Saturday, December 03, 2005

A Grand Tour Part 3 - Vienna, Austria

Vienna has always been a favourite city of ours and we first visited this fascinating city in 1980 returning in 1989. Once again, we looked forward to returning to Vienna with the extra enjoyment to catching up with Robert Clarke and his wife Ingrid. The fact that we enjoyed ourselves is surely evident in the following couple of photos. The evening out was just something special - a 6-course dinner with appropriate wines for each course chosen by our host.



With Robert's guiding encouragement, we studied Vienna differently from previous visits. Took notice of the wonderful architecture - most of it restored following World War II, soaked up the atmosphere throughout the city, including this photo taken of us enjoying refreshment at a cafe in front of the Gutenberg memorial. How good is that, particularly with our Bible Society connection!

While we did not take a ride in a fiacre. we certainly enjoyed plenty of other Vienna offerings!




The following are just a couple of pics that hardly do justice to the many wonderful and historic buildings one can find in Vienna:




While we wandered around we noted that the Jesuit Catholic Church would feature, as part of the regular worship service, one of the Haydn Masses. Having sung in several masses over the years, we could not let the opportunity pass to experience a Haydn Mass sung in the city where it was probably composed and first performed as part of a worship service. WE WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED! We got to church early to ensure a good seat and then thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. Herewith a photo (all be it a little out of line - did not wish to disturb the moment with flash photography) that shows the choir and orchestra sharing their music.





Music has always been a special part of our lives and Vienna is just the place to explore the lives of great composers. We saw, of course, many monuments to the likes of Mozart, Brahms, Bruckner etc, including the following:


There are at least another hundred or so images, but the above will give you an idea that Vienna once again provided us with much enjoyment.

NEXT: Our Tour takes us from Vienna to Bundapest in Hungary.

2 comments:

auschick said...

Going to a new or old city and getting the local's tour, is certainly worth it!

Siebrand said...

The locals know their stuff! It was just great goingn beyond the 'tourist' thing.