Vienna Day 4

It's Sunday today so lots of things are closed. We decided this would be the best time to organize for our train tickets to Prague for tomorrow. We took the underground out to the main train station and purchased the tickets. Good to do it that way so we can access the cheaper time of day tickets. We wanted to go on the 11:30 train but by waiting until the 1:10 train we will save 20€ each. So that is what we will do. We came back into town and got off at Stephansplatz and went for coffee at another one of the old classic coffee cafes. I thought it would be good to work on the journal and just watch the people but it was packed and when we came out there was a line up to get in for lunch.  We did not have any cake so can't confirm that is the reason it is popular. 

The old buildings are so interesting in this area of town. Many buildings were damaged at the end of the war in 1945, because Churchill thought the Vienna towns folk were turning a blind eye to what the Gestapo were doing and he wanted to wake them up. 

We decided to spend the afternoon at the Haus der Musik, museum of music. But first it was time for lunch!  We hadn't yet had a street wiener. There are booths all around  town, so we picked one that had a lineup. 

We didn't know the names of any of the wieners except the white ones. So I just pointed and got a bratwurst in a bun. The buns are huge and the guy pushes it down on a metal peg to make a hole in the middle, then shoots mustard and ketchup into the hole before dumping the wiener into it. We shared one cause they were so big. Another Vienna tradition - check!

 

The music museum was next. Just going up to the first floor is fun as the stairs are a keyboard, black and white keys and you play a tune as you walk up. We watched a little guy running up and down the stairs having a great time just before Wendy walked up.

This museum has many interactive exhibits as well as focusing on various composers associated with Vienna. One floor was devoted to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.  Musicians must play for at least 3 years in this orchestra before they can apply to be in the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. 

Another floor was devoted to sound and how we perceive it. It started with a prenatal listening room - what can be heard from within the womb. It went on to explore how the ear works, and how our brains  hear and decipher different sounds. Another floor dealt with great composers like Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Strauss.  The final floor gave visitors the opportunity to make their own music, some through their own body movements. The grand finale was an opportunity to take the baton and conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in the Radezky March. The kids were having great fun with this one. If you keep an even beat - or even close - the orchestra members stand and applaud you at the end. But if you are irregular in your directing, then the orchestra slows down or speeds up as they follow your baton. They may throw down their instruments at the end instead of applauding. 

I watched one young man barely scape through the exercise. You can see he has a baton (likely electronic), the score is visible on a stand in front of him, and the orchestra is on the big screen. He WAS successful!!

After this we needed a gelato to help us to carry on!  Then home to put our feet up for a bit before dinner at a nearby Gasthof - spare ribs with roast potatoes. Washed down with Austrian red Zweigelt. So good we didn't even need dessert!!