The kids requested a quiet Holiday break in Lund, which was quite nice for all of us. We had a chance to tackle a few more items on the to-do-list as well as enjoy local festivities. Erin and Ramesh hosted a wonderful Christmas brunch and we had our second annual group Julbord in Malmö. After lots of low-key merrymaking we were up for a long weekend in Austria to celebrate New Year’s Eve Viennese style!
We managed to get ourselves nearly to Stephansplatz, the main square for NYE celebrations. Luckily we made it onto Graben street where revelers waltz under the chandeliers. The Blue Danube waltz fills the air as the bells of Saint Stephans toll. Let the waltzing and cheering commence! It was so charming and manageable as far as big crowds go. People were mostly calm and happy. We caught only a glimpse of the fireworks show, and once the waltzing ended we took a scenic route back to the metro and the hotel, feeling that we had hit most of the highlights and joined in a unique NYE tradition.
Earlier in the evening we managed another traditional Austrian pub meal, including excellent house beer and another version of my new favorite thing, iced apricot dumpling!
We burned some of those calories walking to the Billrothaus Festsall to hear the Vienna Kaiser Orchestra
which was better than we’d anticipated.
The program was short and highly entertaining (the conductor told stories and set the scenes) with a sampling from Vienna’s historical music scene’s “greatest hits.” The space seemed much too small for dancers but somehow they delivered, and the intimately sized theater made for excellent sound and a nice connection to the performers. The only downside was rude behavior by many in the audience who were distracting with their smart phones and chatter. We had a hard time ignoring some of the drama of audience members attempting to one-up each other with their bad manners. Seriously embarrassing. One alternative would be to book a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic, but the seats sell out about 5 years in advance and even the standing room only tickets are expensive. Plus we would need fancy clothes for that while this venue allows casual dress and a smaller time commitment. We even had time for a short nap before hitting the “New Year’s Eve Trail”
Once back at the hotel we tried to get some sleep but the fireworks and partying was still going strong at 3am. We were running on adrenaline the next morning for breakfast at Aida and while the kids were packing, Bry and I headed back to see Stephansplatz since we never made it there the previous night. We enjoyed some of the live broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Day concert and saw quite a bit of the area before we had to get back to fetch the kids for our return trip to Lund. Short and sweet!
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