KLynn's Big Birthday Adventure

Bob here: KLynn and I are totally spoiled living in Eastern Europe. KLynn's birthday is Monday, and to celebrate we took a three-day trip to Vienna, Austria. We left Thursday morning and just returned a few hours ago. It was WAY COOL! For a music geek there just isn't a better place. [At one subway station there is a pay toilet facility that features piped in Strauss walzes.] KLynn and I spent most of our time shopping for grandchildren, going to concerts, operas, visiting castles, and enjoying one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Last night we attended a performance of "The Elixer of Love" by Donnazetti (sp?) at the Vienna State Opera House. It was beyond amazing. The building makes every other opera house I've ever visited seem like a poor sister, and the talent on stage was equally outstanding. KLynn and I felt very blessed to be able to be there. The cab driver who took us to the airport this morning said the original opera house was destroyed by American bombers during the war, and the people of Vienna joined together to reconstruct it as close to the original as possible. Hurray for the people of Vienna! Thursday we attended a symphonic concert at the "Golden Hall" in the Vienna Musik Verein, which was just behind our hotel. I would describe that in equally glowing terms. Friday we attended a performance of the operatta "Die Fledermaus" at the "Volksoper," traditionally the opera house for the common people. It was great too! KLynn and I thought of her sister, Wendee, who sings an aria from that work. Vienna is an expensive city to visit -- think New York with a bad currency exchange rate -- so it will be a while before we go there again, but we will definitely want to go back in another year or two. Last but not least, we found this great little French cafe that was always filled with locals. We ate there a lot and brought some pastries home with us on the plane. Tomorrow it's back to work.