Woke up at 6 this mornign and it was still dark. We got ready for breakfast and went down for the buffet. It was very quiet. And very dark. Turns out we looked at the wrong clock and were 3 hours early. Went back and did some internet research on what to do in Vienna.
6:30 finally arrived and we had a great breakfast.
. We decided on horses and the symphony

Large screen TV

That very large screen TV on top of the building is on even during the day

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Went walking after breakfast and passed a lot of old buildings and antique shops

more old building

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Even more old buildings

St. Stephens church during the daylight. Somebody spent allot of time on detailing this church.

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pipe organ

The pipe organ inside the church. The interior of the church is 9 stories high. This is a big organ.

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We finally ended up at the Lipizzaner Horse Barn. Paid to go see practice as it was much cheaper than watching the entire horse show in the evening. Unfortunately, after we bought the tickets we found the practice was shortened by 1/2 hour and 25% of the seats were reserved for special groups. It was a bit crowded. Fortunately Diane was pushy enough to get to the front and had a good view of the horses. Unfortunatley the ushers near us did not allow pictures so we have none to show. The practice was inside the fancy building with balcony seating, chandelliers, and with statues and pillars thoughout the hall.

High end horse barn

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Social security

This is what happens to horses that are either too old or else don't obey commands.

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Went walking to look for the symphony hall ticket office to buy tickets to hear the Vienna Orchestra play tonight in the fancy music hall.
Got lost and saw a lot more old buildings.
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There was a circus in town set up right in front of city hall creating a strange mix of the old and the new, serious business and entertainment

The Vienna City Hall building is called the Rathaus. .

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The churches have fancy decoration and few active members.

Another building we would have missed if we had not gotten lost.

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Finally listed to Diane and found the music hall.

The performance that night was sold out. So we bought standing room only tickets. We heard there was not much room in the Standing Room Only section so we hurried back to the hotel, to clean up and get back to stand in line 1 hour and 45 minutes before the concert was to start. We were about the 10th ones in our line. The other line was about the same length.

Started talking to the young kid in front of us who happened to be an organ player for churches in his home town. He was visiting from Germany and had gone to a concert last week. He explaind that 90 minutes before the start they open the front doors and the 2 lines go to the bottom of the stairs. 60 minutes before the start, the lines move to the base of the stairs. 30 minutes before the start they open the doors to the standing room only section. At that point it is a mad dash to get to the rail for 2 reasons. You have something to lean on during the 2 hour performance and you can actually see the orchestra.

There were quite a few old people in the line ahead of us so I thought we had a good chance at a position on a rail. Well, those old ladies moved fast. The rail curved around in front of the door. The ladies went under the rail to get to thier spots. Diane and I did get a rail position but unfortunately there was a 2 foot wide column directly in front of us. Once Diane shows me how to get pictures off of my phone I will post a picture of the Standing room only crowd.

The music was very good but next time we will make sure we buy a ticket that comes with a chair. I did see a guy that fell asleep as soon as the music started, woke up for itermission, then resumed his nap until the standing ovation. I did not notice if he stood and clapped during the ovation.
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The ceiling

The concert hall, the orchestra, and part of the column that we stood behind.

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Standing room only to the left

Standing room only to the right

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. For future reference Row 30 and row 31 would be good. The very last 2 rows, hopefully in the less ridiculously priced section, but they were raised up. All other seating was flat, no sloped floor from the stage to the back..