Day 4 - Salzburg & Vienna - 26 Sep 2016

We woke up at 730am in the morning. As there was no plan for the day - except knowing that we would be heading back to Vienna from Salzburg - we dilly-dallied and checked out of our hotel at 845am.

We searched for a nice breakfast place but as it was probably still early, hardly any shops were open. And so, Macdonald crossed our mind and knowing that there was one nearby, we settled our breakfast at Macdonald. The burgers and the coffee were of pathetically small in quantity but at least, it was compensated by its standard that was maintained. At Macdonald, we were trying to plan our travels for the next day and whilst randomly surfing the internet, Emma suggested Budapest. It definitely sounded exciting to travel out to Hungary. However, the excitement was only short-lived and the idea was immediately aborted when we read the news that there was a bomb attack in Budapest just two days before.

We visited the Mozart museum. We took our time to read about his life and his journey as a musician and composer. He was inspirational and indeed, a musical genius of the Classical era with more than 600 works during his lifetime. As Joseph Haydn aptly wrote," Posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years." It has definitely been more than 100 years.

We got back to the hotel at 1230pm. After getting our luggages, we walked to the train station and caught the train to Vienna. As we were running short of time, we got our lunch at the station, just before the train departed at 1252pm.

After two and half hours, at about 320pm, we arrived at Vienna. We cabbed and reached our hotel, Saint Shermin, at about 4pm. We left our hotel at about 5pm to walk around at the Vienna Market. There was a wide range of things to see and plenty of alfresco dining options to choose from. We couldn't make up our mind as to where to have our dinner and hence, we decided to walk back to the hotel to ask the lady at the reception if she could recommend.

Well, she did her best to recommend. But on last Friday when we first arrived at Vienna, we actually got the Austria Trend hotel's staff to make reservation for our dinner at Zum Weissen Rauchfangkehrer. And boy, we were glad to honour our reservation. The restaurant prides itself on serving the best of Austrian cuisine. We had watercress soup and schnitzel and while Emma had joghurtsorbet as her desert, I had Wiener Melange (a Viennese kind of coffee that tasted similar to that of a latte or cappuccino). And the dining experience was enhanced with the accompaniment of a pianist who played so wonderfully throughout the evening.

After dinner, the stroll back to our hotel was as enjoyable too. Emma did a little bit of shopping at Swarovski which originates in Austria and no wonder, its store had two stories, with another level at the basement. After she was done, as we strolled along the streets, we heard music coming from afar where Vienna State Opera is located. As we neared the opera house, we saw live performance (on a gigantic screen) of a perfectly choreographed contemporary ballet dance with orchestra music. There were many people - some standing and some sitting - who were as captivated (by the performance) as us. And there and then, we found the heart and soul of Vienna - a city rich in its musical legacy and the arts.

At 9pm, we reached the hotel and near the reception counter, it offered a variety of beverages and to end our night in the most relaxed manner, we had chamomile tea at the reception area.

But if only, we could be transported back to the Vienna State Opera, that would be the icing on the cake.