Day 21: Tue 8 Jul - Vienna

11-17 deg C, drizzly all day, with a cool and very sneaky breeze

Walk G: 10km; total: 172km

Walk W: 13km; total: 172km

Visits to Hundertwasser House, Village and Museum were first on the agenda today. Friedensreich Hundertwasser was a quirky Artist/Architect who disliked straight lines and level floors. He obviously liked ceramics as they appear throughout the complex. The only part of the house (it’s actually an apartment complex) that is open to visitors is the cafe and numerous souvenir shops. We took some outside photos of the house and the rest of the village centre. The museum is not that far away from the house and we photographed the outside and moved on. We just wandered and took random photos before our bodies told us it was time for a caffeine fix. Back to the hotel for a hot cuppa and a pastry from the breakfast bar. 

Our last tourist thing for the day was a visit to the Vienna State Opera (VSO). We had bought tickets on line for the 1pm walk and talk, and rocked up at 12:45pm as advised. There were 35 of us in the ‘Tour in English’ and our guide may have been learning as she could not always explain in English what she was trying to say. But, it was a good tour, only 45 minutes long and we were given a lot of information, most of which has already been forgotten! Not sure if Wendy’s notes are accurate, but only 20-30% of the building was left standing after WWII. They tried hard to rebuild the broken bits in the same style. Ballet and Opera are the two main art forms played in the VSO, with 50-60 operas and symphony concerts, and 10-12 different ballet productions performed each year. In total, the VSO hosts over 300 performances annually, including the very fancy annual Opera Ball.

A slow wander back to the hotel in the rain finishes off the second third of the day. The last third is dinner tonight. As we only get to the restaurant at 7:30pm, we decided we should have a longer afternoon rest so that we can stay awake. 

We caught the underground from adjacent our hotel to our restaurant, suggested by Richard, an Austrian pharmacist Wendy met through attending the International Pharmacy Congress meetings most years since 2003 in Sydney - this was where she first met Richard. The restaurant is called Heuriger 10er Marie, a cozy wine tavern with rustic furnishings, a buffet of local specialties and wine from its own estate. Built in the 1700s.

It was a very traditional restaurant with either a pay-by-the plate buffet service or an la carte. We decided on a la carte for food and Richard told us about the traditional drink of white wine spritzer. Richard and Wendy shared 1000ml white wine with soda water and Greg had a zero beer. We had a good old chat about life in general and we only got to the underground after 10pm and home just before 11pm.

Hundertwasser House and other things 

An Observatory

UNIQA Tower - a tourist attraction

A Federal Government Office

One of the underground trains crossing the river at the same time we were

Storm drain wild life

St Stephen’s Cathedral

Advertising at a local restaurant 

Same schnitty, just different placement

The dude out the front is Johannes Gutenberg, and the building is the Wüstenrot Building

The teddy bear shop

Not sure what these buildings are, but they looked good

Vienna State Opera

Entrance hall

Entrance stairways

And empty entrance hall

Ceiling decorations

Going up the stairs into the Opera House proper

Tea room, can be rented for €8,000 per 20 mins

View of the auditorium from the Main Box seating area

Chandeliers everywhere in the Vienna State Opera

Smaller private boxes - seats 7, with the front 3 being the best for viewing the stage and the other seats are called the ‘listening’ seats, as you can’t really see the stage

Intermission hall, also doubles as an entertainment hall for stuff like dancing. This is part of the rebuilt building

Another intermission hall, this one in the original building

Marble as a wall inlay

Cubism painting

Dancing hall

Just a marble colum

The main seating area in the auditorium with the small boxes in the sides and the main box half way up

Chandelier in the auditorium 

The small boxes

Front of the Opera

One of the exhibits in Stadtpark that Wendy missed yesterday- Birdbath Fountain

Dinner venue

Inside the restaurant 

Wendy and Richard

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