So much to see...so little time

While the Vienna State Opera went on summer holiday July 1, we were still able to tour the beautiful building.  It really was quite spectacular and I could just image Sisi and Franz Joseph watching performances.  One of the interesting facts we learned is that Sisi sat in the Imperial box in the upper center of the auditorium, Franz Joseph had a box stage right and their son, Rudolf, had a box stage left.  The two side boxes did not have full view of the stage but the Emperor chose those boxes so that the others in the audience could have view of him and see he supported the Opera.  He and Sisi were big patrons of the arts, the Opera in particular. 

Before electricity, there were 40 people whose job it was to light all
the candles in the chandeliers.  It would take them 4 hours to
light all the candles and 4 hours to put them out.

View for the Imperial Box

Every February, the Vienna State Opera holds their Annual Ball and it is the event of the season.  In 48 hours, they remove all the seats, raise the floor to be level with the stage and turn the space into a fairy tale venue.  Then in less than 24 hours after the Ball is over, everything is back to the way it was and they are ready for the next opera.  As a meeting planner, of course I was asking all sorts of set-up/striking questions and was truly amazed at how they pulled it off.

To ensure the opera is available to everyone regardless of their financial status, the Vienna State Opera offers Standing Tickets for each performance.  The last 100 of these are reserved for 80 minutes prior to the performance and only cost 18€.  The only negative is you have to stand for the full opera (even the 5 hours ones) and you cannot sit on the floor.  They do have bars in front of each "seat" for you to rest your arms.

Each seat has a screen to be
able to read the subtitles 

We finally got around to taking the Hop-on/Hop-off bus to see even more of Vienna.  Here's a few pics of things we saw.

The würstelstände is pretty much the go to spot for a quick bit. For about $7, you can get a sausage (personally the käsekrainer is my favorite as it is filled with cheese), a roll and mustard. Interesting fact: during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the würstelstände provided a source of income for disabled veterans. 

Remember I mentioned in a previous post about
the 23 districts in Vienna? When looking at a street sign,
the number in front of the street name indicates the district.

I had heard about a local sandwich chain called, Trzesniewski but it's not your typical Subway or Firehouse Subs.  These are more like garden party open-faced finger sandwiches.  We got a variety so we could split each: Lentil with Beetroot, Carrot with Cream Cheese (but tasted more like horseradish), Herring wtih Onion, Truffled Egg with Ham, Paprika (aka pepper), Pickles (aka cucumber) with Eggs - two different types, Onion with Egg and Bacon with Egg.  All were quite tasty.

More of our time in Vienna later...we're off to see what else we can find.