FUN-travel: Vienna, Austria – Full Day 1
September 30, 2013 by Susan Clarke
Day 11 – Thursday, September 26 – Vienna, Austria – Full Day 1 – cloudy, sporadic light rain & wind – low 60’s
What I LIKE
- 8:00 – my love brings me a really hot starbucks venti
Opera House Ceiling
- nice chill out day – no hurry
- 11:30 – shower & get ready
- 12:00 – explore & eat
- today is Indian – found on TA (trip advisor)
- boycotting Hop On Hop Off bus
- Vienna easy to walk
- 12:45 – lunch @ Indien Village – great service! – tarkal dal & chicken vindaloo w/rice & garlic nan – 2 pints = $61.00 US
- *2:00 – ready to explore some more
- rain actually very light @ this point
- 2:30 – end up @ Opera house – by chance tour starts @ 3:00
Opera House FUN-facts:
- season is 10 months
- only closed 4 days during then
- 22 carat gold leaf décor adorns building along with marble allegorical statuary, breathtaking tapestries, stunning ceiling paintings and astounding wall ornamentation
- crystal chandelier in auditorium overwhelming – weighs 12 tons, is 7 meters in diameter, has 1200 bulbs & crystals weigh 3000 kilos (over 3 tons)
- has 1,709 seats plus 567 spaces for standing room
- standing room seats sold day of for 3 to 5 Euros ea
- boxes for Viennese ball are $18,000 Euros ea
- bombed during WWII – only 3 rooms still original
- has 180,000 costumes
- 4:00 – back to hotel (really close) for room R & R & Happy Hour
- open bottle of “Unplugged” got @ Spar grocery store
- dinner – eat leftovers from lunch
- **8:40 – Chris heads back to Spar for snack for me
- gets take away salami pizza instead from tram vendor @ corner– VG only $2.80!
ILI (I’m Loving It) – The Ring is truly ***** hotel, turndown service w/wonderful dark chocolate (& they say Belgium is the best) king size bed, Nespresso coffee machine, water, wine glasses, robes all included @ no extra charge!
What I DON’T LIKE
- 5:45 – wake up
- *it’s raining & didn’t bring my raincoat
- **Spar closes @ 8
FUN-fact – The Vienna State Opera opened in 1869 with a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.