Vienna: How to freeze your butt and other helpful tips!

After a short, one day stint in Salzburg I took a 2 hour drive to Vienna. What promised to be a picturesque drive turned into a bit of a strain. Battling fog, rain and Austrian speed limits(albeit I looked at them as just suggestions) made the drive one to forget rather than remember. So by the time I got to Vienna, I was bit burned out. My hotel room was in a high rise(by European standards) next to a park with a beautiful view of Vienna. I don't really care for room sizes much, but this one bordered on a size of a closet. I couldn't complain as it provided little floor space to search for my stuff in the morning.

I arrived in Vienna with several expectations. For one, I always pictured Vienna as a gorgeous cultural city with palaces and music halls. It certainly didn't disappoint in that respect. I also had preconceived notions of Vienna as this really conservative city and that assumption was just plainly incorrect. To classify Vienna just by it's palaces, museums and music halls is to miss out on the variety and dynamism that the city has to offer. Perhaps my biggest disappointment of Vienna is that I only had 2 days to spend - 2 very cold days.

After arriving in my hotel on Christmas afternoon, I quickly changed, grabbed my camera and went for a walk to try to capture Vienna. Of course prior to getting to major attractions, I stopped at a restaurant serving typical Austrian food. So I grabbed myself a schnitzel, a few local beers and headed towards the main touristy sights. So the schnitzel was a bit over-fried and the beer really wasn't anything special(of course comparing any beer to Bavarian beer is unfair), but that didn't deter my spirit. By the time I was done with my meal, the sun had begun to set, but shooting Vienna at night proved to be just as special.

This might come as a shock to you, but I had a pretty culturally rich childhood. Growing up in Odessa, my grandparents would constantly take me to ballets, operas and classical concerts at Odessa Opera House. Even moving to New York City didn't stop them from dragging me to Carnegie Hall and Metropolitan Opera. I can't say that I was a huge fan of every show I attended. I was never too fond of opera and pure classical performances didn't always impress, but ballet i've always found enjoyable. Maybe it's the fact that I've been routinely going to it since I could walk or my affection for art and dance. Whatever it is, I could still go to a good ballet and wholeheartedly enjoy it. So this brings me to Vienna, the sight of probably the worlds most famous opera house: Vienna State Opera.

As I approached the opera house and snapped a few photos, a guy walked up to me, offering tickets to Opera and Classical music performances. I told him that I wasn't interested in Opera, but would consider ballet. "Yes, there is a ballet at the Opera House tonight. It's Die Fledermaus(The Bat)". I wasn't familiar with that ballet, but the mere fact that I could see it at the famous opera house, made it a no-brainer for me. Even after grossly overpaying for tickets(about 4 times face value), I felt satisfaction that in my two days in Vienna I would get to watch a world class ballet at one the world's most famous concert halls. The ballet of course was fantastic as was the rest of my experience in Vienna. So enough with the verbiage and time for some random impressions and pictures:

-I'm not overly sensitive to cold weather, but did I mention it was bitter cold? Yes, I think I did!

-I'll miss Austrian breakfasts. Cheeses, hams, sausages, pastries, jams, etc. - my kind of deal.

-Sometimes felt like I was in St.Petersburg from all the Russian spoken on the streets - huge number of Russian tourists

-When speaking Russian to one of the tourists, I was told with a grin that I have a heavy american accent. I was tempted to poke fun of their heavy Moscow accent, but I refrained.

-Vienna has just too much to offer to be captured in 2 days. A solid 4-5 days stay would be more appropriate. Yes, it's very touristy. No, it's not quite as subtle as Munich(Not to mention the inferior beer). But it's just a great, very livable city.

Here are some photos:

Vienna Opera House

Vienna Opera House

Die Fledermaus

View from my balcony 

Monument to the liberation of Vienna by the Soviets. I'm proud to say that my grandfather, Zinoviy Vulfov, was part of a division that liberated Vienna and Prague.