May 9

Friday morning we were up and out the door early. We grabbed McDonalds (right beside the hotel) and headed for the Hofburg Palace. You may or may not have heard of the Lipizzaners and the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. However, it is actually pretty neat. These horses are trained to be fighting machines, that were very useful in mid-evil times. They are trained to stand on their back legs and defend against oncoming attack, they are also trained to jump and kick straight back…all with a rider on them. Anyway, a show is something hard to come by, but every morning they have up and coming horses that they are training, some very close to making it. They allow a certain amount of people to watch them. So, we needed to be at the riding school before 9:30, because the ‘Morning Exercise” starts at 10:00am. We got there just in time, because after we got our tickets and got in line to go inside, the ticket line was out the door. Seating was in an awesome indoor riding complex, and it was first come, first serve. So once we got in the gate…there was a little scramble. We stayed till the end of the show which was about 12:00. It was nice to get to see them, although sometimes it was a little boring, because it was practice and not a show and they were working on things that were not that exciting. However, it was a great experience none the less.

We walked back towards the hotel and grabbed some wine and cheese as a lunch appetizer. Then we walked to the Josephium. This is a medical school’s museum that has some interesting things, however the most impressive thing are the wax replicas of many body parts. He has the entire nervous system, cardio, respiratory, full bodies, part bodies, pieces and parts. It was actually a really cool exhibit. It would be great for paramedics, nurses, or even 1st year med students. It really helps to show you what is underneath your skin.

We then walked to the Sigmund Freud museum. This museum was amazing. It was in his old apartment/office. He had his waiting room, office and study in one part of the floor and then it was separated from the rest of the house for private use. It was amazing to see his stuff, much of it original. Such a pioneer.

We then continued on a very long walk across the canal to the Kriminal Museum. This was a pretty interesting museum, but it was in German. They had many things from crimes throughout the years there, plus an array of pictures, etc, sometimes recreations. It was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be, and I was happy. Once I learn German, I am going back.
We then left there and had another long walk to Hunderwasserhaus. This is a set of apartments that has become a tourist attraction. It is very unique, although all you can do is look at it. There are some café’s right below it so we stopped in for a beer. It was then that we realized that we needed to eat, so we grabbed some food as well. After hanging out, we headed back to the hotel to change for the evening. We grabbed a Tram to the Opera House(not the original) but still a very nice location. (Goldener Saal) It was very close to the actual opera house, but this was a more affordable option. We obtained some tickets that were not too expensive to see the Mozart Orchestra perform. This is a group of actually some very good musicians that play nothing but Mozart’s music. There is anywhere from 12-60+ tonight we had about 40 musicians. They are all dressed in period costumes and it was a really neat experience. They even have intermission, which is something I have not experienced. If you do not make it back in time, you will not be allowed to enter the main room. (If it was in Qatar, the room would be full of westerners and there would be many empty seats when it started) It lasted a few hours and it was a truly great experience. We were not allowed to take pictures in many of the places we were at, but I was able to sneak a few. We walked home late and were not long for the world.

Hunderwasserhaus

Hunderwasserhaus

Goldener Saal

My Illegal shot from inside the Goldener Saal.