The end of this trip also meant that I am one more step closer to the end of my exchange semester already. I guess this is my second last trip (the last before my exams) before our ¨graduation trip¨up north to Kiruna.
Buskers, such as the Korean lady who actually had her piano transported, were performing right in the middle of the streets of Vienna. The wonderful sounds of the clarinets, accordions, and saxophones transformed the normally busy street into one with a classical feel to it.
*Wonderful street musicians*We had the chance to catch Romeo and Juliet on our 2nd evening there. Kind of disappointed with the 1st part of the performance honestly, but I was determined to stay through all the acts since it was my very first opera and I felt the want to watch the whole play. Sorry to the two ladies who got bored but had to stay with me. To make things worse, we wanted to get really cheap tickets and so we bought the standing seats tickets which costs 3.50 Euros. Come to think of it, the tickets for the seats are just not so worth it because of the disappointing play. But it definitely was a good experience.
*Opera House*
*Romeo & Juliet*
*Queuing up*
*with lotsa food*
*Inside the Opera House*The next evening, we headed to The Kursalon (a splendid building in Vienna built in Renaissance style) where pieces after pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss Walzerkönig (King of Waltz) were performed by virtuoso musicians accompanied by superb opera singers and enchanting ballet soloists. A new goal in life for me - to catch one Wiener Philharmoniker performance right here in the city of music with my family! The monument of Johann Strauss could also be found in the park behind The Kursalon. Although not much of Beethoven was covered in our trip, we had to pay a visit to the moneument of Beethoven as well, which was just across the road.
*The Kursalon*
*The Stage*
*Beautiful room*
*The musicians*
*and their pianist for the evening*
*Johann Strauss*
*Buddies HAHA*
*Beethoven*
*and us*
*Open-air ice-skating ring nearby*Vienna wasn't just about music and plays only....
The cheese sausage bun (it's called Käsekrainer) is shiok and I had like one for each of the 3 days in Vienna. We went to Café Sacher Wien in Hotel Sacher as well where its famous Sacher Torte, an exquisite chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam, is being served. Besides having Sacher Torte, we had an apple strudel as well together with warm drinks for our breakfast.
*Käsekrainer*
*Sacher Torte*
*Apple Strudel*
*Nice*Stephansdom (St. Stephan's Cathedral) is Vienna's most instantly recognisable building with a romanesque and gothic form . It is standing on the site of a church which dates back to 1144 and its most striking features are its gothic spire and tiled roof.
*Stephansdom*
And as usual, there were museums and this time, we visited Mozart's House, where Mozart used to live with his family when he was in Vienna, as well as the House of Music, where we had the chance to play conductor to a virtual orchestra.
*Mozart's House*
*Nice but expensive*
*The virtual band & their conductor*Lying between Vienna City Hall building and the Burgtheatre in the heart of Vienna, Wiener Christkindlmarkt (Vienna Christmas Market) had not been a letdown either. The traditional Christmas Market uniquely embraces the spirit of Christmas. Trees are adorned with radiant red hearts, angels, lanterns and other delightful ornamentations.
The whole concept of the market just gets you into the christmas mood with wide-eyed youngsters jostling for positions at the toy stalls, while adults delight in a vast array of enchanting Christmas tree decorations, traditional wares and gifts for all generations. And a bite to eat can be found in the shape of gingerbread, candyfloss and other typical Viennese specialities such as the baked potatoes. My personal favourite was this warm alcoholic drink called Hot Wine. I presume it is just red wine which is warmed up with various kinds of spices, the girls didn't like it but I love it lots.
*At the Christmas Market*
*Great food*
*A cup of Hot Wine*
*Beautiful decorations and lightings*
All is not quiet inside the City Hall building itself, where children get to design their own present as well as baking their own cookies in Wiener Adventzauber (Magic of Advent in Vienna). One cannot fail to marvel at the Christmas Workshop inside City Hall, with thousands of tiny hands industriously baking cookies, and making christmas gifts.
*A cup of Hot Wine*
*Beautiful decorations and lightings*
*Inside City Hall*
*Cookie baking*
*Design your own gift*We also made a new Korean friend while staying at Wombat's Hostel in Vienna and we had dinner with her on our first night there at a cafe serving typical Austrian food.
*Our new Korean friend, Ji Yeon*
*Beef Goulash*
*2 dumplings with sausage and sauerkraut*We visited a town that was off the city centre in Grinzinger. It is here that you can view the vineyards during the summer time, a pity that it is winter now. However, we managed to catch a sight from the top of the hill over Vienna.
*The quiet street of Grinzinger*
*Bus stop*
*us*
*The vineyard which was supposed to be full of grapes in summer*
*Flowers for Mozart*
*They use his name for everything*
*The vineyard which was supposed to be full of grapes in summer*
*Flowers for Mozart*
*They use his name for everything*Our final stop in Vienna was Schönbrunn Palace. From the exterior, Schönbrunn Palace is a remarkable baroque ensemble. From the interior... well we didn't see the interior because we were rushing for time and I guess it wasn't worth it anyway. I am tired of palaces and museums. The weird thing was that there was a motor exhibition in the palace that day with displays by the likes of Bentley, Porsche, Maserati, and many more. The monument of W.A. Mozart could also be found within the compounds of Schönbrunn Palace.
*The treble clef*
*Mozart*
*Good buddies as well*
*Schönbrunn Palace*
*The Bentley and its owner*That very afternoon itself saw us flying to Prague where the capital city of the Czech Republic awaited us. So let's Czech it out!
This city is infamous for its pickpockets and the very thought of it kind of brought us to a high alert mode. The city centre of Prague itself were full of casinos, erotic sex shops, clubs and dangerous-looking individuals. However, do not be fooled by this menacing façade because Prague is definitely one beautiful city on its own. The nightlife of the city was filled with colourful lights everywhere and buildings looked really impressive with the widely-used light effects from spot lights, the city is alive in the night! At dawn, Prague proved to be even more charming.
Traditional Czech food consists of lots of pork, especially pork knee, and one traditional side dish is the dumplings. Dumplings here aren't those that are wrapped in yellow skin with meat within. Dumplings here are basically just huge pieces of bread-like food.
*Traditional Czech Food*The Old Town is jam-packed with plenty of people heading for the various shops that could be found there. It is basically a shopping district and there was an abundance of food stalls around on the streets, and this is where I found my favourite Hot Wine once again! I really couldn't give it a miss. Other than the Old Town, we visited one landmark in the New Town as well, and it is known as the "Ginger and Fred" dancing building.
*The Astrological Clock*
*one of the longest escalator I've ever taken*
*Metro*
*The National Museum*
*The "Ginger and Fred" dancing building*Prague Castle, situated on top of a hill, is where the Kings and Presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic had their offices. Within the Castle compound are the Basilica of St. George, the Basilica of St. Vitus, the Old Royal Palace, as well as the Dalibor Tower (where it once functioned as a dungeon for prisoners, especially political prisoners). We also had the opportunity to climb up 287 steps to the top of the tower of the cathedral. It was tiring indeed and some people had to paused halfway to catch their breath. Right at the top, an impressive panorama of the entire city awaited us. Other than that, I didn't really enjoy the Castle very much.
*A Church inside the Prague Castle*
*Guarding the Castle well*
*Take the Challenge*
*View from 287 steps up the Church's south tower*One of the reasons why Prague was a dream city for me to visit was the Charles Bridge that crosses the Vltava River. I remember when I was in JC, I saw this TV programme in which the host brought the home-viewers to the Charles Bridge where about 30 different statues were erected there and one of them was that of St. John of Nemopuk.
A little history in a nutshell... John of Nemopuk was the confessor of the Queen of Bohemia and when the King ordered him to divulge the Queen's confessions, he chose to remain silent. At the behest of the King, he was thrown into the river from the spot where his statue stands today on the Charles Bridge. Legend has it that if you make a wish while touching the little golden man falling from the river in the sculpture below the statue, your wish would come true.
During the night, Charles Bridge is a quiet witness of medieval times. But during the day it changes its face into a very busy place. Painters, owners of kiosks and other traders compete for the attention of numerous tourists crossing the bridge. This is also where most people have their pockets picked.
I have never thought that I would one day actually step foot onto Charles Bridge. On our first night in Prague, we visited Charles Bridge but I kind of didn't dare to walk through the tower that guards the bridge for I simply couldn't believe that Charles Bridge was just right in front of my very own eyes. When I finally walked onto the bridge, I felt a gush of emotions running through me and I simply had to slow down my pace to admire every part of the bridge. We visited the bridge again the next afternoon to attempt to capture some pictures which we couldn't in the night, as well as on our last day in Prague to catch the sunrise. And Charles Bridge was indeed enchanting at dawn.
*Tower guarding Charles Bridge*
*Charles Bridge*
*Jesus Christ?*
*St. John of Nemopuk*
*Touch the falling man on the right and make a wish*
*Charles Bridge at dawn*
*Yicui, Pooi Fun, and I on Charles Bridge at dawn*
*Sun is rising*
*My personal favourite*We ate at this Chinese restaurant too. Even though the servings were small, they were extremely tasty - probably because we haven't eaten 煮炒 for a long time.
*Soup*
*Fried Bee Hoon*
*铁板豆腐*And the lady serving us was very kind to us, so I shall help her to advertise a little... For anyone who is or plans to go to Prague and happens to see this blog entry, please do try out the food at:
Jin Yan Jiu Jia
锦宴酒家
Štěpánská 57, Praha 1
Tel: 224210299
Opening hrs : 1100 - 2300
锦宴酒家
Štěpánská 57, Praha 1
Tel: 224210299
Opening hrs : 1100 - 2300
That's all for my latest updates. It's time to start on my report for my exam, and my final presentation and start mugging for my final paper too.... What a low blow to such a wonderful 6 days in Vienna and Prague.
