Oh Vienna...(the Ultravox song from 1981)

The name 'Vienna' had first come to us in different ways. For me, (George) I think I first encountered 'Vienna' while watching Bugs Bunny's 'Tales from the Vienna Woods' cartoon. It was a cartoon that cleverly infuses humor into the classic musical composition by Johann Strauss. I probably first heard 'On the Beautiful Blue Danube' also while watching Bugs Bunny but became enamored with it while watching Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey'. That waltz piece seemed perfectly aligned with ships floating in space in a kind of elegant marriage between past and future human accomplishments. Thinking about it now, I believe that particular scene greatly inspired me to become a filmmaker. I supposed I've always loved classical music from a very early age and the name 'Vienna' always seemed synonymous with beautiful music. For Andrea, it seems the Ultravox song (and music video from MTV days) had enough of an impact on her that she decided to title this blog post after the chorus in the song.

How did we get to Vienna? We left the sunny beaches of Spain and flew to Vienna, Austria using one of the cheap discount airlines. Vienna welcomed us with cloudy skies and cooler weather. However, the weather changes from sunny-to-cloudy-to-rain-to-sunny again. As the saying goes in Europe, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes." We see rain in the forecast during our five-day stay, and it has rained nearly every evening when we are in our nice hotel, streaming classical music from KDFC in San Francisco. The falling rain adds an inspiring and poetic element.

Vienna is a very walkable and bike-friendly city. It has been named one of the world's "most livable cities" and you quickly see why. The architecture is grand and astonishing as are the parks and platzs. On one day, we visited the only apartment of Mozart still preserved in Vienna. He lived there Sept. 1784 to Apr. 1787, where he composed numerous chamber pieces and the famous opera "The Marriage of Figaro".

Here are some photos of our wanderings for now. Happy Summer Solstice.

The Ankeruhr clock that puts on quite a performance at noon!

Roses in the Volksgarten


We rented bikes and rode around the city and along the Danube. As we were riding along, we saw an old lady in front of us walking, wearing a scarf on her head, shoes on her feet, carrying her purse. Apparently this area is 'clothing-optional'. Further along were older men sans attire as well.

George made a new friend who clung to his hand! Yep, a schmetterling!

We stopped by a community garden and saw the Ferris Wheel of an amusement park, and rode paths along the rivers.

Next we are heading to the Czech Republic including Prague. Then it is off to Poland.

Thanks for thinking of us!

xooxox