An Operatic Ending in Vienna

I decided to end my trip in Vienna for several reasons: I wanted to make the pilgrimage to this classical music capital, see the beautiful Hapsburg architecture, and it was a convenient major airport on my northward arc through Croatia and Slovenia. However, by the time I made it to the city, I was very worn down from my northward travels and not yet ready for siteseeing! So I started with some R&R.

The first three nights, I got a good deal on a private apartment with a mini kitchen, so I made a grocery run and found comfort in cooking my own meals. Walking into a new grocery store in a foreign country, I felt tunnel vision occurring in response to the sensory overload. However, after an initial walkthrough of the store to get the lay of the land, and using Google Translate to "read" the German labels, I was able to find everything on my list. The only snag was an unlabelled apple that wouldn’t scan at the checkout. After I sheepishly indicated that I didn't know any German, the cashier used some basic English questions to deduce the type of apple, and charged me accordingly. Back at the room, I camped out for the day. While the light moved across the room, I caught up on journaling and enjoyed a homemade Caesar salad and pasta pomodoro with some mini bottles of Austrian wine and a chocolate cake.

The next afternoon, I was finally ready to see the city. I took the reliable metro to the edge of the Belvedere Palace, a sprawling complex that houses multiple museums and gardens and was the residence of Prince Eugene. I visited the Upper Belvedere since I was interested in seeing The Kiss, a famous painting by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. The painting itself was quite elegant in person, as the gilded patterns reflected the light differently from each vantage point. Although I walked it backwards, the gallery also showed the progression of Klimt’s work from traditional portraits to more surreal and seductive ones. Of course, there were other impressive works too, including a giant Napoleon portrait and a Monet. The galleries and majestic painted ceilings of the palace itself were also part of the attraction.

Leaving the museum, I walked through the city and took in the architecture. Many facades had large columns with statues of men appearing the hold up the weight of the building, like Atlas holding the world on his back. I found my way to the Staatsoper, the State Opera House, which was the starting point for a free audio tour from Rick Steves. The walking route connected 3 iconic landmarks - the Staatsoper, St. Stephen's church, and the Hofburg Palace. While listening to Rick Steves’ upbeat narration, I entered and exited the flow of traffic along several pedestrian shopping streets. Afterwards, I stuck my head in the Julius Meinl, a well regarded deli with all sorts of coffee and treats, and Demel, a famous chocolate store. I was running a bit tight on time, and only had time for a brief stroll through the Hofburg, but on another trip, it would be fun to see an equestrian performance from the Spanish Riding School.

In the evening, I attended a show at the Staatsoper, a Richard Strauss opera called Die Frau ohne Schatten ("the Woman without a Shadow"). Most of the normal seats had been sold well in advance, but the standing room tickets opened at 10am on the same day, so I was able to snag a last minute spot. The standing room section had plenty of velvet covered rails for people to lean on; my assigned place was actually at the very back so I could lean on the wall.  A screen with English translation was a big help. It appeared that everyone else around me was content with the German supertitles. Apart one couple who weren’t as engaged, everyone in the standing room area stayed for the whole duration: 4.5 hours, including the two intermissions. The opera told the story of a divine being (“The Empress”) who needed to procure a shadow to break a curse, so her Nurse intervened in the life of a mortal Dyer’s Wife, goading her to sell her shadow to escape a rocky marriage. The Empress later has regrets and abandons the quest, taking pity on the mortals. The full orchestra brought to life the intense and angsty score, with a flute motif imitating the shriek of a falcon, an invisible character taunting the protagonists. Enormous set pieces elevated the drama, including stepped rock formations that evoked the Giant’s Causeway. It was a fine production, but the experience of attending the event was just as memorable. The decorated staircases, the well-dressed patrons, the night views from the terrace, and the flurry at the coat check after the show.

The rest of the trip, I stayed with a local host named Franziska through the Servas exchange program. I found her in the Servas directory, reached out requesting a stay, and was pleasantly surprised when she agreed. It was my first Servas stay, and I really wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully it was an excellent fit! She was a bubbly retired teacher, part English and part German, who spent much of her adult life in Vienna. We talked about our backgrounds over a cup of tea, and then improvised a pasta lunch. She was enthusiastic about the architecture and history of the city, and offered to show me a nearby housing project called the Karl Marx Hof that was built during Vienna's socialist experiment in the 1920s and 1930s. It was an enormous complex, spanning 1km in length, a light shade of pink and with large arches and courtyards - very Soviet. As we walked, Franziska jumped from one detail to another, stopping to point out plaques and statues, genuinely joyful at each little discovery, but at times a bit unaware. At one point, she was so absorbed in a plaque that she was oblivious of an elderly man lying on the ground just feet away, who was being comforted by strangers after an apparent fall. While walking past some community gardens, she spotted a yard sale and wanted to buy some kitchen towels only to realize she had forgotten her wallet. When we returned to the apartment for the wallet, she accidentally left her phone behind.

Franziska's tour continued, this time going into the center of town. We took a street car along the Ringstrasse (“Ring Street”) that circumscribes the town center, a great way to admire the building facades. She took me to a section of the old walls that used to form the perimeter, before they were torn down to create the modern street. We headed for a famous auction house that had a beautiful interior, and a personal connection - she had bought a painting there after her divorce. We ducked into another passageway off the main road, revealing a charming shopping mall with elegant glass display cases. We parted ways near St. Stephen’s church, as she was heading to the Danube for a rowing club workout, though I don't think she made it there in time.

On my own, I walked along a higher end shopping street called Mariahilfer, taking a peek in cozy Christmas themed stores and buying a few truffles. After an unsuccessful attempt to get tickets to a musical, I decided to take a chance and headed directly to the Volksoper for a performance of Mozart's the Magic Flute. It was an unpleasant subway ride, with several seedy characters around me arguing, vaping, and crowding me. Thankfully, my gamble paid off - the opera still had tickets, and I practically had an entire row to myself.

The Volksoper was a drastically different experience from the Staatsoper. It was a smaller venue with a smaller orchestra, slightly less elegant but also less stuffy, with more families and casual opera-goers. The production itself was phenomenal. Amazing vocal performances, especially by the protagonist Prince Tamino, vengeful Queen, and the comedic Papageno. The set design was fantastic, featuring a giant rotating stage with balconies and trapdoors. The costume design was excellent, with a modern but lavish aesthetic, where fez-wearing robed scholars rubbed shoulders with machine-gun toting guards in dog masks. But the real highlight was the puppetry. A full cast of puppeteers shared the stage with the actors, bringing to life a giant snake attacking Tamino, a flock of playful puffins tormenting Papageno, a menagerie of woodland creatures, miniature humans with the most lifelike gestures, and the eponymous Magic Flute which buzzed through the air like a mischievous dragonfly. It was one of the most unique theater productions I've seen, rivaling anything at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in terms of its original take on a classic work.

After the show, I sought out a quiet cafe for a slice of cake and an espresso while starting to write my speech for Isaku's wedding. I returned to Franziska's place right as she was wrapping up a Zoom game night with some of her friends in the UK, who I got to meet briefly. The room where I stayed was very comfortable with bookshelves lining the walls.

After a light breakfast and a long conversation, I headed back into town to explore on my own. I got a delicious goulash with dumplings for lunch at a traditional Austrian restaurant that was recommended by the chatty German I met in Split. Not far away was the Military Museum, which had an impressive Arabian-inspired facade, a marvellous hall of statues, and a detailed gallery on World War I. The gallery started with the actual car and uniform worn by the Archduke Franz Ferdinand when he was assassinated in Sarajevo. For each year of the war, there was a signboard showing the changes in the battlefronts and a timeline of key events. Artifacts ranged from entire planes and cannons to instruction booklets written in a dozen languages, showcasing the diverse cultures within the Austrian-Hungarian army. The refresher on WWI history felt especially relevant with tensions in Israel-Gaza threatening to start another regional conflict in the aftermath of a flagrant act of aggression.

I met up with Franziska at a friendly music-oriented cafe in a different part of town that she highly recommended. They had two performance spaces and host regular jam sessions, a community hub that happens to have drinks. The music we caught that evening was a jazz quartet, including a guitarist, a soprano sax, a double bass, and a singer. The whole performance was in German, but from the lead singer's delivery and the audience's reaction, it was evident she was extremely funny. Franziska translated a few bits and pieces to help me follow along, while I sipped a cafe melange - the typical coffee order in Vienna, similar to a latte. After the performance, we embarked on another walking tour, sticking our heads in churches, alleys, and a historic underground bar that Franziska had frequented as a young adult.

For dinner, we visited a classic Austrian restaurant known for its good service. For my drink, I tried a beer called G'mischtes, a mix of light beer and dark beer. I never would have understood this menu item without Franziska explaining it first, but it was delicious! We split a classic Wiener Schnitzel, which I learned was specifically made with veal. We had a wide-ranging conversation that strayed into some more personal and controversial topics, but was totally open-minded and respectful. Overall, the extended time together was a pleasant surprise for both of us. She had assumed I would want to explore the city on my own instead of hanging out with her; I didn't think she would be so interested in showing me around. It was a really special ending to the trip.

Alas, after 44 days traveling through 5 countries, I re-packed up my bags for the last time in the Europe chapter. The journey to the airport was easy to navigate and only 1 hour door to door, a nice contrast with my struggle to get to the Athens airport a few weeks earlier. The Vienna airport appeared nice at a surface level, but this impression quickly faded. The security line was pure chaos, with a mosh pit surrounding the x-ray conveyor belt, and the tiny waiting area by the gate was packed, with people tripping over people sitting on the floor. Getting onboard the plane felt spacious in contrast. One silver lining was a nice pretzel sandwich for breakfast.

My layover was in Dublin, which was a confusing labyrinth of its own, but I had a warm bowl of pad thai for lunch, and easily cleared the US Immigration and Customs. And that's not a typo - we were required to go through customs on the Ireland side, which made it easier once we arrived in the US. On the flight to Boston, it was luxurious to binge-watch "The Last of Us" after not watching any TV for 6 weeks. Being surrounded with the friendly Irish flight attendants of Aer Lingus was oddly comforting.

Vienna was a great place to end the trip, and even though I was there for 5 nights, I felt that I barely scratched the surface. Of course, having Franziska as my local guide made it especially memorable! I was a bit self-conscious about not speaking German, so when I return to Vienna, I hope it will be with some better language skills to get more out of the experience. But many of the highlights - the food, the architecture, and the music - were able to speak for themselves.