Vienna is the capital of Austria and home to 1.7 million people. Known for its architecture, St. Stephen’s Cathedral is probably the most well known building in Vienna. This cathedral is where Mozart and Haydn were married.
Beethoven was an admirer of Mozart’s music so came to Vienna to meet Amadeus. Composers came here because the Imperials paid them to write their music. Among them: Schubert, Strauss, Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart. An interesting fact about Schubert is that he never owned a piano here in Vienna. Instead, he always used friends’ pianos. Probably owing to the fact that he had 14 kids; unfortunately, only 5 survived.
Another interesting fact is that in the 19th Century ladies would walk down the main streets of Vienna to let others know they did not need to work. Our tour guide said that today, too, it is very important for ladies to “show off” in Vienna. The ladies are very stylish here, some looking very chic.
Today we went to the market and saw their lovely meats, cheeses and fruits and vegetables. We had lamb kebobs for lunch—huge sandwiches and delicious. We wanted to sit down to eat and had to pay another Euro to do that. To finish off the meal, we had a big date stuffed with walnut. It was so good!
After 6 ½ miles of walking in Vienna (we had the pedometer), we got on a bus to go back to the ship to get ready for our concert. The concert was at the Palais Auersperg where a string sextet accompanied by piano played Mozart and Strauss. It included singing and ballet, but the most interesting thing was that the 1st violinist, or director, played a 1726 Stratavarius.
What a beautiful way to end a day in Vienna.
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