Travelogue for Vienna: At a concert in the Vienna Philharmonic
In just two days, two dreams came true. We watched Formula 1 live ( Read the travelogue about Budapest HERE ), and attended a concert at the Vienna Philharmonic Hall.
And so... after the exciting race of Formula 1 at the Hungaroring circuit, we headed back to the apartment, because the next day promised to be very long and exhausting. We planned to set off for Vienna, where we could walk around during the day, and in the evening, if we were lucky, attend a classical concert. After which we would catch the road back to Bulgaria.
We decided that now is a good time to visit this very famous city in Europe and capital of classical music in Europe. Hardly many of you know that I actually graduated from the "Dobrin Petkov" National School of Music and Dance Arts in Plovdiv with a major in flute and have an affinity for classical music. In this travelogue for Vienna you will find out why Vienna is world-famous as the Capital of Classical Music.
Vienna is located only 250 km. from Budapest as the whole road between the two cities is a highway and passes quietly for 2:30 p.m. When we entered the city, we decided to leave the car in one of the final neighborhoods and move on with the subway.
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And so... arriving in the city center, we were immediately struck not by the huge, but downright magnificent buildings everywhere. Wherever we looked, there were buildings, museums, castles that one couldn't possibly fit into a camera shot.
The sights in Vienna are truly numerous and it would take a few days to explore and get acquainted with the history and life of this city. Therefore, in this travelogue for Vienna, I will focus only on the places we managed to see, even if from the outside, during our few-hour stay in Vienna, and they are:
St. Stephen's Cathedral ( Stephansdom)
Its construction spanned several centuries, with Rudolf IV laying the foundation on the ruins of older churches in 1359. The cathedral is built of limestone and is 107 m long and 40 m wide. Originally, it was white, but over time, air pollution and the fire that ravaged the city at the end of World War II have turned the stone black. The cathedral has 23 bells, one of which is the second-largest in Europe. According to legend, Beethoven realized he was completely deaf when he saw birds flying away in fright from the roof of St. Stephen’s, but could not hear the ringing of the bells. Admission to the cathedral is free, but tours of the towers and the crypt require a fee. Website: www.stephansdom.at
In one corner of St. Stephen is one of the most popular symbols of the cathedral. This is a self-portrait carved into the stone by an unknown sculptor involved in its construction.
The Hofburg Imperial Palace
Residence of the Habsburg dynasty for over 600 years. The complex consists of many buildings in various architectural styles – from Gothic to Baroque. The complex houses the National Library, the Imperial Treasury, an ethnographic museum, collections of weapons and musical instruments. Currently, Hofburg is the residence of the President of Austria.
The lives of important historical figures unfolded here—Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi), and Maria Theresa. Marie Antoinette was born here (she later gained notoriety as the French queen who famously said, “If there’s no bread, let them eat cake”).
Vienna State Opera
Who hasn’t heard of the Vienna Opera House? World famous for its performances and its Philharmonic Orchestra. The building was completed in 1869 and opened with Mozart’s Don Juan Opera.
Vienna's Ringstrasse
The Ringstraße Boulevard in Vienna is 5.3 km long, long enough to make room for the numerous monumental buildings that were built during the historical period from 1860 to 1890. Today, the buildings stand there – from the Vienna State Opera House to the Museum of Fine Arts.
What amazed us was that in the center of Vienna, they weren’t advertising anything else—guess what? Concerts and… operas. Seriously! Everywhere we looked, we saw people selling tickets for concerts taking place that same day or the next.
The concerts were held either at the Opera House or in the Vienna Philharmonic Hall—the same hall where the so-called New Year’s Concert takes place at the beginning of each year, which is broadcast on BNT at 12:00 p.m. Bulgarian time. Now I’m beginning to understand why Vienna is known as the World Capital of Classical Music.
Meanwhile, here's what the restrooms at the metro station near the Opera looked like.
We stopped to ask one of the ticket sellers, and it turned out that he had tickets available for that same evening at a very reasonable price—19 euros per person. The concert was at the Philharmonic Hall. Just setting foot there would have meant the fulfillment of my big dream. Right before the concert, we got caught in a terrible downpour.
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At a concert at the Vienna Philharmonic in flip-flops
The organization for getting into the concert was top-notch. The venue was truly enormous, and our seats were on one of the balconies. Personally, I was a little worried that we wouldn’t be dressed appropriately for a concert, since we were wearing T-shirts, jeans, and flip-flops, but it turned out that most of the concertgoers were tourists just like us, dressed exactly the same way.
It also turned out that similar concerts are held every day, 7 days a week and that every day this hall is 100% filled with people eager for the music of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. Then tell me that classical music is dying...
After the exciting (at least for me :)) concert, we took the way back to Bulgaria. The children were already asleep at the beginning, and at some time they half the road in Serbia, and we stopped for a short sleep, and then the next morning we continued to Plovdiv.
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