I am a musician and singer in a bluegrass band that my husband manages. We decided that it would be fun to plan a weekend get-away with money we'd earned and saved from playing gigs. It seemed only reasonable to somehow connect our little adventure to music, since the trip would be funded from playing music. After a bit of research via the Internet, it became clear that Vienna would make the perfect travel goal - especially since it's the world's capital of classic music.
It was an easy, direct flight from Stockholm, Sweden to Vienna, although we had to book a short flight from our home in the north of Sweden to Stockholm. Once we arrived at the Vienna airport, it was easy to find the airport's city bus terminal, and then a relatively short 25-minute ride to the downtown area. With map in hand, we headed out to look for our hotel. It took only a couple of wrong turns before we found Hotel Austria, which is a very comfortable and classy hotel situated at the end of a fashionable alley, so it was quiet.
It was about 5.30 p.m. when we checked into the hotel, so we quickly settled in and then eagerly took off for a quick walk around the surrounding areas before it became dark. What a beautiful city Vienna is! One of the most interesting things is that Vienna is a fascinating blend of medieval castles, churches, and government buildings amongst mirrored-glass skyscrapers and fashionable clothing and coffee shops. As we strolled along, our jaws dropped when we entered a large square and sudden saw the magnificent St. Steven’s Cathedral standing there in all its glory.
The architecture is drop-dead gorgeous and the history is fascinating. One of the neatest things we did was to take a walk around the “ring street”, from which one can see the most impressive and most historic buildings in the “old town” of Vienna. There are so many valuable museums that we really regretted that we only had 3 full days to spend in Vienna.
Since our trip was music-related, we prioritized the Musical Instrument Museum, found in the Imperial Palace. We visited other museums, too, but that’ll be another story.
The beat of the city is thrilling, but at the same time calm and controlled. The citizens are among the kindest and calmest people I’ve ever encountered in any other European city. The few times that we stopped someone to ask directions, they acted as if they had nothing better to do than to look at our map and help us find what we were looking for. A couple of times people actually led us right to the address we were searching for! Thank you, citizens of Vienna for adding to the delightful time we had in your lovely city! We will definitely come back some fine day to see more of what Vienna has to offer – and there is a lot to see!
Next story: Museums and the concert.
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