In the city of music

One cannot come to Vienna without paying homage to the great composers who once lived here. Indeed, Vienna is still a mecca for musicians of our day.

No sooner (it seemed) had we arrived at our hotel, and had a moment to find our rooms, but we found ourselves sitting for the evening meal. The 5:30 pm start time for this event felt a bit strange since we have grown somewhat accustomed to dining around 7:00 pm, but then again there was a very good reason for this diversion from our regular routine.

A good number of our group had agreed to attending a concert of Vienese music, and so we were once again wisked away from our abode to a neighbouring concert hall. Apparently, there are at least six concerts available to the public on any given night here in Vienna. In our case, a relatively small orchestra of about 20, accompanied by a soprano, a bass and two balet dancers entertained with a mixture of music from such masters as Mozart, Shubert and Hyden, all of whom were sons of Vienna in their day.

Set in a ballroom which sat at least six hundred guests, decorated simply with five crystal chandeliers and not much else, this was a wonderful occasion for being transported to the time that Franz Josef himself would have been entertained within the palace of Schonbrun.

Ah, more about Schonbrun later.