Day 10: Vienna

(Still on a German keyboard, still getting Blogger in German, so apologies for any weirdness.)

I've been in Vienna two days and a bit now, and I've been to seven museums. I already mentioned the surrealist exhibit I saw the first day, but here's a quick something about the rest.

• The Kunsthistorisches Museum A pretty typical big European classical art gallery, with exhibits ranging from ancient Egypt to the late Renaissance. Since I always enjoy those type of museums, I had a great time with this one. And since I got a free audio-guide I wound up spending over four hours wandering around and learning about paintings.
  


• Museum Moderner Kunst (MUMOK) The modern art museum, though I'm not sure if they have any permanent exhibitions or just special events. Regardless, they had a photo exhibit that I thought was all right, and some stuff on Viennese Actionism and Nouveau Realisme that weren't really my thing.


• Kunsthalle Wien The Summer of Love exhibit caught my eye, and since they closed later than the rest of the museums I impulsively decided to check it out. An exhibit about psychedelic art from the 1960s, I had a really good time with this one.
  


• The Leopold Collection More what I expected from the MUMOK, a good collection of Austrian art from the early 20th century, including several pieces from Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. There was also a special exhibit called Body, Face & Soul devoted to the female image from the 16th to the 20th centuries that was especially interesting.
  


• The Haus der Musik Both the museum for the Vienna Philharmonic and a Science World-y journey into the world of sound, it was interesting if a little gimmicky. At least I was able to catch a nap during the video of the Philharmonic's New Year's Concert.
  


• The Mozarthaus One of the apartments in Vienna where Mozart lived, and where he composed the Marriage of Figaro. The displays were a little sparse, but the very thorough (free) audio guide made up for it.
  

Other than the museums, I've eaten Wiener Schnitzel, eaten Bratwurst from a street-vendor, and watched United 93 at an English-language theatre. I stopped by the Opera yesterday to inquire about tickets, and the only cheap ones they had left only had a 20% view of the stage. They had standing-room still, but I passed it up since it was for a fairly edgy-looking (albeit interesting) version of Moses und Aron. Tonight they're doing The Magic Flute, and while I've been told tickets are completely sold out, I may still try for standing room.

Tonight's my last night in Vienna, and tomorrow morning I catch the train for Prague, where hopefully I'll be able to find my hotel and meet up with Zafeer.