Austria Day 4 - Sunday, August 26

Sunday, August 26

Got up and breakfasted in our sweet apartment, then took the U-bahn to the Stephanskirche, the Vienna Dom. We wanted to attend the High Mass featuring a mass composed by Fauré and his student, Messager, Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville, which was to start at 9:30 a.m. It was early--only a little after 8 a.m., so we scouted the cafés and found a coffee house open. The girls each selected a different Viennese delicacy: ME a brioche, GE a Schaumrolle, and HR picked something we couldn't recognize...

We took lots of photos of the exquisite architecture as we strolled.

Inside St. Stephans.

St. Stephan's famous tiled roof.

At 9:15 the bells began to toll and we made our way back to find seats. The music was gorgeous--well worth sitting through the rest of the mass. I even managed to understand a fair amount of the priest's Austrian dialect as he gave the sermon, but the Littles (HR and GE) both fell asleep! 

Afterwards, we went to the Haus der Musik, which includes the museum of the Vienna Philharmoniker. We spent a couple of hours in the exhibits--lots of cool music/sound demonstrations and explanations, also a history of Vienna Philharmonic and the associated composers, conductors, and musicians. Kids got to conduct the Philharmonic in the final exhibit room. Hilarious!

For lunch we grabbed food from a street truck, then took U-bahn to the Prater amusement park for ride on the giant Ferris wheel. The kids also wanted to ride a rollercoaster, so we rode a traditional Achter Bahn and wooped and hollered!

From there we hopped on the U-bahn again to go stroll along the Donau (Danube) river before heading back to Ruthensteiner Hostel for late afternoon naps and a light supper. We are TIRED. 😁
Tomorrow: Schönbrunn palace and museums.