Today we are off to Salzburg – famous as the birthplace of Mozart, the Von Trapp family and the Sound of Music. It was a four or five hour trip from Vienna to Salzburg but was broken up by a stop in the gorgeous town of Halstatt to perform at the Lutheran Church. It is a town that has literally been built into the side of a mountain and there is so little space that the houses are built on top of one another. No cars are allowed in the downtown area (except by special permit) and there were tourists galore. Our stop there was just under two hours which included a 45 minute concert. It would have been nice to have been able to stop for a longer visit.

We arrived in Salzburg about 6pm and just had time to stash our luggage in the room before heading down to a roast beef dinner in the hotel dining room. As a bonus we had two deserts tonight – one from the hotel and one compliments of the Ambrose family to celebrate John and Katherine’s 51st wedding anniversary. One could put on some weight on this trip!

After dinner we met our guides and did a two hour walking tour of Salzburg. History is everywhere here including a Fransciscan Church dating back to the 8th Century, Mozart’s birthplace, the building where his father taught violin lessons, the family gravesite (although Mozart is actually buried in Vienna), the Hohensalzburg Fortress and Salzburg Cathedral. We also saw the fountain that appeared in the Sound of Music movie. Tomorrow we will see more movie sites as we do the Sound of Music tour.

Back to the hotel now for a good night’s rest. Tomorrow will be another busy day.

Saturday’s tours were to Schonbrunn Palace and the Opera House. Schonbrunn is the summer home of the Habsburg family built in the 1600s. It has 1400+ rooms and extensive gardens and other buildings. Because of timing we only had a chance to tour the Imperial Palace – the living area of the family. We were due to sing outside at noon and up until about 10 minutes before concert time it was drizzling rain. It looked like it might stop eventually so we lined up and began our first song, thinking that if it continued we would call the buses and leave for downtown. The first song was Rise Up My Love, one line of which says “the rain is over and gone” – which it was! The sun came out and the rest of the day was quite nice.

The bus took us downtown where we had time for a quick lunch and then we were off to the Opera House. What a beautiful building. Originally built in the late 1800s it was bombed during the war and was closed for 10 years while it was rebuilt. From September to June they perform over 300 performances usually of about 50 – 60 different opera/ballets. There are 1700 seats and room for about 600 standing patrons. The intermission rooms are around the outside of the building and are all decorated in different eras. We also saw the Emperor’s private lounge where he entertained guests. It’s still decorated with the original furniture. The Vienna State Opera House had the distinction of being 99% full over all performances last year. 51% of their budget is provided by the state. I guess when you are a musical country you have a lot to live up to!

After a bit of down time and dinner we were off to a Mozart Concert at the Muzikverein – a large concert hall in downtown Vienna. Imagine our surprise when we arrived to find that our seats were actually on the stage! Evidently this is quite common in Europe. It was certainly a different feeling to listen to a concert sitting beside/behind the orchestra. The only drawback was that we couldn’t see the soloist’s faces but we didn’t have any trouble hearing them. Interestingly enough the program included a flute concerto and a selection of pieces from The Magic Flute, which of course we had heard last week at the Marionette theatre.

We arrived back at the hotel just before 11pm – a tired but happy crew.

Our internet is rather spotty since it is only available in the lobby making it difficult to keep up with the blog. This post covers a very long Friday – the choir’s first full day in Vienna. The plan was a guided bus tour and city walking tour in the morning followed by free time downtown. Since George and I had already done the city tour last week, we decided to strike out on our own.

Our first stop was the Treasury Museum which contains displays of the secular and religious treasures of the Hapsburg era. The jewels and household items were beautiful. I was particularly taken however with the embroidered clothing and altar cloths used in worship. They were really spectacular!

Our second stop was the Museum of Ancient Instruments. It was interesting to say the least and we kind of wished we had gone there first…but we will see it better next time welcome this way. On display were instruments dating back to medieval times, as well as instruments belonging to or having been played by the Masters. This is a picture of a piano played by Clara Schumann at the opening of a concert hall in 1870. The hall is still used today and is noted for its excellent acoustics.

After a quick lunch we met our bus and headed out to a small town about two hours out of Vienna. Our concert for the evening was in the Abbey and was a fundraiser for the local community. After we arrived the Abbott gave a formal greeting and told us about the history of the monastery, the various buildings, the 25 parishes that they serve and the way in which life has changed over the years (pre, during, and post communism). Dinner was served buffet style and we ate picnic style in the monastery garden. I think the dinner will probably go down as one of the best of the trip – roast beef, roast pork, sauerkraut, potato dumplings, a vegetable pie – all homemade.

There were about 200 people from the community crammed into the pews (straight backs, narrow benches…and not looking terribly comfortable). Our choir of 70 voices was also crammed into a very small chancel but the sound was magnificent. David, our director, said it gave him goosebumps and brought tears to his eyes. One of our pieces is a first nation’s piece that has three parts (a discordant drone, and two chorus parts in Mic Mac). It also calls for animal sounds which a number of our folks have perfected (birds, wolf, loon, chipmunk, etc). The folks who make the animal sounds go out around the sanctuary to the sound comes as a surprise from all directions. It was a favourite of our Ireland tour and I’d say it was a favourite of last evening’s concert judging by the faces. This is a picture taken while we were performing the Mic Mac song.

It was a late night getting back to Vienna but everyone agreed that it was an awesome day.

Our choir director is also doing a blog and has a few mor pictures on his blog. You can read it at mfceuro2014.wordpress.com.

Today was a long travel day to get from Budapest to Vienna. The trip was broken up with a stop in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Since we arrived a bit later than planned, lunch was a very quick affair in one of the outdoor cafés on the Main Street. Our guides were waiting for us in the main square when we arrived and provided a two hour walking tour through the city.

Bratislava has a population of about 500,000 people about 10% of the total population in the whole country. It is a very old town and like many European cities has been fought over and won by many different groups. It is also the only European capital that borders two independent countries. Since becoming part of the European Union, there have been many pluses and minuses. Housing in the city has become quite expensive, so people live in the border towns and then drive to Hungary or Austria for work. Many more people also live in the small towns and commute to work in Bratislava than was possible under communist rule.

We were interested to see farms throughout the countryside growing crops, but there were no animals – cows, pigs, sheep – in sight. Our guide, who just graduated in veterinary medicine, told us that farming is a very difficult occupation here and the farmers can’t afford to raise animals. This is one of the minuses from joining the EU. She also told the story of Danes coming in and buying farms in the south, subsidized by Denmark, because they have run out of land in their own country.

We finally made it to our hotel a little before 5pm, but it takes quite a while to get so many people off the bus and settled in the right rooms with their luggage. Dinner was supposed to be at the hotel but was moved to another hotel because the dining room here is under renovation…a surprise for our tour company late last week.

It’s nice to be back in Vienna and it felt quite comfortable walking the streets again tonight. Tomorrow we have most of the day on our own as George and I have already done a tour of Vienna. We’ll be visiting some of the other museums that we didn’t quite finish last week. It’s also a long day…we’ll be on the road until 11pm as our concert is at a monastery about 2 hours from here.

Yep, that was one long day! After 12+ hours on the go one can be forgiven if sleep is more important than the blog. It’s now 2:40 am and sleep seems to have evaded me for a while until the pain pill kicks in so here we go.

Our day began with a guided tour of the city. Budapest is actually two distinct cities divided in half by the Danube River. Pest is very flat and mostly commercial while Buda is very hilly and is mostly residential. Along the river there are some very spectacular buildings including the Parliament buildings on the Pest side and the Palace, St. Matthias Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion on the Buda side. Our first stop was at Heroes’ Square – the largest and most impressive square in the city. Originally built in 1896 and rebuilt after WWII, it celebrates the thousandth anniversary of the Magyar conquest of Hungary. Behind the square is a large city park that houses a zoo, an amusement park and one of several natural spas in the city. We then stopped at the beautiful St. Stephens Basilica, a neo-classical building that is the third largest in Hungary. We will return there later to sing. A brief drive across the chain bridge – one of eight automobile/pedestrian bridges connecting the two halves of the city – took us to Fisherman’s Bastion – a neo-gothic castle structure just in front of St. Matthias church. From there you get a panoramic view of the Pest side of the city. The church was the first parish church in Buda and has a number of different architectural styles associated with it since it has been rebuilt many times. The most interesting feature for me was all the frescoes on the walls. One last stop at the Citadel gave yet another panoramic view of the city along the Danube.

We returned to the Pest side for a few hours of free time. The bus dropped us off close to the Great Market Hall and Vaci Street – both very popular tourist stops. The Market Hall is a large three storey structure which has serves as a market since the late 1800s. It not only includes vendors selling fresh produce and meat but also includes vendors selling typical Hungarian products popular with the tourists and a number of stalls selling Hungarian food. Unfortunately it was very crowded and there was limited seating so we decided to look elsewhere for lunch. Vaci Street is our Yonge Street turned into a pedestrian mall. It is dotted with outdoor cafés, souvenir shops and other businesses. We found a nice, shady spot at one of the outdoor cafés and enjoyed a rest and a tasty lunch. A stroll down the street was somewhat like running the gauntlet with restraunteurs seeking your business and all kinds of others hocking their wares. We had a private unrequested concert by a gypsy with a very out-of-tune violin and were propositioned to purchase an iPhone in its original case. We were somewhat glad to get back on the bus!

Back we went to St. Stephens Basilica to change, quickly warm up and then sing three pieces during the 6pm mass. The acoustics were remarkable and the reverberation lasted for a number of seconds – meaning we had to watch the conductor and not listen to the sound since we were singing a cappella.

The bus then dropped us off down by the river so we could enjoy dinner at one of the waterfront cafés. During dinner the sun began to set and one by one the buildings along the river were lit up. It really is a beautiful city at night. After dinner we walked the promenade and found many of our Canadian friends at the ice cream cart! A nice treat to end a rather hectic but enjoyable day.

If Vienna is a city of music, then today was our day to experience the music of Vienna. We began with a trip to Haus Der Musik- actually just across the street from our hotel. Think science centre meets music and you’ll have a good idea of what it was like. We began on the third floor, which paid tribute to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Strauss, Mahler and other lesser known composers who lived and worked in Vienna. There were a number of fun activities including composing a piece using your name and directing the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. An audio guide provided a detailed description of the life and work of each of the composers. The second floor was all about sound – how we first begin to hear sound in the womb right through to how sound can be manipulated. One could even make their own CD by choosing and manipulating various sounds to make music. The museum is a wonderful setting for children to explore and learn about music – one I’m sure is well used by school groups.

After a quick lunch we headed off to Schonbrunn Palace to see The Magic Flute at the Marionettentheater. As you might guess this was presented by marionettes. What a great way to spend an afternoon! Each puppet is about 2 feet high and has anywhere from 8 to 16 strings. Because the stage is small, it produces an optical illusion making the puppets appear life-sized. The music and dialogue was all pre-taped and was of excellent quality. Afterwards we were invited backstage to see the puppets and find out a little more about how the theatre works behind the scenes. Even though it’s in German, I encourage you to watch the video on their website. It describes how they make and manipulate the puppets http://www.Marionettentheater.at.

Dinner tonight was at the Cafe Centrale at the recommendation of the front desk. The building has an old world charm and lays claim to the place where Leon Trotsky came to play chess while he lived in Vienna. In fact they had a likeness of Trotsky (made of styrofoam) sitting by the front door. Imagine our surprise when Mr Trotsky met with an accident and lost a foot, while we were eating dinner! In true Viennese fashion the cake counter takes up the centre portion of the cafe…they do like their sweets. During dinner, a pianist played an eclectic selection of pieces including show tunes, folk songs, movie themes and jazz. We had to stay for dessert because we were enjoying the music.

Tonight we’re watching the soccer game (with German commentary) and preparing for a train trip back to Budapest tomorrow morning. We’ll only be able to watch half the game tonight because it goes to 12:30 which makes for a very late night. We’ve really enjoyed Vienna and I expect that we’ll be back to spend more time here. There is so much to do.

Wow, no garbage trucks or cafés setting up on Saturday meant a nice quiet morning that didn’t start until after 9am. Our travels today started with a walk over to a quilt shop which unfortunately closed some time ago. Makes one wish that websites would self destruct when businesses close. That’s not the first time we’ve gone looking for something based on a website only to find out it no longer exists. Next stop was a bank machine and then off to the main event of the day – Belvedere Palace.

Belvedere was originally built as a summer home for Prince Eugene of Savoy and is constructed as two palaces linked by a formal garden. It now serves as an art gallery and is currently running a special showing of the work of Gustavo Klimt. After touring an exhibition of Russian paintings in the lower palace we stopped for lunch in The Menagerie. One of the problems we have discovered is that vegetables are few and far between here and generally not served with dinner. In order to compensate we’ve been having soup or salad for lunch. Today’s salad was greens with goat cheese, honey and nuts. They poured the honey over the cheese and then baked it so it had a crusty outer layer. Yummy, yummy!

The Klimt collection was probably a dozen paintings including The Kiss, likely the best known. I really enjoyed listening to the commentary on the audio guide, which helps you understand the background story of the painting and highlights certain special features. Other than finding out about each of the rooms in the palace, some of which were spectacular, one of my favourite displays was a series of busts of the funny faces people make when they take medicine! We headed home about 4pm to have a short rest and change before dinner.

Tonight we took the subway and bus out to a suburb called Grinzing. It’s quite easy to get around on public transit. There are four subway lines and a number of streetcar lines in addition to the busses. Everything seems to be very clean and electronic signs keep you updated as to when the next train or bus will arrive. Grinzing is a cute little town that began as a result of the wine industry. Heuriger (new vintage) wine taverns used to sell their own wines, while snacks were offered for free. The snacks are no longer free but diners sit at wooden tables in a courtyard and many sample the different wines of the vintner until the wee hours of the morning. It was a lovely warm evening with just a slight breeze which made dining al fresco quite appealing. We had a nice chat with a German couple who sat next to us and then on the way home in the subway we met a fellow from North Carolina who is here teaching at a Christian school. He gave himself away when he asked “Where y’all from?”

What a beautiful day this turned out to be! Not only was it sunny and warm but our tour took us to see some beautiful scenery and we met some nice folks along the way. While we were waiting for our tour operator to pick us up outside our hotel, George got into a conversation with another hotel guest. It turns out he’s a church organist in Norway, so I think they enjoyed their conversation. The bus picked us up shortly after 9am and took us to a central location where we met the double-decker tour bus. The drive of about an hour was from Vienna to Spitz, through some lovely countryside – farming, forest and vineyards – and a number of small quaint towns. Maybe sometime we’ll come back and travel that way on our own. At Spitz we transferred to a boat for a trip up the Danube to the town of Melk.

On the boat we shared space with a couple from Australia and found we had quite a bit in common. She is very involved in their church, enjoys church music and of course, travel is always a great topic to while away the time. We shared lunch with them once we arrived at Melk, then it was off to see the beautiful Benedictine Abbey. Our tour guide at the Abbey was a young girl from a small village nearby who spoke perfect English. She did a great job telling us about the history of the baroque building, which is still a working Abbey. The church was unbelievably ornate with gold everywhere one looked. A few of us commented on how incongruous that seemed given the Benedictine focus on the community. The library was also interesting – housing some 100,000 volumes dating back to the Middle Ages.

The trip back to Vienna by bus was somewhat quieter – both of us took the opportunity to have a brief snooze. We just stopped for dinner at another one of the little cafés on our street on our way back home, as we were both tired. Tonight we spent the time catching up on email (George had lots of emails to acknowledge) and planning our last two days in Vienna.