After the 7-hour, 35-minute flight from JFK, the 40+ singers, director, friends, and family arrived in Austria Saturday morning, a little bleary-eyed perhaps, but excited nonetheless to have feet touching the ground in our first stop: Vienna. We met our tour guide from Concerts Austria, Ondrau (Czech for Andrew), who greeted us at the airport and brought us to the bus to begin our sight-seeing tour.
We got our first glimpses of the city and traveled the Ringstrasse to catch sight of some famous buildings and statues including one dedicated to Beethoven, who apparently lived in over 39 different apartments in Vienna during his lifetime.
We met up with our Vienna tour guide, Thomas, who gave us some insights into the history of the country and city, especially focused on the role of the Hapsburgs, especially Maria Theresa.
We made a special trip to Schonnbrun, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs.
After taking a bit of rest, the group rehearsed before going to a nearby vineyard to enjoy some traditional Austrian cuisine and culture. Sufficed to say, the group was more than ready for some much needed slumber to prepare for Sunday evening's concert at the famous Karlskirche.
More tomorrow...
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