Upon reflection, Vienna, despite not endowed with world-famous attractions, turned out to be the most colourful city for me in this trip. Well, colourful not in the literal sense, but more of the multi-dimensional stimulating experiences. Here's an account.
We started Saturday with a morning visit to Naschmarkt to experience local life and for our brunch. The sight greeted us upon exit from the metro surprised me. It immediately reminded me of the "thieves market" in Singapore, with mass of hawkers selling used goods a la garage sale style. For a moment, i thought that's it to Naschmarkt, a sharp contrast with the grand, stylish Vienna that i had in mind.
But as we ventured furthered, we found the more well-organised part of the market, with regular European style market-stalls selling mainly foodstuff. After strolling for an hour plus, with fruits bought along the way as brunch appetizers, we decided that its time for the real brunch!
Settled for a cafe in the midst of the market, we had a long and leisurely brunch of wine and XXXL Wiener Schnitzel, which looks very much like chicken chop. The main differences between schnitzel and chicken chop was that the former is veal and that the latter is more flattened and has a thinner layer of batter. The XXXL was well-qualified, as it is about 3 times the typical size of chicken chop in Singapore!
It was a nice break from the crowd and heat of 30 degrees out, and also a great vantage point for people-watching. =)
In the afternoon, we proceeded to Schloss Schonbrunn, palace of the Austrain Habsburg empire. The 40-room tour was really educational and engaging with short and sweet commentary from the audio guides, providing insights into the lifes of those who lived there and an episode of how young Mozart captured the hearts of the royalties. The Royal Apple Struddle Show, which we both looked forward to, was a disappointment though, with the apple struddle below par. =(
So, this is what a lemon tree looks like!
It was a hot day in Vienna.
Sun shining through the vine-covered corridor archways resembling constellations of stars in a cloudless night sky.
St Stephen's Cathedral. Church where Mozart married, his children chirstened and corpse received final sacrament.
The Heldenplatz area showcases the new palace built by Habsburg Empire in the late 19th century, of which most have been converted into public facilities like libraries. Looking at how grand and glitzy many of the structures are, it makes me wonder if it was a deliberate decision for the Habsburgs to adopt a somewhat pacifist by marrying their ladies to rulers of neighbouring empires and concentrate on building splendid structures to be admired by future generations.
SK adjusting his family jewels??!!
In the evening, we wandered ard the main shopping streets, where there were also many street performers. Attracted by a large circle of people that have gathered, we found an artiste performing the diablo. (the chinesse che3 ling2). A PRC lady walked by and remarked loudly in Mandarin, "Tian1 Ah4! Zhe4 wo3 ma1 ye3 hui4!"(Oh god! Even my mum could perform that!)
Very true that many PRC people know the art of diablo playing. But soon, we understood why he was drawing a crowd. He was really funny and engaged his spectators well. It helped that he was not a bad diablo performer with tricks such throwing and, importantly!!, catching a diablo to 10 plus storeys high, and throwing a diablo against the 5th level of a building and catching it from the bounce. SK remarked that being topless helped too! =P
Upon arriving the Opera House, we discovered that all standing tickets (3.50 euros) are sold out. The only tickets left are the 95 and 125 euros ones are sold out. I surprised myself and SK, by reacting in a very disappointed manner about it. Well, as the cliche goes, u don't know how much u treasure it, till u lost it.
The disappointment was somewhat compensated for when we chanced upon a huge-scale outdoor party in front of Rathaus. There was a real buzz in the air with thousands of people gathered in the outskirts of the party grounds to gawk at celebrities and ordinary citizens too, dressed up in outlandish costumes, arriving at the red carpet. It was funny at see some grand old dames lapping up the atmosphere, eagerly snapping pictures of the drag queens in the midst.
Vienna Choir Boys perform at Burgkapelle in the Sunday morning. The venue is really a small chruch, with very limited standing room for non-paying audience, and many people ahving to stand outside. In my 30 mins there, the voices of the boys descended from the upper deck of the church, as if heaven-like and i could only catch view of the "vienna old boys" who were singing at the altar.
The most satisfying dining experience in the entire trip has to be the lunch at Cafe Sperl. Not only was the main meal of beef slices succulently excellent, the cafe maintained its early 20th century deco well, and had an air of tranquility. Dining indoors, one is enveloped in the atmosphere of it all. I almost feel that time has stopped and at times, as if i was brought back to the early 20th century. The peacefulness and the immense satisfaction from the experience recharged me totally, and added a spring in my steps, as i headed for the Opera House tour.
As with the Schonbrunn tour, the Opera House tour, led by our attractive guide with a Eurasian look, was a highly informative one. Was surprised to learn that, as early as the late 19th century, the stage had the capability to change entire scenes via 3 mechanisms: rotation on the ground level, elevation of an entire level from beneath and cascading of scene props tied to poles from the top.
Newspapers are mainly sold via self-service bags tied to lamposts. Talk about trust!
Wanna a taste of gondola but don't want to pay big bucks? The gondola ferry services that get you from one side of the canal to another could be an alternative.
