Hotel Am Konzerthaus, The Vienna International Airport….

Sleeping at Vienna international airport!!!
Ok this is not a hotel but I must blog about the night we stayed overnight at the airport to save cost (and a had to catch like a 6am flight)!!! We didn't come really prepared – no sleeping bag / thick jackets as some of the other seasoned airport sleepers that we see around us. To be honest, I am quite surprised at the number of people that actually sleep in airports!! And there are no comfortable chairs / couches in this airport too…we had to sleep on the chairs in a cafe. Well, an interesting experience all the same.

Hotel Am Konzerthaus
I believe we were upgraded to a prime room in this hotel because of the exhorbetant rate we paid for it as it was a last minute, public holiday booking…but Hao Ran didn't think we paid THAT much… hehehe. The room was just awesome…its not a room…it's almost like a L-shaped, little luxury apartment…with tall pillars in the middle of the room.  There were 2 sets of tables and chairs in the room – a dining table, and a coffee table. And when we first arrived, there's a note welcoming us to the hotel and a chocolate bunny left for us.What a treat!!

Highlights in Vienna

A visit to Schonbrunn Palace

To be honest, the place itself did not leave too much of an impression on me (I guess after visiting so many other european palaces…they are all rather similar to each other.  However, what caught my attention is the story of Princess Sisi who lived here in the palace, and who is also known as Empress Elisabeth of Austria

Here is a brief account of Princess SiSi's story!

 

Watching horses dance ballet at the Spanische Hofreitschule (Horses)

Stumbled upon this place on one of our strolls around the city and we saw a LONG LINE of people queue-ing for something. The Singaporean mentality in us causes us to enquire what are they queue-ing up for, and to purchase tickets for the show. We got standing tickets (for a tiny fraction of the price of a seating ticket)…which means we had to stand for the entire 3 hour show… but its all worth it cause in fact, we got better views too! Attached some photos of the horses dancing ballet and parade-ing …amazing how smart animals can be! 

A classical music orchestra and ballet (Schonbrunn Konzerte)

We did this as it is one of the 'must dos' in Vienna - ~according to the locals who are trying to sell us the tickets'. Hehehe…Well, I guess its good that we get the experience of it…..although knowing me, I would prefer a musical with lyrics over music without singing anytime. J

We were kinda sceptical that this is one of those shows put up 'to cheat tourist' in some dodgy dingy school hall or something, but am quite surprised at the turn out of the crowd. Many from the local crowd are local people, and came nicely dressed, and the hall is apparently a hall  that the famous Mozart once played in!!

A day at the Museums with friends

In Vienna, we visited a couple of museums with friends from Sg - TK, HR and a couple of their friends. I would say that this is just one more museum….with the usual section on statues, paintings, history…however with a section on historical musical instruments that we haven't seen much of in previous museums.

Kunst Historisches Museum (KHM)

Neau Berg

                                

We also walked around the city and the parliment house (more nice buildings) …and had Viennese food, of course.

City of Vienna

A last minute decision to join some friends from Singapore to Vienna over the Easter weekend. Vienna – the world's capital of classical music. Because it was so last minute, our trip ended up costing heaps – the air ticket, hotels, etc.

They say there are 3 things you need to do to at Vienna....of which two are stated below (as I forgot one)...

1) Go to an opera for classical music

2) Have Viennese traditional food – (something similar to chicken parma)

I think we did all, although I cant be sure as I don’t remember what number 3. is!!

We were pleasantly surprised at how clean and neat the city is. Yes, its much more pleasant then even Paris – more spacious, calm and neat. There are no crowds on the street (although I do not know if that's because of the Easter long weekend). A casual stroll around the city is a real joy - beautiful gardens, a nice big fountain, carriages drawn by horses, street performers….and of coure the many cute little Viennese cafes along the streets. We had the famous Viennese cake ( famous for what, I don’t know) but came highly recommended by Hao Ran.

 

We couldn't get tickets into one of the most famous theatre in the city, but stumbled upon this crowd of people watching the opera for free outside ( a outdoor big screen TV projecting the show as its happening inside the theatre)  – Saved us a few hundred euros J