How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : Vienna Trip Report, Day 7: State Opera, Albertina

DAY 7, 23 NOVEMBER 2017, Thursday:

Vienna State Opera house

TRAIN TICKET OPTIONS:

OBB is the official railways of Austria . We can buy discounted tickets ahead for €19 but on the travel day it'll go up to €45.

Westbahn plies hourly trains between Vienna and Salzburg and tickets are reasonably priced for current day travel also. We decided to use this flexibility.

We reached Salzburg hbf, looked for the next westbahn train to Vienna. It was at 9.20 am. We could not find machines, so decided to buy tickets on the train. We looked for the dedicated westbahn platform and boarded our train. We bought tickets from the controller for €27.

Local transport card:

The wifi was excellent and we bought local transport card for Vienna on the train itself so that we can start its use as we landed.

Single ticket is € 2,20
Wochenkarte - 7 day Zone 100 (city centre) travelcard €16.20

Great deal!

(Valid on All forms of transport - but beware: valid from 00:00 Monday to 09:00 the following Monday regardless of what day of the week you buy it! Buy it on a Sunday and you get less than one day's use!). It was a Thursday, so good value for us. We had been told machines may not dispense that week's card later in the week, so buying online proved great for us. No need to validate/time stamp as the card was dated for the current week and it had our names also. We got it printed when we reached our hotel, in case phone battery runs out.

COMFORT APARTMENTS, WIEN:

Our train reached Westbahnhof. We took bus 5 to Alser strasse. Our apartment was 100m from the stop. We had an early checkin.

Spacious, clean apartment with great connectivity.

Tram right outside...

13A which is from the opp side of the same street took us the hbf for our day trip to Melk and also train to Budapest.

Trams 43, 44 stop right in front of the apt and take us to Scottentor from where we could go anywhere as there are many connections. Billa supermarket is 100m away.

Relevant stops are circled here in the local transport map here:

On the negative side, the heater never worked, the hot water is moderated at a less than real hot temperature. We did not mind these because of the other positives. We got a late checkout as well after our 3 night stay.

Vienna is a splendid city on the banks of the Danube River. For centuries the gateway between West and East Europe, it was the natural nucleus of the once sprawling Habsburg Empire, so there are many palaces.

On Thursday Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna is open till 9pm, so I had scheduled that.

Vienna State Opera House (Wiener Staatsoper):

First we went to the Vienna State Opera for a tour. There are tours at 14 and 15 hours on 23, 24 nov: 25 nov closed. 9 euros

One of the world's largest and most splendid theaters, the Vienna State Opera House (Wiener Staatsoper) has hosted many of the world's most prominent composers, conductors, soloists, and dancers. Operatic and ballet performances are staged at least 300 times a year, fuelled by an obsession with music that goes as far back as 1625 when the first Viennese Court Opera was performed.

The current massive Opera House was built in 1869 and is notable for its French Early Renaissance style, while interior highlights include a grand staircase leading to the first floor, the Schwind Foyer (named after its paintings of famous opera scenes), and the exquisite Tea Room with its valuable tapestries. Capable of accommodating an audience of 2,211 along with 110 musicians, the Opera House is also home to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

From the foyer, we take the grand staircase to the state rooms (Tea Salon, Marble Hall, Schwind Foyer, Gustav Mahler Hall) before we reach the auditorium (catching a look at the stage).

Underground: U1, U2, U4 – Stop at KARLSPLATZ
Trams: 1, 2, D, 62, 71 – Stop at OPERNRING
Bus: 59A

Had high expectations but it was less impressive than Paris Opera Garnier or even Budapest opera house.

Emperor's salon (Tea salon)

walls are adorned with the entwined letters F and J, the monogram of Emperor Francis Joseph (1830-1916), who had the Court Opera House built, and during his long reign subsidized it with personal funds.

Marble Hall is hung with modern tapestries

Marble hall

Albertina:

We wanted to go to Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, so decided to see Albertina on the way.

Raphael:

There was Raphael, we have enjoyed extensively in Rome

Raphael rooms in Sistine chapel, Roma

Impressionism:

impressionism display, We LOVE impressionism but we have seen extensive great pieces in Paris and even in Houston. Here the number was meager.

Rodin...

Picasso

There was Picasso. We don't "get" his art

Bruegel

We LOVED the Bruegel pieces. LOOK at the strokes!!

We had been looking forward to seeing the State apartments but they were closed for a ceremony. This was a huge disappointment. Wish I had known in advance.