Vienna

Now the only other city I visited for the first time this summer was Vienna. I basically already knew that I’d really like Vienna since it’s THE city for music history. So many famous composers and musicians have lived in Vienna, it was quite a treat to see the sites in person.

Number one best place in the city might be the enormous food market, Naschmarkt. It’s enormous, and serves everything from Viennese food to Asian food. The slight difference in culture was really evident here, as I couldn’t hear many people speaking English. Nearby is St. Stephen’s Cathedral, a beautiful piece of Gothic architecture. The inside is gorgeous as well, it’s a quick visit but well worth it. Also nearby is the Vienna State Opera House. You need to be part of a tour to look around inside, but the guided tours are in a number of different languages and take you through several break rooms, the audience, orchestra pit, and the stage while discussing the history of the opera. Plenty of art is dedicated to the different composers, particularly Mahler since he was a very important director of the Vienna Opera. I didn’t know this before, but the Opera House was heavily bombed during WWII so a number of rooms have had to be reconstructed. Besides July and August there are operas being performed every day, and standing room tickets are only a couple of euros. I’ll have to come back and see that!

Unfortunately the only museum that I had time to visit was the Belvedere. The Belvedere used to be a wealthy art collector’s house, now it shows Austrian paintings, particularly by Klimt, Schiele, and Kokoschka. Klimt’s “The Kiss” is there and is probably it’s most famous painting. I quite enjoyed the Belvedere, possibly because I wasn’t as familiar with Viennese paintings beforehand, and was surprised that there were a couple of Rodin sculptures as well! Having said that, the collection is rather small and they seem to constantly be loaning paintings out, so check before you grab tickets!

My stay in Vienna ended by seeing a performance by the Vienna Mozart Orchestra. This is an orchestra that tries to recreate what music was in Mozart’s time by dressing in period costumes and showing a selection of pieces from different symphonies or operas instead of a full work. We purchased standing room tickets, which is about all that I would pay for it. The orchestra was fine, but nothing special. I’m sure that we could find much better in Vienna if we had planned it out a little better haha!

Vienna was a beautiful city with so much art and culture within it. I really wish that I could have spent more time there, but the taste I had was so much fun that I’m certain I’ll eventually come back for more.