As I write these Vienna posts, there’s one thing that’s important to note, I retell my trip from three different perspectives. I have shown you my walkabouts previously and now this post will be filled with more culture and lifestyle in comparison. To summarise the things that are featured, here’s a short list:
– Summer-time weather at the Danube
– Classical music & Mozart
– Other aspects of classical music and music in general
– A famous cake and
– Art on the street side
A weird combination of things to put in the same post, but hope you enjoy the order of culture happenings that I have had the chance to experience on my trip.
Summer-time weather at the Danube
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Starting on the Friday of my trip, I was invited to a BBQ out on the old Danube. Given the weather, I could have kicked myself for not bringing my swimming stuff. Could have definitely used a dip in the water after dragging my luggage halfway across the streets to the new hotel that I would be staying at until Sunday. The Old Danube offers a lot of leisure activities for the public including paddle boat rentals. As I was crossing the bridge to the other side of the Old Danube, I was looking at one of these leisure centres. You can see the train lines run across the river. Imagine paddling beneath the bridge while a train passes by.
A lot of rowing activities take place along the river as it is the perfect spot, calm waters, long-stretching reaches, fairly wide channel, everything the rower could wish for. The BBQ I was invited to was at a rowing club and so you could walk up to the piers and sit by the river to enjoy the afternoon sun with a breeze.
Saw a dragon boat with a group of rowers. The last time I saw one was back in Singapore! It’s been a while since I left the country and since then I haven’t seen these things. Funny that I see them again in Europe.
Took the opportunity to soak some of the coolness of the river! Even without jumping into the river you can cool off by putting your feet in. Just takes a while to dry afterward before putting your socks and shoes back on (didn’t have sandals with me either).
By dusk I was out on the pier again after stuffing myself full of food. Saw people still rowing in the dimness.
By nightfall I headed back to my hotel, but thought it would be funny to share this station name with you. Who can pronounce it? (literally translates to worker+beach+bathe+street).
You can see that it is possible that if you live in Vienna, you can pass the summer time without leaving the city. If you want to swim in a natural water body, there are plenty of places. Certainly a plus point for the current number one most livable city in the world. Sunsets here are also beautiful.
Classical music & Mozart
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Moving on to the far more cultural aspect that Vienna is known for: music. I play the piano, I have been exposed to classical music throughout my piano career. I would definitely have to be interested in Vienna and the music part of it all. In fact, one of the biggest reasons for splitting up my Vienna posts into walkabout, cultural and water chapters was due to the large amount of music-related stuff I had. It is part of Vienna’s rich culture and seeing as I want to present it as one along with some other cultural aspects, then why not for the split.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, if you don’t know him, I suggest you quickly look him up then. An ultra-famous composer, if you mention the word classical music to someone with vague knowledge, they’ll probably think of Mozart immediately. I visited his house (his final place in Vienna before his death) on the Saturday after cooling off at the Old Danube the day before).
The place has been turned into a museum with most of the interior as preserved as possible (maybe with some renovation here and there). The only dilemma they had was the layout of the furniture, which no one can recall from any of the historical documents that Mozart left behind. You can buy a cheaper ticket if you combine your visit with the House of Music, another music-related museum, which I will cover later.
You are equipped with an audio guide and told to head to the top where the tour begins.
Like with my previous post on the Swarovski Crystal Worlds, I will not ruin the experience for you and will thus not say as much. There are heaps of exhibits in this museum, I picked out a few notable ones to provide with a glimpse of what can be expected. Old scriptures and newspaper clippings as well as concert posters are contain in the house.
Not to mention an exquisite silhouette of the famous guy himself (don’t mind the overblown size of the head).
As you walk through the house, you get to listen to the audio guide tell you about Mozart’s life, his ambitions, his experiences, successes, challenges, failures and many other things. Each room has a separate program to listen to and you can take your time studying the exhibits while listening to the history. The audio guide is available in a large number of different languages.
Figaro, a very famous opera, there are three in particular that you’d remember from Mozart, can you guess which three?
Fashion sense?
For those who can actually read music, you’ll appreciate this and many others in the house.
An I also stumbled upon my favourite instrument 
A very interesting piece of Mozart’s belongings, a clock equipped with a flute that plays music – very innovative for that time period I must say.
What is also interesting to read are the quotes by the man himself presented in each room.
Once I finished, I found myself in a little gift shop where I was tempted by the huge selection of Mozart-related merchandise. I however held back and kept my wallet safe and headed down to the entrance, where the Figaro Cafe awaited me. Time for a coffee!
With your ticket, you can get a discount on coffee and cake at the Figaro cafe. Short snack before heading off to the next attraction. This short snack was quite filling too. Lucky!
You’ll find a lot of these around Vienna and even at the airport. This one named “Mostly Mozart” I found quite amusing!
A famous confectionery in Austria are “Mozart Kugeln” (translated Mozart Balls), chocolate with a pistachio and marzipan filling. It was created in Salzburg and named after the famous composer. Other confectionery that seem to also be related to Mozart can be purchased everywhere. This stand at the airport is just one example.
Other aspects of classical music and music in general
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My ticket to Mozart’s house also gave me admission to the house of music, which is certainly a must see for any musician when in Vienna. The house has several floors with different exhibits on each.
It is quite close to the town centre, just a short walk left turn into an alley. This is actually the side entrance, the front being along the main road (which you would not see if you’re coming from the all-pedestrian town centre zone).
The museum of the Vienna Philharmonic, probably the most famous orchestra is one of the first things you’ll see.
The place features a historical summary of the orchestra’s achievement…
The conductors of the orchestra…
…and even a dice rolling game that lets you create your own Vienna Waltz.
The Sonosphere boasts an exhibition of many devices that let you explore the sense of hearing (hence the name “Sonosphere”). This is quite an educative experience for those that do not know much about sound.
I, myself learnt a lot of new fascinating things, both sound and music related. My hearing is also still good, I’m not growing old yet
Some weird-looking exhibits too. You need to go up close to listen to the sound effects in each one of these.
Moving on from the Sonosphere, the composers’ floor, where many famous composers are given their own rooms. Mozart once again is also given his own space. People like Haydn, Beethoven and other 20th Century composers as well are presented in a series of chambers that you walk through.
Beethoven’s huge portrait…
The highlight of this floor is of course at the end, which is the interactive game that lets you conduct the Vienna Philharmonic.
Select from six possible works and the actual conductor will appear and give you hints. After that you’re on your own. Make sure you swing the baton around like a real conductor (or like playing with a Nintendo Wii) or else the orchestra won’t respond. I heard from someone that they will actually start complaining if you can’t keep in rhythm, but it didn’t happen to me.
As you go higher, you are exposed to surreal things that are related to sound as well. More interactivity awaits you as well. Saw Animusic playing on one of the floors, if you don’t know Animusic, then you have been deprived, have a watch! Two examples from a collection of many 3D animations of instruments playing by themselves. Many years back, it inspired me to go into 3D animation and music production, sadly I never continued pursuing it. I may still go back to learning it if I find free time some day!
Animusic – Stick Figures
Animusic – Pipe Dream
If you’re interested in seeing more of this, there are two DVDs available for purchase at Amazon.com
3D enthusiasts, I recommend you definitely have a look.
Once you’ve reached the top, you’ll get to a shop where you can go nuts buying music-related stuff: CDs, shirts, stationary, posters and many other things. But eventually you’ll reach an elevator that will bring you back to the bottom. Pretty nice layout for a museum I must say. At least the shop keeper will have a view to look out on every day and not get too bored.
For those you want to know what the main entrance looks like, here it is… gives you a better idea of how big the building actually is…
Shortly after, still being full from the cake at Figaro cafe, I stopped by a cafe in the city centre to have Goulash soup with “Semmel” (a kind of bread roll commonly baked in Europe).
A famous cake
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On my final day in Vienna I managed to still eat a Sacher Torte If you ask me what that is, I will answer, it’s a cake. A delicious looking cake, two layers of sponge cake separated by a thin layer of apricot jam and a chocolate lining all around: EXCLUSIVELY MADE IN AUSTRIA and shipped around the world (although many places are attempting to replicate it). I decided to try the original at Hotel Sacher in Vienna.
The hotel has a cafe just next door for tourists to visit and locals to relax at. They are serious about the word ‘original’
Went in, sat down and ordered a slice of Sacher Torte with a cafe latte.
One word: delicious
Goes well with the cream! You’ll also notice the little chocolate badge attached to the cake certifying its originality.
The cafe also has a shop, where you can buy the cake nicely gift wrapped for friends. Wonder how Australia would handle me bringing that through customs. Probably not a good idea
The hotel itself looks pretty massive too. If you wish to visit the place, it is just opposite the state opera, which you can read about in my previous walkabout post.
If you forget to buy some cake in town, there’s also the option to get it at the airport before your flight.
They also provide a guide on identifying the original Sacher Torte so you don’t get cheated by fakes!
Art on the street side
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Just a last note that I wanted to share. THere are a lot of street performers and artists around Vienna, but I was particularly interested in the air brush art that you see around the world. Saw this artist demonstrating her abilities on my way back to the subway station.
It looks so easy to do, but I’m sure that it must take a lot of experience. Especially when starting a piece, you’re asking yourself the whole time what will result from some hand movements and spraying of different colours across the page. I guess there’s has to be technique that comes with experience.
Compared to previous air brush works I have seen, these pieces in particular were astounding because of the intricate detail in the fantasy characters that were drawn in the pictures. Normally you’d see cosmic, fantasy landscapes in many pictures (certainly the majority of what I have seen in the past), but this artist added the additional uniqueness of “strange and complex beings” in her art.
To finish off, my last meal in Vienna was a snack at the sausage bar (was full from the Sacher Torte). It was a good Curry Sausage and my first one in Europe. I miss Curry Sausage, though it is not really curry, but simply a curry-like sauce like mustard and curry powder sprinkled across a Bratwurst, the taste is great.
That concludes my Cultural chapter, which is a more segmented post than what I normally write. Let me know what you thought of me breaking up the sections. The final Vienna post is the water chapter where I’ll give you a bit of my experience as a water engineer and my exploration of Vienna’s water infrastructure and water-related aspects.
Read more about my Vienna trip in this series of posts:
0) Off to Vienna for the rest of the week…
0) Vienna in June – A precursor…
1) Vienna in June – Walkabout Chapter Part 1
2) Vienna in June – Walkabout Chapter Part 2
3) Vienna in June – Culture Chapter
4) Vienna in June – Water Chapter
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