely tone deaf.


Don't you just love all these links I'm putting in??

I even think at one point in time when the orchestra was still playing the overture I muttered under my breath,  "Man they're tight!"

It goes without saying that there have been a host of concerts we've attended at various churches around town,  but they're too numerous to mention.  Sorry.


  Our current guests are once again out and about seeing all the sights that we'll get around to seeing if we're here long enough,  but since they're doing the "touristy thing",  and they have the energy,  they're out there.    I quite enjoy getting the reports back at the end of the day,  since they bought tickets for the Hop on Hop off bus lines with which you can go all over the city...
 And I just realised that I can't seem to find a decent link,  since what I didn't know was,  with certain packages,  you have a choice of three different buses you can hop onto (or off of I suppose)  all three of which I've seen milling about in the city here and there.    I didn't realise they were all from the same company.   Our visitors got some sort of two day deal,  and today is day two.


 Since I have the car today (and for the rest of the week)  I volunteered to take them down to the main starting point this morning,  which just so happens to be the State Opera.  It's all fine and dandy to know the subway system and find one's way around,  but now and again getting chauffeured by car gives one a better sense of just where everything is.



 Turns out taking the car could very well have been fraught with frustration,  since it so happens that it's "International Car Free day"
or some such fresh air,  and at some point in time the Ring was going to be closed off to vehicular traffic.




 I guess they didn't think it would be all that wise to extend that concept all the way up Mariahilfer Strasse,  (since the cars tend to bring the shoppers)  as I can see and hear the usual chaos if I stick my head out the window.

There's talk of making Mariahilfer Strasse into a pedestrian zone,  but that's just as half baked as the car free day idea.  It's a great notion,  but totally impractical.   I'm presently the only one in this household who is willing to take my life in my hands and ride a bike in Vienna,  but just the same, I'd just as soon be in the car,  since using a bike as transportation is also fraught with half baked Viennese traffic management.  I don't want to get off on a rant here about a room full of monkeys,   since I know it would only go from bad to worse.  Suffice to say,  there's room for improvement.











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