Vienna

Trip was great, but it was abit too rush. Not enough time to do/see all the things we planned. Add on that it was freezing (Budapest was snowing), so the pace for sightseeing was alot slower.

Budapest was gorgeous, the architecture was quite different from other European cities that I've visited. Only problem was that every single building was so magnificient, I got abit confused recognizing the places I have already visited, ha.

Vienna - probably because everything was in German, I kept thinking I was in Germany, and seriously, its not that different. But 1 day there is not enough!

Both cities are very rich in culture. It was a big pity we did not manage to catch any plays/concerts!

Our visit to Vienna was very much centred around music. Managed to find time to visit a luthier too. Our first stop was a very unlikely place to visit- the cemetery. Its said that Viennese have an obsession with death. You are a wasted man if you cannot afford a nice funeral/burial.

The cemetery is huge and even serves as a popular park on wkends. Very elaborate monuments for some of the graves.

There was one section dedicated to the musicians' graves. Apart from Mozart who was buried elsewhere (a memorial in place instead), the rest were all buried here.

In the town, there was also memorials/monuments of the wellknown musicians.

We also visited the House of Music. It was very different from boring museums that I have visited. It was very interactive - state-of-the-art technology to bring across very interesting scientific facts on sound/pitch/music. Of course there is the normal fare of historical exhibits on Beethoven/Mozart/Haydn. Spent an afternoon there.

I liked these 2 games below. The first was to throw dices to create music with different instruments. The other was to pretend you are conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. There was a sensor to sense the movement of your baton for fast/slow, and if you point the baton at eg. the string section, they will also play louder. Not easy, I only managed to conduct 1 out of 4 pieces. For the other 3, I was 'scolded' by the orchestra members, ha.

The other main attractions in town:

SchönbrunnPalace is the top tourist attraction, is a palace on sprawling ground.

Ferris wheel at Prater Park is also another attraction in Vienna. My classmate says it takes 2 hours to circle one round! Alot of time to load/unload.. I had imagined it was huge, but i think he Singapore Flyer is bigger? Prater Park has quite alot of rides as well.

We also spent (wasted) alot of time trying to locate the Paternoster Elevator at University of Vienna. It would have looked like this if it still existed (website didnt mentioned it was removed in July!)A paternoster is an non-stop elevator of cubicles without doors. You step in and out as and when you like, scary? Up on the left, down on the right. Do take alook on a working example on youtube. We were dying to know how it was like to travel over the top!

And of course, we must try out all the Viennese food!!

Schnitzer is pork cutlet. Brouillon is veal soup with raw egg. Ottakringer is Austrian brand beer, and spritzter is wine+soda. Sausages need no introduction.

And of course the very famous chocolate cake.

It costs 4Euro per slice. The more famous place to eat this is at Hotel Sacher, but we felt out of place just by stepping through the classy door. So we went to Cafe Demel, which also claimed to have the original recipe. Lijie, thanks for the recommendation! And here's the pixs as promised.

Just looking can make u melt. Its another pity that we did not have time to sit down at the cafe and enjoy a Viennese coffee. Coffee is an integral part of their culture!

OK, Budapest another day. Its like another Iceland- too much photos!