Vienna, Austria - Friday

We started the day by visiting our local bakery to get breakfast. We headed out of the city today. Technically we were still in the city but out of the downtown area. We took two subways and a bus to Kahlenberg, a lookout point where we could look down on the busy city. There were a lot of school groups there when we got there. There also is a hotel there and a venue for weddings, etc.

From there we started hiking downhill through forests and then through the Nussberg vineyards. Vienna is home to over 140 wineries, emphasizing white wine. We passed grapes being picked both by hand and by machine. The machine shakes the vine and the grapes fall off. Around the ends of the rows some grapes fall out and were left behind. The smell of fermented grapes was strong. There also are occasionally roses planted at the end of vineyard rows. Roses are more sensitive to diseases and will die first alerting the vineyards workers to treat the vines before they are attacked. Part way down we stopped at the Weininger am Nussberg, a well known winery for lunch. It was a beautiful day for drinking wine and enjoying the view. Unfortunately we couldn't linger too long as we had other plans, so we finished hiking and then took a bus back to our apartment.

Tonight's musical adventure was a concert of the Vienna Boys Choir at the Muth performance hall just minutes from our apartment.
Things we didn't know:
- there are four different boys choirs all made up of boys 10-14.
- all of the boys live at the boarding school from Monday morning until Saturday at noon where they receive a regular education and extensive music training. Tuition is pretty cheap ($300-$400 dollars a month)
- each of the groups tour internationally 9-11 weeks a year. The other weeks they perform in and around Austria including weekly performances at the Muth and singing at mass at St Peters.
- they now have a girl's choir as well that performs locally and internationally
Our concert was the first of the season as the boys had only been back in school for two weeks. There were 22 boys singing on stage and 9 of them were new to the choir and this was their first performance. They did a great job singing songs in German, Italian, Japanese and English and ranging from classical to show tunes to pop.

We were supposed to meet our former exchange student, Elena, and her boyfriend Luis, however, Elena woke up sick that morning and was unable to come. We missed spending time with them.

For dinner we went to Nestoy, a beer garden about 15 minutes from our apartment. The weather was perfect for sitting outside and the food delicious.Read more