Vienna (finally)

I haven't written about my trip to Vienna over the winter holidays yet. It wasn't intentional, it just happened that way.

Vienna was wonderful. Another grand European city, complete with the necessary components that each European city must have:
1. A castle
2. A big church
3. A pedestrian street
4. A market
5. An open square
6. A LOT of museums

We visited Schonbrun castle, which was a knock-off of Versailles. Having been to the original, needless to say, I wasn't too impressed. I feel in my time in Europe, I've seen enough castles, that, well, quite frankly, they're getting a little boring. You would have thought that someone who loves sparkly and ornate things (along with "dream homes" - I used to love going to the Home Show and wish I had the perfectly decorated mansion) would love the glitz and glam of castles, but they just don't do anything for me.
Our hotel was really close to both the cathedral and the pedestrian street. I really love the hustle and bustle of big cities, and since we visited Vienna during the holidays, the streets were PACKED. I got that great feeling of being anonymous, walking down Yonge/Bloor Sts. I just feel FABulous strutting down the street knowing full well that no one cares about/is looking at me. I wouldn't change a thing.
Who knew? Vienna has some great shopping. And dare I say that people in Vienna were better dressed than in Milan?!? Perhaps too bold of a statement, but there were some really posh looking people. Fur coats were in full effect. Stilettos and uberchicness too.
We didn't visit any museums (except for the castle) during the trip. It wasn't a way that I wanted to spend my holiday. I didn't mind walking around and looking at the architecture and impressiveness of all of the buildings/structures/monuments/statues, but I wasn't prepared to read too much about them, or do the "educational" thing. I like when people tell me stories (so tours are okay), but my disliking of reading is too strong.

When we were there, we noticed a lot of pig figurines, candies and toys. We couldn't figure out why...I was pretty sure that the pig wasn't the symbol of Vienna, but we found it odd that they were EVERYWHERE. A previous post explains that they symbolize good luck, and the abundance of them made sense because we were there around New Year's.

Being the ultimate tourist (I think it's more the musician in me), I wanted to find the Danube and go to a concert. I have many snaps of me trying to touch the famed river, and we paid big bucks to listen to a bunch of Strauss, Lehar, etc. I was actually impressed at the programme, because it only had 2 overplayed pieces. Soon I understood. I think there were more encores than pieces in the programme itself, but at least it made for a super fun concert. It really wouldn't have been complete without the most famous pieces. It was kinda fun because the conductor sometimes played along with the orchestra on his violin. It was a bit Andre Rieu-ish, but definitely not as tacky. It helped that the musicians weren't dressed in period clothing, although instead of wearing all black like most orchestras that I've seen, there were some pretty ornate evening gowns. Oh, the concert hall was amazing.

Funny thing about my time in Vienna. In German, Vienna is Wien, so it was "Wiener" this, "Wiener" that. I kept getting really confused when I read signs. I could help but think of sausages, hot dogs, or frankfurters. You know, like, what's a wiener symphony? A wiener tour? They take you around and show you different types of wieners? Surely you understand my confusion.

Vienna is also on my list of cities to return to. There a couple things that I'd like to do/see that I didn't get to do/see this time, but no biggie, it's just an overnight train/short plane ride away!