Day 13 Saturday 13th June 2009 Our first day in Vienna

Day 13 Saturday 13th June 2009 our first day in Vienna.
After breakfast on returning to our room we could not open the door. I returned to the receptionist who reprogrammed my plastic door opener; it did not work; after three such attempts. The maid let us in with her master card key. We were not the only guests who had the problem. Eventually a technician arrived and reprogrammed the door lock. This caused a late start for us so we missed John’s Hop on Hop Off bus tour. We bought a €5.00c two day bus, train and tram pass and caught a number 5 tram outside our hotel. We rode to the end of the line passing over the Danube Canal. On the way back we alighted at the Danube Canal and went for a walk along a wide path that was separated from the Canal by a nice sloping bank covered with green grass and a number of well tanned bodies under a clear blue sky soaking up the warm sun’s rays. One big fat lump was au natural. Many push cyclists were riding along as we walked. Across the river we could see a tower with large round multicoloured top. The building alongside was also had multicolour shapes all over it. Soon we found a bridge which would allow us to get a closer look; the building looked like it was a gas processing and distribution plant. Someone said later that it was a sophisticated waste disposal plant and the artwork is to disguise it. The tower carried the chimney exhaust for the plant and the round globe at the top was a closed in observation platform. The tower and the building decorations were designed by the same gentleman that decorated the toilets in the main street of Kawakawa in Northland. Next we found ourselves walking through the Vienna University; a large collection of grey buildings with plenty of glass windows. We arrived back at a different tram route and decided to go for another ride. About 2km into the ride we had arrived at an interesting park, so we decided to have a closer look as there was a Tyrolean celebration taking place; plenty of beer drinking and music under large umbrellas as well as plenty of strange looking food and a big marquee with exhibitions on display. Across the road was the Khofburg Theatre. On top of the building was a plaque with the words Kaiser Franz Joseph 1 1888. We reboarded another tram to return to our hotel. Some of the trams are old but in excellent condition; the new bendy trams are long and being low to the ground are easy to board. They are well appointed and very clean. You can buy one trip time-based, or all day ticket tickets which allow transferring from one tram to another without the hassle of buying a different ticket. In my opinion Vienna has the best tram system I have yet seen; now that Auckland is possibly to become one city I would advocate a study of the Viennese trams by its officials. In the evening John led us to the opera “for a bit of culture” as he put it. We caught a train to the Opera house for a 7pm start. The opera was Mozart’s Magic Flute; John was lucky enough to get the last remaining twenty seats completing the sell-out of the show; we were seated in the centre of the last row way up at the top in the gods. At 7pm on the dot the lights faded and the babble of voices slowly ebbed to silence as the live orchestra began the overture. The acoustics were amazing as I could hear the music and every word spoken by the performers; only one problem; I could not understand one word. At half time several of us commented on the good acoustics; one English speaking resident of Vienna said she always sat in the gods because as well as good sound you can see the whole stage even down to the performers arranging themselves backstage. The opera finished at 11pm with a twenty minute break. I and others were regretful that we had not read the story line before the show although most of us could see the gist of the story. I regret I did not take my camera.
Photos. 1 Inside a Viennese Tram. 2 Hundertwasser designed building. 2 Tyrolean Festival.