Got up early, but didnt leave the hotel until 10 AM. Went to the market a block away from the hotel and looked at the fruits and vegetables and cheeses and seafood and candy and breads and olives and nuts and spices and lamb and so very much more. I will post some pictures soon. As I said to Bill, it was a cacophony of color and smells. Magical. We settled down after going to the flea market to a bitter lemon (for Bill) and a Lillet spritzer for me. Bill was worn out by then so he went back to the room and I went on adventure. First stop was the Albertina Museum behind the State Opera House. It was very warm out and after climbing up a large flight of stairs and entering the lobby I was hit by the most stifling air. I asked the receptionist if the whole building was like that and she said yes. Apparently it is too early for air conditioning as it is unseasonably warm here. I had to leave as I knew it was just too hot. Strolled through much of the Opera Ring the rest of the afternoon. Went to the Swarovski Crystal store and was kind of, um, well, lets just say it wasnt my kind of store. The one thing I did like there was 17,500 euros. Needless to say, I left empty handed. Walked by a McDonalds and was surprised to see they served coffee in china cups at their sidewalk cafe. Considering they were competing with over 4,700 coffee shops in Vienna, I can understand their effort to be a little more sophisticated. I still wouldnt go in there. Strolled around until it was time to meet Bill for dinner. We decided on Italian at the market. I had a delightful Rocket salad and then a spaghetti dinner with a truffle cream sauce. Really different flavor for me: very woody, distinct mushroom flavor. Loved it. Had a truffle chocolate ice cream for dessert. It was the size of a baseball, with a fruited vanilla ice-cream center, surrounded by a rich, yet light chocolate ice cream and coated with powdered chocolate. It really was like a giant Chocolate Truffle. Yummy. Then on to La Boheme. The cast was uniformly superb. Second act was over the top with a double leveled stage of a town scene. It looked like there were 50 people on stage, easy, including a dozen or more children, a man on stilts and a donkey pulling a toy cart. It was Christmas Eve and the action on stage was festive and very alive. Act 3 was sublime in its setting with a scrim creating the illusion of a wintery grey dusk. Of course the snow falling the entire act made the illusion that much better. Mimi dies, of course, but in the most lovely way. ;o) Time for bed. Daylight Savings time starts tonight in Germany so we lose an hour. We have an 8 hour drive tomorrow to Seiffen. Hopefully no news to report!
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 22:05:53 +0000
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