26 Sep 2021, Sunday
Prioritized Daily Tasks
Vienna, Day 8 - I showered last night, and the cover I purchased to cover my left hand and cast splint did not keep the water out and my cast got wet. It was midnight when I got to bed and my cast got the bed wet. I knew I could not leave the cast on. I took it off and put the new velcro splint on. It has been 5 weeks since Aug. 21st when I broke my hand and it is still very sore.
8:45 AM - 12:15 PM, Panoramic tour of Vienna
1:15 PM - church with our group on the riverboat
7:30 PM - 10:30 PM Mozart Strauss at Viennese Musikverein Golden Concert Hall.
Notes From Our Tour This Morning: Maria Theresa started her 40-year reign when her father, Emperor Charles VI, died in October 1740. She was the ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Empress. Her father, Charles VI, left behind a weakened and impoverished state. Maria Theresa was the absolute sovereign and ruled with the counsel of her advisers. She promulgated institutional, financial, medical, and educational reforms. She also promoted commerce and the development of agriculture and reorganized Austria's ramshackle military, all of which strengthened Austria's international standing. However, she despised the Jews and the Protestants, and on certain occasions, she ordered their expulsion to remote parts of the realm. She also advocated for the state church and refused to allow religious pluralism. Consequently, her regime was criticized as intolerant by some contemporaries.
She had 16 children who she married off to ruling families in Europe. Matra Theresa was known as the mother-in-law of Europe.
The Vienna Boys' Choir is a choir of boy sopranos and altos based in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the best known boys' choirs in the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other countries.
Debbie between the Palaces in Vienna
Statue to Maria Theresa
Summer Palace of Maria Theeresa
St. Stephen's Cathedral
The Black Plague Column (German: die Wiener Pestsäule), or Trinity Column (German: Dreifaltigkeitssäule), is a Holy Trinity column located on the Graben, a street in the inner city of Vienna, Austria in 1679
Winter Riding School, built between 1729 and 1735. The Winter Riding School is a sunlight-flooded hall
Lipizzaner Horses
Spanish Riding School
Boys from the Vienna's Boys Choir at the back entrance of Die Burgkapelle (Home of the Vienna Boys' Choir)
Mozart's home in Vienna
Horse-drawn carriages in Vienna
Wiener Residenzorchester
Inside of the building where the concert was held
Buses we rode in to concert
Our group at the concert (Debbie in front and center of the picture)
Manami Okazaki, Soprano
Picture of Vienna at night from our balcony on the Viking Ingvia
Debbie wrote: On this eighth day of our river cruise we stopped in Vienna, one of Europe's most elegant and romantic cultural capitals. The center of arts and intellect during the reign of the Hapsburgs and beyond, Vienna dances to a tempo of its own. Many ride bicycles wherever they go because of the bicycle's own section of roads. So when you step off the bus always look both ways before stepping into the bicycle lane.
We drove into the city on a bus for our half-day tour and walking tour, focusing on the splendid buildings of the remarkable Ringstrasse (Ring Street), the gracious boulevard laid out on the side of the old city walls in the mid-19th century. Imposing palaces, elegant public buildings, and grand residences line this world-famous avenue.
We visited the magnificent Hofburg Palace, the winter residence of the Hapsburgs and home of the Spanish Riding School with its Lipizzaner horses. We were able to see them prepare the horses for their next performance. The colts when born are black but change to white as they grow up.
There is a statue of Maria-Theresa, the daughter of Charles the IV. She had 16 children and married them to the different heads of power in all the countries of Europe. All did well, except Marie Antionette, who lost her head! Hapsburgs ruled 640 years.
We admired the great, Gothic St. Stephen's Cathedral, crowned with a gleaming spire and colorful roof tiles. It was named for Saint Stephen, the patron Saint of Vienna. There were supposed to be two spires, but they ran out of money to do the second.
The grand residences which take up a whole block were for the rich but are now used as museums or hotels.
The beautiful Vienna State Opera Concert Hall is decorated with a facade adorned with elaborate frescoes depicting Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute".
We were able to attend a performance in the Palais Auersperg, built in 1706. This is the place that six-year-old W. A. Mozart leaped onto the lap of Empress Maria Theresia. Later, he and other famous composers premiered their masterpieces in this magnificent setting and Emperor Fraz Josef and his wife Sisi danced there at respondent balls. We were entertained by the Wiener Resident Orchester (a chamber orchestra with a long tradition of inviting famous dancers and singers) with opera soloist, Manami Okazaki, violin soloist, Alan Vizvary, and flute soloist, Constantin Talmaciu. They played songs by Antonio Vivaldi, W. A. Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, Astor Piazzolla and Franz Lehar. It was amazing! They did an encore with the Viennese waltz!!! Thoroughly enjoyed the evening!
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