The English-speaking tourists gather in anticipation of their exciting Vienna Opera tour.
The upper lobby area, surviving allied bombs, comprises a large of portion of the opera making it through WWII unscathed. The opera hall chamber itself wasn't as fortunate.
These galleries, the lower seating, the stage and back area were all reconstructed in the 10 years after WWII.
A view of the stage and lower seating from the central rear large balcony:
Now exiting the balconies, and descending down into the lower lobby area. There are busts of all the famous Viennese opera composers.
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Beethoven again with scenes from his famous operas.
We re-enter the opera chamber at the lower floor and get more views of the stage workers doing their thing.
Here's our young tour guide providing a nice conclusion to our English tour.
On the way to the imperial treasury we see the home quarters of the Lipizzaner Stallions of Vienna:
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We begin our tour of the Imperial Treasury Vienna:
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The coronation crown, with various coronation gowns. Yes, those Liberace-looking gowns, as seen in old paintings, actually exist (and still exist).
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The bassinet of Napoleon's son:
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Religious relics - supposedly a face-piece of the burial shroud of Jesus, and an enclosure containing a piece of the crucifix.
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A dedication to Mozart - at the time of his death, he was poor, and placed in a mass pauper's grave outside town, although a mass was performed for him in the city's cathedral.
The Hofburg Imperial Palace:
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At this point, Gerri, who had been feeling off for a few days, starting to really feel off - a weakening, dizziness, vertigo like feeling. Not dehydration, we're good at touring with regular water drinking, she was thinking her BP meds were over-doing it. She'd gone off them in this period as a result - thinking she had low BP.
So we decided to find a clinic - and the best option seemed to be heading to Vienna General Hospital to get checked out. The walk-in clinic found her BP really high (huh, maybe she shouldn't have stopped taking the BP meds), and after doing a basic blood panel to rule out obvious causes, decided it was her system going through an adjustment to her BP meds, which suggested she should double her dose. (She later conferred with her doctor/nurse back home and they agreed.) So after $85 paid in full to the hospital and a $44 BP machine to continue watching it, we headed home - only about a 10 minute walk to our lodging, conveniently.
Hmmm, a person doesn't typically feel their BP edging up. And a vertigo-like feeling continued - Tim and a cousin had had similar symptoms in last few years. This turned out to be what is called calcium canoliths in the inner ear - a temporary calcium overabundance messing with the balance parts in the inner ear. Gerri decided it was her turn for this malady - for which there are "exercises" to manipulate them away from the sensitive parts while they are reabsorbed. I suppose these symptoms were fortunate in that they steered her to find out her BP meds needed adjustment - and the vertigo eventually went away, so we press on.
At this point, Gerri, who had been feeling off for a few days, starting to really feel off - a weakening, dizziness, vertigo like feeling. Not dehydration, we're good at touring with regular water drinking, she was thinking her BP meds were over-doing it. She'd gone off them in this period as a result - thinking she had low BP.
So we decided to find a clinic - and the best option seemed to be heading to Vienna General Hospital to get checked out. The walk-in clinic found her BP really high (huh, maybe she shouldn't have stopped taking the BP meds), and after doing a basic blood panel to rule out obvious causes, decided it was her system going through an adjustment to her BP meds, which suggested she should double her dose. (She later conferred with her doctor/nurse back home and they agreed.) So after $85 paid in full to the hospital and a $44 BP machine to continue watching it, we headed home - only about a 10 minute walk to our lodging, conveniently.
Hmmm, a person doesn't typically feel their BP edging up. And a vertigo-like feeling continued - Tim and a cousin had had similar symptoms in last few years. This turned out to be what is called calcium canoliths in the inner ear - a temporary calcium overabundance messing with the balance parts in the inner ear. Gerri decided it was her turn for this malady - for which there are "exercises" to manipulate them away from the sensitive parts while they are reabsorbed. I suppose these symptoms were fortunate in that they steered her to find out her BP meds needed adjustment - and the vertigo eventually went away, so we press on.
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