Chris selected Vienna, Austria to learn more about the culture and musical history of Europe. Chris placed this major historical city at the beginning of the trip as our minds would be freshest at this point. He also wanted to have a short trip (only one hour from Frankfurt) into Vienna after the long haul Lufthansa flight from Houston.
View other posts in this series:
- Secret Trip Preview
- Destination #1 – Clues
- Lufthansa A380 First Class
- Activities in Vienna, Austria (this post)
- Food in Vienna, Austria
- Park Hyatt Vienna
- Destination #2 – Clues
- Destination #3 – Clues
- Destination #4 – Clues
- Destination #5 – Clues
- Destination #6 – Clues
- Destination #7 – Clues
- Destination #8 / 9 – Clues
- Destination #10 – Clues
- Asiana A380 First Class
We visited Haus der Musik on our first day in Vienna. The interactive discovery museum was educational in both science and arts. We learned about sound waves, and how we are able to hear different sounds. We also learned the history of famous composers, including Mozart and Beethoven. Interactive activities, such as playing the corresponding notes as you walked up the staircase and conducting a virtual symphony with the magical conductors wand, kept us engaged during our first jetlagged day.
As we walked around, the architecture in Vienna made almost every building look like a historical monument, and many did contain extensive culture. We started our second day in Vienna with the Pedal Power Bike Tour and explored the inner city and surrounding parks with a local guide.
We completed our second day in Vienna with a visit to the Hofburg Imperial Palace, which was inhabited by the imperial family until 1918 . We purchased tickets for a closer look at the Kaiserliche Schatzkammer Wien (Imperial Treasury), Kaiserappartements (Imperial Apartments), and Silberkammer (Silver Collection). Last admission into the exhibits was at 4:45 PM, and we only had time to visit the Imperial Treasury and Imperial Apartments (including Sisi Museum) that afternoon. Because the tickets were separately scanned for each exhibit, we were able to use our ticket for the Silver Collection the next day.
On our third, and last full day, in Vienna, we boarded the U-Bahn subway to visit Schonbrunn Palace. We pre-purchased the Classic Pass, which included admission to the Grand Tour of the Palace, Crown Prince Garden, Maze & Labyrinth, Orangery Garden, and Gloriette with viewing terrace.
We had made reservations for the English tour of the Musikverein, music concert hall run by the Society of Friends of Music and home to the Vienna Philharmonic. We learned about the history of the Brahms Hall, the Golden Hall, and the four underground rehearsal halls. Brahms Hall was named after Johannes Brahms, and is the smaller of the two concert halls. The Golden Hall was designed to resemble a Greek temple with proportions following the golden rule and built using wood due to high cost of marble. These unintended features of the concert hall resulted in perfect acoustics for symphony concerts. Four underground rehearsal halls, made with metal (singers), stone (speakers), glass (orchestras), and wood (intermission), were a later addition and each serves a specific type of performer.
The first stop in our secret trip was amazing. Bye (for now), Vienna! I cannot wait to see what Chris has planned for the next destination.
food.wada.travel 
