Vienna State Opera House 维也纳国家歌剧院

June 22, 2022

Among all the tourist attractions in Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace was one of the must-see attractions. To avoid the peak hour as much as possible, we started early this morning and took the subway to the Palace, only to find that we forgot to bring our tickets. We bought the combined tickets when we visited the Hofburg Imperial Palace the other day, and the tickets were quite expensive, so we returned to the hotel to get our tickets. When we returned to Schönbrunn Palace, the tourist buses had come, and there were many people inside and outside of the Palace. We toured the inside of the Palace first. No photography was permitted in the Palace. There were so many rooms to see, and the audio guide was pretty helpful and informative.

Once done with the inside tour, we headed to the gardens. This royal's former summer residence was massive, with enormous royal gardens and fountains behind it. Even just walking around was exhausting and made us feel hungry. We took the first break in the gardens and shared a sausage and drink from the stall in front of the zoo. Then we continue our walk up the hill towards the magnificent Gloriette. The Gloriette was destroyed in World War II but has already been restored twice since then. It was a long walk to the Gloriette, and the beautiful Neptune Fountain was in front of the Gloriette. The Gloriette housed a café and an observation deck which provided panoramic views of the city. We had our second break at the Gloriette café. We had soup, cheesecake, and coffee. The incredible view came with a hefty price tag, and everything served at the café was expensive.

We returned to the Vienna city center in the afternoon. We always wanted to try Vienna's famous chocolate cake (Sachertorte) and Wiener Coffee. We couldn't book the seats in the original store, Sachertorte, so we tried out the cake at this top-ranked store near our apartment. The taste was nothing special, similar to what we had eaten on the river cruise ship two days ago that costed half of today's price. Some so-called famous foods were often expensive and exaggerated, and we would appreciate local street foods instead.

Today's highlight was seeing an opera play at the Vienna State Opera House tonight. But first, we went to a nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner. We had the signature duck and dried sautéed beef. Since the beginning of our trip, we found that duck and chicken dish prices were very similar in European Chinese restaurants. There were always one or two duck-related dishes on the menu, even in small Chinese restaurants. Since duck was a favorite of one of us, we ordered duck dishes whenever we dined at Chinese restaurants. Today's duck and beef were good, one of the best Chinese meals during this Europe trip.

Going to the Vienna Opera House was the culmination of this Austrian tour. We booked our tickets a few months before our trip. We had splurged a little and booked the front-row seats in the box on the first level. The space was small and crowded since it had three seats in the front row. The gentleman who shared the front row with us had his wife sit in the next box, and they could see and talk each other since they were literarily just sitting next to each other but were separated by the balcony wall. We thought that was pretty funny. Our box was not far from the stage. The sound and visual effects were excellent, and each seat had its own display for captions. We could choose the preferred language in the captions. Tonight's play was the Magic Flute by Mozart, which was Mozart's famous play we did not know about before. Mozart personally directed the premiere of the Magic Flute. The Vienna State Opera House was beautiful, and the show was terrific. We enjoyed every minute of it and checked it off our bucket list. The last time we went to Sydney during our 2020 world cruise, we saw Carmen at the Sydney Opera House. For comparison, the experience at the Vienna Opera House was better than that in Sydney for the similarly priced tickets.

欧洲游第三十三天：说起维也纳，美泉宫（Schönbrunn Palace ）是必看的景点之一。为了尽量避开高峰，今天一大早我们坐了地铁直奔那里，结果到了门口才发现忘记带门票了。前几天参观霍夫堡皇宫时买了联票。票挺贵的，所以决定回旅馆取票，等再回到美泉宫时游客的大巴都来了。这个皇家的昔日夏宫真是大，后面还有皇家花园，喷泉，连走马观花地看一下走得都累，先在动物园门前小摊上要了一根香肠垫饥，最后在凯旋门上小息一会儿，喝上一杯咖啡加奶酪蛋糕，算是把二个主要维也纳博物馆扫了一遍。下午回到旅馆附近的餐厅尝试维也纳著名的巧克力蛋糕（Sachertorte)和维也纳咖啡(Wiener Coffee), 未能在原创店订到位，只能在这家排名前列的餐厅还个愿。味道也没什么特别，比二天前在船上吃的没什么大差别。晚上去维也纳国家歌剧院看戏，先去附近的中餐馆点了招牌鸭和干煸牛，相当不错，是从来欧以来最好的一顿中餐之一。在欧洲中餐馆里，鸭和鸡价格相差不多，既使在小小中餐馆里都会有一，二个鸭相关的菜。去歌剧院看戏是这次奥地利游的高潮，几个月前我们就订好了票，选了一层楼的包厢，包厢前排有三个座位，很挤但离舞台不远，效果很好。看的是莫扎特创作的歌剧-魔笛，以前不知道莫扎特还创作不少著名的歌剧，莫扎特亲自指挥魔笛的首演。上次去悉尼时在歌剧院看了卡门，相比之下维也纳歌剧院效果比悉尼好些，性价比高一点。

Melk Abbey (梅尔克修道院）

June 21, 2022

We planned to visit Wachau Valley today and took the morning train to Melk, a small town on the Danube River. A short walk from the train station up the hill through the town’s main street was the Melk Abbey, the world's most beautiful abbey with more than a thousand years of history. The distinctive yellow-painted monastery was built on the cliff overlooking the Danube River. Converting a part of the abbey into a public high school now, it has a museum and a church and offers a guided tour in English. This place was spectacular in every aspect. The buildings and the surrounding garden were very well-maintained and beautiful. We visited the vast park first while waiting for our tour to start. The guided English tour took us through the museum, the library, and the church. The tour was informative and gave great insight into the abbey's history. Since no pictures were allowed inside, we only had pictures outside to share.

After visiting the Melk Abbey, we boarded the river cruise down to Krems, a charming medieval town located at the eastern edge of the Wachau Valley. While cruising on the Danube River, we saw many gorgeous castles and vineyards along the shores. The weather was perfect for cruising on the river. We had our lunch on the ship, and it was a relaxing and enjoyable ride. We also passed by a couple of big river cabin cruise ships. We had dreamed of taking a week-long river cruise on the Danube before this Europe trip, and today's short version river cruise could reduce our appetite for our dream Danube river cruise with just a small fraction of the cost of the big cabin river cruise.

Krems was a beautiful medieval town with many historic buildings and lots of small alleys with cobblestone streets to explore. Next to the Krems was its neighbor, another little medieval town called Stein, situated along the banks of the Danube River. This little town forms part of the Wachau Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Down to the alleys and up to the hills, we strolled from one town to another and had a great time. As we walked around and tried to find a place to eat, this lovely Spanish restaurant caught our attention, and we decided to have dinner there. We ordered Tappas, and the food was excellent.

We took the train back to Vienna. After arriving in Vienna, we decided to check out Belvedere palace. When we exited the subway station, we walked in the wrong direction and ended up at the Museum of Military History instead. When we finally got to Belvedere Palace, it was already closed. The guard at the gate was very friendly, and he let us go to the garden and took some pictures. The palace was huge and gorgeous.

欧洲游第三十二天:一早从维也纳坐火车来到多瑙河边上的一个小镇Melk(梅尔克)。小镇上有号称世界上最漂亮的修道院-Melk Abbey (梅尔克修道院）。这座已有千年历史的修道院建在小镇的山岩上，俯瞰多瑙河。跟着解说向导在里面走了一圈之后我们从梅尔克小镇坐游船沿着多瑙河来到下游的另一个小镇Krems an der Donau (克雷姆斯），沿路在河的二边能看到许多城堡，算是享受过了梦寐以求的多瑙河船游。另外我们还在小镇上吃了顿西班牙晚餐。味道很不错，也算是改善一下伙食。晚上回到维也纳后，又去了另外一个景点，可惜巳关门了，好心的门卫还是让我们进去照了几张照。感觉太阳落山后的维也纳街上游客少了许多，安静多了。

Bratislava, Slovakia 斯洛伐克

June 20, 2022

We went back to the Hofburg Imperial Palace this morning to see the other two museums, Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartment (Kaiserappartements), since we only had enough time to see the silverware collection yesterday afternoon. The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Now, it is the official residence and workplace of the president of Austria. The tour of the Sisi Museum, the Imperial Apartments, and the Silver Collection are three tourist attractions open to the public. We purchased combined tickets which covered all these three museums as well as the Schonbrunn Palace outside of Vienna. The Sisi Museum displays many personal objects contributing to the life of Sisi, Empress Elisabeth, and the famous wife of the emperor Franz Joseph, letting us know that money and status do not necessarily bring happiness. The Imperial Apartments are filled with historical fittings and furnishings. It is where Franz Joseph and Elisabeth lived and worked. The picture taking from the Imperial Apartment was not permitted.

After touring the two museums, we went to the Wiener Minoritenkirche, the beautiful 13th-century Gothic Church. The highlight of the church was the exquisite mosaic reproduction of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, commissioned by Napoleon over 200 years ago, and it was amazing.

Done with the museums and church before noon, we decided to go to Bratislava, the capital of the neighboring country of Slovakia, just over an hour by train from Vienna. It was a last-minute decision, but it was well worth the day trip. The Old Town was about 20-minutes walking distance away from Bratislava's train station. The bus station was just outside the train station, but since we didn't research local transport options, we thought it would be easy just to do the two-feet option. We walked past the Grassalkovich Palace, the presidential building, and saw the last minute of the guard changing ceremony. Once in the city center, we were eager to find a place to eat and take a break. After having a simple lunch, we strolled around the Old Town.

Bratislava had the fewest tourists compared to this morning's Vienna or any other town we have visited. We walked to the little Blue Church, one of the city's famous tourist attractions, and it was a very unique and beautiful church. From there, we walked to Bratislava Castle. The castle campus and the castle gardens were gorgeous and free. We had a mesmerizing panoramic view of the old and new Bratislava from the castle. Earlier on the way up the hill to the castle, we saw the big Chinese Restaurant across from the castle and thought we might want to have dinner there. But since we had not had authentic Slovakia food yet, we decided to try a different restaurant. On the way back to the train station, we had dinner at Bratislava Flagship Restaurant, the largest restaurant in Bratislava. We ordered the traditional Slovakian cuisine, a combo of sausage, potato, dumplings, and cheese. There were a lot of dumplings, and they were delicious. Now we understand the new meaning of dumpling dishes.

We returned to Vienna by train at night. We did more walk around the city center and went to the St. Stephen's Cathedral. The street was a lot quieter by now and we enjoyed it.

欧洲游第三十一天：今天继续看霍夫堡皇宫里的另外二个景点，Sisi Museum (茜茜博物馆)及Imperial Apartment (皇家公寓)。茜茜博物馆展示了大量的私人物件以及一个真实的皇后，让我们知道金钱和地位并不一定能带来幸福。看完二个博物馆后临时决定去邻国Slovakia (斯洛伐克)的首都Bratislava（布拉迪斯拉发）。从维也纳坐火车一个多小时就到了，去了古城，总统府，蓝色的教堂，城堡和一些景点，在回维也纳前，吃了一顿斯洛伐克的晚餐，那里的饮食还是离不开香肠，土豆，面疙瘩和奶酪。

Vienna, Austria 维也纳

June 19, 2022

Sunday morning was quiet, and almost all shops and the farmer's market were closed except for some restaurants. After breakfast, we went to see the last two tourist attractions of Graz, the Mausoleum of Ferdinand II and the Landhaus Courtyard, before boarding the train to Vienna, Austria's capital and largest city.

The train ride from Graz to Vienna was comfortable, and we had the whole cabin ourselves. Our hotel apartment in Vienna city center was in a good location, tranquil, and about a 10-minutes walk from either the train station or the famous tourist spots, and had a large bedroom, a living area, and a small kitchen with excellent conditions. The old-style elevator was cool too.

After dropping off our luggage, we went straight to the Hofburg Palace. We bought the combined ticket package, which covered multiple palaces and museums. We only had time to see their silverware collection before the museum was closed for the day. The museum closed at 4 pm, which was earlier than we expected. The exhibition was impressive, and some of them were still used in the state dinner. It was too early for dinner, so we walked around the plaza area and took many pictures of the famous tourist attractions.

Dinner was Vienna-style schnitzel, Wienerschnitzel, with vegetable salad. At this point, we had tried so many different types of schnitzels, even homemade ones, and it was the first time to have an authentic Wienerschnitzel. It was unique that the bread coating was "puffy," separating from the meat. Our one order came with two pieces of large-hand size schnitzels, one for each of us. The taste was delicious. Look like we would have many more schnitzels on this trip. After dinner, we strolled around the crowded area near the Catholic Church. We stopped by Holy Trinity Columns for the victims of the great plague.

Austria, and especially Vienna, known as one of the most stunning cities in Europe, has spectacular architecture and beautiful palaces. But we had already seen so many of those buildings since the beginning of this trip that our curiosity started fading away. Walking into the crowded Vienna city center and being surrounded by all those vast structures made us feel overwhelmed, especially since all the famous tourist spots were very busy and packed with people. We definitely missed the Swiss Alps’ peaceful nature and wanted to go back to hike on a sunny hillside or a foggy trail path.

欧洲游第三十天：星期天的早晨非常宁静，除了一些餐厅之外几乎所有的商店关门停业。一早又去看了格拉茨的最后二个景点，费迪南德二世陵墓及Landhaus Courtyard。下午坐火车来到维也纳，住在公寓式酒店，带厨房的，相当不错，离火车站和旅游热点十几分钟的路程。放下行李后就去了霍夫堡宮殿, 因为时间不够就先参观了他们的银器博物馆。晚餐又是炸猪排加蔬菜色拉。饭后去天主教堂附近转转，路上都是游客。奥地利尤其是维也纳，作为奥地利的首都，城市建筑和古老宫殿的确很漂亮，非常壮观。但看多了会产生一些审美疲劳，加上满城的游客，就真想回到瑞士阿尔卑斯山里，徒步在无论是阳光明媚的山坡或者是雾气弥漫的小路。

Graz, Austria 格拉茨

June 18, 2022

Graz is Austria's second-largest city but is not as famous as Vienna and Salzburg in the tourist industry. As such, it has a lot fewer tourists. Last night, the city square was packed with young people drinking and chatting, and the music was loud and lively. Early this morning, we woke up to see a completely different scene. The last night's noisy open-air bars transformed into a farmer's market. If last night was the energetic world of the young generation, it was a paradise for the elderly this morning. Besides the fresh vegetables and fruit, the farmer's market also had butchers, seafood shops, bakeries, coffee and breakfast shops. After buying produce, the locals would have coffee and breakfast there and chat with their neighbors. We joined the locals and bought strawberries, cherries, and smoked meats at the market and then had our coffee and bread there. We always enjoyed a quiet morning in a foreign country and observed the locals doing their routines. There was also a flea market nearby at the square where the concert was held last night.

After breakfast, we started our sightseeing tour. We purchased the 24-hour Graz tourist card and planned to sweep through several tourist attractions. We started at the city center and then headed to Eggenberg Palace on the city's outskirts. The Eggenberg Palace was a private residence of the Eggenberg family and then the Herberstein family from 1460 to 1939, not an imperial or archbishop palace. In today's terms, it was a billionaire's mansion. We had a guided tour in English. The palace was constructed relying on the calendar as a basis. The four towers of the palace symbolize the four directions east, south, west, and north. The palace had 365 windows representing the number of days of the year. The 24 halls conveyed the 24 hours of the day. There were also paintings on the ceiling symbolizing each day, seven days a week. Although Eggenberg Palace was a 17th-century building from the outside, at the core of the palace, there was a square Gothic chapel built in 1470, and large portions of the building dated back to the late middle ages to the early modern era. The palace was expanded continuedly without completely destroying the old constructions. The palace was surrounded by a large beautiful garden where peacocks walked slowly and leisurely. It was the most worth seeing of all the attractions today.

We came back to the city center area and took the Schlossberg Funicular to Schlossberg Hill. Schlossberg was one of Graz's most famous attractions. It once served as a fortress to defend the city but was largely demolished by Napoleonic forces, except for the clock tower, which had stood on the Hill for hundreds of years and was a symbol of Graz. Schlossberg Hill was large and beautiful, with many minor tourist attractions, and it was the perfect place for the city view. We walked down the hill via a set of stairs that zig-zag on the slope of the Hill.

On the way to Schlossberg Hill, we also visited Kunsthaus Graz with the collection of Modern Arts, most of which we didn't appreciate. Nevertheless, the visit let us experience the other side of Graz's culture against the characteristics of the old town. We also stopped by Franciscan Church and Hauptplatz. Another cultural structure we wanted to see was the Murinsel, designed and constructed to celebrate the honor that Graz was designated the European Capital of Culture. The Murinsel is suspended over the river by two bridge walkways. It is a beautiful dome floating on the river. There was a café inside the dome. We enjoyed some cold local beer there and views of the river.

Back at our hotel, we had our dinner in the hotel's beautiful courtyard.

欧洲游第二十九天：格拉茨虽说是奥地利第二大城市，但其旅游知名度远低于维也那和萨尔茨堡。感觉游客并不多。今天大清早发现旅馆对面从昨天晚上满满的露天酒吧变成了农贸集市，完全是一个不同的景象。如果说昨晚是年轻人的世界，今早是老年人的天堂。农贸市场里有新鲜的蔬菜和水果，还有肉店，海鲜店，面包房，当地人买完菜后喝喝咖啡吃个早餐与街坊邻居们聊个天。生活也是同样的美好。

我们也兴冲冲地买了草莓🍓，樱桃🍒和烟熏肉，同时也在那里吃了早餐，咖啡☕️和面包。我们购买了24小时的Graz旅游卡，把几个重要的景点扫了一遍。从近郊的埃根博格宫殿开始，这也是今天所有景点中最值得看的。宫殿的四个塔楼象征着东南西北四个方向。宫殿有365扇窗象征着一年的天数。24间大厅则象征着一天的24个小时。天花板上还有画象征着一周7天的每一天。宫殿的四周是一大片公园，孔雀🦚慢悠悠地走来走去。今天看的另外几个景点包括现代美术馆，穆尔人工岛等都有些失望。还好最后为了看钟塔上了城堡山，上面不仅能眺望格拉茨城区，还有着格拉茨最漂亮的小花园。