Today's primary activity involved the Zentralfriedhof- Vienna's Central Cemetery. Our time there was split between wandering the old, derelict Jewish section (not maintained possibly because its inhabitants' descendents were wiped out in World War II, and crumbling to begin with because it suffered through two World Wars) and searching the posh sections for the graves of some of the world's greatest composers: Beethoven, Brahams, Schubert, Strauss, and Schonberg (as well as a nearby monument to Mozart, though he was buried anonymously nearby).
After the Zentralfriedhof, we blasted through the grounds of the Belvedere palace, wherein resided some gorgeous gardens and fountains currently undergoing heavily remodeling.
Having seen all we could see, we grabbed some food for lunch and headed to the Danube Island, a (duh) island on the Danube River to eat. We lazed about there for a while, enjoying the reasonably comfortable park on the banks of the river as many Viennese enjoyed themselves in and around the water in the sunshine and warm weather. This quick stop wound up lasting about two hours, as our quick stops tend to do, a time in which I managed to devour another chunk of Angels and Demons, which Marc had purchased in Rome and gave to me after he finished. It's an enthralling read, made even more interesting by the fact that I still hold a decent map of Rome in my head, and I've seen many of the landmarks Dan Brown mentions in the book.
From one park to another! Our next stop was the Prater amusement park, home to the oldest ferris wheel in the world, the Riesenrad, built in 1897 to honor the golden jubilee of emperor Franz Joseph I. It was far too expensive to go for a ride, so some photos will have to suffice. Interesting to note the design similarities between it and the Eiffel Tower, two large steel structures from roughly the same era. The Prater also surrounds the Republic of Kugelmugel, an independent nation declared in 1984 when an individual building in the park faced disputes with Viennese government. Its legal status is extremely tenuous, and it has been essentially rendered an attraction rather than a nation.
Following that, we found our way to the "Old City" section of Vienna, where we discovered that an outdoor showing of Mozart's Requiem would be screened for free. I started salivating, Michael also figured it would be a worthwhile event, and Marc, outvoted, acquiesced. Before the event was due to begin, we had a decent amount of time to kill, so we headed around to take in a few more landmarks.
Soon, the time came to return to Vienna's City Hall for the concert. We got pretty decent seats (open seating, first come/first served, come/go as you please) just as the music was beginning. It was a video recording of the Vienna Philharmonic, and I was enraptured the whole time. How often do you get the opportunity to hear (my favorite work by) Mozart while sitting outside the city hall of the City of Music? It's a chance that's as rare as hens' teeth.
Continuing on the apparent Mozart path, we're off to Salzburg tomorrow. Marc and Michael are more eager to relive The Sound of Music, but I'm much more interested in the sound of Mozart, and where better to hear it than his hometown?
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