Vienna Day 3. Musikverein

The day began quietly with a slow awakening after the late night before. By mid-morning we'd got our act together sufficiently to think about introducing our Budapest friends to the glories of Vienna. The weather wasn't all that cooperative, though, and we had to make a few dashes in and out of the rain. We tok the underground to Stephansplatz, the heart of the old town, and went on a bit of a wander, hoping to stumble on somewhere for a bite to eat. We found the very place purely by accident, an excellent no-nonsense, cheap and cheerful establishment that offered ham and eggs, scrambled egg, goulash and the like. We spent a really enjoyable hour or so there, by which time the rain had stopped and we were better able to appreciate the architectural splendours around us.

Our visitors originally intended getting the five o'clock train back to Budapest, but time caught up on us and they ended up coming back in to the city later on with us, as I was meeting my music group companion for a concert and Carl was in for some serious socialising while we took our dose of culture. The concert consisted of a performance of Franz Schmidt's Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (The book with Seven Seals), a rarely performed work for chorus, vocal soloists, organ and large orchestra. It was magnificent, a truly exciting and uplifting experience, made all the more special for me because the performance was in the Musikverein, one of the world's great concert halls (indeed, some consider it the greatest).

The other two were due to meet us back at the concert hall, but there was no sign of them when we got out. We tried and tried and tried to get both pairs to meet up, but it took an inordinately long time before that was accomplished. We two had a quick beer in a nice café near the Opera House, but they finished serving at 11.00 and still the others hadn't caught up with us. When they finally did, Carl and I decided the best thing to do at that stage was get a taxi back to our place. which we did.