I took a trip with some classmates to Vienna for their annual Officer's Ball (or Ball der Offiziere). It was a quick trip but I'd never been to Vienna so it was a good opportunity to see the city and attend a rather large, annual event.
I don't normally like window seats (love the easy of exiting an aisle seat) but it was in an exit row and the scene was pretty nice - as you can see above left. On the right is the "best co-traveler ever". Being completely sarcastic of course, this guy didn't understand (or care) that the arm rest kind of makes an accepted separation of space. His leg and arm were all over the place and he repeatedly touched me - strange dude. And his wife/girlfriend told me I had to read the safety card since I was by the window. I would tell you which country they were from, but I'll leave that up to your imagination.
Another artsy shot of the wing as the sun starts to hide for the night and above right, is a shot of St. Stephen's Cathedral (Domkirche St. Stephan zu Wien) with it's grand steeple. It was neat that it is right by my hotel - which was the Hotel Royal. Great location, good breakfast and good rooms, but the WiFi and TV were a joke. Didn't care about TV in Vienna, but it's nice to have WiFi for the phone or to look stuff up on the web. Below is the building housing the Hotel Royal (among other things).
The Hotel Royal in Vienna on Singerstraße.
We arrived only a couple hours before the ball, but I loved that it was on Friday and not Saturday. I like events on Friday nights. Therefore, it was a quick turn from airport - hotel - change the clothes - go to the ball. Above is the grand building housing the event; the Hofburg Palace. It is a huge, and very nice building. Perfect for a ball.
My official ticket for the event.
The ball is scheduled until 04:00, so Saturday had a late start which actually worked out since the weather wasn't very friendly (as you can see above left, which is another shot of St Stephen's Cathedral). Thanks to Cel, we had a reservation at a famous place to get a delicious schnitzel - Figlmüller. If you go to the website, you'll see their schnitzels are somewhat unique - flat, round, and bigger than the plate.
A couple funny things happened here. Someone asked for a Diet Coke (or Coke Light) which was quickly rebuked as in Austria they drink juices instead. The second was when I asked for some senf (mustard). The waiter looked at me (and acted like) I ordered a rotten fish head to throw on my schnitzel. Also because we were in in Austria, and apparently they don't do that there. But I'm pretty sure they did it in Germany (who makes that delicious senf). And there were no fries on the menu. Quite amusing.
We had a few hours before our next event (another friend made a reservation for supper) so I tried to take in some sites. Above left is still another shot of St Stephen's cathedral. It's a panoramic and I was very impressed with the church and particularly the roof. Quite amazing. Above right is inside the church. Not what you might expect, but here's the story. Churches all over Europe (probably elsewhere) sell candles you can burn for any reason significant to you. But I don't remember seeing them in sand before and I thought it was a pretty good idea - really contains the wax. Also, I like experimenting with my smartphone's camera. It, too, is quite amazing.
Next, I visited St. Peter's Church (wiki) which is not even 300 meters away from St Stephen's. This is a very warm, welcoming church and looks fantastic both inside and out. There's an outside pic further below, but above is a shot inside (tricky lighting). One thing this church did which I don't know if I've seen before or not is place a sign close to the entry which reads "No Tourism". I think that is what made it so tranquil. A little in-your-face, but peaceful (and they did allow pics).
After a nap, I went to supper at the Stadt Park Bräu. Like many German / Austrian places, it's easy to get a massive table (or set of tables) so the 20+ of us were able to sit together which is nice. On the way out I took this picture of a cool camera in a display case. It's and Agfa Isola made in the 50s and this happens to be the Supinder 700-S model (don't bother searching - I couldn't find it, but I think it's named after this woman).
My last day, I went to a mass at the Wiener Hofmusikkapelle which is the home of the Home of the Vienna Boys' Choir. This was a very nice surprise since I didn't know (had forgotten) that my girl friends got a ticket for me, too. Very nice! So on the way (with a much different sky) I took some more pics - including panoramic shots of St Stephen's (above) and the Hofburg Palace (below).
Two more shots above; one of a nice clock tower simply because I really like the architecture (left) and the outside of St Peter's church. I think that dome looked fantastic against the blue sky.
Inside the church for the mass and the Vienna Boys Choir. Above left, trying to show that it's actually quite small, but that's tricky with a photo. Above right, my ticket showing that we heard some great Mozart with an orchestra and the Boys Choir. I had goosebumps several times throughout the service. Below is a panoramic that I thought turned out pretty well for the lighting. The choir and orchestra is directly above and can't be seen by most people - just heard. However, at the end, they (the choir) assembled near the alter for a final song. It was great to see them.
En fin, two more artsy shots of our Airbus 320 on the way home. This time I had my preferred aisle seat, but had the row to myself!!! Awesome! Below, the obligatory ticket which was a first with Austrian Air. By the way, Vienna has a great airport.
fin
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