Day 6 - Last Full Day in Vienna, Imperial Jewels, Das Musikhaus & Opera

After a leisurely time in the morning we made it out to the palace grounds to view the Austrian Monarchy's Crown Jewels. It was a very extensive collection of jewels from all over the world and included both secular and many religious pieces.

It was cooler and rainy day so we tried to find places inside to do things. We were going to try McDonalds, but ended up eating a sausage sandwich, kebab salad, and some noodles from a kiosk. We also tried a large pastry that looked better than it tasted.

We went back to the hotel for a bit and then set out again for another interactive music museum which featured Vienna's favorite musicians, Mozart, Haydn, Strauss, Mahler, etc. They had an interactive video thing where one could actually try conducting the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra via video and a moving score with a digital conducting wand.  I foolishly picked the Blue Danube and tried to feel the song and watch the musicians rather than watching the bouncing yellow dot and gave up after the video stopped and the virtual orchestra actually began insulting me. I was hoping to get a certificate of accomplishment, but picked too hard of a song. I should have picked The Can Can or some Polka.

After that we walked down a crowded street with a lot of people and shoppers out on a Saturday afternoon. Even saw some protesters for or against Iran, I really couldn't tell. I was going to start chanting U-S-A  U-S-A, but Carol advised against it. Just before dark we were treated to Giuseppe Verdi's Opera La traviata that was broadcast live on big screen just outside of the Vienna State Opera House. We sat through several movements, taking in all the singing in Italian with German sub-titles we could stand.

We then stopped off at Mama's Kitchen restaurant just before going back to the hotel where they were offering a special of wiener schnitzel, potatoes, beef soup, and apple strudel all for 11.90 Euro, we thought that was a good deal and made a dinner of it.

Our big plans for Sunday are to wake up early and catch the 7AM train from Vienna to Budapest for a day trip to see some more sights. It's about a 3 hr. train ride over there.