IF palatial surrounds can make you feel like royalty, I was empress for a day in Vienna today.
From the moment I stepped into the Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) for our guided tour in English, the neo-renaissance style with its beautifully crafted marble columns, grand staircase, ceiling dripping with golden paint and fittings, surrounded by statues and artworks, I certainly felt like royalty ... even before having my photo taken in period dress in the foyer.
The Vienna State Opera is considered one of the most important opera houses in the world and has the largest repertoire.
The much-loved home of the dance and musical arts, which opened with Mozart's Don Giovanni in 1869, is home to about 50 to 60 operas and 15 ballets each 300-day season. If you are staying in Vienna for a few nights, you can visit every night and see a different show as they are programmed on a rotational basis about every four or five nights.
Opera season runs during the colder months from September to June. So, over the summer months, the behind-the-scenes tours offered in German, English, French and Spanish are in high demand. Vienna residents and visitors are only allowed to go backstage at this time, during these tours.
Also only as part of these tours can you see Emperor Franz Joseph Habsburg's private tearoom where he entertained guests and where his family gathered during intervals.
From a seat in his private box, we have the best view of the stage from above, though our guide tells us he was more likely to sit in the tall, middle box on the left of the stage where he could wave to his people then pull a curtain for privacy (and have a nap after a long day playing emperor if necessary!).
We close our eyes and imagine the excited chatty voices and bejewelled women in flowing gowns on a magical show night before the lights dim and the curtain goes up.
About 1500 seats and up to 700 standing places are available for every show. Tickets can range up to 250 euro or more for premium seats, depending on the artists and show. But if you are willing to stand for a show, which could last from three to five hours with intervals, you can pay from only 2 or 4 euros and have almost as good a view as someone who has paid 100 times more ... as long as you don't mind arriving 90 minutes or more beforehand and queuing as well.
Hit by fires over the years (it now has three massive iron fire doors) and mistaken for a railway station and bombed in 1945 during the Second World War, the opera house has undergone changes but remains a national treasure - as priceless as any crown jewels.
To continue that right royal feeling, we took another hop on, hop off bus trip, including a free cruise on the Danube Canal (Donaukanal), before paying a visit to the Habsburg monarchs' 1441-room summer address: Schoenbrunn Palace.
A wander over the square (with a stop for a photo opportunity gracing the majestic stairways), past the marionette theatre and through the leafy green park and colourful gardens, beside the exotic zoo and hedge maze will bring you to what I consider the crowning glory: aptly named Gloriette.
The panorama over Vienna and the palace and grounds in general is simply breathtaking. You'll pay for the view when you order your dessert or iced coffee on the terrace of the Gloriette but it's worth it to drink in the splendour of your surrounds before making the trek back down the hill.
Lesson of the day: Phone company stores and salespeople are the same the world over. I guess it's comforting to know they are as unhelpful over here as they are at home. Back to free wifi ...
Squirrel count: Now stands at 10
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