2008 ROW Lecture Tour - Vienna

Vienna City of My Dreams is the name of a tune written by the Austrian composer of Polish ancestry, Rudolf Sieczynski.

It has been said that a tune has been written to suit every occasion. It has also been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And I must say, as one of the beholders, I did not find Vienna to be beautiful. Full of history and buildings of great historical value - yes. The massive palaces were, not to my eye, greatly attractive- solid stone structures - yes, that cannot be denied. As for aesthetically pleasing - to my eye, no. And the blue Danube was most certainly not blue.

So why have I shared this, what could be referred to as, rather bleak, view of Vienna? Most certainly not to put you off visiting there, only to be forewarned in case you are expecting much more than what is. And if you do happen to find that my eye was somewhat jaundiced, how much more pleasurable it will be for you.

Having said all of that, I do not wish to infer in any way that my time there was far from being enjoyable. I enjoyed every moment of it. As with the other places that I visited, I found the people most kind and friendly, always willing to go out of their way to assist whenever possible.

Flag Seal
Location of Vienna in Austria
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The street which is depicted here is one of the main thoroughfares of Vienna, and one which I walked down every day whilst I was there. The time of the year that I was there may possibly been a cause of my jaundiced view, it being April, still bitterly cold, with rain, and blustery wind. Not every day was like that all day though and on the week-end I was able to catch some morning sunshine and visit the markets on the bank of the Danube River.


The markets sold every imaginable thing, some of which looked as though they could at one time been prized family heirlooms. In many ways they are little different from those to be found any-where in the world today, except of course the majority of the wares were of local origin.





My main interest, naturally enough, was in the the fruit and vegetable section which was quite well supplied, as can be seen. It being the time of the year it was, just coming into spring, the majority of the produce on sale, except for a few vegatables, was imported from the warmer countries, such as Spain and North Africa, as well as North and South America.


The transport system was excellent. I could have caught a tram almost anywhere. And, as with all modern trams, they are so quiet and un-polluting. The Photo here depicts both the old and the new, ech of which were equally silent, and although I did not take the oportunity to ride on them, looked equally comfortable, as well as being in great demand by the local people.





Another form of transportation which appeared to be quite popular with tourists and locals having a day out, were these horsedrawn carriages.






One of the joys of working with these programmes when posting the photos, is not knowing, or being able to precisely control where and how, they will eventually appear. Another of the joys is being able to share with you the joy and pleasure of visiting these various places steeped in history.

The photos here depict the composers Haydn and Mozart, and the poet Goethe.


Memory sometimes is not to be relied upon so it seems. I had a very vivid memory of photographing the Vienna Opera House, yet I am unable to find it. So much for memory.This is a view of the stage, which in depth is deeper than the seating area.