Channelling "Before Sunrise"
We both woke this morning feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep. I showered and dressed, and while Sophie was finishing getting ready, I went down to the lobby in search of coffee. The hotel provided free coffee, as well as bottles of still and sparkling water. I made myself a Macchiato and went to wait for Sophie on one of the comfortable chairs.
After my first coffee and a bottle of sparkling water, I started to feel human! When Sophie descended, I made her a coffee and had my second. I was then all set for the day ahead!
Sophie had written an itinerary, and we were to take breakfast at the Kleines Café, which was featured in the lovely film Before Sunrise, starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. It wasn't far away, and we decided to use the underground and buy a 24-hour ticket. We only had one stop, and we were both impressed with the underground, as it was efficient and pleasantly busy. Karlsplatz was a large station with numerous cafés and shops, so it felt a bit like Berlin's Alexanderplatz without the loonies!
 |
| Part of the beautiful roof of St Stephen's Church |
The Kleines Café was situated on a pretty square with an imposing church opposite. We were able to take a seat inside, which was good as the weather was a little disappointing with grey skies and a chilly wind.
The café didn't take card payments, so we had to be careful with what we spent! I'd changed £100 into euros for tips and coffees, but we hadn't expected to use 30 euros for drinks last night! I chose scrambled eggs with bread, while Sophie opted for an open ham sandwich. We both ordered a "Viennese Melange", a milder coffee, with frothy milk.
There was a kind of edgy vibe in the café. Our waiter was very young and didn't say a lot or smile at all, and the music in the background was The Clash and Siouxsie and the Banshees. I think most of the people visiting the café were there because of the film, so it must bring them in a fair amount of custom!
The food was good, and the bread was deliciously dense. My eggs had actually been cooked properly and were just right!
As we enjoyed our breakfast, the sky cleared, and the sun came out. Our waiter wiped the tables outside, and soon, more customers had arrived to sit and enjoy a coffee in the sunshine. We paid our bill - 40 euros with a tip, which made the waiter give us a big smile at last - and left. Sophie had been messaging Michael over breakfast, and when we went outside, we had a video call with him. He told us he'd managed to get a new job at a golf course, so that was great news!
We had a short walk to a tram stop and waited for the next one to arrive. Sophie was brilliant at navigating her way around the city using public transport, and we really made the most of it on this visit. We only had a short tram ride to the Zollamtssteg bridge that was used for one of the film locations. It spans a river with a railway track underneath.
Culture Vultures
Reluctantly, we tore ourselves away and walked back to the tram stop. A building opposite caught my eye. It had an imposing statue of an eagle (?) on top of the roof:
Our tram took us to a beautiful park, the Burggarten, where people were strolling and enjoying the sunshine. We had a booking at the Heidi Horton Gallery between 12:00pm and 12:30pm, and we were looking forward to seeing some modern art.
 |
| Burggarten |
The gallery was situated in a lovely enclave of buildings, and we were able (with some help!) to leave our bags and coats in a locker. We then enjoyed a wander around the gallery's ground floor, where we admired a painting by Klimt and several by Andy Warhol and Basquiat. I loved the Klimt painting, but remained unmoved by the Warhol and Basquiat art!
 |
| Andy Warhol - I didn't mind this one |
 |
| A collaboration between Warhol and Basquiat |
 |
| Classic Andy Warhol |
 |
| Klimt |
 |
| Mark Rothko |
 |
| Picasso - Tomato Plant |
We were thrilled to find a Magritte, and both of us couldn't stop staring at the painting, which we thought was sinister, but interesting...
 |
| One of the Empire of Light series of paintings |
We loved the dark house and foreground, against the incongruous blue sky and fluffy clouds.
 |
| Marc Chagall |
On the first and second floors was an exhibition "Animalia". There were definitely some quirky exhibits! On the wall was a video playing of a woman dancing naked around sheep... Okaaaaaay!
 |
| Sophie wasn't sure about this! |
We were delighted to see a Tea Room on the first floor, but it wasn't quite what we were expecting! No tables and chairs to sit and relax with a drink! But it was welcoming and a place to sit and contemplate life, if that's what you wanted!
 |
| The ceiling of the Tea Room |
 |
| Stuffed cuddly toys in jars (not real ones, thankfully!) |
 |
| Hmmm! |
 |
| I liked this |
The Heidi Horton Gallery was a truly lovely place, and very honest about how the paintings were acquired. Heidi Horton's husband had bought up many Jewish businesses just before the Second World War and profited from them, and there was a sign informing us of this.
We retrieved our coats and bags from the locker, had a quick look at the items for sale in the tiny shop, and then made our way outside. The weather was still beautiful, and we went in search of a drink before our lunch booking a little later.
Among Eurovision fans
Luckily, we stumbled upon Napolino just around the corner and took a seat outside. A friendly waiter took our order for two Aperol Spritzes, and we sat back and relaxed. There was a steady procession of people walking up and down the street, and a short distance away, we could see the Opera House.
Once we had sat down, others had followed, and it was very pleasant sitting in the sun and watching the comings and goings of all the different nationalities sauntering past. However, lunch at the Café Savoy was calling, so we paid the bill and walked back through the park to get the bus.
It was only a short ride to the restaurant, and we were shown to a table. I didn't fancy another schnitzel, and I hadn't worked up a huge appetite, so we both decided to have the fried chicken salad. We ordered a pichet of Grüner Veltliner and sat back to observe our fellow diners, who were mostly male and sporting Eurovision wrist bands and T-shirts. We had stumbled on Eurovision fandom!
The last time we had visited, it wasn't patently obvious that the Café Savoy was a haven for the LGBT+ community, but it was clear today! I then noticed a painting opposite and correctly identified it as a Caravaggio print. It was the same boy who had appeared in the painting we saw at The Wallace Collection in Marylebone, and I recognised him immediately. He had the same insolent look on his face that I had found so disturbing. Thankfully, with this painting, his lower half was covered up!
 |
| Caravaggio's Bacchus |
 |
| With my infantile sense of humour, this made me laugh..."Sophie, you're a Schladminger!" |
 |
| Lunch |
I found lunch a little disappointing as I couldn't taste much, so maybe I should have had the schnitzel as almost everyone else did! The tomatoes were tasty, though!
We paid the bill and took the nearby underground U4 line back to the hotel. It was time for a little nap, a hot shower, a catch-up with the BBC and Sky News (how many times could they say that Wes Streeting had resigned?), and a glass of fizz in our bar before our evening at the opera!
Der Rosenkavalier - an opera by Richard Strauss
Tonight, we dressed up a bit and walked the short distance to the Opera House. We left the hotel at the same time as a Spanish couple, and I couldn't help admiring the woman's beautiful skirt and high-heeled shoes.
Like last time, the interior was stiflingly hot, and we had to ask an usher how to get to our seats. This time, we were seated at the top tier, three floors up. When we arrived, I almost got the collywobbles again as we were high up, but this time there were rails in front of the seats, so I didn't have that awful sense of falling as I did last Saturday in Birmingham.
We took our seats, and I was glad that I was at the end of a row so I could stretch my legs. The opera started at 6:00pm and finished at 10:15pm, with two intermissions. It was a long one! The opera opened with the Marschallin sprawled on her sumptuous bed after spending the night with her young lover, the 17-year-old Octavian. I immediately noticed that Octavian was played by a woman...
The Marschallin was in a philosophical mood and said that soon her young lover would find a woman and leave her. The music was beautiful and the singing exceptional. We were gripped! It transpired that the Marschallin wanted Octavian to be the rose-bearer (Rosenkavalier) for her cousin Ochs' proposal to the beautiful, young Sophie. He agreed, and the first act ended.
We decided to go in search of a drink, and were surprised to see people reclaiming their coats from the cloakroom as if the opera had already ended! We spotted a sign for a buffet up another flight of stairs, and my own Sophie joined the long queue. We didn't know how long the intermission was (despite the timings posted on the wall near the doors!), but as we neared the head of the queue, the first of the bells rang, summoning us back to our seats.
The second act opened with Sophie and her father, and then Octavian appeared, beautifully dressed in silver and carrying the rose. The pair immediately fell in love. When Ochs arrives, he acts lecherously towards Sophie, who realises that she doesn't want to marry him after all and wants to be with Octavian.
The reason why a woman was cast as Octavian became clear when he underwent a disguise as the Marschallin's maid, whom Ochs lusts after, despite being betrothed to Sophie. I doubt a male opera singer would be able to carry it off! We both thought that the opera, despite first appearing in 1911, was very much of our times today and was relevant to a modern audience. The man sitting in front of us was obviously a huge fan, as he kept telling people to be quiet and was quite vociferous in his requests!
When the second act ended, Sophie and I leapt up from our seats and legged it up the stairs to be almost first in the queue for a glass of wine!
While we relaxed with our wine, I chatted with a neighbour, Lynn, on WhatsApp, who was asking if we would buy raffle tickets to help raise money to fight a solar farm planned for our area! It was quite surreal!
The third act started, and it was a bit farcical as Ochs was trapped in a tavern and made a fool of. The ending was beautiful when Sophie and Octavian declared their love for one another. We made our way down the flights of steps and out into the night.
From the sublime to the ridiculous...
We were both feeling hungry now, so we decided to stop at a currywurst stand and have a very late supper! We joined a queue of people with the same idea and ordered a currywurst each, with a portion of French fries. We also treated ourselves to a small bottle of wine each.
We stood with the other revellers and ate our supper, and then walked the very short distance back to the hotel, where we relaxed for a little while before bed. Tomorrow is the final of Eurovision!
No comments:
Post a Comment