Wicked Weekend in Vienna

Woohoo! We scored floor tickets to Christina Auguilera!
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What a weekend is all I have to say. I was not planning on revisiting Vienna on this particular trip. And, well - you have to remember to keep a flexible schedule when traveling. And, I'm sure glad I did. I have been spending the past few days with a fellow Canadian Thea. And she had overheard a conversation that Christina Auguilera was coming to Vienna. She had no idea when - but we just enquired for fun. And, well the pop star was there the day I was planning on passing through. So, what the heck we could at least try to get tickets.

We questioned the name of the particular genre of music. But, apparently that's what it is called.
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We left Bratislava, Slovakia on Saturday morning - missed our train by I swear milliseconds. Grrr. But, we made it Vienna via a later train (which is a mere 1 hour train ride away) found really great accommodations in the heart of the city, and scored the last pair of floor tickets to Christina Auguilera's evening concert before 2pm that day. We then did a little shopping - as concert shirts were needed. And, it's not as though either of us are super fans of hers - but we figured it would be a fun thing to do overseas. Plus, it would be an excuse to not be a scrubby traveler for a few hours.

Music Mayhem!!!!

Getting pumped up for the concert!
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The concert was a blast. A true spectacle that was mind boggling to be exact. I had no idea what to expect and I was shocked. The amount of money in that show was insane. I have been to a lot of concerts and it was the most over-the-top Broadway-ish production I have ever seen. Fabulous. The one really odd thing about the concert was that Thea and I noticed that Austrians are not really enthusiastic dancers. We were busting really bad moves from our sweet spots on the floor and most people were just clapping and watching how ridiculous we were. Austrian kids learn English in school and so it was neat to see a successful American artist in Europe and them all singing along. We also got a chance to check out a popular German/Austrian artist as the opening act. He was a lot of fun - kind of Jazz/R & B, and neat to see what local artists sing.

The beginning.
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The next morning we got up early (ugh!) after a terrible night's 'sleep'! I met some rude travelers in the middle of the night. 2 people loudly clambered around our dorm room at about 3:30am...then someone came in at 5am...and TURNED on the entire room's lights. Possibly forgetting 7 other people were sound asleep?!!! And, she even left for awhile to visit the bathroom. She is lucky that I was on the top bunk of a bed because I may have tackled her and injured her serverely. Turning the lights on in the middle of the night is just not proper hostel dorm room etiquette. Courtesy is a must. And, as irony would have it she was really annoyed when our alarm clock went off at 7am in the morning and woke her up. Good. I should have had an airhorn.

Really cool opening with her entourage of dancers.
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Anyway - the reason we got up early was to check out the world famous Vienna Boy's Choir. Thea and I arrived just in time to get in line and score some decent standing room to hear the boys. You have to pay to sit and hear the boys which is kind of disappointing as it was actually a Sunday morning mass we attended. Thea actually lodged a complaint as you should not need to pay to go to church. But, the standing room in the aisle is free in the church. I could kind of see over the giant people in front of me. But, the boys were singing at the back of the church anyway. We could definitely hear them though and the boys (probably no older than 15 and about 20 of them) sang very pretty songs at very high octaves for young men. It was cool to check out.

There were 3 giant screens at the back of the HUGE stage.
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Ok, more randomness for this weekend. At the Boys Concert we met a fellow Canadian who informed us about the Vienna Opera. Well, it turns out we could go stand in line at the Opera hours before a performance began to score tickets for an Opera performance. Well, that night it just so happened that Romeo and Juliet was being performed. I was interested. And, the price was also intriguing. About $5 Canadian. Rarely are things this cheap in Europe, let alone Vienna which can be an expensive city. So, we headed over to the Opera waited for a few hours in line and scored standing room tickets. Basically these tickets are on the floor behind seats that people pay $300 Canadian for. We have posts to lean against and little translators that tell you what they are singing in English. Very handy as my French isn't that good.

Close up shot.
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The Opera was fabulous. Not really any props. More lights and a moving floor piece that allowed the viewer to use their imagination. And, it is more about the singing anyway. Juliet and Romeo were older than I imagined (35-40 years old), but they had terrific voices. And, the thought of seeing an Opera in Vienna - probably the most music oriented city in Europe was a spectacular experience, plus we were seeing it in the National Opera House as well. Which is a beautiful building. The show lasted about 3 hours long. So, I definitely got my money's worth. Felt like we had won the lottery.

Ok - this is when it got nuts. The stage turned into a circus act. Was super cool.
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Loved Vienna. A fabulous city with so much music to offer to so many differing tastes. Would love to stay for a week and take in some more performances. But, off to Croatia I go as I only have a few more days left of touring.