Vienna, Austria It is a glorious day today, just like the first day of spring. We celebrated by going to watch the exercise session of the Lipizzaner horses at the palace.
We’ve done this before and really enjoy it. Two sets of five horses are put through their paces for 30 minutes each, under the supervision of a senior rider. This can’t be photographed, but check it out on YouTube, and/or watch an actual performance of the Spanish Riding School.
Originally designed to entertain only the court, the classical training of the gorgeous white stallions is poetry in motion, and the school itself is stunning. How many horses get to train and perform under chandeliers and with classical music playing?
We walked through the palace complex to head back to our hotel for a brief break before an evening event.
Details follow.
Don’s Food and Culture Corner
Tonight it was off to Vienna’s Volksoper to see a performance of Johann Strauss II’s “Die Fledermaus.” The Volksoper performs some 10 or 12 operettas and musicals in rep throughout the year, and there’s a different performance every day. Last year we saw excellent productions of “Cabaret,” “The Merry Widow,” and “The Sound of Music” — in German with English supertitles. The theatre is one of those 19th century jewels with great acoustics and an intimacy that is rare. The production values of this busy company are impressive.
One of the world’s favorite operettas, “Die Fledermaus” features a slew of recognizable tunes, including some great waltzes. They certainly know how to stage waltz scenes. If it can’t be done right in Vienna, it can’t be done right.
Before the performance, we booked ourselves into a local café — circa 1900, beautifully appointed with great period decor. This was definitely off the tourist beaten path and you could tell. The service and the food was what the Viennese would expect.
Jo ordered the wiener schnitzel, of course. Hard to admit, but it rivaled the version we had at our favorite restaurant the other day. The breading was perfect, the veal was perhaps even more tender and it came with an excellent potato salad. Graded a solid A.
I ordered a bratwurst platter. Two great links of the mild bratwurst. Plus, a serving of rosti potatoes — pan-fried potatoes in a quasi-pancake. Perfect. There was a nice serving of sauerkraut that was loaded with caraway seeds and tasted a little sweet. Another classic dish, very nicely prepared and presented.
