Burtigan's Big Adventure: Vienna waits for you

June 2017

Mike has always had an appreciation for classical music and although I've only dabbled in it, I knew that the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was one of the best. We managed to get tickets a few months out, in their home-town in June.

I would describe Vienna as a grand old dame; magnificent, gorgeous and dignified. We had a hotel booked about 15 minutes walk from the centre of town which was cheap and lovely. Our first port of call was dinner and our friendly receptionist booked a table for us at one of the best schnitzel restaurants in town. It was to be the first of my wiener schnitzel experiences and I was not disappointed. In fact, I made sure to have schnitzel every day. This seemed to be a fantastic idea at the time, but it had dire consequences later!

After dinner and a round of local wine in a wine cellar we made a beeline for the Konzerthaus for the performance. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1842 and proudly owns many ancient instruments. To become a member you must first demonstrate your capability for a minimum of three years' performing for the ballet and opera. The evenings repertoire was Brahms Symphony Number 4 - one of Mike's favourites. The performance was outstanding.

The Vienna Konzerthaus

Saturday we wandered through the city with the plan to visit one of the ornate cafes for breakfast. We hit Cafe Demel to sample some Esterházy Torte. Buttercream spiced with cognac, sandwiched between five layers of almond meringue, iced with a fondant glaze and decorated with a chocolate striped pattern. Next up was Cafe Central; a popular haunt of Freud, Trotsky and even Hitler himself. We felt we were in good company. I couldn't go past the Viennese delicacy, Apple Strudel, while Mike had an egg or something equally mundane.

We couldn't visit Vienna without having a Viennese sausage - a Riesen Hot Dog. I opted for a Käsekreiner and Mike, a Currywurst.

A walking tour is our usual agenda, but on this trip Mike found a cycling tour. Vienna seems to be made for cycling. Over the next two and a half hours we visited the teeniest urban vineyard and the impressive Hundertwasserhaus apartment. I've peed in the toilet in Kawakawa :-D

Urban vineyard

Hundertwasserhaus

Vienna is a city of music, where classical music was written and performed by Mozart, Strauss and Schubert to name a few of the greats. Tickets to the famous operas often sell out months in advance and can go for 150 Euro. But, if you queue up about an hour in advance, you can buy standing tickets for 3 Euro instead! We did just that at the Operngasse, the State Opera House to see Rigaletto, an opera by Verdi.

Operngasse

The highlight of the
Opera was certainly hearing "La Done e Mobile" live, although you may be more familiar hearing it re-purposed as The Tile Depot advert back home in NZ. It wasn't entirely Mike's thing, but for 3 Euro I don't think you can go wrong. It was, of course, time for more schnitzel.

Sunday was a day for cake and we were yet to try the famous Sacher Torte. Another Viennese culinary speciality, it's a dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam on top, coated in dark chocolate icing.